How Microsoft Project is Helping Project Managers Keep Pace With the Latest Trends

One of the biggest areas of workplace change since the pandemic began has been in the area of project management. Project managers can no longer run projects on Excel from their laptop, taking and dishing out actions in a physical meeting room and managing the results through Outlook updates.

The author of this page: Malek Al-Shayeb
Malek Al-Shayeb, Principal PPM Consultant Nov 11, 2021

As a result, standard project management practices are being replaced by modern and innovative solutions, leading to greater accountability, visibility and collaboration across the organisation.

Two key trends that we are seeing in the organisations that we work with are decentralised and hybrid working is leading to drastic changes in how projects need to be run and the rise of the “occasional project manager”.

The two trends are, of course, connected and related to the biggest challenges facing business leaders:

1. Are they are investing time, money, and resources into the correct strategic projects

2. Do they have enough visibility to make informed decisions.

It is fortunate in many ways that Microsoft Project, a product that has been a stalwart since 1986, has developed in leaps and bounds – with fantastic integration with other key products such as Teams and SharePoint.

As organisations need to be more agile, more and more employees are being pressed into becoming occasional project managers, meaning that they are taking on project work outside of their regular job titles to drive key initiatives forward.

These occasional project managers need the right collaboration and communication tools to manage newly formed hybrid teams. Tools with the ability to deliver the right level of project visibility to staff and leaders.

To meet this need, Microsoft has bundled both Project Online and Project for the Web under one license, to improve project management adoption. With Project for Web meets the business needs of the occasional project while Project Online delivers the scope and flexibility required for the more seasoned project manager.

Now anyone can run an effective project with the right input and task management, while their managers can have a clear view of progress and challenges.

At Storm, Ireland's only Microsoft Gold Certified Project and Portfolio Management Partner, we have seen an increase in the number of organisations aiming to leverage project management software to make the right strategic decisions. The key is ensuring they make the right decision for their business rather than focusing solely on the technology itself, but we are seeing that Microsoft's suite of project management solutions can make a lot of difference for many.

To find out more about Microsofts latest project management solutions, watch our on-demand webinar "Choosing the Right Project Management Solution for Your Business."

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