Triple Constraints

Any good project manager will tell you that documenting and following up on action items is a key to a successful project. With all the tools at a project manager’s disposal, what should you use to track action items. Below is a list of tools I have run across for managing action items:

Microsoft Excel

Pros

• Small learning curve
• Easy to distribute/collaborate with team members

Cons

• Not web-based
• Tasks are not directly tied to the project schedule
• No automatic notifications
• Easy to get out-of-sync due to team members making changes to their local version
• Project manager has to make all updates to tasks

Microsoft Project

Pros

• All project tasks can be tied to the project schedule

Cons

• Steeper learning curve than Excel
• Requires the project manager to manually update all tasks
• Not web-based

Online To-Do Software (Such as RemembertheMilk.com)

Pros

• Easy to learn
• Very affordable (in some cases free)
• Web-based
• Can share/assign tasks to team members
• Team members can automatically mark tasks as complete
• One central list of tasks for a project
• Tasks can be accessed/updated from mobile phones

Cons

• Tasks not tied directly to timelines
• Data resides on external servers

All of the above tools have their strengths and weaknesses. No one solution is the silver bullet for managing action items, but all of them below in the project manager’s tool belt.  If you have other tools that you recommend to your colleagues, please share them with your fellow readers below.

And remember – No matter what solution you use, make sure that you actively manage the action items for your project. If you neglect the action items, you are acting neglectful towards your project.

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