When the software is engineered, the project managers divide the complete project into different milestones with each having a set of sub-tasks to perform. The project is split into multiple tasks so that the team can work flawlessly. All the tasks are not developed in isolation as they are interrelated to each other. One task after completion is relayed by one team member to another team member. That’s where project management software works great.
What is Project management software?
The project management software provides all the tools and resources that allow the project manager, team members, and stakeholders to smoothly work and complete the project. A seamless allocation of the project tasks to team members and keeping track of project progress allow the manager to know any issue that’s delaying the task completion.
For instance, when the feature is developed by the programmers, it’s passed to the QA & testers to ensure it works impeccably. The relationship between tasks as the project progresses is known as dependency. The project manager needs to create a well-strategic plan for project dependencies before the project is rolled out on the floor. Businesses should select the best agile project management tool in 2022 that allows managers to change the game of dependencies management.
What are the dependencies in project management?
The dependencies in project management are about scheduling and managing various tasks in a sequential form while keeping their requirements in mind. For instance, when task A requires task B to be completed first, then there is a dependency of task B to get task A completed. In complex projects, handling the dependencies is critical such as task B cannot start before task A starts, or task A must start for task B to be completed.
There are a couple of terms that you should know to better understand dependencies.
Project constraints are the restrictions to which the manager must adhere to achieve the goal. For example, the quality delivery objective is achieved when the manager ensures that the project gets completed within the defined scope, time, and budget.
Lag time is the delays made in between the one task completion and starting other tasks even when the resources are available.
The lead concept under the finish-to-start relationship involves accelerating the succeeding task with the preceding task because the succeeding task cannot be started unless the preceding task is finished.
A critical path is a chain of activities that goes on continuously and if any activity is delayed, it impacts the project deadline.
How does project management tool help in removing barriers and achieving goals?
Dependencies come out as a challenge in project management that managers need to handle tactically. There are many tools provided by project management software that remove barriers and enable the teams to reach their goals glitch-free.
Task organization
The best project management tools feature task management that enables managing internal dependencies better. Task management allows project managers to create a project plan including all the activities and dependent activities so that the team proceeds with task development accordingly and gets the project completed before the deadline.
Improved visualization
Handling the dependencies as they come across the development makes things messy. It’s better to create a project plan for identifying and recording the dependencies ahead of time. The project management tool improves the visualization of data which makes recognizing dependencies a breeze. Gantt charts, Kanban, list tasks, and other tools help in showcasing which tasks are interdependent.
Build risk log
After dependencies identification, the next step is to find out how they impact the project. When the help of external vendors is taken to reduce the workload of the team, the external dependencies steps in. The external dependencies make the project go out of control and vulnerable due to external vendor involvement. The team needs to prepare to tackle them to accommodate extra working hours in the schedule when any task completion is delayed from the vendor side.
Well, the manager cannot create a log of all the potential risks, as some of them pop up unexpectedly during software development.
Contingency plan creation
As discussed in the upper section, creating a risk log is not enough to well-handle and manage various types of dependencies such as logical dependency, resource dependency, external dependency, preferential dependency, and cross-team dependencies. The best agile project management tool 2022 enables project risk management by alerting the manager with damage control mode. It saves a lot of valuable time for the managers when things start getting worse. Buffers are also created to diminish the dependency effect and get the best contingency plans.
Improved engagement with clients
The managers use project management tools to showcase all the dependencies among the tasks at various stages and how they will impact the software development alongside possible resolutions. It keeps both the team and client on the same page, which eliminates miscommunication or conflict between them.
Stay on top with Tudu
The best project management software has become an integral part of the software development landscape to stay on the top of the nitty-gritty of the project. The improved reliance on technology is making things easy and creating opportunities to improve the outcomes. Tudu is a one-stop-shop to organize everything from task management and tracking to performance optimization and deal with all the challenges.
Tudu helps in mastering the task management by automating the recurring task allocation, improving visibility into task through various tools (Calendar view facilitate viewing tasks individually, Gantt View for data visualization and Timeline to track the task as per schedule), and facilitating cross-collaboration with central storage, access, and file sharing. The unified system for work management enables the manager to keep the data secured by limiting access and allowing the team to handle the work shift when it comes due to external dependencies.
Boost your Team productivity and performance by 45% with TUDU
It’s the best agile project management tool in 2022 that helps project managers know all the dependencies in advance, identify the possible solutions to remove all the development obstacles created by dependencies, and get ahead of the project goals. If your team is working onsite or offsite, Tudu will help you keep the dependencies on track. Let’s have hands-on Tudu!
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