The Project Portal has become an integral part of the project team’s work model, and while some projects do rely on internal shared drives to host information ( essentially code and documentation ) there is a strong case to move content to a platform that promotes collaboration.

The need to make this transition is stronger when you have a large team that is distributed across the globe.  With the large volumes of documentation that a project generates over its life it’s imperative that data sanctity is kept.

Why do we need to do this?

Well, a portal that’s accessible to teams across the globe allows them to interact with one another and increase synergy levels.

1. Becomes a quick reference for important documents and reduces confusion when multiple versions of the same document exists in different places.
2. Promotes interaction between team members across geographies and acts as a content guide for future issues.
3. Reduces learning time by promoting sharing online and improving productivity by reducing time required to identify relevant content and experts.
4. Can be used as a platform to communicate with team members regarding issues related to the project / company and client.

What should a project portal have?

There are a number of features that could find it’s way to a project portal, including:

• Project Announcements
• Client Information / News from the Client / Client Appreciation
• Contact Information of the PM, Tech Leads, Key Resources
• Calendar
• Tracking of Tasks and Issues
• A Resource Management Section
• Document Libraries for project artifacts
• Best Practices / Lessons Learned
• Discussion Forums
• The Project Wiki

Project Office.net has a great tool that allows you to perform a number of activities that are required during the execution of a project. In future posts we will do a walk through of the product and understand how its various features can be put to good use.

Related Posts

• Putting an Induction Plan Together
• The Skills Database
• Knowledge Base
• Wiki’s in Projects
• Project Office.net

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