Project tracking is a good idea for any project or goal. It is essential to know how much time you’ve spent on who your teammates are, what the project is about, and how many hours it will consume. Project tracking helps you plan for the future when you know what needs to be done and when. It also lets you keep track of feedback from your clients or other people involved in the project so you can stay current with their requests and needs.
There are various ways to make a project chart like this: pencil and paper, Excel spreadsheet, Visio diagrams, or even just an Excel scatter plot chart that needs to be tied down in a neat grid format. However, none of those solutions are as versatile or portable, and none can be accessed with a wide range of devices and operating systems. To make the most of your project tracking needs and get the most use out of your time, it’s best to use a cloud-based platform that can be accessed anywhere at any time. But before hopping in, let us understand what project tracking is and how it has made lives easy.
What is project tracking?
We’ve often seen the question, “How do you know what project to work next?” and we have the answer. Project tracking is a system that helps us prioritize projects by allocating our time and resources only to have one project at a time in progress. This means that you can track both revenue and expenses every week, which calculates how much money is left in the budget so that we can then determine how much of it should be allocated for future projects with similar or better profit margins. This allows you to see what projects will yield future profits and which are not worth pursuing any further.
Project tracking helps us keep track of budgets, deadlines, and the general status of each project so that we can be aware of what’s going on at any given time. It is important to note that you should track your project’s financial information and find a way to track the project’s time spent and errors and bugs in the website/app. This will give you an accurate account of how much time and resources were spent on each project, how much money is left after all expenses are paid, and how much profit was made from all of these projects. Before reading the strategies, let us take a quick look at the benefits of project tracking.
Benefits of project tracking:
Time management:
This is one of the most critical aspects of project tracking. If you track only a few projects simultaneously, it’ll be easy to manage the amount of time allocated for each project. Tracking dozens of projects at a time manually could be tedious and time-consuming. There can be chances of many projects overlapping, mainly impacting the workflow.
Time assigned to different projects:
Some tasks are more critical than others; tracking how much time we devote to each one will help us figure out which ones are worth doing first and which we should focus on next
Accurate P/L:
Analyzing accurate P/L is the foundation of any business, and project tracking helps us know what each project could make in revenue. If you know how much time and resources are spent on each project, deducting the profit percentage from the time and resources invested will be easy.
Accurate expense:
Accurate expenses are also crucial for a business’s operation. As mentioned earlier, costing out each project aids in assessing the profit generated from the invested time and money. Analyzing the time and money invested enables the determination of each project’s profitability.
Savings in the long run:
Calculating profit margins for various projects assists in determining future budget allocation for similar projects. Additionally, it aids in budget monitoring and adherence to financial boundaries established by the CFO or assigned team member overseeing business expenditures.
Budgeting:
Project tracking helps us determine the best way to manage finances and budgets, especially when they are in flux or under constant change. This can happen when a manager changes or if different business areas need more funding. Even though some managers prefer to keep costs down, this sometimes puts other parts of the company at risk.
Trend analysis:
By tracking multiple projects, we identify profitable endeavors worth pursuing further and those not yielding profits. Analyzing trends helps determine project costs in time and resources, providing accurate profit vs. expense breakdowns.
What is the best way to track projects?
Over the years, we have found that there are different ways of tracking projects. The key is to consider what stresses you will be under and how much time you want to allocate to each project. You can do this by using different types of project tracking tools. For example, Zoho, Scoro, Juntrax, Monday.com, etc., are fantastic tools. The advantage of each software is that they have different functionality. For example, with Juntrax, you can list all the active projects, their team members, billing rates, and tasks on one screen.
Some of the most common ways businesses use are:
- The Pomodoro Technique: One of the most popular time management techniques, it is also one of the easiest to implement. It involves working for 25 minutes and taking a 5-minute break. It is perfect for those who have a lot of tasks to do in little time, with no stress or pressure to perform. This will make you more productive, and it’s straightforward to follow.
- The Eisenhower Matrix: If you don’t like the Pomodoro Technique, this technique is proper for you. The Eisenhower Matrix analyses your tasks and places them on a matrix. This way, you can mark the priority level as high, medium, or low. The objective is to get important things done first. This matrix strategy is appropriate for those who have many tasks but are under pressure to complete them quickly.
- Henry L. Gantt designed the Gantt Chart, enabling a comprehensive view of project management. Utilize this chart for small projects within set timeframes, aiding in stress-free and efficient tracking.
Also Read: How Workflow Automation reduces employee burnout and stress?
Three project tracking strategies to get more Business
Tracking projects is necessary for any professional services company. There are many approaches to this, with varying levels of complexity and functionality. To help teams stay organized and avoid late-night story time, here are some strategies:
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Workflow automation:
Workflow automation is a game changer in achieving project efficiency. Rather than manually creating tickets for every task and monitoring each access’s progress. Ticket automation can save time and create a more efficient workflow.
Workflow automation can take many forms. JIRA is a bug-tracking software that enables the creation of workflows. This can come in handy if the project has multiple teams and members. Juntrax has timesheets to monitor projects and keep records of time taken by employees.
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Mobile Application:
It is necessary to have a mobile application to track time and projects quickly. Having a dedicated mobile application will increase productivity, as you can easily access the system anywhere without a laptop. It is a perfect solution for all the people working remotely to connect with the teams. It also keeps all members on the same page. Employees can easily track due dates and update timesheets for you to glimpse easily.
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Effective communication:
One significant contributor to a successful business is efficient communication. Especially today when companies follow a new hybrid model. Everyone must be clear about the goals and responsibilities of the business. Accessible communication is possible when you have the right tools to support it. Tracking tools help a lot in bringing transparency to the company. You will save time and energy with the right tools regardless of your project management style.
Choosing a platform is another challenge. Plenty of free services are available if you have a few projects at once. However, if you have more than one ongoing project at a time and are doing actual work for profits. It’s worth paying for the service. Juntrax’s services are free of cost if you are a small-scale company with less than ten employees. Apart from this, Juntrax is a one-stop platform for all your business needs. You can create timesheets, manage workflow, generate payslips, create automated invoices, and manage onboarding all in one place.
