If you’re a project manager, your typical day involves having to keep on top of dozens of tasks, and that’s on the slow days. Having an online calendar to help you keep your day-to-day obligations is crucial to ensuring that the project runs smoothly each and every day and this could cause more than a little anxiety. There are dozens of online calendars to choose from, and deciding which one is best for your project, and your team can be a daunting task. In this article we will be showcasing some of the best online calendars for project managers, as well as some of the innovative features that these calendars are able to offer.
Microsoft Excel
Since its initial launch, Microsoft Excel has been the go-to software for project managers. Many project teams rely on Microsoft Excel because of its familiarity and accessibility. It’s great for use in such things as creating small scale meeting agendas, and organising a simple schedule for the day. This makes Microsoft Excel a great and cost-effective option for smaller sized projects and groups.
Microsoft Excel does however come with certain limitations that may pose a challenge to larger or more involved projects. One example is the amount of manual work that can be involved when needing a calendar that requires more complex scheduling for projects that have a lot of team members. Organising large scale schedules on Excel involves a fairly complex formula that may be difficult for some to work with. That being said, Microsoft Excel is most suited for projects that require only short-term agendas.
Google Calendar
Google Calendar is one of the most popular choices amongst project teams, this is due impart to the fact that many project teams are already using Gmail, which makes this app not only pre integrated, but simple to access as well. This easy to use calendar is great for not only keeping day-to-day schedules, but scheduling kickoff meetings, and dropping important project or company milestones as well. Google calendar is also offered to users at no cost, which is a plus for projects that have budget constraints.
Wrike Calendars
Wrike Calendars has been designed with large scale, and/or highly detailed projects in mind. This innovative, and easy to use online calendar, is able to oversee an entire project and is more than capable of managing tasks, dependencies, and deadlines. In addition to that, Wrike Calendars offer features that online calendars like Excel or Google cannot. The most notable being its ability to create different calendars based on the project type, allowing both team members, and stakeholders, the ability to view specific tasks on a more organised platform.
Staying organised is the most important part of project management, this is why it is so important that project managers stay up to date and informed on all of the organisational tools available to them. It’s also important to keep updated on the latest tools and techniques that leading projects managers are leveraging to ensure project success. This can be done via project management training or enrolling in project management courses.