I’m taking a quick break from my mini-series on resilience in project teams as I’ve been doing some thinking recently on how to improve the project management software we have. You might know that I wrote Collaboration Tools for Project Managers so the changing landscape of software products is something I try to stay close to.
One of the conclusions I’m coming to is that tools don’t do everything. As a result, we have to integrate with other products. The software is powerful, but it just can’t/shouldn’t do everything, or you end up with a hybrid product that is rubbish at most things and does everything badly. So integrations so you can use best of breed products is the way forward.
Integrations extend the functionality of your project management tools, and here are 4 benefits to consider.
- Streamlined workflows
Double-keying data? No thanks! Integrations between apps allow you to automate the flow of information between tools. Need to get that timesheet data into a financial tool? There’s an integration for that. Need to bring in actuals from the accounting software? No problem, we can feed those into the project budget and forecast.
Integrations reduce manual data entry and minimise the risk of human error. And they remove some of the boring work too – win win!
- Centralised information
How many tabs do you have open? It’s no fun switching from dashboards in one tool to review benefits and then back to the PM tool to enter the actuals, and grabbing stuff from all the places. Bringing in what you need saves time and centralises the data so your team has everything in one place. That should help with transparency and reporting, plus saving time so you don’t have to log in to so many apps in the morning.
For example, integrate with your cloud storage or file-sharing software and then you can access the relevant documents directly within the project management system. To be fair, that isn’t even hard if you’ve got cloud file storage – just add a link! Done!
- Improved collaboration
You’re in your PM tool but you need to flag something… do you have to leave to go to a messaging app or email? It’s better if there is an integration within the tool so your relevant threads can appear linked to the project task, risk or issue etc. If your tool doesn’t have native messaging, integrate it with whatever tool you do use so that status updates can be sync’d across platforms in real time, so the whole team can see what is going on.
- Enhanced reporting and analytics
Finally, the more data you have in your PM tool, the better your reporting and analytics can be, and the more you can make use of AI. AI needs pools of data to give you forecasts or suggestions, so if your PM tool is scanty in that area, it’s hard for AI to do anything meaningful with your portfolio data.
Sync up your project data with external analytics or business intelligence tools so you can create detailed reports, analyse data trends, and monitor progress without exporting data manually. And you’ll be able to share project performance data with people who don’t have licences for your PM tools. Because that’s a problem, right?
So, integrations for the win! What tools do you link up (or what problems do you face when they don’t)? Let me know in the comments!
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