Introduction:

Technology has exponentially grown over the last decade, infiltrating every sector globally with its innovative applications and automated programs. The industries including healthcare, IT, transport, finance, education, and automobile have benefitted the most from this growth and catching up among the other streams too. A project is the primary source of revenue for any company, and especially in the IT departments, it is pretty massive. Therefore, the tasks allotted to any team members in an IT company have to be thoroughly verified and checked for any errors regularly until the submission to the requested client. The project management application is the tool that can provide the necessary functions or applications to ease the workload of every project in the IT business. 

Salesforce is the most popular cloud-based software specializing in Customer Relationship Management (CRM), the most critical element of project management. It allows the organizations to stay connected with all their customers, potential customers, and business partners. The Salesforce technology can provide a lot more than just CRM applications in project management.

The Effective Ways of Salesforce Integration in Project Management:

Effective Team Management:

The project manager is responsible for all the pivotal functions running in any business organization (IT). So, he has to maintain the workflow of the project and resolve every issue pertaining to the project, customer, and software. It is a very challenging and compelling task for many people, but several project management software like Salesforce can ease the massive workload. The software provides two main features to manage the team members: Account Teams and Opportunity Teams.

Account Teams are the teams that allow every member to work on a single account. In this feature, every activity, deal, opportunity, and data that falls under the bounds of the concerned account is presented on a single platform, enabling the team to work on it effectively. In addition, account Teams will make your team members clearly understand their roles and responsibilities on an individual basis and allow the project manager to monitor the team’s performance with just a click of a button. 

Opportunity Teams are the teams that accommodate team members working on a common opportunity or project. The opportunity in this feature is termed as the subject that has the potential to transform into a successful deal for the company. However, the Opportunity Teams cannot display the information in a single account, disabling the employees to view the project details on a single platform.

Sending out Task Notifications for Sales Team:

The sales team are the essential employees who make the application or program to reach the people and gain business profits. To make their jobs a bit easier, Salesforce introduced a feature called Task Notifications. It displays all the respective tasks to be done by the team members with all the relevant information associated with it. The Task Notification obviously notifies the employees on a regular basis to their respective tasks that have to be completed, enabling the project to be carried out smoothly. However, this feature is only accessible in the Lightning version of Salesforce and so, you would have to upgrade the software in order to use this function.

Effective Communication with Employees:

The project manager has to communicate effectively with their employees to ensure that the project under their responsibility is conducted efficiently. The software offers two features to maintain communication: Chatter and Files.

Chatter serves as a common platform for all the team members to communicate with each other. Using this feature, the project manager can present certain important announcements and discuss relevant issues pertaining to the project handling procedures. 

Files are the platform that can help create certain important documents and be kept in private or public by all the team members. Using this feature, the project manager can eliminate major confusion by keeping all the communications centralized. 

Keeping Track of Changes through Field History:

The project manager has to maintain track of all the changes and activities performed by the employees related to a specific project. It is a very tedious and challenging task as there are many complicated and simple activities performed simultaneously. So, Salesforce provides the best solution to this problem through Field History. 

Field History is the feature that can track the history of all the activities performed by the employees regarding a specific project. Using this feature, the project manager can view the changes done by the team members on the project and also the name of the team member who made changes to the specific project. 

Maintaining Project Timelines:

The project manager has to submit the project before the deadline, and maintaining the project's workflow in a timely and effective manner is daunting. The Salesforce Report is the feature that can help the manager stay updated on his project timelines. Using this tool, one can identify the Open Opportunities at the time of crisis and immediately deal with that activity first. It can also display the last changes made on any activity, the name of the team member who made the modifications in the project, and the time left for performing certain activities related to the project. The project selection tool can help the manager view any actions associated with a specific project in certain Accounts.  

Taking Maximum Advantage of AppExchange:

With BYOD policies implemented across many companies, mobile or desktop applications are the commonly used programs in most businesses. So, collaborating both the applications in an effective platform is absolutely necessary. The Salesforce AppExchange will allow the company to work in various simple and advanced applications, thus enhancing your overall functions.

The AppExchange provides features like Inspire Planner that would assist the project manager in managing the team members by delivering a productive solution to almost every problem they face. Using this feature, the manager can assign certain tasks to specific team members, track the history of every activity and share essential details on communications related to critical projects. 

Conclusion:

Project Management is not everyone’s cup of tea, but with advanced technologies like Salesforce, managing the team does not seem too difficult. Several features of the technology almost cover any project manager's primary roles and responsibilities, helping them perform their job with more efficiency. So, the innovative technology has made life simpler for project managers in managing a massive task with relatively user-friendly applications. Micropyramid offers the best salesforce services and software solutions to small as well as large businesses across the globe.