Project initiation ,planning and execution

Project Performance By: Shubham Goyal

Jira Project Management Software

• Jira is an agile project management software.

• It is a product of Atlassian which is a global company with its headquarters

based in Sydney.

• Jira assists project managers in mainly the planning and execution stage of project.

Slide#2

• Jira software is a software that is easy to use by each member of a team in order to plan, track and execute projects. Jira provides function such as tracking

issues and bugs. Because Jira is very easy to use and has features that can be learned easily, most of the customers prefer opting for this software as a

project management tool. Jira mainly supports project management in the planning stage of projects. As Jira is a flexible software, it assists in managing the

deliverables of project while managing to keep backlogs for the progress. It also helps in developing a visualize project workflow which assists project

managers to plan ahead. As project managers are responsible for making plans for a project that covers various department of an organization, it is

important that the software synchronizes the process. Due to the flexibility of Jira, it is possible for project managers to synchronize the works as received

by different department and compile into a single file (Hoang & Shrestha 2014). By using Jira, it is also possible for project managers to assign tasks to

different teams by sharing through Jira software. Moreover, Jira can also be sued in the execution of a project as Jira has an important feature of project

tracking that enables the team and other stakeholders to track the workflow with complete visibility.

Jira Project Management Software

• Benefits

• Appropriate for co-located as well as teams that are remote

• Creates efficient working environment

• Allow stakeholders to view the most updated status of project

• Issues

• Jira does not assist in the initiation stage of project

• Confusing user interface

• Limited file size available for upload limit.

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• Benefits:

• 1. Jira allows team members to look into the progress status and efficient working area whether they are located in the same place or remote area. Jira

contains all the information which is needed by the team in one place such as milestones, deadlines and updates.

• 2. Jira creates an efficient working environment due to its friendly features such as 1,300 plugins that enhance the functionality of the software. Moreover,

Jira also tracks bugs and issues and deletes them before they affect the system. Moreover, as Jira compiles all the data relevant to the project in one place it

makes it easier for audit evidence.

• 3. As Jira has an updated file for all the processes, it makes it easier for the stakeholders of the project to view the update status.

• Shortcomings:

• 1. Jira is mostly preferred by users as a web version as its mobile application is not smooth in operations. It is difficult to navigate tasks in mobile

application.

• 2. The user interface of Jira is cluttered with information which is difficult for beginners to understand.

• 3. The limit for file upload size is equal to or less than 10MB. Therefore, it poses an issue while uploading a larger data on Jira.

LiquidPlanner Project Management Software

• Liquidplanner is a project management

software.

• It is a product of LiquidPlanner Inc. with its headquarters based in Seattle.

• LiquidPlanner assists project managers in all stages of project; initiation, planning

and execution stage.

LiquidPlanner

Slide#4

• The LiquidPlanner tool is a very powerful tool that provides easy navigation. The software allows companies to capture, track and manage their projects.

The software predicts the project completion dates and expected time to complete a task or process in a project. Moreover, Liquid planner also helps in

creating workspaces which can be done by the project managers. These workspaces consist of multiple projects and run a collateral of tasks (Gunderloy

2008). This functionality of the tool is very important in all three stages of project management. LiquidPlanner assists in the initiation stage as it allows the

businesses to calculate the expected completion time which can be used to calculate Internal Rate of Return. This can be used to measure the feasibility of

projects at the initial stage where project managers can base their decision if the project should be completed or not. Furthermore, the software assists in

planning stage as it provides the expected completion date of the processes or the entire project which can help project managers take important decisions.

Lastly, LiquidPlanner also assists in execution as the project managers can allocate primary resources efficiently and find out bottle necks for a project

during execution stage.

LiquidPlanner Project Management Software

• Benefits

• Tracks time taken by employees against processes (Fig. 1)

• Assists in scheduling

• Issues

• Requires training as it is not a regular software

• Difficult to use with many projects

Slide#5

• Benefits:

• 1. The software helps in tracking time. Tracking completion time is one of the most important part of the project as it allows project managers to make important decisions beforehand. Time talking also allows firms to prepare payrolls accordingly. LiquidPlanner does not only tracks time of the project completion but also

tracks how much each employee has achieved against each process hence enabling the project manager to review the performances of the team members as well

(LiquidPlanner 2020). Moreover, the software also enables hi/lo estimations which are the details that are constantly required by clients of a project.

• 2. Due to the time tracking feature of LiquidPlanner, the project managers can schedule their future progress, meetings or tasks. It offers advanced scheduling functionality with powerful time tracking.

• Shortcomings:

• 1. It takes a great amount of time to understand the usage of LiquidPlanner as the software’s user interface is not familiar like regular software tools. However, once the training for the software is done, it is very user friendly.

• 2. The software gets cluttered if the information of many projects is injected into it. Information can get lost in the software which is difficult to retrieve. Therefore, this feature might be troublesome for the users.

Asana Project Management Software

• Asana is a project management software.

• It is a product of Asana Inc. with its headquarters based in California, United

States.

• It is used by world’s top companies such as Deloitte, NASA and VoxMedia.

Asana software

Slide#6

• Asana is an important software that is used by many leading companies in the world. Moreover, it’s numerous uses make it an attractive tool for project managers as well as project teams. Asana assists project managers in planning and execution stage of the project. However, it has no role in the initiation

stage of a project. Asana helps in planning stage for developing communication with the team members via general announcements or informal messages. It

also creates meeting agendas where important notes can be added easily. After the meetings, Asana allows appointing tasks to the team members. Asana

helps in execution stage as it is used for bug tracking as these obstruct the work progress of project. Asana reports the bugs to the team so that appropriate

actions can be taken. Moreover, Asana helps to breakdown project into smaller tasks and milestones that can be labeled so that each task can be identified

uniquely and easily. It also arranges task with order of priority so that the team knows which tasks need to get done first (Virtucio 2019). Projects that are

big with many subtasks can be easily broken down into smaller tasks so that each team can be appointed with relevant tasks.

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Asana Project Management Software

• Benefits

• Offers a free plan to users

• Introduces integration variety

• Customized dashboards (Fig. 2)

• Issues

• Not user friendly.

• Tasks are assignable to one individual onl

• No time tracking functionality

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• Benefits:

• 1. Asana is helpful for companies of any size. Moreover, it offers features such as reporting, customer portal, dashboard, mobile application and task assigning which

makes it an attractive tool for project management.

• 2. Asana can be used by businesses of small sizes as well because Asana offers a free plan. Other tools are costly because they offer limited trial, however small teams

in small companies can also manage their projects through Asana.

• 3. Asana introduces variety in integration as there are many third party applications that can be integrated with the functions of Asana such as DropBox, Google

Calendar etc. (Virtucio 2019).

• 4. Asana also has a feature to customize dashboards so that the project managers or team supervisors can track the task of each team member separately.

• Shortcomings

• 1. Asana requires extensive training before any beginner can start using the tool just like any other software. This is because Asana has intimidating interface that are

not easily understandable by the users so costly and time-consuming training is required. However, it is advantageous for experienced project managers.

• 2. The tasks can only be assigned to one individual in order to avoid confusion.

• 3. Asana does not have the functionality of time tracking like Jira and LiquidPlanner.

Wrike Project Management Software

• Wrike is a project management software.

• It is a product of Wrike Inc. with its headquarters based in California, United

States.

• It is used by world’s leading companies such as Google, Loreal, Mars and Tiffany

& Co.

Wrike Software

• Slide#8

• Wrike is one of the most collaborative platform in the project management field and it is an award-winning tool (Gilbert 2020). It is used around the globe

by over 17,000 firms varying in sizes from small startups to large businesses. Most of the noticed brands that use Wrike are Airbnb, TGI Friday’s food

restaurant as well as Google in order to track and manage different projects and monitor minor details as well. It is an online software with interactive

features such as Gantt Chart, visual reporting, workload visuals, financial management, time tracking as well as scheduling. Wrike is used in the initiation

stage of the project management because of its functionality that allows financial management. The project managers can use Wrike to calculate the

financial viability of the project and decide if the project should be opted for (Council 2019). Wrike assists project managers in the planning stage as it

allows time tracking. Rather than just simply measuring productivity, Wrike enables tracking how long each process or employee takes to complete the

process. This helps managers take decisions with specificity. Moreover, Wrike software is also used in execution stage because of its time tracking and

scheduling feature that allows project managers to plan ahead.

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Wrike Project Management Software

• Benefits

• Easy to collaborate (Fig. 3)

• Gantt Charts

• Assignment of multiple project

• Issues

• Cluttered information

• Requires training • Slide#9

• Benefits:

• 1. Wrike has a great feature that allows it to collaborate tasks amongst the team members. As the modern office structures have changed drastically, the

employees are not limited to a room or a limited geographical area. Moreover, internet has made employees even more non-confined. Therefore, a software

that allows task distribution and collaboration online is very important and these features are provided by Wrike. It allows efficient communication between

the team members that increases productivity (Kulakov 2017).

• 2. Wrike has built-in Gantt Charts functionality which allows project managers to visualize their deadlines and achievement of milestones.

• 3. Multiple tasks can be assigned to different individuals without the risk of duplicating a task.

• 4. Real time reporting is another important functionality that is demonstrated by Wrike. It allows instant look on the updates being made on the report

templates. It is easy to edit the reports because of its interactive features. Moreover, interactive reports can be shared using the software.

• Shortcomings:

• 1. If the information is overloaded then it may become cluttered on the software which will make it difficult for the user to locate and navigate information.

• 2. Wrike, like any other software, requires extensive training which is costly to the business.

Basecamp Project Management Software

• Basecamp is a project management software.

• It is a product of Basecamp llc. with its headquarters based in Chicago, United

States.

• It is great tool for handling projects of relatively smaller size.

Basecamp Software

Slide#10

Businesses in today’s world have a lot of concentration placed on the effort of team and its members. Most of the projects are made successful by the constant struggles

and hard work of the team. In order to boost up the teamwork, an efficient communication is the key. Basecamp is a project management tool that allows exchange of

information within one place so that relevant information about a project or task can be viewed by its users without looking for the relevant information in different places.

The software organizes the teams through its feature rather than calling up a meeting for small task distributions. Basecamp is used for execution stage as it allows

collaboration and sharing of documents like spreadsheet. Moreover, the team members can access secured websites where comments, files and discussion boards can be

posted. Moreover, team members can also keep a check on their due assignments (Featherstone 2009, p.67). Basecamp is also used during planning stage as it facilitates

communication allowing the team to communicate in real time so that better forward-looking approach can be taken. By using features like due dates, tasks and sharing of

files the team members can easily set their priorities and plan accordingly.

Basecamp Project Management Software

• Benefits

• Simple user interface

• Facilitates communication

• Easy and quick to set-up

• Issues

• No facility of time tracking

• Lacks features

• Not suitable for large projects

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Benefits:

1. The interface of basecamp is easy on the eye because it has organized items and icons that make the main page interesting and easier to understand for the users. It

allows its users to assign tasks, notify those who have been assigned and comment on files. Commenting allows users to communicate regarding a task in one place rather

than sending an e-mail.

2. Improves communication between team members as it allows real time group chat functionality where quick and instant exchange of information can take place

regarding a task or proceeds. Moreover, all the relevant information about a particular task is kept in one place.

3. Easier to track progress as it has a scheduling feature that enables tracking due dates of processes or assignments and ensures meeting deadlines. Moreover, there are

real-time updates about the tasks that are due next that allow the members to monitor their work load and manage accordingly.

Shortcomings:

1. There is no facility of tracking time that is taken to complete a task or time taken by individual team members. This is an important feature required for project

management which is not included in Basecamp.

2. Basecamp is optimal for projects of small sizes.

References Atlassian, 2020. Jira. [Online] Available at: https://www.atlassian.com/software/jira

[Accessed January 2020].

Basecamp, 2020. How it works. [Online] Available at: https://basecamp.com/how-it-works

[Accessed January 2020].

Council, C., 2019. Wrike. [Online] Available at: https://technologyadvice.com/products/wrike-reviews/

[Accessed January 2020].

Delos, M., 2019. The Pros and Cons of Using Jira Software. PROJECT MANAGEMENT ARTICLES.

Gilbert, N., 2020. Wrike pros cons analysis. [Online] Available at: https://financesonline.com/wrike-pros-cons-

analysis-of-a-top-project-management-tool/ [Accessed January 2020].

Gunderloy, M., 2008. LiquidPlanner:Sophisticated Online Project Management. Web Worker Daily.

Hoang, N. a. S. S., 2014. Project management software and its utilities: case: JIRA and Microsoft Project..

Kulakov, M., 2017. 14 Best Project Management Tools — Pros and Cons.

LiquidPlanner, 2020. Logging Process. [Online] Available at:

https://www.liquidplanner.com/support/articles/logging-progress/ [Accessed January 2020].

Smartsheet, 2020. Right tool team using Jira project management. [Online] Available at:

https://www.smartsheet.com/right-tool-team-using-jira-project-management

[Accessed January 2020].

Virtucio, R., 2019. Asana pros and cons. Project management articles.

Featherstone, R., 2009. Basecamp. Journal of the Medical Library Association: JMLA, 97(1), p.67.

Slide#12

References

Atlassian, 2020. Jira. [Online] Available at: https://www.atlassian.com/software/jira

[Accessed January 2020].

Basecamp, 2020. How it works. [Online] Available at: https://basecamp.com/how-it-works

[Accessed January 2020].

Council, C., 2019. Wrike. [Online] Available at: https://technologyadvice.com/products/wrike-reviews/

[Accessed January 2020].

Delos, M., 2019. The Pros and Cons of Using Jira Software. PROJECT MANAGEMENT ARTICLES.

Gilbert, N., 2020. Wrike pros cons analysis. [Online] Available at: https://financesonline.com/wrike-pros-cons-analysis-of-a-top-project-management-tool/ [Accessed

January 2020].

Gunderloy, M., 2008. LiquidPlanner:Sophisticated Online Project Management. Web Worker Daily.

Hoang, N. a. S. S., 2014. Project management software and its utilities: case: JIRA and Microsoft Project..

Kulakov, M., 2017. 14 Best Project Management Tools — Pros and Cons.

LiquidPlanner, 2020. Logging Process. [Online] Available at: https://www.liquidplanner.com/support/articles/logging-progress/ [Accessed January 2020].

Smartsheet, 2020. Right tool team using Jira project management. [Online] Available at: https://www.smartsheet.com/right-tool-team-using-jira-project-management

[Accessed January 2020].

Virtucio, R., 2019. Asana pros and cons. Project management articles.

Featherstone, R., 2009. Basecamp. Journal of the Medical Library Association: JMLA, 97(1), p.67.