#138 Lack of PM workflow

[Anonymous]

As a trainer of project management (and prior to that a very experienced project manager), I have some issues with your software. But I’ll only list some fundamentals:

1/ The STARTING point for projects should be the WBS. Therefore this needs to be the FIRST button on the LHS and further more it should be possible to use it as a brainstorming tool to create tasks and enter detailed info.

2/ The next step is the creation of the network from the WBS. so make this the second button with a similar ability to enter/modify detailed info. etc. etc.

Working with these two tools AUTOMATICALLY creates a properly thought-out Gantt Chart and is the NATURAL WORKFLOW of PM.

But unfortunately, like MicroCrap, you commit the cardinal sin of assuming that the Gantt Chart is the starting point and be all and end all. This leads to all sorts of issues I won’t bore you with here, but generally results in people not understanding what the hell they’re doing and using tools like these as glorified drawing tools, not THINKING tools. Pretty pictures are no substitute for proper project planning and this tool has paid zero attention to PROJECT PLANNING WORKFLOW.

3/ There needs to be a much more explicit use of the %ge USE for resources. It is used in two places (resource) and resource against task. These are seemingly unconnected so that if I specify, say 50% MAXIMUM use for a resource and assign the resource to a task without further clarification, then I would expect the task duration to double compared to effort. THIS DOES NOT HAPPEN. Instead, I have to specify a task-specific usage FOR EVERY TASK FOR EVERY RESOURCE!!! And if what I specify across tasks for a resource exceeds the maximum available, there are no alarms/warnings/limits/guidance provided. Not just poor, but downright confusing for anyone.

If it’s any consolation, MicroCrap isn’t much better. But after 20 years experience running projects and now training project management, I cannot believe how POOR the tools are. So I advise all my trainees to use Excel to represent the product of their thinking and not bother with the s/w because it isn’t designed around PROJECT MANAGEMENT WORKFLOW!!!

In 2011, it still mystifies me why the s/w is SO poorly designed. There is a universally-recognised STRUCTURE to project planning. Why is it never represented in the software???