Collaborative projects need collaborative management systems and processes

Most projects don’t fail because of a lack of charts, stats or report. They fail because of a lack of communication. Where the participants are located apart in distance and the conversation about the project are held asynchronously, then there is a high possibility of poor project outcomes unless specific project systems are put in place.

Collaborative project management (CPM) is a methodology that can be applied in these circumstances. It requires a different way of working and the use of project management (PM) tools that are familiar yet used in different ways. To overcome the distance / time issue the majority of CPM methodologies use online systems to support the project team. These range from a small use to cover some gaps through to completely managing the project using sophisticated yet simple to use online systems. To continue to run collaborative type projects without using CPM techniques will likely mean reduced productivity, less documentation of progress, overuse of emails and lost time due to a higher number of face-to-face meetings.

I've listed below a few of the online systems that may be helpful in co-ordinating collaorative projects.


http://www.veoproject.com/home.aspx full online system for projects with templates, gantt charts, roles, tasks etc.

http://www.manymoon.com/auth/login more simplified online project management that combines with Google documents

www.huddle.net good for virtual team working though note specifically project management related

http://www.workflowmax.com/features/jobtracking.html a bit different to project management though useful if you have a number of people on the same project and need to keep track of inputs and outputs

http://www.basecamphq.com/ simple to use and one of the earliest online systems

http://www.teamdirection.com/ lots of features and an MS Project add-in which is useful. Also syncs with Sharepoint. Not specifically online but can support CPM

http://www.trackeroffice.com/tracker_project.html is an Outlook import that integrates with existing software and helps personal as well as group project productivity. Can also be provided on a web basis

http://www.kalmstrom.com/products/Outlook/TimeCard/ an Outlook import that can monitor time spent on a project (productivity / reporting rather than project management)

If you want to use a wiki then there is a wiki on how to do this! http://projectmanagementdemo.pbwiki.com/ Although this can be customised to suit your purposes it feels a bit clunky when compared to the tools available

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