The Return on Investment (ROI) is the unavoidable unit of measurement when you decide to implement new software in your company. And when it comes to evaluating the ROI of its project management software, one can quickly feel lost. There are a number of things to look at before you get a real profitability, and not everything is based on the financial side.
Things to Consider while seeing Return on Investment of the Project
Financial Investment in Project Management Software
There are many varieties of project management software: more or less complex, in client / server mode or in the cloud, open source or proprietary. Regardless of the initial cost of your investment, you should consider all peripheral expenses.
In client / server mode, where you purchase the software, you will need to consider server hosting costs, configuration, maintenance, and tool updates. Not to mention the necessary internal efforts to maintain, secure, safeguard and monitor the software.
If you choose your project management software in the Cloud, you will be exempt from all costs related to infrastructure and hardware. Only subscription, monthly or annual fees will be charged to you. Open source
Project management software will have neither installation nor subscription fees, but will require resources with strong technical skills for integration and development.
In conclusion, take the time to do your calculation and do not go directly to the cheapest. In all cases, it is estimated that at least one year is needed to make the investment in project management software profitable.
Project Management Software and Configuration
It will then take the time to properly configure your software. Configuring means setting a goal: collecting and structuring project data on the one hand, using them correctly on the other hand.
When you choose your project management tool, you have the freedom to do what you want to do. This is the main difficulty. This is a step that should be evaluated as it is a key moment in the configuration of your project management software.
Well used, your software will perform well. Bad or underused, it will have been an unnecessary investment.
Depending on your involvement, count a few days of configuration for simple projects including 20 users. Beyond that, it will probably take you several weeks, even several months.
Managing Change and Human Investment
The implementation of a project management tool implies a true management of the change, any proportion kept. The goal is not to upset the work habits of your employees, but to offer them a solution to work better, without multiplying their efforts. It is therefore important to assess what this change will entail. And this necessarily involves a training phase for the people involved, a cost that must necessarily be placed in the balance.
At first, it is imperative to educate your employees to “work in project mode”. This is the only way to ensure that the software will be properly apprehended and that the performance you want will emerge. Once done, do not hesitate to take advantage of the skills of the editor so that they train your employees on the tool (most of these trainings are eligible for the DIF). You will then be able to designate an in-house ambassador who will be responsible for facilitating training sessions for newcomers or for refresher courses
The long-awaited moment: the Return on Investment
While the implications and costs of investing in a project management tool are not negligible, it is now necessary to consider all of its benefits. It is indeed essential to know how to ignore the initial fears related to the financial and human investments that this represents.
The first question you need to ask yourself when investing in project management software is: what do you want to improve by making this investment? If you do not know, give up the idea and stay on your initial system. To know what kind of management software you should choose, ask yourself what features you want and focus on the most important ones. Wanting to change everything at the same time is a big risk to your business. But to save time in the future to make your investment even more profitable, try to anticipate what you will need in the medium / long term and opt for the tool capable of answering it.
Evacuate the issue of money to focus on efficiency and performance issues. By increasing the productivity of your employees by about 5%, you will earn your investment and get a reasonable return.
Conclusion
Most companies evaluate their ROI in financial terms. This is a mistake because, when you think about it, the implementation of project management software is never included in the revenue column.
You have to know that it will cost you and it will not bring you anything immediately. You will gain after a certain time, in the productivity of your employees, and more generally of your company. Do not think in terms of financial failure but organizational success.
