In my series called "Future of Project Management Software" I am talking with PM Software vendors about their view of the future. This time a conversation with Massimo Sgrelli from GotThingsDone, the Project Management Software company that brings us WhoDoes.

How do you think Project management Software will look like in 5-10 years?

Definitely easier to use and designed for the real world. Project management, as its usually understood, is a full time activity at least on medium-large projects. In such a project, when big changes have to be applied to the enterprise, you usually have dedicated teams from the Program Management Office “ PMO. You need them to manage information flow and make intelligible changes to the whole firm. However you have to remember that this doesnt fulfill actual teams needs. Complex projects have always been brought to succeed by a lot of small teams. Project management at this level, in the real world, is really different. Too often we try to control, instead of making people (e)talk to each other, improving information sharing and letting them know what is supposed to be done every day. What we really need are tools to manage the real world. So the natural evolution of PM software in the medium term will bring us to relax some misleading control leverages, making it easier for our people to know exactly what we expect them to do day-by-day, in order to make projects succeed.

What are the technologies that will be driving the software?

The Internet and mobile computing in particular could help us share information and have our daily to-do list on hand. They help keep the data and the team near us wherever we are. Also the web and technologies like Ajax or the emerging tendencies to mash up services, will be the driving force of the new software capabilities. When I say the web I dont only mean the browser, but a new breed of fat (or thin) client applications, specifically designed for mobile devices like the iPhone “ Ive got one and now I cant live without it. Things like the Internet and Google Maps API have enabled business companies like Apple to do Maps, a Google Earth interface for the iPhone. I can assure you that its definitely more powerful than its browser based version.

How do you think tools will support proper communication between mobile, multi-cultural teams?

In order to make project management tools really usable we need to make them really simple, easier to use - and also cheap. More and more companies will have people working remotely and living in different countries. It means different ways of thinking and intending project coordination. In these cases you will be forced to come back to the essential. Share the information as soon as you can and let people know every morning whats in their task list. Everything else is secondary.

How do you think tools will build a sense of community?

Actually, talking about community isnt as simple when applied to project management. Lets try it this way: To work well people need to be happy. They need to use essential and useful tools; it makes them happy because theres no wasting of time. Tools must be online and accessible. Communication among team members must be ubiquitous.

Its all a mix of "useful" and "fun".

All these things together will help create a sense of community.

How do you think tools will keep the team focused on the overall goal?

Keeping people focused is always crucial to projects success. There are two main factors that will contribute to this goal: simplicity and method. A tool must adhere to these principles if you want to have a seamless adoption. Simplicity means including in your tool only the essential features: not everybody needs to access Pert diagrams “ probably no one needs at all. Less is more, in this case. Then you have to be clear about what information you want your users primarily, to manage. In my opinion the only important information people in a team must take under control is what they have to accomplish that day.

How will decisions be supported (about features, about allocation of resources)?

The only way I know to support decisions is talk about them with people. Even better, sharing thoughts in a forum or in a chat so you wont be interrupted when you work.

What makes your current product different than other Project Management Software?

We strongly feel that project success depends on two factors:

• Every person in your team must know what to do every morning
• Information must be shared in real time

WhoDoes, our project management product, has been primarily designed to fulfil to these needs. Planning project activities isnt a simple task and people must understand that you can solve 80% of the problem making people communicate effectively.

In a new series called Future of Project Management Software I will be talking with PM Software vendors about their view of the future. To get us started, I had a conversation with Bastiaan DeBlieck and Bart Stevens from TenForce, a Project Management Software company located in Belgium.

What, do you think, Project management Software will look like in 5-10 years?

The project management solution in 5 to 10 years from now will change dramatically. A lot of the intelligence which resides in the heads of smart people and teams will migrate into the software. A lot of thinking will be done for you … It could even move to a model where the current PMO will be replaced by some sort of one line Virtual PMO, where you will select resources from a pool of experts. These people will then work on the projects …. Think about HAL in 2001: Space Odyssey …
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Predicting the future is always more an art than a science, but I will give it a shot today. What will the next generation of Project management software look like? Except from the intensified collaboration features, we will see some serious power in generating non-trivial management information. Let's say, data mining for Project Management on steroids.

A glimpse can be seen with the new tool from MindSystems, ThemeReader. This system creates from collections of digital information (like documents and email) maps that group themes and topics together. These patterns emerge, nothing is orchestrated up front. This is exactly where we can expect some real support for future PMs. From here it is a small step (yeah right :)) to deduct hidden communication patterns and real concerns of stakeholders from the vast collection of information that is produced during a project.

Imagine the PM getting a nice mail of potential bad behavior of stakeholder X because his wishes are neglected. Impossible? Sociolinguistics tells us that we can deduct a lot from the language a person is using. So, difficult? Yes. Impossible? No. Makes your mind spin if you think about what can happen next…

If you want to have a nice overview of what can happen now, read this great article about some project management systems. It is one of the better articles about the subject in a long time.

Since yesterdays posting I am thinking about exactly what kind of features in software would be a real asset to a Project Manager? Features that would really free up the PM of tedious tasks or make a process far more superior than without the supporting system. Therefore my question to you, just before the weekend, what would you really want to be done by your PM software? And please, don't hold back

I always had this vision since playing the SIMS that I could model my project team like that. Wouldn't it be great, you just enter some parameters, and let it run and see where the project goes? For those of you who have played this game: isn't the interaction between people amazing life like? But, it would actually be useless, if you have one small parameter wrong, the simulation will end up in a complete different direction as it would go in reality. Well, too bad. We should get something with a cool 3D interface though. It brights up every boring application. I mean, look at this 3D app for mail… tell me you don't enjoy it!

Of course, new technology will open up new ways of using tools in Project Management. And really, you don't have seen it all. Look at the following presentation about some new kind of user interface. It just opens up the mind in completely new directions (got the tip here).

So, what are you looking for? And it doesn't have to be one of the traditional goals to implement PM software.

Josept Thornley explains the overall principles of Social Project Management, a term coined by Leisa Reichelt who has formed her ideas from building [TAG-Tec]social software[/TAG-Tec]. Cutely dubbed "Project Management 2.0″, mimicking the current Web 2.0 and Enterprise 2.0 hype. Sadly the formulation she chooses makes it standard "agile" (assuming the posting phrases here correctly). For those that didn't hide behind their PMBoK Guides, there is nothing new there. For us PM 2.0 is so 2000.

She hit the nail though with the idea of "Social" Project Management. But not in the trivial sense of sharing files and collaboration. The Project Management style, and the supporting tools have to be "social", and now more then ever. The project landscape is turning mobile, multi-cultural, 24×7, highly distributed and in ever flux. This situation will increase the risks of three social booby traps:

1) Communication trap: proper understanding of what the other stakeholders need in the project;
2) Trust trap: letting go of control and hoping people still do what they are supposed to do;
3) Isolation trap: no sense of belonging to the project through geographical, cultural and timezone differences.

For Project Management 3.0 the real challenge will be a social one. And this is exactly the place were I think social software can bring us insights. But not in collaboration alone, but more in how software can build a sense of community, enhance trust and stimulate open communication.

A nice example of the future can be found in PlanningPoker. With this free tool people can discuss estimates for planning items online in a kind of poker game. The fun element stimulates discussion, by performing it in a group it creates trust and respect and it helps to break isolation by belonging to a small and fun bunch. You should really give it a try. See what your future will look like.

According to Alexa these are the top 10 most visited project management software websites…

1.		WikiPedia Explanation of the term "project management software" on Wikipedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_management_software
2.		BaseCampHQ.com Basecamp PM Software website. Commercial. http://www.basecamphq.com
3.		AceProject.com Ace Project PM Software website. Commercial. http://www.aceproject.com
4.		ATTask.com AT Task PM Software website. Commercial. http://www.attask.com
5.		AxoSoft.com AxoSoft PM Software website. Although emphasis on bug-tracking. Commercial. http://www.axosoft.com
6.		Celoxis.com Celoxis PM Software website. Commercial. http://www.celoxis.com
7.		EasyProjects.net EasyProjects PM Software website. Commercial. http://www.easyprojects.net
8.		ProjectInsight.net ProjectInsight PM software website. Commercial. http://www.projectinsight.net
9.		MinuteMan Systems MinuteMan PM desktop software. Commercial. http://www.minuteman-systems.com/
10.		ProjectManagementSoftware.org Overview site of PM software. http://www.project-management-software.org