Your All-In-One Web Based Project Management Tool

Even the best managers can get carried away in the excitement of landing a new client or getting the go-ahead to begin a new project. From signing contracts to salary spikes to picking your team, the early days of project management are fun but also crucial to developing your overall strategy. After your initial burst of big idea brainstorming, it’s time to settle down and begin planning out all the little details that will hold your project together and create an effective, profitable finished product or service. Here are five smart tips for planning out your next project and ensuring that you’re successful in the end.

1. Create a team. The team you assemble for your project should mesh well together personally and professionally. You don’t need to be friends out of work, but your abilities and ways of thinking should complement each other so that everyone’s strengths are brought out during the process of putting together the project. Pick individuals who are competent and deadline-oriented, and who are comfortable answering to you as well as working with others in the group.
2. Set short- and long-term goals. It’s vital to the success of your project to have a long-term goal that outlines what you want your finished product to look like and how you market it. It’s also important, however, to set smaller, short-term goals or “tasks” to keep you on track and monitor progress in our online project management tool. These goals can be generated in the form of deadlines or milestones and also help to ease your mind once you’re able to cross things off your list.
3. Test out your project in stages. Rather than waiting until the end to test out the effectiveness of your project, give your product or system little tests along the way. This method will help you more accurately identify problems or gaps in your strategy.
4. Stay organized. Set up a filing system, spreadsheets, charts or another organization system that will help you stay motivated and accountable for each of your decisions.
5. Communicate. Keep your clients, supervisors and team members updated with any problems, new ideas and progressions regarding the end result. Communication inspires efficiency and leaves little room for avoidable mistakes.

You’re next project should be a satisfying, invigorating experience, but remember to stay organized, set up a responsible, communicative team, and set goals for yourself to stay on track and finish your project to your client’s liking.

(This post was contributed by Caitlin Smith, who writes about the associates degree programs. She too welcomes your feedback at CaitlinSmith1117@gmail.com)

Time is money, and when you’re at the computer all day, a few convenient shortcuts can usually speed up the tedious computer-use part of online project management. We’ve put together a list of common PC keyboard shortcuts, so you can stop wasting time clicking allll the way over there and start using your keyboard for lightning fast computer skills that will astound your peers.

Shortcut Tip: For PCs, in addition to the shortcuts listed on this page, users can find the shortcut keys to their programs by looking for underlined letters in their menus. For example, in your Internet browser menu, you will see  File, Edit, View, History etc. Holding ALT + the underlined letter will open that option.

For all you email fiends, here are some Microsoft Outlook shortcuts:

I know, I know, what about all the Mac users? Well you’ll just have to check out the next post

A big part of project management is managing the client. Sure, you need to get organized, check off tasks, gather resources and manage risk, but in the end, it’s the overall satisfaction of the client that matters most. While online project management tools are traditionally reserved for internal use (to keep the mess behind the scenes), certain aspects can be used to involve the client and keep them in the loop. Not only this, but project management tools can also be used to keep client contact information organized and within easy reach.

With SantexQ, you can keep track of important client contact information such as main contact names, mailing address, email addresses and phone numbers. The Q also has “Custom Information” fields, where you can add in any additional information that you may need for a certain client, including access logins, passwords and related websites. Find more tips and trick for Using SantexQ.

You can allow clients access to the information being stored on your project management tool by adding them as a user and changing the settings to the desired level of accessibility. This way, you can keep your client in the loop but without over complicating their involvement. SantexQ also has a built in file upload feature for easy document sharing between you and your client.

Essentially, an online project management tool is a reliable place for team members and clients to access important information no matter where they are.

The new SantexQ is going strong and we just wanted to take a minute and thank YOU, our users! Your feedback and questions have helped us create an online project management tool that we are truly proud of.

The new invoicing and file upload features have been a great success and we look forward to continued growth. We are glad that SantexQ is helping to bring better productivity and effective task management to your projects.

If you have any questions or comments, feel free to post here on the blog, or catch us on Twitter @SantexQ.

-The SantexQ Team

I recently stumbled upon a very interesting site - Wakoopa.com. It’s a social network, but specifically for online web applications. Not only can you talk, share and interact with other Wakoopa users about your fave applications, the site also offers a desktop tracker that measures how often you use different applications and programs, from online project management tools to Photoshop to Yahoo! Messenger. So if you ever wanted to know just how much you use Facebook versus Myspace, this site is for you. Who knows?  You may be able to use the data to increase productivity.

The site ALSO reccommends apps it thinks you will like, and of course, let’s you search through the database and discover new ones. The social network part comes in with updates on who’s using what, which apps are most popular, and the ability to create a widget that shows your favorites. Intrigued? It’s actually quite interesting, and with all the new web apps constantly cropping up, it’s time we started using them social network style.

Webinars. Short for Web-based seminar, a presentation, lecture, workshop or seminar that is transmitted over the Web. The concept may seem simple enough, but can they be used as a tool for project management?

We just attended a webinar on Social Media  yesterday brought to us by Hubspot.com. The session was very informative and even gave us an opportunity to ask questions and get live answers. Webinars are a great way to communicate, share useful information and interact with people from across the globe. Before, “seminars”  meant taking a business trip and typically paying a fee to attend. Now you can easily learn valuable information from experts for free, all through the miracle of the Internet. Not only this, but webinars can be recorded and replayed for anyone who missed them.

In the world of project management, webinars can be used in a few ways: you can let your team members know about an upcoming webinar so they can attend and ask questions, you can refer clients to a webinar so that they may learn more information about the service you provide (this is especially helpful with things like social media and SEO), or you can hold your OWN webinar to interact with and help train new or existing team members. It’s high time we start using the incredible power of the Internet to better communicate, inform and bring our project teams closer. In a sense, webinars are another form of online project management tools.

What are your thoughts? Has anyone had a particularly good experience with webinars? Has anyone held their own webinar for project management purposes? Share your thoughts and opinions here!

Not quite. But there is an online game that you can play that parallels the full video gamer experience. It’s called Sharkworld and it is a virtual project management world where you have to take on a project, chat up the boss and avoid major project management pitfalls. This really takes online project management tools to the next level.

From the site:

“Sharkworld allows aspiring project managers to experiment and gain experience with key aspects of project management in a highly entertaining and motivating setting.

This online game creates a convincing virtual environment in which a project is developed in real time, urging the management trainee to interfere when things go wrong, or preferably, before they do.

Several suspense scenarios increase the entertainment value of the game. The game covers not only economic aspects, but also social aspects, conflict management and diplomatic skills. Interaction takes place in real life, by real life means.

The game interacts with the player in many different ways: through websites - both fictional and real, cutscenes, email, newspaper articles, chat, sms and written letters.”

This could be a good exercise for an aspiring project manager or a friendly test for the PM expert. Think you’re up to the challenge? Play the game.

Or you could use an online project mangement tool like SantexQ!

In these tougher economic times many are people looking to cut back on general costs, overhead and day-to-day expenses. Some businesses are worried about just surviving. In a CNN Money poll, nearly half the small business owners surveyed said that they are concerned their company won’t outlast the recession.

Now is the time to be smart with every penny. As Benjamin Franklin once said, “small leaks can sink great ships.” Put the extra time and energy into finding places to cut back and get the most for your money.

One great place to look for money saving opportunities is your PM software. The SantexQ team is proud to say that we have maintained affordability and quality during the gloomy market recession. With our prices starting at FREE and Premium accounts at $9.95/month, other online project management tools in comparison don’t fare nearly as well. In some cases you could see an annual savings of $1,981.00 by switching to SantexQ.

Here is a breakdown of the pricing of other popular project management tools:

• Basecamp, our largest competitor, recommends the Plus plan, which costs $49 per month. The basic plan costs $24.00 per month while the top plan costs $149.00 per month. That’s almost 15 times the cost of our premium plan in just one month!
• Intervals Management, a similar web-based time tracking, task management and project management tool for small businesses, has their Basic Plan starting at twice our Premium plan at $20.00. The monthly price for top shelf services? An astounding $175.00 per month!
• 5pm is another task management, time tracking and reporting system. Their prices also range from $18.00-$175.00. Compared to our $0.00-$9.95, these are major savings that can add up over the year - to the tune of $1,981.00.
• ProWorkflow starts at $10.00 and goes up to $30.00 for the Advanced plan. Though the price might seem more reasonable than the others, at the end of each year your company can save $240.60 when comparing to the SantexQ Premium plan.
• Wrike, another web based project management tool, has prices that range from $4.99 to $14.99 per USER,  per month. With the cheapest plan you get: no time-tracking, no calendar and no Excel export. With SantexQ’s premium account, you get all the features and unlimited users at one flat rate per month.

For businesses that need a straightforward and easy-to-use tool for task and time management, the Q is the perfect solution. With one low monthly rate, you get the features you need, and nothing you don’t. What do you get when you sign up for a SantexQ plan starting at FREE? Here are our plans, pricing and tools:

Get started today with the Q at no charge. The Basic Account level will allow you to manage one project and keep track of exactly how much time is spent on each task! You receive:

• One active user and one project per account
• Time tracking with timesheets
• Client information management
• Project reporting
• Export to Excel
• PDF Invoice Creation
• 128-bit SSL Security

Sign up for a Premium account to receive ALL of the benefits that the Q has to offer. With unlimited access to all of the features in the Q, you will be able to keep track of your projects with ease and generate as many invoices as needed for each client. In addition to the great features of the Basic account, Premium accounts include:

• UNLIMITED users
• UNLIMITED projects
• UNLIMITED clients
• UNLIMITED invoice creation
• Punch clock
• File uploads

Our Premium Accounts are available at the flat rate of $9.95 per month, which could save your company close to $2,000.00 when compared to other PM tools. That is some big savings in your company wallet and an even more job security and market confidence to outlast this recession. Remember, little changes can make big differences.

Imagine Facebook or Myspace, but only for project management! A while back, we did a post on business social networks and found them to be less than impressive.  I recently stumbled upon PPMNG.com, or the Professional Project Managers Networking Group, a social network for project managers and those involved in the project management field. It looks very promising and gives all the benefits of social networking without the fees or the constant sales push. This social network, powered by Ning, allows you to:

- Connect with other members
- Post Forum questions for feedback
- Start a blog to share your views
- Look for a new PM job

The site is a great way to interact directly with other project management professionals and learn things in a whole new way. You can chat with other members one on one, ask questions and get opinions using the forums, and even get feedback on your ideas using the blog feature.

Using social networking to share information is definitely an important element for improving project management techniques on a personal and professional level. Not only that, but social networks like PPMNG make it easy to get into contact with other professionals to help your business, look for and discuss job opportunities and even spread the word about your company. They even have discussions as specific as project management software so you can get valuable information on who uses what online project management tool and why.

While there are quite a few business social networks out there, the fact that this one focuses specifically on project management is a big plus. You don’t have to search and search to find relevant discussions and for the most part, members have something useful to bring to the table.

Have you ever used PPMNG or a similar site? Let us know your thoughts in the comments!