“Men have become the tools of their tools.” – Henry David Thoreau

There’s an endless array of software systems and tools available today to address business needs: task management tools, scheduling tools, communication apps, time tracking software, calendars, Agile systems—the list goes on. Irrespective of your company or team focus, there’s a product that will help you optimize and better organize your work.

Having such a broad range of tools to track projects and provide essential data offers up rich opportunities for organizations. But when is there too much to choose from? Many companies have to work with such a bewildering array of systems that productivity is often paralyzed (or severely slowed down) rather than maximized.

Common problems of having too many project software platforms include:

• It’s time consuming switching between systems.
• You have too many tools to maintain, and pay for.
• Teams working in different project management tools can’t collaborate effectively.
• It’s hard to access project data across an organization when information is spread over various platforms.
• Organizations with a mishmash of integrations can’t wrangle a consistent flow of information.
• Companies pay for software that nobody’s using.
• There are too many software products to learn (or choose from) so people pull out their spreadsheets and go rogue.

To confront (and unravel) what feels like a hodgepodge of platforms, we recommend integrating key project management needs into one system. You don’t need a suite of different products to create a top-notch, one-stop project management platform.

A central location for multiple project-related functions supports a shared mission among teams and across organizations. It also helps everyone get their work done in a more efficient and productive manner.

Here are the top benefits of streamlining your project management software:

• Improved communication and collaboration because more people will be managing their work in the same space.
• More reliable and holistic data and insights.
• Higher adoption because key PM features are in one place.
• A more realistic and complete view of the project.
• A more efficient use of resources.
• Increased time tracking—if you include this feature in your PM tool.

Even though modern-day business teams use a variety of software products to conduct business, you don’t have to cobble together a myriad of tools to make a complete PM platform (Frankenstein’s monster be gone!).

How LiquidPlanner helps organizations streamline systems

At LiquidPlanner, we set out to make it easy for teams to manage their projects from A-to-Z. We did this by creating a complete project management solution, something that integrates features for everything from basic task management all the way up to complex scheduling and estimation. We provide organizations a consistent toolset that everyone can use, which keeps communication and processes highly efficient.

If you’re looking to streamline your project processes and tools, here are the features that LiquidPlanner provides:

• Project planning
• Predictive scheduling
• Time tracking and timesheets
• Workflow management
• Resource management
• Commenting and social collaboration
• File sharing
• Project data, analytics, and reports
• Visual analytics through Dashboards
• Open API to other business systems

Your organization might have all these features covered already—but in different apps. What a mess, right? Imagine consolidating these into one platform—a better work experience for everyone, more reliable data, a more productive team, and higher quality deliverables. It’s a complex world we work in, but things don’t have to be that complicated.

Project management is hard work! That’s why using the right tool can make the difference in how your organization successfully delivers projects and streamlining your software solutions. This blog represents Part six of our nine-part eBook about common PM pain points. To learn more about how to solve PM challenges, and turn them into opportunities, download our eBook, How to Solve the Top 9 Project Management Challenges.