smallbusiness.co.uk: Helping your business think big

A worrying number of businesses have no formalised approach for project management, with a fifth of small business employees managing projects ‘in their head’, says research by Vanson Bourne for Microsoft.

The survey, which asked how businesses currently track their projects, revealed that only 57 per cent of small businesses use a spreadsheet tool and that a quarter of employees rely on a simple piece of paper to manage projects like marketing campaigns, events and product development.

A project will often involve staff performing many different tasks, so being able to share information and keep track of all of its various facets are both important considerations. With almost a quarter of small businesses failing to do this, it could mean that aspects such as budgeting for a project are prone to spiraling out of control.

Tim Kimber, Office Live product manager, Microsoft UK says: ‘The results highlight how formal approaches to project management can fall by the wayside as small businesses often have a million other things to worry about.

'However, there are benefits to be had and it’s not just things like building construction or developing a product that require careful project management; even a simple direct mail marketing campaign will have milestones, dependencies and multiple actions to keep track of.’