Research by Vanson Bourne for Microsoft has concluded that a significant number of businesses apparently have no formal approach to project management, with a fifth of small business employees managing projects ‘in their head’.
 
The survey, which asked how businesses currently track their projects, revealed that only 57% of small businesses use a spreadsheet tool and that a quarter of employees rely on a simple piece of paper to manage projects like marketing campaigns, events and product development.

Projects quite often involve employees carrying out various tasks and proper controls are essential to ensure information can be shared, and that no aspects are overlooked such as budgeted costs and time scale.

Tim Kimber, Office Live product manager, Microsoft UK said:

“The results highlight how formal approaches to project management can fall by the wayside as small businesses often have a million other things to worry about.

However, there are benefits to be had and it’s not just things like building construction or developing a product that require careful project management; even a simple direct mail marketing campaign will have milestones, dependencies and multiple actions to keep track of.”

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