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I’m the only IT person but will soon be adding a part time IT contract person. Even though the company is small, our systems are more towards a regular SMB setup. We’re running Vsphere 8 (ent pro), 2022 AD, on site VOIP PBX, RDS, etc. Many of my projects are small, but some can get quite encompassing.

In the past I just managed these projects in my head. With another person coming on board I definitely need to take a formal approach to project control. So I’m looking at what software recommendations the spice group can recommend.

I’d prefer an on premise solution. Projects have a lot of very security sensitive information and I’m not comfortable having this data off site.

I’ve found projects are very much a learning experience. What starts as a clearly defined goal ends up splintering into multiple projects as I do my due diligence and discover things I wasn’t initially aware of. Because of this I have in the past handled projects where near term tasks are clear and the further out into the future the tasks eventually become general hints as to what may need to be done. As I move through the project those once fuzzy tasks become more firm as my understanding evolves.

So the software should support this. Unless it is a very cut and dried limited project, there will be changes.

Schedule isn’t a critical component and the software must be flexible in this.

I’ll have 2 people that make changes. I’ll also have 2 (or possibly more) read only users.

Software should be intuitively obvious in use.

Ideas?

5 Spice ups
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Zoho projects is pretty great. On the free tier I think you get at least 2 users, but you are limited to the number of projects you can have in there at a time. The paid tiers are super cheap if you ever need to upgrade. It’s like $5 a month or something.

I’d also look into Monday. My experience with them isn’t as deep but the brief time I used it, it was extremely user-friendly.

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Are they on premise? That seems to be a big filter.

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well first thing I would not be worrying about is project management. Especially with on-prem. A White board and some markers will do fine. I would spend the money on a password vault if you do not already have that. Something like 1Password or keepersecurity so you can share credentials needed. 1Password also works for MFA accounts and that is a big plus.

If you are a 365 user, then Tasks/Planner in Teams in your own IT Team channel can keep you organized, integrate with Outlook and more.

Having done this before several times in my career, rule Number 1, DO NOT expect what works for you to work for them. If you want their help, make it easy for them to succeed and help you. You can change a lot easier than they can otherwise you will be redoing their work and wasting money looking for replacements for that person. No one will do the job the way you do it or the way you think it should be. Be open to new ideas and new ways to do things. Just because it works now doesn’t mean it is the best way, the right way, it is but A way.

1 Spice up
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I’m trying out Jira and Monday. I agree Doughnut, Monday is very user friendly. I have a unusually (for us) large project I’m trying to do in both software. So far, they’re pretty close in functionality, with Monday well ahead in intuitiveness.

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Sorry, just seeing your reply. I live and die by Atlassian products and forgot all about Jira. However, it’s more of a workflow and roadmap platform. I think Monday will do you better now and in the future if you only have the occasional large project. As you grow and need to incorporate kanban boards and scrum though, Jira FTW. It’s the favorite of a lot of major corporations and worth learning for career development.

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White boarding is great until the janitor comes in overnight, or another team uses the conference room and accidentally “cleans” the board one day. Also, it’s best to have all your project data in a hosted database that you can refer back to later.

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lol oh yeah the janitor did it! I forgot all about that. Could be because I use a Surface Hub or similar and it all goes to OneDrive and Teams :wink: whiteboard of the virtual kind…until that virtual janitor (IT Department) comes along and wipes it (reclaims space by archiving offline) lol

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I used to train on ERP systems and in a classroom a whiteboard worked great. I still prefer it over anything else in a classroom situation. However with work from home mentality and the nature of IT technical projects it starts to become more of a hinderance. Yes, it still has it’s place. In a group 30,000 ft strategy meeting it is better than any of the software I’ve found.

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I believe one of the main challenges that can lead to mistakes when creating your PMO is placing too much emphasis on finding the “perfect” tool. AZHockeyNut’s suggestion of using a whiteboard and markers is actually quite effective. In my experience, many of the largest and most complex project hurdles can be solved using simple tools like wall space, markers, and post-it notes.

Instead of getting caught up in cutting-edge software solutions with advanced features, I recommend breaking down the key functions you need to address. This approach may lead you to discover straightforward and effective solutions that suit your specific needs. Based on your description, I can offer the following suggestions:

For your immediate tasks, such as working with your part-timer, a whiteboard and markers can be invaluable. By incorporating a time scale across the top or bottom of the board, you can easily visualize the project’s timeline. Without strict scheduling, a simple flow chart against a time scale might be sufficient to lay out the project’s entire lifespan or focus on smaller portions between milestones or decisions.

Consider your audience and other users before jumping into tools like Kanban boards and Gantt charts for tracking and communication. With just one or two additional editors, you may not require extensive revision tracking. Applications like Sharepoint or Microsoft Teams can help you convert your whiteboard work into a task board or a simple, editable flow chart. Even software like Visio or PowerPoint can be utilized to create and maintain a visual project plan, granting edit access to necessary individuals and read-only access to others. These elements can be easily integrated into Teams channels, Sharepoint pages, or kept as live documents. To address your preference for an on-premise solution, these tools can also be stored solely on your local network.

When it comes to external communication, tailor your approach to your customers’ preferences. Consider whether they would appreciate complex reports or if they would be more engaged with dynamic and interactive presentations. Since you mentioned that you primarily focus on project information rather than extensive project management data, a dedicated project management software may not be necessary. Lighter reporting approaches might be more suitable, such as:

a) Regularly scheduled and well-templated email updates: Prepare one or two PowerPoint slides as templates, easily trackable from week to week.

b) Regular touch-points with consistent visual updates: Keep these interactions brief, no more than 30 minutes, and provide opportunities for questions and concerns.

c) Host a platform accessible to all stakeholders with a messaging/chat feature: Communicate your scheduled updates and allow stakeholders to interact with each other as needed. MS Teams and Sharepoint both offer these features.

Lastly, I understand your approach of managing projects with a focus on short-term timelines while allowing the medium-to-long-term details to take shape gradually. When approaching a new project, consider if there are any likely patterns or directions based on your experience that can help you anticipate potential outcomes.

@richardroy

2 Spice ups
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After using Jira for a while I’m not a fan. It may shine in a large environment with fixed project goals set from the start, but in a smaller more agile environment I find it restrictive. Case in point - I have a task which has 40 sub tasks. In this project I have another task that is very similar. Instead of entering that task and the 40 subtasks from scratch I want to clone or copy the first task to the second and then make what changes I need to the task and its subtasks. In Jira you cannot copy a task and bring along all its subtasks by just right clicking on the task. Apparently you have to set up an automation or possibly export/import. Yes, this is very doable for someone that works with the software a lot. However if you use it only sporadically then all this has to be remembered or rediscovered. All for a capability that is available by default in the right click menu in nearly every piece of software out there.

Monday.com can do the copy easily.

I actually stopped using Monday.com for this project. My reasoning was because it was working well while I was finding Jira more time consuming to use I should concentrate on Jira to determine if more use would reveal its abilities and change my opinion. It didn’t.

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I recommend this productivity measurement tool from EmpMonitor. We use it at work, and we’re all satisfied by it. You can plan, organize, and manage the entire project and supervise multiple projects in one go. It also has time tracking for the employees, and you can get a detailed analysis of the teams’ activity daily or hourly.