Project Management: This is what it looks like when everything fits together
If you're looking for project management, you probably already know what the problem is. There are more projects, less oversight, and people spend more time searching than delivering.
«Really, I have a dream scenario where, from sales, through projects, and then on to logistics and out, it's one place that connects,» a project manager at an engineering firm explained. «It becomes a bit
here and there, and something becomes double.»
Project management in Business Online works like this in practice.
What project management in Business Online actually means
Business Online is built for project-based companies with 5 to 100 employees. The platform combines project management, CRM, quality system, and document management into a single solution, built on Microsoft 365.
This means that project management doesn't exist in a separate app. It lives in Outlook, Teams and SharePoint. Employees don't switch tools. They get structure around what they already use.
The project overview management actually uses
One of the most common things we hear from daily managers is that they don't know the status of projects. They get answers when they ask, but they have to ask.
In Business Online, the CEO sees all projects with their status, responsible person, and progress. Project managers see their own. Department managers see their department's. No one needs to create a report or a PowerPoint.
A company in the electrical industry described the need as follows: «What he wants to see is that things are connected. That you go into a project, and the procedure is there. That CRM, quality, and deviations are gathered in one place.»
From quote to finished project in the same system
Most project management tools handle the project. Business Online handles the entire process.
The customer is created in the CRM. The quote is linked to the customer. When the quote becomes a project, all information follows. The project manager sees what the salesperson promised. The salesperson sees how the project is progressing. No «can you
Did you forward that email with the offer in it?»
For growing businesses, this is the link that is often missing. An engineering company recounted, «We've grown from being very small to quite a lot of projects, including large ones. From manual Excel sheets to
manual Word documents. It can work perfectly well, but there are many good follow-up tools we might not be using today.»
Quality management within the project
In many industries, project management and quality management are two sides of the same coin. A construction project needs checklists. An offshore project needs deviation management. A proposal to a major client requires you to be able to document how you work.
I Business Online I am participating Quality Control Plans, and deviation management within the project. Not in a separate one Quality management system on the side. Each checkpoint documents who performed it and when.
«The QCP is the biggest advantage we've gained,» said Eirik Kvilstad Heskja from Lie Blikk, after the company achieved three ISO certifications with Business Online.
From three ways of working to one
Lie Blikk grew from 60 to over 100 employees and has a turnover of nearly £175 million. They went from three different ways of working in three different project phases to one unified system for the entire process. Today, they handle 10 to 15 quotes per project with full oversight from the initial customer inquiry to final delivery.
Why not Monday.com, Asana, or MS Project?
Horizontal project management tools work well for task management. However, they do not connect the project to the customer, the quote, the quality system, and the documents. For a company with 30 employees that needs CRM,
Project management and ISO documentation, that means three systems instead of one. Business Online brings everything together on one platform. That's the difference.
Documents belonging to the project, in the project
Contracts, drawings, quotes, meeting minutes. In most businesses, these are stored in a folder structure, in inboxes, or both. In Business Online, the documents are located within the project they belong to, with
Version control through SharePoint. When someone leaves, the documents are still there.
Gantt charts, checklists, or both
Business Online adapts to the project. You decide how much structure is needed. An internal task might only need a responsible person and a deadline. A construction project needs Gantt chart with milestones and dependencies. An ISO project
Checklists with check points and documentation.
Who is this for?
Business Online is built for Norwegian project-based businesses with 5 to 100 employees. Particularly in industries where projects have many stages: construction and civil engineering, oil and gas, electrical and installation, technology, and consultancy.
The common denominator is that project management today is spread across too many locations, and that the company has outgrown the tools it started with.
If you want to see the most common signs that the business has outgrown its project tools, read the article on project work here.
Project management that grows with the company
What separates a project management tool that works from one that gathers dust is whether it fits the way you actually work. Not today, but also in two years' time when you're twice the size. Business Online is
built so that you don't have to switch systems as your projects grow and requirements become stricter.
Other articles on project management
See how project management works in Business Online
Book a meeting, and we'll show you project management in Business Online with your type of projects. Or try our interactive demo.