Most project managers running EU funded projects believe that their task of coordinating consortia or organising complex series of activities shall be supported by project management tools. It is true that in recent years several management programs, in the shape of online applications or software, have been developed and provided to project coordinators. Educational programs explain, in their training curriculum, also the functions and advantages of these applications and how they can practically support the intricated tasks of project managers. For sure, you are using one of these tools and if you haven’t, social media has suggested to you many of them to be purchased.
How do these applications help the coordination of a partnership? They synchronise and attribute to all project workers the required tasks, they fix and remind deadlines for activities, they function as working material repository, they visually show the progress of the implementation, they remind missing deliverables to be accomplished, they share templates for timesheets, dissemination charts, etc. The list could go on endless since the potential of digital tools cannot be narrated in a paragraph. These programs can be considered highly important because they help manage complexity, which comes with project implementation and partnership coordination, by reminding, organising, alerting. All the latter might come as a struggle and effort to professionals who, in many cases, might even have to coordinate more projects than a single one.
But…., yes there is a but at least in my opinion. As much as these tools are useful, they are missing something which we should consider highly relevant. Project management, for the type of actions and responsibilities it assumes, requires special skills which no digital program can take over. <to be continued>