Project vs Task vs Process Management Software: Understanding the Distinction
Management software is growing increasingly essential component in business operations. Offering businesses ways to improve operational efficiency, productivity and generally help with organisation of daily procedures, tasks and ongoing projects.
The problem these days is the huge selection of management tools which are available to offer help. It important to understand which one best suits your business requirements and role you need it to play.
Task management, process management and project management are the three most common ones. Selecting between these three can be confusing without comprehending the fundamental concept differences.
For example you might have found yourself working with a process management app / tool and wondering why it’s not effective for your project.
Learning the differences between these main management softwares can help you to select the right tool and maximise the benefit for your business.
Guide to Management Software
Business Goals – Efficiency, Productivity and comformity of tasks.
Business Example – Continuous ongoing management of tasks and business processes. Stop tasks being missed and create steps by step guide for everyone to follow to ensure everything is done properly. Schedule processes to deploy and allocate to the appropriate team member. Help manage time and prioritise workflow.
Benefit to business – Automated Business Processes give consistent results and ability to share and document tacit knowledge.
Key System Features – Create checklists that offer a guide to get the best results and give customers the best possible experience. Enables trackable audit trail, with the power to analyse processes to increase productivity.
Data Benefits – Traceability, Reduce Mistakes, Accountability, Collaboration, Consistency, and Scalability.
BPM Business Process Management Software – Checkify, Process Street, Kissflow, Tallyfy,
Business Goals – Productivity, Task Organisation, Overview and Reminder
Business Example– Daily Tasks, One-off tasks, and the ability to prioritise tasks.
Benefit to Business – Focus, organise and prioritise tasks to
know exactly what to work on next.
Key System Features – To do list, set daily and weekly goals and free up mental space.
Data Benefits – See progress and productivity.
Task Management Software / Apps – Checkify, todoist, Wrike, Wunderlist. Monday.com, Notion, Teamwork, Asanna,
Business Goals – Evolving Project with a set date for completion.
Business Examples – Individual one off project.
Business Use – One off project and goal.
Benefit business – Project documents and chat all in one place.
Key System Features – Team Planning, scheduling, collaboration, and tracking chat and discussions for the projects direction.
Data Benefits – Documented chats, decisions and timescales
Project Management Software / Apps – Trello, Basecamp, Asana, Wrike, Teamwork, Microsoft Project
What is Task Management?
Task management software primarily focuses on an individual user. The concept involves single actions performed individually.
For example, if your day consists of posting a blog article on the company website and tracking social media trends, then those are tasks. They have start and end points. Of the three elements, task management is the simplest, but just as crucial.
When working on a task, the goals are more standalone. However, the activities you complete might later factor into a bigger role. It could be a process or project.
Task management solutions aim to improve the productivity of one person. Think of it like a grocery list so you don’t forget something important when you go to the shops. A reminder or note to trigger a action.
The tool enables you to plan your tasks by importance. After finishing items you get the pleasure of ticking the item off,. The data isn’t necessarily used for additional tasks or planning in the future a more there and then approach.
Including some form of analysis to allow you to monitor tasks to gauge your progress can increase happiness and greater feeling of fulfilment.
What is Project Management
Project management is a one-off event broken into of several stages. It is non-repetitive and involves the collaboration of several people.
Team members have different roles that in the end are combined to deliver an output. For instance, creating a social media marketing campaign for you newest brand. The specific tasks of such a project are not defined from the get go. They are not repetitive either.
However, you might have one thing that the team does before beginning the project. For example, having a meeting to identify the objectives of a project. Typically, you could have a vague idea of how to proceed but don’t have a concrete plan yet. You might know that customer research will be a part of the project but unsure about the specific methods of going it. Other characteristics of a project is that it’s temporary with a clearly defined scope, timeline and budget. Project management software factors in all this.
Collaboration is the biggest feature of a PM tool. Project members must stay on the same page across the different stages. The role of the software is to boost strategic alignment, agility and efficiencies. Tracking a project is also less complicated.
What is Process Management
The main distinction of a process from a task and project is repetition. A business will have elements of the operations that have to be done over and over. These are processes.
They are integral to the health of an enterprise. For example, carrying out data security checks every Friday as part of a routine safety sweeps. With a process, you know every step beforehand.
Processes can be collaborative just like projects, but they don’t have end points but continual evaluation and designed to be used indefinitely. It can also include automated tasks and .
Process management seeks to enhance efficiency as much as possible. It reduces the friction from one task to another. Companies also get increased visibility and accountability.
Business process management (BPM) software saves time and costs by streamlining end-to-end workflows.
Software needs to work for you
The right management software can change how you approach various duties. Take the time to identify the ideal tool for the job its needs to help with.
Whether task, project or process management they all offer great solutions to different problems. Identify what will be best for your business.
Here at Checkify we offer a process management tool but with the added bonus of task management.
If you want to chat about process management to see if its right for your business or fancy trying the software for trial. Click on signup or use our chat bot in the bottom right hand corner.
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