{"id":9862,"date":"2024-05-10T13:54:20","date_gmt":"2024-05-10T12:54:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/business-online.no\/?p=9862"},"modified":"2026-04-15T10:11:09","modified_gmt":"2026-04-15T09:11:09","slug":"project-management-excel-folder-structure","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/business-online.no\/en\/prosjektstyring-excel-mappestruktur\/","title":{"rendered":"Has Your Company Outgrown Excel and Folder Structures for Project Management?"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Has Your Company Outgrown Excel and Folder Structures for Project Management?<\/h1>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tTry Business Online<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tTake the growth check<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t
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What worked with 10 employees doesn't work with 50<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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If your company operates on a project basis, it\u2019s highly likely that from the very beginning you\u2019ve relied on folder structures and Excel for project management. This approach has worked well so far when you had only a few employees.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

But now, as your team grows and the number of projects increases, the projects also become larger and more complex. It is no longer as easy to manage projects manually as before. The \u201clogic\u201d behind the folder structures and spreadsheets has become increasingly difficult to maintain.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

Do you recognise your business in this? If so, you're not alone. Many businesses find that project management<\/a> must be professionalised as complexity increases. Small businesses quickly outgrow doing project management in Excel and folder structures.<\/span><\/p>

In this article, we take a closer look at the most common signs that managing projects with folder structures and spreadsheets is no longer the right solution for a growing business.<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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6 Signs That You Have Outgrown Excel and Folder Structures<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Many growing companies approach ISO certification with a mixture of ambition and uncertainty. They know that customers demand it, that tenders require it, and that auditors will come anyway. But they don't always know what they already have in place and what's missing.<\/p>

Many of our customers are ISO certified to 9001, 14001 or 45001. We wanted to understand exactly what the platform actually covers. Not what we think, but what is in the standard and what is solved in the product.<\/p>

The result is this analysis: a review of all the requirements in three ISO standards, assessed against the functionality of Business Online. No vague claims that \u00abwe support ISO\u00bb. Concrete answers, clause by clause.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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1. You Spend Unnecessarily Much Time Searching for Information<\/h3>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Since you use folder structures and spreadsheets for projects, you end up with vast amounts of data scattered across different folders. As a result, you often spend a significant amount of time searching for specific documents and\/or files needed to move the project forward.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

The information gathered so far in the project is often left in various folder structures. Consequently, when a new phase starts, it becomes difficult to update what has been done and what, for example, has been agreed upon with customers and suppliers.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

This \"steals\" focus and valuable time that you and your employees could use on more value-adding tasks.<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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2. You Don\u2019t Know Who Did What or Which File Is the Latest<\/h3>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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When several people in the company work on the same file or document simultaneously, coordinating the project work and maintaining version control becomes challenging.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

Who is currently working on which document? Which version of the file is actually the newest? And what happens if you need to restore a previous version?<\/span><\/p>

Having multiple copies of documents or files scattered across different folders often results in working with outdated versions. As a result, you get delayed access to updated, project-critical information. In the worst case, outdated and incorrect information gets propagated throughout the project.<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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3. The Data No Longer Has Sufficient Quality<\/h3>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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As you take on more projects, it becomes increasingly difficult to maintain a consistent and easily accessible data structure. For example, Excel offers limited support for data validation and quality assurance.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

This increases the risk of inaccurate data, data duplication, and other quality issues that can negatively affect collaboration, information sharing, and decision-making processes in your business.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

Employees may have created duplicate files and placed them in different folders, leading to confusion and challenges related to version control and data consistency.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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4. You Have Become Vulnerable to Human Error<\/h3>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Working on projects with folder structures and Excel means you\u2019ve likely experienced files being misplaced and errors occurring during manual data entry.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

Over time, this has led to a deterioration in data integrity, making it unreliable. Moreover, errors made in projects five or six iterations ago have often carried over into current projects.<\/span><\/p>

What impact have these issues had on your analyses, reports, and decision-making during project work?<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Frustrated\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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5. Project Management Has Become Person-Dependent<\/h3>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Imagine being in the final stretch of a project with multiple departments working hard to meet an imminent deadline \u2013 and then the inevitable happens: a key project team member falls ill and is absent indefinitely.<\/span><\/p>

If you\u2019ve experienced a similar situation, you have likely felt how challenging and chaotic it can be to manage projects using folder structures and Excel.<\/span><\/p>

What exactly did you agree on with the customer for this project? What\u2019s the latest status? And where are the notes from the last status meeting?<\/span><\/p>

The necessary information to get an overview and pick up the thread is scattered across multiple documents and files. You realize you must embark on a \u201cscavenger hunt\u201d through folders and spreadsheets\u2014right at the moment when you must meet an important deadline for the customer.<\/span><\/p>

And what about that key person who, unfortunately, fell ill in the midst of this critical phase? You can only imagine the stress they face\u2026<\/span><\/p>

If your project management relies on specific individuals at every level, it\u2019s a clear sign that you have outgrown managing projects with spreadsheets and folder structures.<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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6. It Has Become Difficult to Get an Overall Overview<\/h3>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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As the projects in your company have grown more complex, it\u2019s become harder to maintain complete oversight and control. How far have you really progressed? Are there tasks falling behind schedule?<\/span><\/p>

You need to perform comprehensive analyses, generate reports, and identify trends across multiple projects. However, this is difficult when you manage projects with Excel and folder structures, dedicating too much time and resources to it.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

You end up using multiple spreadsheets for different parts of the project, forcing you to jump back and forth between them. You lack an overview of who has done what, or whether tasks have been completed on time. Moreover, you cannot see at a high level whether tasks have been finished. Simply put: With a robust project management system, you make everything cloud and clear.<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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Project management using folder structures and Excel makes it challenging to scale your business<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Can you continue to manage projects with folder structures and spreadsheets as you grow? Certainly \u2013 you\u2019ve managed so far. But when you\u2019re setting up for further growth and facing new, more complex customer demands, the question becomes whether you\u2019re really served by this approach.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

Projects you can currently manage relatively well will soon become challenging to handle as your business grows and the volume of data increases. This raises the risk that you might not maintain the same level of oversight and quality in your projects.<\/span><\/p>

And not least: if your project management is manual and cumbersome, you might even have to decline some projects because your capacity is insufficient.<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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Want to see what this looks like in practice?\n<\/h3>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Lie Blikk moved from folders and Excel to three ISO certifications with Business Online. Read how they achieved structure with over 100 employees.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tRead the customer story<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t
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What should you use instead of Excel and folder structures for project management?<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Switch to <\/b>a project management system<\/b><\/a> specifically designed to provide businesses with better oversight, structure, and collaboration at every stage of a project.<\/b><\/p>