The Typical Work Model

Professional services firms provide intangible products. In simple terms, a professional service firm assists other firms in managing their products. Lawyers, advertising professionals, architects, accountants, financial advisers, engineers, and consultants are the most common examples of professional service providers. Their main agenda is to provide knowledge-based services to clients.

Professional services are the most common yet most important services. They constitute a major part of the world economy. Not only are they providing huge employment, but they are also one of the main reasons for the successful continuation of many products. 15% of UK GDP (Gross Domestic Product), 14% of employment and 14% of exports are acquired by PwC, a professional service firm.

The basic tasks performed by these firms include:

• Audit – reviewing the accounts of companies and organizations to ensure the validity and legality of their financial records
• Tax – Completing Tax returns and providing efficiency
• Actuarial – Deep analysis of present and future financial risks and their remedies.
• Financial Advisory – Consultation in terms of the monetary resources of the company.
• Consulting – Increasing efficiency by restructuring and reorganizing.

Considering the extensive services provided by these firms, and a large number of clients at the same time let us evaluate the benefits of a project management software for such firms:

• A central place to manage different services for different clients.
• Resource management for the firm as well as for the clients
• Assigning priority to tasks and work on them accordingly
• Issue tracking

Apart from this, a project management software also provides certain tools which act as a great supplement to professional services firms. One such tool is the Gantt chart.

Gantt Chart Software

A Gantt chart is the visual representation of the project. It is essentially a bar chart which aims to display the following details:

• Project Activities
• Task Lifecycle
• Status and Life of each activity
• Dependency between the events and tasks
• Project lifecycle

For better coordination, the Gantt chart also lets you include the task dependencies through this bar representation. You can also add task due date to the list view of the Gantt chart and many more features as per the business requirement.

Advantages of Gantt Chart Software

Gantt Chart Software

A Gantt chart is the visual representation of the project. It is essentially a bar chart which aims to display the following details:

• Project Activities
• Task Lifecycle
• Status and Life of each activity
• Dependency between the events and tasks
• Project lifecycle

For better coordination, the Gantt chart also lets you include the task dependencies through this bar representation. You can also add task due date to the list view of the Gantt chart and many more features as per the business requirement.

Advantages of Gantt Chart Software

• Accessibility 

Gantt chart is accessible to all the employees who have the access rights provided by the company. It can have multiple instances at the same time with real-time updates.

• Real-Time Edits 

All edits and changes are provided on the online platform which is real-time, meaning they will be reflected on all the screens accessing the Gantt chart simultaneously.

• Financial Tracking

Money allocated to the resources is assigned on the Gantt chart which can be tracked easily. Through the records maintained in a Gantt chart, it can be monitored at any time.

• Multiple services integration

Services provided to one segment of a customer’s organization may have a link to another segment. In such a scenario, it is crucial to link the two services for reasons such as existing dependencies, resource sharing or financial transparency. This solution is inbuilt in a Gantt chart which lets you monitor and integrate various services on a single platform.

• Remote Access

As the Gantt chart is accessible online, the team does not need to be at the same place to collaborate. Through remote access, the Gantt chart lets the teammates enjoy the independence of location to collaborate. This, in turn, reduces dependency on a centralized database. A project manager can access a Gantt chart from anywhere at any time and give instructions accordingly. This increases productivity and reliability. It also enables better coordination between the team and the project manager.

• Secure and Encrypted

Gantt chart comes with standard encryption techniques that do not allow any unauthorized person to view the sensitive information of the products being monitored by the firm. One of the key benefits of the Gantt chart is its security integrated with its transparency. A Gantt chart is accessible only by the team members and that too according to their roles. It also brings transparency to the table as all tasks are kept on an online database. 

To look at the benefits of using a Gantt chart, let’s assume a professional service firm is already using a Gantt chart and see what features are provided cloud migration services.

Features of a Gantt chart

     1.Drag and Drop

Every task which is added in the Gantt chart is adjustable with just a click. By drag and drop, you can move tasks, set timelines, adjust priorities and whatnot. You don’t have to worry about maintaining the records every time a change is there but rather you can focus on providing the services in the most optimum way.

     2.Auto scheduling

Auto Scheduling is a blessing. Gantt charts are equipped with auto-scheduling which recalculates the task durations, timelines, team allocation and other general stuff based on the previous inputs. 

     3.Manage multiple project plans

For firms offering professional services, it is of great importance that they can manage different services altogether. Each service has a lot of information attached. While a Gantt chart helps create a visualization for individual services, it also enables project managers to collaborate on different projects. Each service can have a dedicated Gantt chart which can be linked to other services if need be.

       4.Baseline

Baselines are provided by Gantt charts for analyzing their goal. It lets a project manager keep a check on the milestones achieved and the timeline being followed by the project.

       5.Milestones

Milestones are used to keep tabs on tasks that are present on the Gantt chart. The completed milestone indicates that a task has been completed while the ongoing milestone indicates a work-in-progress.

       6.Financial Tracking

Tools like PlanStreet Gantt Chart have Financial Tracking Feature which allows a project manager to allocate cost even by the hour and time spent on the task. This can then be used to calculate project costs online on the Gantt chart itself.

         7.Critical Path

For larger projects having multiple modules, it is vital to keep track of the modules that are a top priority. To keep a check on these modules, the Gantt chart comes with a feature of the critical path. 

         8.Resource planning

Project management tools like PlanStreet Gantt chart allows you to manage resources. You can add various resources and their roles and also can assign tasks on the Gantt chart. 

          9.RACI Chart

For better communication and integration Gantt chart also contains a RACI Chart. RACI chart is displayed as a list view that can be used to assess roles and responsibilities assigned for each task.