Time is of the essence in project management. No wonder project managers are constantly looking for ways to optimize their workflow and increase productivity.
One solution that has gained popularity in recent years is the use of automation through project management tools. By automating repetitive tasks, project managers can free up valuable time and focus on more important work.
One of the key benefits of using automation is its ability to increase repeatability and predictability.
Machines follow predefined processes, reducing human error and leading to consistent results. This improves efficiency and ensures that projects stay on track and deadlines are met.
I will illustrate my point with an example. I have been a project manager long enough to remember the time when offices used to be surrounded by whiteboards and Post-it notes.
I would try to keep track of so many conversations and tasks at a time that it was quite stressful to communicate with multiple team members. You can picture me holding a phone in one hand and a notepad in the other amid the chaos and effort involved in manual communication.
Now thanks to automation, I am at my desk with a laptop open, displaying the monday dev interface (software developed by monday.com for dev teams). All I need to do is set up an automated workflow with a trigger. For instance, "When a task status changes to 'Complete', notify the team member responsible."
This workflow will run indefinitely and without fail unless I disable it. No room for any miscommunication. Amazing, right? Things like this free up so much mental bandwidth, because you know the things that need to be taken care of being taken care of. You don't have to check in on them. You don't have to sync on things make sure all the tasks were done. You don't have to feel like you're micromanaging employees. Things just happen and it's amazing.
I can't emphasise enough how incredible it is, to just be able to tell AI the kind of automation you wanted to create and see it being created in front of your eyes.
By streamlining projects through automation, teams can produce more output without adding additional resources. Automation allows for better resource allocation and optimization, resulting in increased productivity.
But when should you consider implementing automation? I have already given you an example of how automation can transform communication and collaboration.
There are two other key areas where automations can be particularly beneficial:
- Monitoring key project aspects: Automation can be used to monitor critical paths, deadlines, overloaded resources, and delays. By automatically tracking these factors, project managers can quickly identify potential issues or bottlenecks before they become major problems.
- Automating manual tasks: If there are tasks within your project management process that are manual, time-consuming, well-documented, and consistently repeated – they could likely benefit from automation. These tasks often include work intake process flows or creating new projects and tasks.
If you automate processes in these areas, you will be able to reduce mundane administrative tasks which will free you for more critical aspects.
We also use monday dev integration with various other apps such as Gmail, MS Teams, Slack, Zoom, and GitHub for seamless information flow between tools.
Additionally, automation maintains consistent quality throughout the project lifecycle, minimizing errors due to human oversight or fatigue, and ensuring precision and accuracy in execution.
Below are some specific automated workflow processes I have set up using monday dev:
- Status change notifications: Automate notifications when the status of a task changes. For instance, when a bug is marked as resolved, relevant team members or stakeholders can be automatically notified.
- Trigger-based task management: Set up triggers based on specific criteria, such as "When a task is marked as complete, move it to the 'Done' column." This helps in efficient project tracking without manual intervention.
- Time-based reminders: Automations can remind teams of approaching deadlines or trigger specific actions based on time, such as sending a reminder a day before a task is due.
- Dependency management: Automatically update or notify team members when dependent tasks are completed. This ensures seamless progress in projects with interconnected tasks.
- Automated reporting: Generate and distribute reports automatically at set intervals, providing stakeholders with regular updates on project progress.
- Resource allocation: Automate the assignment of new tasks based on predefined conditions, such as workload balance or expertise area.
- Quality assurance checks: Integrate automated quality checks that trigger when a piece of code is committed or updated, ensuring immediate feedback on the code's integrity.
- Cross-board automation: For projects spanning multiple boards or teams, automate the movement or synchronization of tasks across these boards to maintain consistency.
- Automated documentation: Trigger the creation or updating of documentation when certain milestones are reached in the development process.
- Integration with development tools: Link your project management tool with code repositories or CI/CD pipelines to automate aspects like branch creation, pull request management, or deployment processes.
In summary, incorporating automation into your project management software offers numerous benefits for both individual users and organizations as a whole.
It frees up valuable time by handling repetitive tasks, increases repeatability through predefined processes, helps achieve more output with fewer resources, and monitors key aspects of projects efficiently.
If you're just starting out with automation in project management, it's best to begin by automating basic tasks before gradually expanding its implementation across your projects.
Start small but think big – even automating a few simple tasks can have a significant impact on productivity and efficiency.
What would be the tasks that you would automate if you could that will give you back hours each week? Let me know in the comments.
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