Project Management for Small Business

Project Management is done in every industry by professionals of all stripes, whether or not "Project Manager" is in their title. As a small business, you may not have the budget or staff to support a dedicated project manager. However, thanks to easy to use and often free tools, you can reap the benefits that large companies with teams of PMs and access to enterprise software have for decades.

Project Management, born in civil construction and defense in the early 1900s, is now applied everywhere from Fortune 500s to Mom 'n Pop businesses. Suites of Project Management software keep multimillion-dollar projects and numerous teams on track while streamlined Kanban style boards can provide small companies and teams with just the right level of organization and accountability. This is what is so exciting about the rise of project management as a such a vital, and integral discipline and career path. It has democratized the professional landscape, allowing for small businesses to utilize this essential tool.

Of the options out there for small businesses, Trello is one of the best. At its core, it follows the Kanban system of Lean project management, originally developed by Toyota in the 1940s. It is visual and simple but can be scaled up as the need arises and a business grows. 

Let's look at the example of a small company making wood furniture. We can use Trello's most basic functionality to keep track of orders.

Perhaps the company used a spreadsheet in the past. Excel is great for many things including the organization and processing of large amounts of data, but as a project management tool, it can be limited. Beyond the clean, visual representation of the state of your project, Trello and similar tools enable you to assign team members and give deadlines. Perhaps a task is a bit more complex and requires certain sub-tasks or work packages. Add a checklist!

Aside from the features within Trello, there are numerous Powerups that enhance the experience and allow for management of increasingly complex projects. Powerups are integrations with other apps or programs that enhance the basic functions of Trello. Some especially useful powerups include Google Drive, Salesforce, Twitter and Timecamp. These allow PMs to choose only the functionalities they need, simplifying the process and ensuring that they won't get in their own way with clunky software and unnecessary features.

Enterprise PM tools are essential for large, complex projects, but small businesses and teams don't necessarily need this level of complexity or expense. The beauty of project management is that tools exist for every occasion and, as PMs, we are better able to adapt and ensure project success.