As the weather starts to warm up and summer comes around, many employees will set off on road trips, vacations and take some much-deserved time off.

Time away from the office is important for productivity and avoiding burn-out, but it sometimes results in pushed-back timelines, and breaking client expectations.

Thankfully, a project portfolio management system can help keep your projects on track and give your employees a much-needed break from the office. Here's how:

Streamlined Communication

A project portfolio management system like PMware allows project stakeholders to comment on things like tasks, adjust deadlines, and see a clear picture of your portfolio at a glance. So, before you bug your teammate who's on vacation, you can find the information you need within your PPM system.

Flexible Resource Planning

PMware's resource planning capabilities make it easy to adjust your resource needs over time, so you can scale up and down depending on the number of workers you have in the office, your demand and seasonal trends.

As the Coronavirus pandemic starts to slowly subside, many companies are considering moving back into the office and using in-person communication more and more.

What does this mean for the companies who have adapted to a virtual and online business structure during the pandemic? Do they throw the virtual side of their business out the window, and go back to in-person planning, meetings, and communication?

We at PMware are excited to see the pandemic coming to a close. But, it's a good idea to look back at the past year and see what business lessons there are to learn from this time.

Some things to reflect on include:

Allowing your employees to work from home

If you had your team work from home, how did it go? If your team was able to stay productive from afar, consider changing your work from home policies to give employees more flexibility in the future.

How you'll stay on top of communication

If you do choose to continue to work from home, or use a hybrid of in-office and remote workers, make sure your communication stays flawless wherever your employees may be. A PPM solution like PMware lets you stay on-schedule and manage multiple projects from afar.

Working from home can seem incredible, no traffic jams on the way to work, no dress code, it all sounds perfect, at first. When you start working from home on the other hand, often you'll feel unfocused, pulled in a thousand directions, or just completely unmotivated. You may be making a few easy-to-miss mistakes as you adjust to the work from home lifestyle. Here are three simple ways to boost your focus when working from home.

Limit Distractions

Without the structure of the office environment, it can be easy to get distracted by anything from your phone to your pets. The best thing you can do is set yourself up for success by removing as many distractions as possible from your workspace.

If possible, make your workspace a distinct spot in your home. Clear a specific spot at the table, claim the kitchen counter or set up a desk or a table in a room separate from the rest of the house if possible.

Let other people in the house know when you're working or give them a signal for when it's okay to come and see you, like opening the door when you can be disturbed and closing it when you absolutely need to focus.

Studies have shown that even knowing your phone is in the same room as you can be a distraction. If you can't put your phone in another room, many modern phones have a 'focus' or 'do not disturb' mode which will prevent calls from people not in your contacts list and some will even disable apps you shouldn't be using while you're working.

How does a business find success? Is it through hiring the best employees, creating the best product, or having the most valuable customers? At the end of the day, no matter what industry you're in, the success ultimately balances on how you manage all the moving parts within your organization. Even with the best team, product, or clients, success is lost if you don't know how to run your organization.

That's why it's necessary to plan, implement, and complete your organization's projects in a timely and efficient manner. Having a transparent, optimized project management plan is crucial to reaching your organization's goals, and earning your success.

Project portfolio management software can be the backbone of your organization. With many available on the market today, business owners have choices when it comes to what software works best for their organization. When you're in the market for a PPM software, make sure it meets these basic needs:

It Can Keep Projects on Track

A project portfolio management tool should help you track the progress of your projects throughout their lifespan. You should be able to see the status of all your company’s projects at any given time through real-time reporting and metrics. It should have robust scheduling capabilities so you can plan out projects in advance.

New product development projects are commonly challenging, and they can be even more difficult for project management executives when their teams are working remotely. With so many workers working remotely, project managers might struggle to ensure that each team member is productive and that the project will be completed on time and within the budget. Fortunately, PMware offers a good solution to some of the headaches involved in remotely managing a new product development project. It offers many different tools to ensure the functioning of teams and allows managers and team members to see deadlines, updates, and productivity goals. PMware also helps to ensure that a project will be completed on time. Here are some tips for managing new project development projects with remote workers with PMware.

Take advantage of dashboards

Team collaboration can be difficult when members are working remotely. This is because it can be harder for individuals to see what the project's overall outcomes are, the progress that has been made, and other critical information when work is being performed remotely. By using PMWare's PPM platform, teams can benefit from personalized and team dashboards where they can view the project goals, progress, and deadlines in real-time. Project managers can also provide data, post updates, and perform management tasks through the dashboards.

Your company's future depends on its ability to expand and adapt. If you don't have the capacity and know-how to turn your ideas into initiatives, your business growth suffer. When you're doubting your ability to successfully manage current projects while working on future client opportunities, consider investing in project portfolio management software. Read on to see how software like PMware can help drive growth within your organization.

Streamlining Critical Processes for Increased Efficiency at Lower Cost

One of the top benefits of project management software is that it offers holistic clarity. Although you can use these tools to focus on specific tasks and processes, you can also step back and look at your business at a broader scale.

When you observe how your business runs at different levels, you quickly learn to identify the areas of waste, bottle necks, and where your projects fall behind. From there, it's simple to make changes that result in streamlined processes. By decreasing inefficiencies, you can redirect essential resources towards lasting expansion.

Running a nonprofit is like a study in multitasking. From organizing fundraising events to soliciting donations, it is a lot of work to operate an organization that helps others.

Project portfolio management is the solution for many nonprofits, but could it be even more effective? Here are some ideas on strengthening your organization and making a positive difference with nonprofit project management software tools.

Streamline Your Business Processes

What holds nonprofits back from achieving their true potential? Many of the hurdles that you'll face revolve around routine business processes, such as

• Filing Form 990 and other tax return documentation

• Tracking ongoing and one-time expenses in an organized manner

• Managing donation drives and collection efforts

• Communicating with prior donors and regular contributors

• Promoting and marketing your organization and its charitable initiatives

• Researching new ways to help your community and improve your current projects.

These processes are critical to running an effective nonprofit, but with your hands in so many pots, it can be hard to keep them all orderly. Transitioning your non profit project management tasks to software-based workloads gives you more power to

One of the biggest struggles that many project management executives face while working remotely is managing their projects and teams. In some cases, these project managers are faced with the struggle of ensuring the productivity of individuals who are new to remote work and under less than ideal circumstances.

Thankfully, PMware provides a variety of tools that allow teams to function, see productivity goals, deadlines, and updates, and ensure project completion in a timely manner. Below are outlined some of the key features of project management software that allow teams to operate efficiently, even while working remotely.

Project Visibility Through Dashboards

Teams may find it hard to collaborate together remotely as it is much more difficult to see the overall outcome of a project, the project progress, and other vital information while completing work remotely. Through the utilization of the PPM platform, however, teams are able to see in real-time the project goals, deadlines, and progress through team and personalized dashboards. Leaders are able to push out updates, provide data, and perform essential management tasks through these dashboards as well.

Running a high-powered, functional team is a matter of knowing how to get things done, and this doesn't just mean building a team with the right skills. Whether you're up against a familiar task or a project that's unlike anything you've ever seen before, it's critical to keep your eyes on the goal as you move forward. More than any other factor, your capacity for efficient resource management decides whether you'll triumph.

Sadly, reality doesn't always pan out to be a massive success story. No matter how hard you try, your projects seem to deviate from the intended target, resulting in cost overruns and difficulties securing future work. Here are three reliable indicators that it might be time to upgrade to project management software.

1. You Keep Discovering Scope Creep

Scope creep happens when projects stray from their original scope, or intended purpose and functionality. It's common in the world of software engineering, but no matter where it rears its ugly head, it's a surefire indicator of deficient oversight.

Scope creep is never good. When you devote more time and effort to working on unprofitable deliverables, you spend less time focused on the core functionality that your clients demand. Custom project management software helps you combat creep by painting a clear picture of what you ought to be working on from the very start. Since you're always equipped with a roadmap, you waste less time exploring unnecessary detours.

The fated event draws ever closer. After months of hard-fought struggles, you're on track to launch an app.

You can almost taste the accolades and positive user feedback, but you're also having a hard time getting over your lurking doubts and mental stress. You try to dispel your concerns, but one question keeps resurfacing: Is there a better way?

Using new product development, or NPD, tools could make it easier to get to launch without the nagging sensation that your hairline is receding at an accelerated rate. Here are three key reasons why enterprise development software might be exactly what your project needs.

1. Every Line of Code Costs You

Want to add a new core feature to your API or app backend? You'll have to spend extra time in development, and if the changes break existing features, you'll be in for more of a commitment than you anticipated. Can't decide which solution is the ideal match for a tricky coding problem? Every avenue you explore will demand brainpower, resources and personnel hours.

No matter whether you're flying solo as a developer or employing a skilled team, coding requires real business investments. It also limits your ability to accomplish other tasks, such as outreach.

Proper management of resources is the secret to success in any company. These resources can include staff members, cash flow, distribution, logistics, and facilities - all of which play an important role in productivity and efficiency. When resources aren’t handled well, projects can stall or fail and you will find yourself wondering how your plans fell through.

Software solutions for project and resource management bridge the gap between planning and effective execution. Consider the benefits of using a customized resource management solution in these three common business scenarios.

Planning Your Biggest Projects

Completing a project on time is good for profits, but ensuring you don’t run into difficulties can be a challenge. All team members must know their roles and the extent of the work expected of them, and you need a clear understanding of the talent, budget and materials available. This information is especially critical if you’re trying to juggle several large projects at once. A failure to properly prioritize tasks can cause you to fall short of your goals.

With a custom project resource management solution, you get a clear picture of all your resources and can plan for proper distribution. You also have the tools to visualize potential setbacks and make plans to avoid as many as possible.

Successful resource management simply means being able to squeeze the maximum benefit out of your resources. This requires the optimization of all procedures that govern the procurement, warehousing, scheduling and use of resources, including personnel. When coupled with an efficient project management system, being able to take full advantage of your resources allows your company to operate at a high productivity level, which maximizes your profits.

What the Ideal Resource and Project Management Software Looks Like

You may have some concerns, though, about the efficiency of your company’s resource and project management systems, and you feel there is room for improvement. Should that be the case, perhaps it is time for you to consider upgrading your resource management software. Once you make that decision, how do you go about finding the package that will be most appropriate for your company? To help you with that endeavor, here are four of the major things to look for in custom resource management software:

Easy to Use

It is well-known that if software isn’t easy to use, it will be underutilized. To be considered easy to use, the software must be simple to install, easy to update, intuitive, and efficient.

Often times, project management software developers design their software for-profit organizations before looking at the other organizations. Few consider the needs of project management for nonprofits first. Luckily, there are qualified firms in the industry who focus on providing the best software that can cater to the demands of a non-profit. When making that choice for your organization, it is good to familiarize yourself with this process.

Identify your nonprofit needs

Develop a PPM strategy for your firm before even going to the market. In this strategy, ensure you have all the pertinent details regarding the software. If the spreadsheets serve you well without limitations, why would you want a system? Can it pay for itself? What constituents do you need to include? How many staffs will use the system?

You can review your firm's needs against those of other similar organizations. Remember to work into your current needs. There is always room for future improvement. Furthermore, as you learn the system, it will be easy to integrate future features and capabilities.

Get input from your departments

In today's world, your staff will be your first client. Their feedback is imperative because they will be the one to use the system every day. Since you can't possibly listen to everyone individually, you can ask each department to make submissions. To keep each department grounded on the basics, prepare a checklist where you will ask them what they think would be a good fit. They can also add nice-to-have items.

The performance of a company is often built around the success of a group or team. Businesses strategically organize their staff into these separate teams to increase efficiency and organization. Each team is usually given a task or goal that plays into the overall business at large. In order for a team to be successful, there needs to be an effective way for them to collaborate and work together. Technology has become an integral part of these team dynamics to help achieve success and facilitate collaboration. PMware is a project management software solution for IT departments that can help achieve these goals. Here are a few ways in which IT project management can help your team deliver on time.

Communication

Communication is the cornerstone of any successful team and business. Even within a team, individuals are given particular tasks to complete. These tasks must end up fitting together like a puzzle at the end of the project. If there isn't enough communication between each team member, then the final project won't be cohesive. Each team member must be able to communicate their questions about the project. IT project management programs help make it easier to disseminate information through a team.

The key to the success of your nonprofit is having the best tools to successfully plan, execute and achieve your vision/goals. In an age where technology and methodology have become exceedingly sophisticated, you need a premier PPM (project portfolio management) solution to not only help manage, control costs, and achieve deadlines for projects, but also to track whether you've been paid on time and in the right amount.

PMware's project management software has a vast amount of high-level features including Project and Resource Management, File and Calendar Sharing, Task Management and Assignment Scheduling. It also offers Resource Scheduling and Shaping, Real-Time Analytics and Expert Build Reports, Trend Analysis, Forecasting and Custom Reporting as well as a comprehensive host of easy to use tools to suit your management style and project life cycle.

Why You Need a Special Software Solution for Your Nonprofit

Most companies today rely heavily on software to evaluate, track, deliver, and get paid for their services. For these companies, every project presents not only a source of revenue but an opportunity for repeat business. A PPM solution such as the tools offered by PMware can help you keep track of the finer details of your organization.

Your company's IT department is responsible for managing a wide variety of essential activities for your business. From ensuring that the internet is working to setting up firewalls against hackers and preventing malware from getting onto the “Internet of Things” in your office space, the IT staff has a lot to do. They may also be responsible for purchasing technology, retiring old technology, disposing of it and more. Inevitably, there will be some inefficiencies in your IT department. These tips will help you identify those inefficiencies in IT project management and make corrections in order to get things back on track.

Verify the Project Priorities

It is important to make sure that everybody is on the same page when it comes to prioritizing projects. When there is a misalignment of work priorities in your IT department, resources may not be as efficient as they could be. IT project management software allows managers and IT staffers alike to check in on priority project and make updates as tasks are completed.

Track Time

If you are unsure of how your IT staffers are spending their time, consider having them track it for a week. You might be surprised to discover that a lot of their time is spent on unproductive tasks such as trying to schedule meetings or managing unwanted communications. When non-strategic work takes up a significant portion of an IT staff member's daily or weekly hours, it is time to make a change in work assignments, communication management, and prioritization.

Choosing the right PMO or project management software is one of the most important investments that your company will make. Perhaps you’re a small startup looking to take on your first big project. Or maybe you’re a business that’s been around the block with a few PMO apps that are just not cutting it anymore. Either way, an upgrade is in order.

What is PMO software?

Project Management Office software is a tool which is specifically designed to do four things. It is meant to manage your project’s:

• Scope: the size of your projects, goals, and the requirements to fulfill

• Resources: the materials and manpower you have to fulfill the scope

• Time: how long it will take you to achieve your individual and ultimate goals and deadlines

• Money: the budget you have in place for all the project necessities and the revenue the project will bring in during different developmental and execution stages

PMO software organizes this information in a synthesized manner which allows you and your team to be on the same page in regards to project requirements. Additionally, seeing the analytics all laid out will give you the opportunity to adapt, downsize, and make tweaks where needed.

If you are a Project Manager, Program Manager, or a PMO Director, you know the value that project management software brings to managing projects. What about managing a portfolio of projects? Project Portfolio Management has challenges and complexities that cannot be addressed with typical project management tools. You need an application that bridges the gap between strategic planning and project execution.

Benefits of PPM Software

There are five reasons why companies should invest in project portfolio software. They are based on the Project Management Institute's (PMI) Standard for Portfolio Management.

Clarify Business Objectives

In distinguishing between multiple projects to determine which ones are best, a key criterion is a return on investment (ROI). Portfolio management software offers the capability to analyze earned value for projects and portfolios. It also monitors project budgets, expenses, and labor costs.

Capture and Research Requests and Ideas

The ability to capture project ideas, gather resource and valuation data, and rank project requests are crucial to building and maintaining a project portfolio that lines up with strategic objectives. Software tools allow PMO team members to capture project ideas centrally and evaluate review outcomes.

Managing resources effectively is crucial for business success. Your company's resources include its staff, equipment, facility, materials, and other things that are needed to complete important tasks. Resources are finite, making it important to utilize them in an efficient manner. While simple systems for small companies can work, the systems that are used for growing companies must be scalable so that they can meet the needs of the businesses. Knowing what to look for in resource management software can help you to choose the program that will meet your business requirements.

What is a resource management system?

A resource management system can include any method that a business uses to manage its resources. Companies that are very small can manage their resources without software. A management system in a small business might include team meetings and a whiteboard. When companies grow, however, these types of systems do not work. Some companies move on to use simple software programs such as Excel spreadsheets. While Excel spreadsheets might be okay for businesses with around 15 employees as a starting point, most companies eventually will need to turn to solutions that are more integrated. There are multiple resource management software programs that offer better control and help to alleviate issues such as data entry errors, deletions, overwriting, and other problems.

The right project management software accounts for the types of mistakes that are typical during product development. Since the software does the heavy lifting in critical areas where the problems are most likely to occur, human resources are free to be reassigned to other critical areas. This preventative design allows the products to be developed under optimal conditions. It leverages previous generations of activity to refine the current processes.

New Product Development Process

The new product development process, or NPD, is a term given to all of the activities needed to take a product from the conceptual stage to the final release onto the market.

This includes products that are being re-branded in addition to products that are completely new. These products can provide the company with additional leverage over competitors. They can also increase the company’s market share by establishing the brand’s dominance over similar products. The release of any new or re-branded product can impact the company in a variety of ways, so streamlining the process is critical.

New Product Development

The NPD cycle offers companies a chance to release a product with superior characteristics at a lower price. In the past, this has been done with various kinds of products including coffee machines, microwaves and cars. The company benefits when the latest iteration cuts costs and improves the product.

Could using project management software help your organization achieve greater things? These apps, dashboards, and platforms are growing more widespread than ever. The odds are good that no matter what your niche is, agile project oversight tools will further your mission.

1. The Government Sector

National and municipal governments are characterized by extensive bureaucracies. As a result, even the smallest tasks seem to require exhaustive cooperation and resource management. With budgets routinely extending into the millions of dollars and eagle-eyed taxpayers demanding transparency, government entities have an obligation to hone their oversight practices.

Project workflow management tools are essential for these agencies. By empowering them to complete a wide range of unique missions smoothly and automate vital processes, these apps make it simpler to stay under budget and on time. Since they're easy to scale, they also help municipalities enhance their capabilities in the face of growing demand.

2. The Nonprofit World

Project-centric tasks dominate nonprofit operations. Whether you're fundraising, advertising or delivering community services, you'll find yourself hard-pressed for time and breathing room as a nonprofit manager.

Many businesses struggle with project management. They find it difficult to establish a realistic timeline, allocate the proper resources and stay on schedule. This often results in projects that are late or over budget. If this describes your business, you owe it to yourself to look into software that can improve the efficiency of your project management office. Having said that, here are five ways that PMO software can increase your business's profitability:

Figuring out and planning for your company's demands are crucial for your business's success. When you rely on traditional methods of tracking demands to forecast what to expect, the process can quickly become overwhelming and may not be accurate. Demand-planning software can help your company to create intelligent, data-driven demand plans that provide better accuracy and can help to ensure your company stays on the right track. PMWare helps companies to manage their project and resource demands efficiently and effectively.

Perhaps you have been thinking about purchasing project management (PM) software for some time but haven’t found what you are looking for. On the other hand, maybe you already have project management software but would like to start the New Year with new software. In either case, you will want to ensure that your software provides the planning, tracking, and collaboration that you need.

Your project management software is doing exactly what it should. It handles all of your organization's daily tasks without a blink of the eye, and when your work tempo picks up, your software adapts without even breaking a sweat. While your software may be managing the ups and downs of your current workflow, it's critical that your software is ready to scale at a moments notice.

If your organization wants to grow, either through an acquisition, more customers, or a new product offering, the amount of successful growth depends on the ability to handle a substantially increased workload. Read on to learn more about the importance of scalable project management software during times of organizational change.

Every business leader wants to cut down on inefficiencies in their company because it directly impacts overall quality and profitability. Streamlining business processes may seem like a straightforward goal, but it can actually be quite difficult to isolate problems and develop solutions that provide permanent results.

At PMware, we help organizations manage people, projects and processes to gain greater efficiency and profitability. See our tips listed below for a good starting point for any business owner or manager who wants to optimize their business’s workflow.

There are many ways to run an enterprise. Whether you're forging a custom business model or following in the footsteps of proven success stories, however, profitability is central to your success.

Business automation software from PMware can improve the way you allocate vital funds, human resources and assets. Here are just a few of the benefits.

As a business owner, you may often wonder how you'll take your operation to the next level in the most profitable way. You know you need to take charge of how your company operates, but you're unsure whether you're making the right moves. As you well know, it's critical that you become informed before implementing new changes to how your company operates.

Just winging business decisions doesn't lead to consistent, sustainable success, and may have dire consequences to your company's bottom line. Read on to learn how uninformed strategy decisions could disrupt your success, and see why custom business software is so important.