If you ever want to feel totally overwhelmed, have them Google “What are the best Project Management Tools?” Three hundred twenty-nine million results later (in 0.85 seconds), you’ll find the top twenty entries, half of which are ads.
Google will also feature an article, “Seven of the Best Project Management Tools For Your Business.” And there’s the list. Go no further, good people, here’s the answer on the first page! Just pop those product names into your search engine, download their pilot versions and you’re off to Project Excellence Land, right?
Not so fast.
At times, the internet can actually be a dangerous thing, even when it’s trying to be helpful. Let’s delve just a LITTLE bit deeper into Google’s featured article. Where’s this coming from anyway?
The source is Entrepreneur.com. Not bad. October 20, 2017 – so only a year old. I’d like something more recent, but again, not bad. On these pieces, though, the proof in the pudding is the expertise of the author.
This takes a click-through, but kudos again to Entrepreneur for actually identifying the author and sharing his or her bio. It turns out the expertise of the author is. . . drum roll. . .
“Freelance business writer and social media marketing consulting.”
The author has no discernible project management experience. The author provided no evidence of an evaluation method. Yet the author chooses to come across as an expert, flatly declaring, “. . . the following project management tools will be ideal for you.”
The list that follows is laughable for someone with project management experience. The tools are actually collaboration and NOT project management tools. They help manage work tasks. While work tasks may contribute to delivering a project, simply tracking tasks is NOT Project Management.
The article is targeted to those with little project management experience, which makes the piece even more egregious – taking advantage of the inexperienced. Here’s the lesson:
If you’re looking for software or processes to improve your project delivery, don’t rely on Google – find someone with real experience. (And if you’re really looking for help with project management software selection, check out this previous blog on the subject.)
Given the apparent “qualifications” required to recommend stuff on the internet, I’ve decided to expand the fields where I give advice. Look forward my next blog: “Seven Of The Best Surgical Tools For Your Next Brain Surgery.”
