How project management can make online business to the next level

Thanks to technology, two concepts were introduced known as “online business” and “work from home”. Till now it was just a concept for most and a dream for me as my office is really far and the commute was killing me. But the outbreak of the corona has now forced many to work from home and has forced many businesses to go online. I hope you are also staying at your home and if possible you are doing your work or conducting your business from there only.

Technology has also made the process of starting any business a piece of cake. Nearly everything is available online, and people tend to buy online more instead of going to a shop. If you have a GST registration (as it is mandatory to start an online business) and a vision of starting a business, you are all set. Once you have an online presence, you can work from anywhere at any point of time.

A great person has said that a show must go on and so our work should also go on. But working from home and doing the business online comes with its fair share of advantages and disadvantages. They are as follows:

ADVANTAGES:

  • Flexible work schedules
  • Saves travel time
  • Time for family emergencies
  • Avoid office politics
  • Perfectly plan all day routine
  • No manager standing all day over your head

DISADVANTAGES:

  • Sense of physical interaction with peers
  • Time zone differences lead to odd work schedules
  • Working alone is boring
  • Network downtimes
  • Distractions from family

But as I started writing this blog, one question was stuck on my mind, that from the day I started working from my home and I started my online business, I feel that I have become more productive, so why aren’t businesses performing better and what is the need of this blog? I mean as I feel more productive, people should also feel the same, right?

As we have GST state code which are used by the taxpayers at the time of registering for GST, the same way we must define codes of conduct to maintain productivity and efficiency. We can also track the outcomes.

As I was searching for the answer, I came across a study that found that if a person is doing a creative task, like creating content, music, etc. they became 20% more productive and for people that were doing recurring tasks, they were 30% less productive. The reason is simple as you are not being forced to work as you were in the office, and if you get bored, you will get distracted as there are unlimited sources of distraction at your home.

Therefore, if you are doing some creative work, your productivity will definitely increase. But, if you think that you are less productive by working from home, you just need to find some inspiration for your work.

if your work is not based on creativity, and the disadvantages of online business are overtaking the advantages and are making you less productive, don’t worry, we have the simplest solution for you and that is project management software. If anything is done after planning then it is a project.  Speaking about this, we have seen how GST has bridged the gap of multiple layers of taxation, in the similar manner the project management can bridge the gaps and loopholes of a system. There are a few documents required for gst registration in the same way, we can have bullet points or key points to make the project management a priority and mandate it.

Businesses are also a project and if you think that your business is not a project, then this is the main problem that you are facing. A project is simply a group of tasks that are done one by one or simultaneously by the team to achieve a goal and if you are not able to break down your process in different tasks, then you are doing your online business the wrong way. You are lacking a plan and first, you have to come up with a plan.

Fitment panel rejects GST rate cut for auto biscuits favours ...

The main benefit of using a project management tool is that it increases your productivity. It is said that if you keep your desk clean, you can be 30% more productive, as everything will be in order and no time would be wasted. Well, if you have a project management tool, you will have the whole business process or at least your daily tasks sorted, just think how much productivity a well-planned schedule can increase.

Productivity:

Productivity and business growth are positively related. Higher productivity results in speedy growth.

Productivity is something that should not be ignored by any business. In reality, remarkable productivity across the spectrum has been observed to be a critical element to the growth of the business.

Higher productivity can help you to achieve the following benefits:

  • Higher Profitability
  • Employee Welfare
  • Higher Returns to Stakeholders
  • Better Relationships between Management and Employees
  • Customer Satisfaction
  • Higher credit Rating
  • Corporate Image
  • Better Terms for Suppliers
  • Less Employee Turnover

Therefore, one of the best things that you can do to make your business better is to increase your and your team’s productivity.

There are two ways of achieving growth. You can achieve the same by either increasing your productivity or by spotting and solving the factors affecting productivity.

Scan through your process and shift out unwanted tasks, duplicate tasks, and time-consuming insignificant tasks. This will make the entire chain simpler, convenient, and easier to follow. The time yielded, as a result, can be shifted towards tasks that matter more from the business perspective.

When your productivity increases, you can do more at the same time, you will be able to make higher profits and higher more workers. This way you will increase your growth and in the wider picture, you are polishing your business’s future.

Ways how project management can make online business to the next level: 

  1. Strategic Alignment:

Mark Langley, the president and CEO of PMI, has said, “If your organization is not good at project management, you are putting too much at risk in terms of ultimately delivering on strategy.”

Strategic Alignment is the process of linking the organization’s structure and resources with its strategy and the ultimate objective.

All the clients that approach you or give you a project, have certain objectives for their own organization and this project is a step in achieving that goal. Project Management is important here as it can align the tasks in such a way that the project connects with the strategic alignment of the customer too. To achieve this goal, it is necessary to have reliable field service management software.

A project manager ensures that the project helps in fulfilling the strategic alignment of the organization.

  1. Clear Focus and Objectives:

Project Management is important as it comes up with a proper project plan for achieving the strategic goals.

If you leave the work of project management to your team you will see that there would be no accountability, the team would be working without a proper brief, there would be a lack in focus, it could be possible that there are no clear objectives due to not having a proper project description, and the project can get stuck when any risk or problem arises.

Lack of clear goals was the most common reason for project failure in 2017.

A project manager can prevent such situations by breaking the project into tasks and helping/managing the team in completing the tasks on time and in project execution.

The work is divided into small tasks and the completion of these tasks leads to the completion of the project. An efficient project manager foresees the risks, therefore risk management is an important part of project management.

If any risk or problem arises, an efficient project manager would be able to solve it without causing any delay in the project.

  1. Leadership:

A project manager is like a leader whose goal is to complete the project within the time and budget and deliver what was promised or better.

Doing a Project without Project Management is like sailing a ship of pirates without captain Jack Sparrow. Without a leader, the pirates(in this case the team) don’t properly know what they have to do. A leader guides the team and helps them to bring out their greatest work. Project Management provides leadership, motivation, vision, removes roadblocks, and inspires the team as and when necessary.

A Project Manager or Project Management Software ensures that there is accountability in the project. They keep the team on the same page, as ultimately it is the work done by the team that’s going to result in the success or failure of the project.

  1. Project Planning:

The average overrun of projects was 27 percent, but one in six projects had a cost overrun of 200% on average and a schedule overrun of almost  70 percent.

This is due to a lack of proper planning and project scheduling. Project Management ensures that proper information is available to the organization and the clients of what can be achieved, what will be the budget, which resources would be used, and the duration to complete the project. Without proper project management, unrealistic goals can be set which would ultimately lead to delayed or over-budgeted projects.

A good Project manager creates a clear process and sets a proper project scope and achievable deadlines.

  1. Reduced Costs and Quality Control:

In 2018, according to PMI, 9.9% of every dollar invested was wasted due to poor project performance – that’s $99 million for every $1 billion invested.

Project management reduces project costs by optimized use of resources, improving efficiency, and decreasing risks. Therefore, even with the added cost of a project manager, you stand to gain much more.

As it is important to deliver what was promised to the client, the project manager ensures that the quality of the deliverables remains up to the marks. The projects are to be delivered really soon and such a rush may result in ignoring the quality. It’s the duty of the project manager to deliver a quality project on time.

  1. Orderly Process:

Project Manager ensures that the right person does the right task at the right time. He ensures that the process goes according to the plan throughout the project.

Lack of this results in the teams working in a reactive environment where the risks and issues are solved when they arise. A project manager keeps in mind the known issues and makes such a plan that eliminates most of the issues.

Proper planning makes the workflow transparent as everyone is aware of who is doing what by when. A proper process helps in boosting the process. It ensures such a plan is made that is aligned with the overall strategy. Project Management is important here as, without an orderly and easily understandable process, the organization risks project failure.

Por: Mohit is an ECommerce Enthusiast and Owner at MohitECommerce. He is helping many E-commerce sellers across various marketplace. He loves to Interact with all types of business community. He provide many services so that businesses can achieve productivity in an Online business.