In my internet search for project management budgeting and forecasting tools, I came across many templates and helpful guides as well as books, articles and discussion forums. As a novice to formal project management, it was gratifying to see all of the free tools and advice available thanks to the collaborative learning environment available to all of us on the world wide web. Two items caught my attention.
First, a budget estimating spreadsheet template with video tutorial from Social Signal (SoSi) is available on their site at http://www.socialsignal.com/blog/alexandra-samuel/how-create-budget-estimates-proposals-and-project-management.
I am including a video demonstration because it is a very well done step by step walk through showcasing the functionality of the tool. What I liked about this tool, was that it is ready to use as is, but could be easily customized. It lends itself well to both simple and complex projects. The fact that there is a video tutorial that accompanies it's use is advantageous especially for a novice project manager.
The second tool I came across was the event plan and budget sheet within Smartsheet's menu of project management templates.
Smartsheet provides a user friendly interface and allow you to create online sheets and save them in a portal for easy access later. I set up a free 30 day free trial and each account provides access to a portal with many project management templates geared for a project managers duties. The event plan and budget sheet is just one example. Click the link for a sneak peek that shows the tools on the left hand side. Example event plan and budget template in Smartsheet
This would be a great tool for someone who manages a lot of projects. While there is plenty of online help and the software has a lot of features built in, using the functionality in my opinion would take some time to learn. I don't think for that reason it would be beneficial for someone like myself who may only manage an occasional project at this point in time.
References:
Creative Commons 2010. Open SoSi: The Concept Jam Part 7How to create budget estimates for proposals and project management retrieved from http://www.socialsignal.com/blog/alexandra-samuel/how-create-budget-estimates-proposals-and-project-management
Smartsheet Solutions: ©2015. All Rights Reserved Smartsheet.com Collaborative project management for projects of any scale retrieved from https://www.smartsheet.com/solutions/project-management
Hello Karen,
ReplyDeleteI really liked your choice of the video for estimating. It was easy to follow and I thought it was helpful to go along with this week's project. I can see how rounding down may be an important part of estimating projects for project managers. Do you agree or disagree? Why or why not?
I also think the Smartsheet Solutions looks like a great program to use for program managers. I also found it helpful to create a free month trial for the project were are developing for this course, since we do not create several. I was unable to get the example sheet to come up by clicking the example like provided, though.
Thanks,
Jenny Hogg
Hi Jenny, I think the Smartsheet might require a google sign in to view. Sorry about that. I do think it is important for project managers to be able to round up/down when they are working with small incremental numbers, but I would adhere to whatever the client's expectations are. I noticed in the video she referenced up/down in $25 increments. That seems high to me, but I think it depends on the project and the dollar amounts in question. Thank you for the comments and question.
DeleteHi Karen,
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing the resource at SocialSignal. I have found it to be very useful in this weeks application.
Kevin
Great Post! a good tasks management software can also be useful for all managers that are struggling with their team in managing tasks.
ReplyDelete