Project Management Software and Techniques

[Keith Bloemendaal]

Not sure if this is the right forum for this discussion, but I am building new homes so thought I would start here. 

Having come from a decent sized home builder as their project manager, I use several tools to run my projects. Just wanted to share what I use, and see if any one else wanted to share what they do. 

I am not a big fan of high cost software that runs on a desktop, I much prefer cloud apps, especially ones that sync and work seamlessly over multiple devices. 

Evernote:

One of my favorite tools, I use it mostly for mind mapping and idea gathering. Like when I started researching to get my GC license, I gathered all the info in an Evernote notebook, using the web clipper to save whole web pages about my state's requirements, books needed, fees, procedures, applications, etc. All in one neat spot I could access from anywhere. 

Google Drive/Apps:

I am a paid user of Google Apps (Google for Work now I believe), and for $10 per month I get all the features plus 1TB of storage for my docs. Everything I do is saved in Drive. I organize it like you would any other file system, and again, I can access on my phone or anywhere I can get online. 

My email runs through Google Apps/Gmail, my docs are all done in Drive, Calendar is managed through Apps, I even make custom maps for my projects in My Maps from Google. 

Google Sheets:

I use spreadsheets to manage my projects extensively. I use one to track my cost estimates compared to actual costs by line item. I use another to track timelines and scheduling (still working on my template for this, if you know of any good ones, let me know), and just about anything else I can think of goes in various spreadsheets. 

Pen and Paper:

Yes, I keep a legal pad on my desk and in my truck at all times with lists to keep me productive on what is needed and most important. 

I also use a 3 ring binder for each project to keep paper copies of everything I have in the project folder on Drive. I generally keep this in my truck until the project is complete. Then I analyze the data and file it away for safe keeping and for use if needed for future projects. 

What about you?

[Lynn Currie]

@Keith Bloemendaal Great post topic!

I run a paperless office and have whittled everything down to a few basic tools.

Evernote

Evernote is the cornerstone of everything I do. Every piece of paper that comes into my office gets immediately scanned then shredded. I use Hazel on the Mac to OCR, auto-name, and file the the regularly sent stuff (like invoices from vendors, etc). They are named using the main words that I would search for the document by. 

For example, if I have a receipt from the company that supplies my doors, instead of naming it the company name only, I name it, "Company Name Receipt Doors" and it gets filed in a notebook for that particular project. If there is also trim in the order, I name it "Company Name Receipt Doors Trim." This makes finding things super easy with minimal thinking on my part.

I'm also a big fan/believer/user of the Getting Things Done (GTD) system. I have stand alone cabinet setup just for that in Evernote with my to do lists, tags, and locations.

Recently I've been asked by several folks to do a video and screencast of my paperless office system in action, accompanied by some videos showing how to set it up. These are in the works and I'll share on BP Nation once they're done.

Drop Box

If I have docs that need to be regularly edited, they live in Drop Box. There is always a reference to them in an Evernote note though, since that is my main system.

As a side note, I also use Drop Box to back-up my ridiculously large photo archive. I'm moving all of my permanent backups away from random hard-drives, CDs and DVDs and to the cloud.

SmartSheet

All timeline management is done here. It's like Excel on steroids. The reason that I like it is that it's simple. As a nerdy person, I've tried and setup many, many project management systems but discovered that most of them fail because they're too cumbersome to use. Apparently some companies missed the memo that managing a project via software should never be more complex than actually managing the project, itself. I've got a public SmartSheet that I'm using as part of my Video Diary post. You can see it here:

http://publish.smartsheet.com/087c5862de4748299010...