Introduction
There are many logistic elements in a project. Different team members are responsible for managing each element and sometimes, the organization may have a mechanism to manage some logistic areas as well.
When it comes to project workforce management, it is all about managing all the logistic aspects of a project or an organization through a software application. Usually, this software has a workflow engine defined in them. So, all the logistic processes take place in the workflow engine.
Following are the regular and most common types of tasks handled by project workforce management software or a similar workflow engine:
· Planning and monitoring the project schedules and milestones.
· Tracking the cost and revenue aspects of projects.
· Resource utilization and monitoring.
· Other management aspects of the project management.
Due to the software use, all of the project workflow management tasks can be fully automated with leaving much for the project managers. This returns high efficiency to the project management when it comes to project tracking purposes.
In addition to different tracking mechanisms, project workforce management software also offer a dashboard for the project team. Through the dashboard, the project team has a glance view of the overall progress of the project elements.
The dashboard is also a great place for the upper management to track the progress of each project during executive meetings.
Most of the times, project workforce management software can work with the existing legacy software systems such as ERP systems. This easy integration allows the organization use a combination of software systems for management purposes.
Traditional Management Vs Project Workforce Management
The traditional management and the project workflow management have significant differences. There are at least three main differences when it comes to operations and management. Following are the three main differences:
1. A graphical workflow
The management of all the processes is done through a graphical workflow engine. In this, the users can design, control and audit the different processes involved in the project.
The graphical workflow is quite attractive for the users of the system and allows the users to have a clear idea of the workflow engine.
2. Work breakdown structures and organization:
Project workforce management provides the facility for work breakdown structure and organization of the same. The users can create, manage, edit and report work breakdown structures.
These work breakdown structures are done in different abstraction levels, so the information related to such can be tracked at any level.
Usually, project workforce management has approval hierarchies. Therefore, each workflow created will go through several verifications before it becomes an organizational or project standard. This helps the organization to reduce the inefficiencies of the process, as it is audited by many stakeholders.
3. Connected financial, workforce and project processes
In project workforce management software, everything is neatly connected. Once workforce and billing management software are integrated, it provides the organization all the necessary information and management facilities.
Due to the integrated nature of all these processes, the management and tracking functions are centralized. This allows the higher management to have a unified view of the project activities.
Conclusion
Project workflow management is one of the best methods for managing different aspects of project. If the project is complex, then the outcomes from the project workforce management could be more effective.
For simple projects or small organizations, project workflow management may not add much value. This is due to the fact that small organizations or projects do not have a significant overhead when it comes to managing processes.
There are many software systems in the market for project workflow management, but in many cases, organizations are too unique to adopt such ready-made solutions.
Therefore, organization gets software development companies to develop custom project workflow management systems for them. This has proved to be the most suitable way of getting the best project workforce management system acquired for the company.
