A World Without Spreadsheets
We’ve all had our moments trying to compile them, cross check them, scream at them… So why not say it… say “NO” to spreadsheets!
With all the new web-based technologies coming out to help manage projects accurately and efficiently, spreadsheets are becoming a thing of the past.
Spreadsheets are essentially organised data, but organised data just isn’t cutting it anymore.
Imagine automatically organising your data into graphs and charts with live dashboards and click of the mouse reports (or one touch of the iPad for some of you).
With the intelligence of an advanced web-based program management system, you’ll not only have all this but you’ll be able to identify risks before an incident happens. Those savings alone are positive for the bottom line.
Analysis is the future!
Looking into the future should be the next step, Right?
Last weekend as I was reading the Sunday paper and I came across an article about how businesses continuously struggle with change and the ability to move forward.
It made me wonder, why do businesses struggle to focus on moving forward?
Having worked with and around many of the worlds biggest companies, I’m beginning to realise a trend. Businesses spend more time in the past than looking into the future.
We all feel the pain of the weekly update meeting where teams mince and grind what happened in the past week or month and then attempt to mitigate the effect on the company’s performance. In most companies, interrupting team members from their work and bringing them into a room to discuss the past is the only way to distill the multitude of data in order to determine the next steps.
If businesses had systems in place to improve data management and record the past, businesses could spend more time focusing on propelling into the future by reaching a dependable level of predictability through process management and risk management.
Then the focus can shift to how we can do better next time through optimised processes.
The Importance of ‘Data Management’
One mantra that I like to repeat over and over when I speak to people about the power of data management is that ‘if we all knew what we all knew, we’d be unstoppable.’ In other words, one of the greatest limitations that most companies face when searching for information is that they don’t know where to look, or who to ask for information in the first place and it can take weeks to collate it all together.
Businesses invest in a heap of different software options that track finance, project management and supplier information. However, simply having a range of management systems is not enough to make sure that everyone can find out the information they need. The reality is that it doesn’t matter how connected to the information or project you are, people need to have complete information at their fingertips to make good decisions.
As companies increasingly embrace technology and cloud-based systems such as CapexPRO www.capexpro.com.au, teams with the foresight to recognise the benefits of this type of technology will reap the rewards. I also believe that changing the culture within businesses about how data is collected will be increasingly important for ongoing success.
Consistency of data means that data across the enterprise should be in synch with one another and that it is organised into easy to navigate ‘chunks’ and accessible on a real time basis.
To have online availability of data will clearly reflect the level of predictability that is what differentiates mediocre businesses from truly successful real-time enterprises.
The ability to fully comprehend the changes and trends occurring around you, in real-time, and then respond to them appropriately, organisations will instantly be able to measure performance and support strategic planning, leadership and decisions.
I stumbled across the following video recently by a panel of experts http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p6VHpIlDfu4&feature= related talking about how important centralised data management within your organisation is, and what a huge role it will play in the future of any businesses success. It’s worth a watch!
Trial by Fire
I read this analogy yesterday and thought you all may enjoy it.
Many a project manager has said the job feels like they’re always putting out fires. Well, projects are like fires in fundamental ways: no two are exactly the same, and conditions can change at any time, requiring corrective actions. From training to communication, many shared principles hold true for fighting fires and managing projects. The very worst fire plan is no plan. The next worse is two plans.
The Project Cloud
We want to start a discussion about project and program management that gets everyone thinking outside of the PM box we put ourselves in. There is a great wealth of innovative thinking on how to make project management a strategic asset, and we want our blog to be a catalyst for exploring and expressing it.
The Project Cloud is here to share findings about anything project management and new cloud based solutions. Happy reading and please feel free to comment.