WHAT IS A PROJECT?
A project is defined as a series of activities with a unique purpose and objectives, which are to be achieved within a specified time frame.
Historically, projects range from the construction of the pyramids in ancient Egypt and the Apollo program which marked the first human spaceflight to the moon, to the development of new smartphone models and IT system development projects. Nowadays, anything labeled as a project is extremely diverse. However, the most important aspect of any project is achieving its unique purpose and objectives by the deadline.
To achieve this, it is not only necessary to have knowledge and skills related to project execution, but also to employ methods that facilitate smooth communication and collaboration between companies or groups.
Therefore, is it easy to facilitate communication and collaboration within a project?
COMMUNICATION
In projects, communication is considered an object of management. High-quality communication is a crucial key to the success of a project. Therefore, what are the common issues in project communication?
In most cases, project communication is often conducted through email exchanges.
Feedback from many projects includes:
- Project emails get mixed with regular emails.
- Concern about information leaks due to misdirected emails.
- Important emails or files were accidentally deleted.
- It is difficult to understand the relevance and outcome of emails.
- Mismatches between team members and project managers occur.
- It is hard to identify the most up-to-date information.
- It is unclear who made changes or deletions, and when.
- Communication is challenging or restricted due to time zones when many companies or multinational companies are involved in a project.
Therefore, what is necessary to eliminate such various problems and enable higher quality communication in projects?
COLLABORATION
Collaboration, often translated as cooperation or joint work, originates from the Latin words “Co” (together) + “labor” (work). In a project involving multiple companies, members from these companies must share project-related information. In addition to high-quality communication, when multiple companies (stakeholders) are involved, high-quality collaboration is naturally required.
Therefore, what hinders collaboration between companies within a project
- It becomes unclear which is the latest version of shared information or materials among multiple companies or groups.
- There is overlapping information, making it unclear which is correct.
- It is unknown who modified or deleted something, and when.
- Access rights to information cannot be controlled.
- The approval workflow is hard to understand.
- Files are freely copied, and ownership is unclear, making it difficult for the IT department to manage.
- Shared file sizes become large and get corrupted.
- Resources are on internal servers, making them inaccessible from outside.
To achieve better collaboration, managing document handling and a clear workflow is crucial.
You will likely feel the need for a system that allows centralized management of projects.