If asked to name the worst aspect of their job, many project managers would say that reporting is the most time-consuming and least rewarding part of the day. Whether they are gathering progress reports from team members or preparing status reports for customers or management, PMs devote untold hours making sure that all project stakeholders get the reports they need. Outdated project management tools and cumbersome reporting systems can make the process intensely frustrating. Despite the tedious nature of reporting, however, most project managers understand its critical importance in a project’s overall success.
Fortunately, today’s sophisticated project management solutions can take the pain out of the reporting process and allow project managers to provide high quality information while freeing up their time to tackle the dozens of other tasks that face them each day. Here’s a brief overview of how PMs can use enterprise reporting tools to solve the reporting problem.
Report in Real Time
Enterprise-scale projects, with resources working around the clock on multiple continents, evolve so quickly that a report on yesterday’s data can be as irrelevant as a report from a month ago. Cloud-based project management software like Planview AdaptiveWork allows project managers to view and report on project budgets, tasks and other key elements in real time, allowing for quick responses to critical developments.
Customize Your Reports
No matter how well-designed an out-of-the box report might be, customers or executives often ask to see information presented in a different format, or to see data compared to a different set of baselines. A good project management solution makes it easy to tailor reports for a specific audience, making status meetings quicker and more productive.
Track Projects on the Move
Frequent travel is a fact of life in many industries, and even the most seasoned business travelers can have trouble staying up to date as they shuttle between airports, conference rooms and hotels. Project managers and other stakeholders can use Planview AdaptiveWork’s mobile app to view project data such as new requests, issues and closed work items, all from a mobile device.
Link Reports and Project Documentation
When a report indicates a need for action, Planview AdaptiveWork can streamline the workflow by including links to project documents like Gantt charts or project plans directly in the report. You can also use the optional Excel add-in reporting tool to extract raw Planview AdaptiveWork data and generate complex reports based on an enhanced queries.
The project manager or team members can then navigate to the relevant documents, make changes as needed and see what other stakeholders have done in real time. Planview AdaptiveWork customers can also include report data in their KPIs to facilitate more accurate assessments of the organization’s projects and overall project portfolio.
If you’d like to learn more about ways to streamline your reporting process and improve project performance, explore Planview AdaptiveWork’s industry-leading enterprise project management solutions.
