Nearly every business person regardless of their role – be it marketer, salesperson, consultant, engineer, or business owner – has acquired a second responsibility: project manager. In their desire to move quickly and keep costs low, many of these business people turn to the ubiquitous spreadsheet for help. Using a spreadsheet to track, update, and consolidate project information means spending valuable time on project administration – sending, receiving, and finding e-mails; cutting, pasting, consolidating, and reporting information; and reformatting, saving, and e-mailing spreadsheets.
Using Spreadsheets for
Marketing Project Management:
Understanding the Hidden Costs
WHITE PAPER
Intuit QuickBase http://quickbase.intuit.comExecutive Summary
The computerized spreadsheet was To move fast and keep costs low, many business people turn to spreadsheets and email to invented 30 years ago, and it just manage collaborative projects. This approach carries a variety of hidden costs and risks hasn't kept up with the demands that collectively make it unsuitable. The best alternative is a Web-based, customizable, of today's business user. In the project-management solution that streamlines project management and collaboration Anywhere Enterprise, where work without forsaking simplicity and cost effectiveness. It gives team members access to the groups are seldom in the same real-time information they need, in the format they need it - whenever and wherever location, the need for up-to-the they need it. That means faster response, increased accuracy, and better decision making.minute status updates and better communication all beg for a more Solving for Speed, Simplicity and technologically advanced solution. Cost-EffectivenessJosh Holbrook, director of enterprise Project Management is not just for project managers anymore. Nearly every business research, The Yankee Group person regardless of their role - be it engineer, salesperson, consultant, marketer, or business owner - has acquired a second responsibility: project manager. They might not have a project manager title or certification - but to get their job done they have to manage and collaborate on projects. In their desire to move quickly and keep costs low, many of these business people turn to the ubiquitous spreadsheet for help. There are numerous valid reasons for selecting a spreadsheet to manage team projects. Spreadsheets are:
A vailable Nearly everyone has a spreadsheet program already installed on his computer and has a basic understanding of how to use it.
Familiar Virtually every business person has used a spreadsheet during his career. And if not, it's easy to learn how to add and manipulate information very quickly. The fact that most people needn't learn anything new is a very attractive proposition.
Inexpensive Since most computers already have a spreadsheet application installed, there's usually no incremental cost to using it - and creating a new spreadsheet for your project can be very quick.
Immediate A spreadsheet can be setup quickly by a project manager - and changed just as fast. You can even create your own reports. You can do all this without IT support - that means you can move faster.
Add in the ability to e-mail spreadsheets to every member of the project team regardless of their location - including partners, vendors, contractors and customers - and the spreadsheet looks like an easy win for everyone. It's no surprise, then, that spreadsheets are the project tracking and reporting tool of choice for many organizations - both large and small. They are a quick and inexpensive way to track, update and consolidate information on group projects - or at least they seem that way.
1Intuit QuickBase Using Spreadsheets for Marketing Project Management: Understanding the Hidden CostsSpreadsheets: The Very Expensive "Free" Solution
Spreadsheets lack: Although the spreadsheet looks like the most sensible option - inexpensive, ubiquitous, . Multi-user access well-known - it carries a variety of hidden costs and risks that collectively make it . Automated data consolidation unsuitable for managing collaborative projects. Using a spreadsheet to track, update, and . Workflow support consolidate project information means spending valuable time on project administration . Accessibility - sending, receiving, and finding e-mails; cutting, pasting, consolidating, and reporting . Scalability information; and reformatting, saving, and e-mailing spreadsheets - only to do it all over . Data integrity again on Monday. In short, it means doing the dreaded spreadsheet shuffle: spending . Audit trail time managing your spreadsheets and e-mail instead of executing high-value project . Document management work. What's more, shuffling spreadsheets translates into a lack of real-time information . Security for decision-making, schedule slippage, and overlooked details. More specifically, when it . Access permission levels comes to managing projects... [download for more]
