1. Too Many Files, Not Enough Clarity

For example, there’s a project spreadsheet you’ve created. It sits in SharePoint, where you’ve provided access to your team. Suddenly, someone makes updates that didn’t sync with yours. Another person downloads it and then emails it out. You think someone’s copied it, too, placing it in a different SharePoint folder.

Suddenly, nobody knows which version is the right one. Your spreadsheet no longer keeps the team aligned; in essence, it’s failed. Worse, this is just one project. Your organization is doing many different projects with failed information occurring in nearly every department!

Exasperating, right? Even when files are in SharePoint, it’s not a guarantee that it’s the one source of truth.

A real project and portfolio management tool (PPM) keeps everything in one place. It provides multiple people with access without the worries of not synching, being copied, or going out of date, too. Even better, it’s fully connected to the rest of your workflows, so information stays accurate everywhere.

2. Dependence on Spreadsheet Gurus

Every company has a few “spreadsheet gurus” who know how to update the master sheets so all the connected tabs, formulas, and pivot tables stay intact. With their help, you can see dashboards and progress as well as percentage to completion for a set of projects. For these gurus, it’s mundane work, but for everyone else at the organization, it’s magic.

Everyone hopes these wizards never go on vacation or get sick, because if they do, no one will be able to correctly update these spreadsheets. Maybe even no one will be able to interpret the spreadsheets to give updates, either.

Relying on just a couple of people is inefficient. PPM platforms remove bottlenecks, so everyone knows what’s happening on any given project or portfolio. Reports can be created on the fly without any special sorcery. It’s just real-time data that everyone can access instantly.

3. Manual Updates: Error Prone and Time Consuming

People spend hours updating spreadsheets, formatting cells, reformatting cells, fixing broken formulas, and consolidating status reports. All this processing and assessing takes time, so visibility is limited, and decisions can’t be made quickly.

Plus, these manual updates are subject to human error, so there’s a fear that some information will be outdated and inaccurate.

Imagine putting that time back into real project work. SPM and PPM tools are automated, with dashboards and reporting that don’t take hours of compiling time. With a simple click that only takes a few seconds, reports are ready to provide insight. Dashboards are always visible to help you understand information, at-a-glance. Plus, with the introduction of AI to some SPM tools, you’re even able to predict information before it happens.

And because the data is centralized, it’s more accurate. Reliability alone is worth having one tool, instead of scads of spreadsheets.

If you’re using spreadsheets, getting a clear view of all projects, budgets, and resources at once is nearly impossible. It’s like piecing together a puzzle from different boxes. That means leaders are constantly asking for updates and new spreadsheets to make basic decisions or understand general organizational direction.

For example, do leaders know if …

• Projects are delivering ROI?
• Project will be done on time and on budget?
• Projects are aligned with the right priorities?
• Resources are over- or under-allocated?

Without visibility, even the most basic knowledge can be a mystery.

SPM and PPM tools pull everything together into dashboards and reports so leaders can make decisions confidently and quickly. Knowing how money is being spent, whether more time and money will be needed, how many employees are required to finish a project, etc., is crucial to running a successful business. Otherwise, it’s chaos.

5. Falling Behind as Work Gets More Complex

Spreadsheets: Quick Tasks and Calculations Not Project Management

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