The Ultimate Guide to Rolling Out a New Project Management Tool
A solid project management software is critical for agencies since they’re juggling countless projects every day. A good tool can make planning, keeping tabs of, and carrying out projects so much more simple and streamlined. Add in some solid guidelines for the team to follow and you’re that much closer to the well-oiled machine your agency can be. 🙌
Is there a downside to project management (PM) tools? The sheer fact that there are SO MANY PM tool options to choose from, making the selection of a PM tool extremely overwhelming. Just check out this list of 70+ PM tools by fellow agency consultant Karl Sakas, to see all the options.
Because there are so many tools to choose from, I’ve seen many companies frequently swapping out for “better” ones, wasting a ton of time and money. Another inefficiency with PM tools is when they go partially or completely unused because it doesn’t meet the needs of all the team members. I strongly believe the best way to utilize a PM tool is to research thoroughly, choose wisely, and then commit to using the tool for at least 2 years.
Luckily I’ve had first hand experience of what it takes for things to go smoothly when choosing and implementing a PM tool, and I’m going to walk you through some recommendations step-by-step so things go smoothly for you as well.
#1 - Assign a Project Owner to Select the PM Tool
If you’re livin’ that agency life, you already know the importance of having a PM or project owner on a client project. Internal projects like picking a PM software should not be any different. Otherwise, it can be easy for internal initiatives to fall by the wayside since your team’s priorities are always focused on client work being number one.
When picking a project owner, make sure they’ll either have or be able to gather enough context in order to really own the project. Don’t just assign someone for the sake of having an owner, make it count!
#2 - Get Clear on the Problem(s) You’re Solving
You’ll want to analyze the current pain points by visiting the existing processes, workflows and tools you’re currently using.
Start by interviewing those that are most affected by the existing issues. Make sure to talk to people from each department, as well as contractors and clients. Ask them questions such as:
“What are your likes/dislikes about the current tools and processes?”
“What are the biggest areas for improvement?”
“Who else should I speak to that can provide more insight?”
“Is there anything that’s not in place that would make projects run way more smoothly?”
If it helps, have the person run through their current experience from start to finish so you can get real clear on what’s currently in place. Sometimes, it’s easy to overlook how someone interacts with a tool if you’re not in the same department.
In addition to the interviews, you can also send out a survey to assess the current state of things with the rest of the team. If there’s someone that has any interesting thoughts you want to dig into further, feel free to interview them 1:1 as well.
Lastly, document the issues you’re solving so you can revisit them later and make sure you’re actually solving the issues at hand. Just like a scope of work for a client, it’s important to know when scope creep is at play!
#3 - Put Together a List of Tool Requirements
If you know me, you know that I love a good checklist and that’s what I recommend for putting together a list of requirements for the new PM tool.
Start by re-visiting that list of problems you’re trying to solve and put together requirements for your new tool(s) based on solutions you’ll need. Don’t forget to include integrations if you think you might use multiple tools to solve for your pain points.
Organize the list into sections titled “Must Have”, “Nice to Have”, and “Integrations” (if applicable). You can then add in any tools you’ll be assessing next to the checklist to make things easier to compare. It could look something like this:
The best part about this checklist is it’ll serve as historical documentation of why you ended up choosing one tool over another.
#4 - Research Potential Tools
This would typically be the overwhelming part since there are so many options. However, with your checklist of requirements, you’ll more easily be able to weed out any tools that don’t make the “Must Have” requirements right away.
Here are some resources to use as you assess the tools:
Demos
Reviews
YouTube tutorials
Slack forums
Reaching out to others in the industry to see what they’re using and whether they like it. People love sharing information about tools they love!
Go through each tool and check off your findings in the requirements checklist so you can compare each tool apples to apples.
#5 - Choose Your Tool!
Now that your checklist of requirements is fully filled out, you should start to see the front runners or even better, a clear winner!
If you still need to weigh a couple of the tools, some additional things you can dig into are:
Stability of the company/product
Cost
UX
Complexity of the implementation
Application options
Support offerings
Future plans for the product
#6 - Set Up an Implementation Plan
Don’t worry, you’re almost at the finish line! I’m not going to go into detail here since your plan is going to vary a great deal depending on your existing tools and workflows, the software you choose, integrations, and so on.
Some things I do recommend for this phase are:
Make sure you communicate the plan to your fellow team members as you may need to lean on different people to help with the implementation phase.
Remember all those people you spoke with to discuss pain points? I suggest you speak with them again and get their thoughts around the features of this new tool and how they’ll be interacting with it. This will guide you in creating an efficient process for the entire team.
Document the new process around the new tool.
Don’t underestimate the importance of training and onboarding for the team (and anyone else impacted). Getting it right the first time will prevent costly retraining later.
Final Thoughts
Remember that projects are never going to go perfectly and there sure isn’t a perfect PM tool that exists. However, if you take some extra time to work through the steps that have been outlined, you’ll be setting your team up for a greater chance at success.
Launching a new tool can be a big investment but it holds many opportunities! You’ll have the chance to answer pain points for your team and increase communication. After you launch, you’ll have the opportunity to continue to make improvements by doing a project retro, and surveying the team once you’re up and running for at least 30 days. This intentional process will communicate to your team that you value them and will help with employee retention!
The work is worth it. So don’t delay, start the process for implementing a new PM tool today!
