If you are using Excel for project management, you’ll be familiar with the many problems a spreadsheet can create. From broken formulas and deleted data to overlooked risks and late tasks, spreadsheets are the bane of many projects.

Many organizations turn to Excel for project management because of its accessibility. Launched in 1985, Microsoft Excel still enjoys an estimated user base in the millions.

Here are five reasons why Excel falls short for modern project management and why Microsoft 365 and the Power Platform is an ideal alternative.

Why Excel Fails as a Project Management Tool

Organizations often don’t want to invest in separate project management software, preferring to use readily available systems. As a result, teams are forced to develop complex templates and workarounds in Excel, hesitating to adopt new methods.

While Excel is accessible, it lacks project management capabilities. This makes it ineffective for project tracking, collaboration, and data management. These limitations of Excel make it unsuitable for modern project needs, especially when managing complex projects with specialized tools.

It’s a Time-Consuming Process

Managing multiple projects or working on complex ones often leads to wasted time. Tasks like finding, updating, and double-checking project data can become tedious.

As Excel is only suitable for certain types of data, you’ll need to look elsewhere for key documents such as the project statement and status reports. It’s nearly impossible to gain a complete, inclusive view of the project and its key decisions.

Incorrect Project Information

Spreadsheets are error-prone, especially if used by multiple team members. It’s impossible to know if you are working with the latest version, if the formulas are correct, or if any data was accidentally replaced or overwritten.

In regulated industries like healthcare or finance, this lack of clarity causes major issues. Saving spreadsheets in different locations leads to inconsistent information stored in various silos.

If someone has saved the only copy of an important document on their local computer and forgets to share the file before going on vacation, the project could stop for a few weeks!

To make matters worse, no one takes responsibility for ensuring the data is accurate, even though many people may use the file.

Difficult to Track Project Progress

As you probably guessed, Excel is not an ideal project reporting tool!

When information is spread across multiple files, it’s easy to overlook risks, miss upcoming deadlines, or ignore overallocated resources. These issues limit project visibility and prevent effective decision-making.

Overload of Information

Team members and project stakeholders need different information. Excel doesn’t allow individual, tailored views or varying administration access levels.

Everyone sees the same Excel spreadsheet, which wastes time as individuals try to figure out what is relevant to their work.

Lack of Collaboration

Excel does not include key collaboration tools such as conversation tracking, file sharing, discussion boards, and task lists.

Team members cannot easily check the task status or identify the next steps. They also lack visibility into the project timeline or if a teammate is struggling with a project task.

Leverage Microsoft 365 and the Power Platform as Centralized Project Management Tool with BrightWork 365

Using a centralized project management software tool instead of Excel can significantly improve project efficiency, accuracy, and collaboration. We suggest consolidating your project management within your own Microsoft 365 environment and leveraging the Power Platform with a tool like BrightWork 365.

Reduce administrative time with a centralized project management solution

• Centralized Data Management: A centralized project management tool consolidates all project data, making it easier to find, update, and verify information. Microsoft 365 and the Power Platform can provide a hub for teamwork, where you can manage files, project tasks, reports, and communication in one place.

• Automated Workflows: Automate repetitive tasks and notifications to save time and reduce manual effort. Power Automate can run workflows between apps and services to synchronize files, get notifications, and collect data.

• Integrated Document Management: Store and manage key documents like project statements and status reports within the same platform for easy access. Microsoft 365 and the Power Platform have a tight integration with SharePoint Online to manage project deliverables.

Get up-to-date information with real-time dashboards

• Version Control: Centralized tools offer version control to ensure everyone is working with the latest project deliverables. Every BrightWork 365 template integrates with SharePoint Online to provide robust version control and document management capabilities.

• Dashboard Reporting in Power Apps and Power BI: Managing all project data enables you to set up real-time dashboards to track status across all the projects in the system. Using built-in Power Apps dashboards or interactive Power BI reports, you can get immediate visibility into the status of project with the ability to drill down as needed.

• Access Control: By securing all project information in one place, it’s easy to manage permissions to ensure only authorized users can view or edit critical information. BrightWork installs directly in your Microsoft 365 cloud, so you can manage permissions with Entra ID.

Have visibility into project progress

• Real-Time Dashboards: Centralized tools provide real-time dashboards and reports to track project progress and identify risks. With Power BI, you can create interactive dashboards and reports to visualize project data and track progress in real time.

• Milestone Tracking: Set and monitor key project milestones to ensure timely delivery across programs and portfolios of projects. BrightWork 365 templates also feature a Project Stage Business Process Flow, which helps teams track tasks and deadlines and visualize how the project is moving through its stages.

• Resource Management: By tracking work in one solution, you can centrally manage and visualize resource utilization to avoid overallocation. BrightWork 365 has a number of Power BI dashboards for tracking resource allocation so you can see very quickly if team members are being over- or under-allocated and adjust project assignments accordingly.

Drill into the information you need

• Customizable Views in Power Apps: Tailor views and dashboards to show relevant information for different team members and stakeholders. Leverage the out of the box templates or extend them with custom apps that provide tailored views and access based on user roles.

• Role-Based Access: As we mentioned above, leveraging your own Microsoft 365 cloud means that you control access to all project data, and can provide various levels of access and views based on user roles. BrightWork 365 also has advanced Security and Access features in BrightWork 365 to restrict access at the project, program, or portfolio level.

Collaborate and communicate effectively in one platform

• Collaboration Tools: Centralized tools include features like conversation tracking, file sharing, discussion boards, and task lists to enhance collaboration. Apps like Microsoft Teams facilitate collaboration with chat, video conferencing, and file sharing.

• Real-Time Updates: Using Power Apps, My Work reports let them know exactly what tasks they need to do across all the projects they are assignment to. Team members can see real-time updates on task status and project timelines.

Handling project changes

Change is inevitable in projects. Sometimes, the change is minimal and doesn’t impact your project. In other cases, the change requires adjustments to your project’s scope, plan, and budget.

Staying on top of these changes helps keep the project on track and prevents any negative impacts. It’s nearly impossible to stop change from happening, but you can manage it with a structured change request process.

What are change requests?

A change request is a formal proposal to modify a project’s agreed-upon scope, timeline, cost, or other elements between the performing team and stakeholders.

Change requests are submitted when issues arise during project execution. Project issues may arise when project scope, cost, schedule, or quality are modified.

Other change requests cover the needed preventive or corrective actions to reduce future risks.

What is change request management?

The needs of a project might change despite the best of plans. Such changes need to be approved and executed.

Change request management in projects refers to a process or mechanism set up for processing any changes that arise during the course of a project.

Project managers may need to adjust the plan, tasks, budget, timelines, or even team members as the projects move along. Project leads, or stakeholders might also propose changes to mitigate new risks or issues along the way of the project.

Standardized change request process

Project team members need to raise change requests to the relevant stakeholders and/or senior management for approval and delegation.

Efficient project teams ensure they have a standardized process to draft, record, approve, and address such change requests.

For more insights on change request management, check out the Project Management Institute’s take on the topic.

How to manage change requests

Any project stakeholder may request a change. This includes both internal and external teams. These requests may be optional or required by contract.

Initiated change requests are submitted to the Project/Organizational Change Control Board (CCB).

Some organizations and teams also have change request forms and templates.

Evaluating changes with the CCB

A Change Control Board (CCB) is a formally chartered group responsible for reviewing, evaluating, approving, deferring, or rejecting project changes. They are also responsible for recording and communicating such decisions.

Change control meetings allow the CCB to review and act on change requests. During these meetings, they determine whether changes should be approved, rejected, or deferred.

See what Microsoft Support has to say on “How to evaluate project change requests.”

3 Types of change requests in projects

Change requests can vary based on the nature of the issue. Here are the three main types of change requests commonly encountered in projects:

1. Corrective actions – Corrective actions are process changes that realign current performance with the plan.
2. Preventive actions – Preventive actions are process improvements that focus on future performance.
3. Defect repairs – Defect repair actions modify a nonconforming product or component.

Approved change requests are an output of the Change Control Review Meeting. They include any requests reviewed and approved for implementation by the project request manager or by the change control board (CCB) when applicable.

The passed and recommended change request may be a corrective action, a preventive action, or a defect repair. Approved change requests are scheduled and implemented by the project team.

What is in a change request form?

A change request form captures essential details to ensure proper tracking and evaluation of proposed changes. It provides the information needed to assess the change’s impact and make informed decisions.

• Change number – Change request number for tracking.
• Requestor – The user who requested the change.
• Category – The category of the change.
• Short description – A synopsis of the change request.
• Detailed description – Explain the problem.
• Recommendations – Solution for the problem.
• Priority – To define how quickly this change should be approved and implemented.
• Impact – To measure the effect of a change on the project aspects or Details of Scope Impact, Quality Impact, Requirements Impact, Cost Impact, Schedule Impact, and Process/Documents Impact.
• Risk – The risk level for the change. The risk of a change. High, Medium, or Low is a possible option.
• Justification for proposed change – Indicate the reason for the change.
• State – The state of the change request. It can include New, Under Review, Approved, Deferred, or Rejected.
• Disposition – Explanation by CCB for approved, deferred, or rejected changes.

These forms are part of the project management documents used to keep projects aligned with their scope and objectives.

Simplify your project change management with BrightWork

BrightWork 365 offers a powerful project management solution that helps teams manage projects with ease and efficiency. Managing change requests is a key part of project management.

A structured process and templates ensure changes are evaluated, approved, and implemented effectively, which reduces negative impacts and keeps the project on track.

In business, project success mirrors the organizational culture in which it operates. Projects are more than just tasks – they drive strategic growth and innovation when supported by effective project management practices.

This article explores the symbiotic relationship between organizational culture and project management. It highlights why a supportive culture is essential and outlines four strategies to establish effective project management that allow you to align your team’s efforts with your mission.

You will learn how to foster a culture that values project management and excels at it, ensuring your projects contribute positively to your company’s objectives.

What is organizational culture?

Organizational culture describes the personality of a company and influences how employees work and interact with each other.

Culture helps an organization reach strategic goals by encouraging desired behaviors, attitudes, and working methods.

Although difficult to define, organizational culture typically encompasses:

Consistent, observable behaviors

The routine actions that set the standard for what is expected within the company.

Work ethics

The values that guide employees’ approach to their work, such as commitment and integrity.

Codes of conduct

The formal rules that define professional behavior and establish workplace standards.

Incentives and reward systems

The structures that recognize and incentivize employee performance in alignment with company goals. A strong governance culture is essential for project success, as it reinforces management practices that align with the organization’s strategic objectives.

A shared sense of purpose and action

The common understanding of the company’s mission motivates collective effort.

Leadership styles and management practices

Research shows that leaders’ methods to guide, influence, and inspire their teams can significantly affect project outcomes.

Communication patterns and information flow

How information is shared within the organization affects transparency and collaborative culture.

Decision-making processes

Organizational culture significantly shapes decision-making processes, reflecting a company’s values and strategic priorities. 

A recent study highlights the impact of culture on project planning, underscoring the need for alignment between projects and organizational values.

Adaptability and response to change

The organization’s capacity to adjust to new challenges and market conditions.

Employee engagement and participation

The level of employee involvement in and enthusiasm for their work and the company’s vision.

Culture constantly evolves, making it hard to change through a formal program or effort. That said, there are some steps you can take to make positive changes to a culture that supports your project management, which we’ll cover later on.

Why is organizational culture important to projects?

Organizational culture is the framework in which a project manager and team must work. It’s the bedrock that supports all project-related activities and decisions.

All elements of a project – from processes to leadership, project management styles, communication, risk tolerance, and project request management – are influenced by cultural norms in your company. 

A shared belief in the value of project management and a willingness to invest in project processes are critical to a strong project management culture.

This is corroborated by this study on the impact of organizational culture on the financial performance of a company, highlighting its importance to the company’s project activities and long-term success.

Drives performance and efficiency

A strong project management culture based on clear communication is pivotal for performance and efficiency. 

This study reveals that organizations with supportive and robust project management practices achieve their goals more effectively. These organizations operate with greater financial efficiency, wasting less money than low-performing organizations. 

This success stems from valuing clear goals, streamlined processes, and effective resource management, ensuring project deliverables are completed on time and within budget.

Shapes project selection

Culture is a vital point of differentiation between these types of organizations. It influences the types of projects executed by a company. Ideally, all projects should be aligned with strategic goals.

A strong project culture often reflects the foundational values and norms shaping a company. This alignment helps select projects that appeal to project stakeholders and meet the needs of external customers.

Fuels motivation through cultural alignment

When employees see their role in the broader narrative of the company, they are more engaged and motivated. Recognizing the value of their work and its impact on the company’s success fosters a sense of belonging and purpose.

This alignment with the company’s culture and common goals drives employees to invest more deeply in their projects, boosting morale and productivity.

How to build a strong project management culture

Changing organizational culture is notoriously difficult. Many organizations try to change everything at once and fail to translate the new vision into practical steps for their employees.

Culture is shaped by actions, behaviors, and actions. Start with a step if you want to make a lasting change to improve project outcomes. People tend to act their way into new behaviors before changing their mindsets.

Here are four practical ways to build a strong project management culture.

1. Choose your project management approach

I’m sure you can think of many elements of project management you’d like to change within your organization! 

You need to be rigorous and realistic when picking a behavior. Introducing a standardized approach to project management is an excellent place to start.

Often, individuals tasked with managing a project – including project leaders who need formal training in project management abilities – will develop their own project rules. This can lead to a lack of consistency in project execution across the organization.

Adapting to organizational needs

Without a straightforward approach, individuals will get creative and develop their ways of working, leading to multiple styles in one organization!

Below is a project management spectrum we use with our customers.

As depicted, some projects require a lighter touch, while others need more rigorous project management processes. The choice will depend on project maturity levels within your organization, the number of projects, the complexity of projects, the duration of projects, etc.

When picking your approach, you should consider how projects are currently managed and what practices should be kept, such as weekly team meetings or collaborative planning sessions. Don’t make changes just for the sake of change.

2. Select the right project management tool

Next, you’ll need to make it easy to translate the new process into actionable steps for your team. Update relevant project management templates and software as required or find new software is required. 

For instance, our Microsoft 365 project management software can integrate seamlessly into your workflow.

Focus on practical, role-based training to help your team understand how the software supports their role. The new solution must be easier to use or, in some cases, worth extra effort for team members.

Maximizing existing infrastructure

Many organizations worldwide are already using Microsoft 365 for productivity and collaboration. BrightWork 365 integrates the best Microsoft 365 apps, such as Power Automate for workflows, Power Apps for project management, Teams for collaboration, etc., into project management templates.

These templates can be a practical starting point for individual projects. The pre-designed project sites are easily used and mapped to a suitable project management process.

Streamlining portfolio management

Managing across different portfolios is a breeze with tools like Microsoft 365 and Power Platform project management, as it features everything you need, including templates, dashboards, and project request management.

3. Measure and report performance

Demonstrating tangible business and project outcome improvements is critical to driving new behaviors. 

People need to know that their efforts contribute positively to projects and the organization; otherwise, they will become disillusioned with your project leadership skills.

Identifying key project metrics

Pick a few project metrics to improve with your new process and report on these on your project site. Does your team struggle to track project tasks and meet deadlines? Do issues fall through the cracks as no one knows how to report a problem?

Are documents stored in multiple locations, leading to confusion? Regular project review meetings can help address these issues by fostering a concerted effort toward project success.

Demonstrating impact through reporting

Report on these project metrics during weekly team meetings to demonstrate impact quickly. The SharePoint Project Management Template ships with valuable reports, including:

• Task completion: Tracking and reporting on task progress and completion rates.
• Issue resolution: Monitoring how quickly and effectively issues are identified and resolved.
• Workload management: Reporting on open, overdue, upcoming, and unassigned work to ensure balanced distribution.
• Metric tiles: Visual representations of critical metrics for at-a-glance insights.
• Project status updates: Regular updates on the overall health and progress of the project. These reports can be significantly enhanced using Microsoft Teams apps for project management, facilitating communication and collaboration.

Communicating value to the company

It would help if you also considered how improvements in these areas add value to the company – more projects finished on time, increased stakeholder satisfaction, and effective teams. These benefits will likely become apparent after a project is completed.

Sharing post-project success

Set a reminder to get the outcomes and share them with the project team members and company a few weeks after the completion date. 

Send an email, share an update on your intranet, talk to people at meetings – just get the word out!

4. Get leadership involved in the process

People tend to mimic the behavior of individuals or groups who influence an organization. If your team sees senior management acting differently from you regarding project management, they’ll no longer follow your efforts.

Find someone to act as a “Project Management Champion” to secure senior management buy-in. This champion should be well-versed in project management critical success factors that can drive your project management culture forward.

This person often plays a critical aspect in shaping the project management culture and can influence the project leadership team to adopt principles of project management that steer away from potential project failures.

How BrightWork can help you implement a project management culture

At BrightWork, we implement successful project management using the “Start, Evolve philosophy.” 

This method encourages beginning with a manageable scope of project management practices that allow teams to achieve early success. Start as many projects as you want with the right amount of project management. 

Project teams can handle more projects with a simpler approach initially, gaining visibility and control without being overwhelmed by complex processes. This sets the stage for the gradual evolution of their project management practices.

BrightWork 365 for evolutionary growth

BrightWork 365 offers project, portfolio, and request management templates. It also includes deployment assistance to ensure smooth integration into your workflow. 

The 3D deployment approach

“Start, Evolve” is an integral part of our 3D deployment approach, using tools like Microsoft Teams for project management to promote communication and collaboration. 

The 3D Deployment approach is based on the following three principles:

• Design: Utilizing collaborative project management best practices.
• Deliver: Beginning with configurable templates that cater to various project needs.
• Deploy: Offering on-demand and as-needed training to ensure effective adoption.

Our 3D Deployment Process is a clear, transparent, and practical change management plan focused on your needs. It is designed to help you implement collaborative project and portfolio management effectively.

Summary

Organizational culture shapes how teams collaborate and succeed in project management. A supportive culture is vital for growth, lowering operating costs, improving efficiencies, and achieving strategic objectives. The four ways to cultivate a successful project management culture in your company are: 

1. Choosing the right approach
2. Selecting the right tools
3. Measuring performance, and
4. Involving leadership. 

BrightWork’s “Start, Evolve” philosophy, complemented by the 3D Deployment Process, provides a practical roadmap for cultural transformation. It encourages starting with small, manageable steps and gradually enhancing project management practices.

Promoting a project management culture is an ongoing process that requires dedication and adaptability. With commitment to these principles, your organization will achieve its project goals and increase team engagement.

Editor’s Note: This post was originally published in January 2013 and has been updated for freshness, accuracy, and comprehensiveness.

In SharePoint, a project site is a dedicated site or subsite that is created to support the management and collaboration of a specific project. It provides a centralized location for project teams to organize, share, and collaborate on project-related information, documents, tasks, and discussions. This blog post will cover how to create a project site in SharePoint 2016, SharePoint 2019, or SharePoint Online using the free template from BrightWork.

A SharePoint project site typically includes various components and features tailored for project management, such as:

• Document Libraries
• Task Lists
• Calendars
• Discussions and Announcements
• Issue Tracking
• Project Summary Web Parts
• Integration with Office Tools

If you have some SharePoint knowledge and the right permission, you could create a project site in SharePoint and configure all of the key elements yourself.

That is where BrightWork comes in – we have done the entire configuration for you in our SharePoint Project Management Template. We have taken all the elements list above and wrapped them up in a neat template that is pre-configured for project management and based on best practices.

Note: If you are using SharePoint 2019 or SharePoint Online – you will need to first create a SharePoint classic site collection in order to use this template and follow the steps in this guide.

Step 1: Install the Template in Your SharePoint Environment

1.  Download the SharePoint Project Management Template from BrightWork here.

2.  Unzip the downloaded folder and save the SharePoint template (.wsp file) to a suitable location on your desktop.

3.  Log in as a Site Collection Administrator* to the chosen on-premises Site Collection.

4.  Click Settings | Site settingson the site collection home page.

4.  Click Solutions.

Note: if you can’t see Solutions here, make sure you are not trying to add the template to a subsite.

5.  Select the Solutions Taband click Upload Solution.

6.  Click Browse and navigate to the location where you unzipped the downloaded file.

7.  Select the SharePoint Project Management Template.wsp file, and click OK.

8.  Click Activate.

Your template is now installed!

*  Site Collection Administrator is the permission level required to add a SharePoint solution to a site collection. If you need a higher permission level to install the free template, simply contact your SharePoint Administrator.

Step 1A: Create a Classic Site Collection in SharePoint 2019/SharePoint Online

1.  Log in as a Site Collection Administrator to the SharePoint Admin Center in Office 365.

2.  On the left hand side, click Sitesand then Active Sites.

3.  Click + Create.

4.  Select Other Options.

5.  From the dropdown, select More templates (this will open in a new tab).

6.  Add the Title, Web address, and Administrator information for your site collection. Under Template Selection, select Team site (classic experience).

Step 2: Create a Project Site in SharePoint Based on a Template

1.  Navigate to the location in the Site Collection Hierarchy where you want to create the new Project Site.

2.  Click Settings | Site contents.

Note: If you are using SharePoint 2016 or 2019, click Return to classic SharePoint next.

3.  Click new subsite.

4.  Give the new site a Title and URL.

5.  Click the Customtab.

6.  Select SharePoint Project Management Template.

7.  Select the appropriate Navigation and Navigation Inheritance options for your environment.  The defaults selected in your environment are fine.

8.  Click Create.

Wait a few moments and your new project site will be created!

Microsoft 365 and Power Platform – Using More than Just SharePoint for Project Management

It’s worth noting that SharePoint has evolved, and there are newer versions available beyond SharePoint 2019 and SharePoint 2016, such as SharePoint Online in Microsoft 365.

Some of you may know that BrightWork has been building a product for the Microsoft SharePoint platform for over 25 years at this point, which is the BrightWork solution we have today. BrightWork for SharePoint also happens to be the basis for the Free Template discussed in this blog post.

With the evolution of the Microsoft 365 platform, of course, there is still SharePoint, but there’s also Teams and other extensible features including Power Platform. In addition to SharePoint Online, Microsoft 365 includes additional features, apps, and improvements that can all be leveraged for their project management capabilities.

With that in mind, you may wish to move beyond strictly using SharePoint to manage projects. Instead of building something in Microsoft 365 just on SharePoint Online, we looked at all of what’s in Microsoft 365 and used the best pieces to build a brand new project and portfolio management system called BrightWork 365.

If your organization is moving away SharePoint as a standalone project management tool, but would still like to manage your projects within the Microsoft ecosystem, then Microsoft 365 is a good place to start.

What you will learn: This blog post will walk you through the elements and structure of a best-practice SharePoint Project Management Site and explain how to leverage free SharePoint template from BrightWork to manage a project.

Get Free SharePoint Template

A collection of flexible tools, SharePoint helps organizations build intranets, manage documents, and collaborate in a secure environment.

At its core, SharePoint is all about collaboration with document libraries, a newsfeed, wikis, and discussion boards. These features – and more! – make SharePoint an ideal tool for project management teams.

Using a SharePoint project site, it’s easy to centralize all project information and tasks in one place for the team to use together.

A SharePoint project site has a number of elements to help you manage a project effectively.

Let’s take a look at the structure of a typical SharePoint site – lists, web parts, sites, and site collections.

We’ll also see how these elements are part of the pre-planned project site in the Free SharePoint Project Management Template from BrightWork.

The screenshots below are based on the Free Template in an on-premises environment using the classic experience.

The Structure of a SharePoint Project Site

1. SharePoint Lists

A SharePoint site is populated by lists, which are used to organize information. Made up of headings, rows, and columns, a SharePoint list looks similar to an Excel spreadsheet. However, SharePoint lists are more flexible and are easier to control than a spreadsheet.

Likewise, lists are key to organizing project information such as tasks and issues. Using a SharePoint list, it’s easy to track and manage project data in one place. The lists are available to all team members, improving collaboration and removing data silos.

SharePoint lists are a useful way to manage project processes and information in a structured, transparent manner.

To reduce administration work and streamline tasks, you can also add workflows to lists, for example, collecting digital signatures to documents.

You’ll need the following lists – which ship with the Free Template – in your SharePoint project site:

Document Library: Use to create a single repository for all project documents. Users can upload, download, delete, and rename the documents – depending on the permissions you have set for each team member.

Issues: Use this list to track and manage issues raised by the team.

Tasks: Add tasks and subtasks to create the project timeline. You can also assign tasks to individual team members and track their progress.

You can also create custom lists in SharePoint so if your team is using Excel to track certain elements of project work, you can recreate the list on the site.

2. SharePoint Web Parts

A SharePoint web part is a type of list used to store content in your site.

Web parts can function as a project dashboard or report, surfacing key project information in a usable way. For example, adding the ‘project tasks’ web part to the project homepages provides a snapshot of the underlying tasks list. Simply click on the information to get more details.

In the Free Template, high-level data on project metrics, tasks, project health, and issues are available on the project homepage using pre-configured web parts.

3. SharePoint Site

A SharePoint site is used to organize different types of content in one place.  A SharePoint site is a home for your project, bringing together lists and web parts in one central location for your team.

Powerful search functionality is a key feature of SharePoint, especially SharePoint On-Premises. This is facilitated by adding all project information to one place. No need to waste any more time searching across numerous folders, tools, and network drives to find a document!

In addition to improving team collaboration, a SharePoint site will also make it easier for you to manage the project.

Having a centralized location to track tasks, find documents, and view reports means you don’t have to send regular ‘check-in’ emails to the team – just go to the site.

A site inherits key elements such as navigation, templates, and permissions from the umbrella site collection. However, you can configure each site can with its own content and security settings.

4. SharePoint Site Collections

A SharePoint site collection is a collection of SharePoint sites. When applied to project management, a site collection acts as your project portfolio, rolling up information from various projects in one place.

Organizations with multiple business units with different project requirements will typically use a site collection per unit.

As mentioned above, a SharePoint project site inherits properties from the site collection, so it makes sense to have a separate collection for your Marketing, Finance, and IT teams. The various areas of the business can create a site collection and project sites tailored to their processes.

A SharePoint site collection is also useful if you need to share documents or information with external users without granting access to your larger systems. You can simply create and share a site collection with restricted permissions.

Configuring a Project Site in SharePoint

As you can see, SharePoint is a powerful project management tool. However, SharePoint doesn’t look like a project management tool out of the box.

If you decide to use out-of-the-box SharePoint for project management, you will need to build your site to meet your requirements – or ask your IT team to do so.

Creating a SharePoint project site involves a number of steps including:

• Deciding the site architecture, i.e., where the site will site in your SharePoint environment.
• Figuring out what lists and web parts you need to add to the site to support your project team.
• Creating the site.
• Adding lists and web parts.
• Configuring each element.

Depending on your SharePoint development skills, configuring a basic SharePoint site for your project is a lengthy process.

Think you can manage the SharePoint side? To make sure the site is optimized, you’ll need to go back a few steps and also think about your project management process.

• What lists and web parts do you actually need to add to the site?
• How many fields does each list need?
• What metadata should you add to the documents library?
• Do you need issues and risks?
• How will you one or two columns to present information?

If the project site is not designed correctly, your project is at risk before the work even begins.

That’s where the Free SharePoint Project Management Template from BrightWork will give you a head start.

The Free template has everything you need to initiate, plan, track, and report on a project using SharePoint – straight out-of-the-box.

The project site template includes key lists and web parts –tasks, issues, and a document library – and metric tiles, project status reports, Work reports, and a ‘tasks by status’ chart for quick tracking.

The site is based on a practical, five-step approach to project management with guidance included in the project wiki.

The Free Template works on SharePoint 2019/2016/2013 and SharePoint Online.

Don’t waste any more time planning your SharePoint – use the Free Template instead!

Project Management Templates for Microsoft 365

It’s worth noting that SharePoint has evolved, and there are newer versions available beyond SharePoint 2019 and SharePoint 2016, such as SharePoint Online in Microsoft 365.

In addition to SharePoint Online, Microsoft 365 includes additional features, apps, and improvements that can all be leveraged for their project management capabilities.

If your organization is moving away from on-premise SharePoint but would still like to manage your projects within the Microsoft ecosystem, then Microsoft 365 is a good place to start.

You can use:

• Power Apps for project sites
• Power BI for portfolio reporting
• Power Automate to manage workflows
• SharePoint Online for document management
• Microsoft Teams for collaboration
• Azure Active Directory for security and permissions.

BrightWork 365 is a project and portfolio management solution built on top of Microsoft 365 and the Power Platform. It is designed to enhance and extend the project management capabilities of Microsoft 365, providing additional features and templates for managing projects, tasks, resources, and portfolios.

BrightWork 365 offers preconfigured project management templates that align with popular project management methodologies and provides a user-friendly interface, customizable dashboards, and reporting capabilities to help teams effectively plan, track, and collaborate on projects within the Microsoft 365 environment.