Issues and bugs are real – almost every project has issues. For effective project management, it is necessary to identify, track, and prioritize the issues and solve them with the right approach.
Issues are red flags that indicate the problems ahead.
You cannot plan for the issues when planning for the project; they are somewhat different from the risks. Risks are potential and you may be all ready to face them. However, an issue is something that occurs abruptly. It is better to act on issues immediately not abstractly.
How can we make it possible? Well, while managing a project, you should be equipped with an issue tracking software (also sometimes called a trouble ticket software.) These systems are ideal to record issues faced by customers and allow support teams and managers to track and solve them with an active approach.
It is not enough to go for an issue tracking system – you should also check whether the software is viable and has required features to streamline your project management. Today, we have listed some important features that will help you cherry-pick a robust issue tracker for your company.
Features need to be in an issue tracking software
Integrated project management, prioritization, and collaboration; look for these 3 key features in your issue tracking software to streamline your project management.
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Integrated project management
An issue tracking software must be integrated with corresponding project management software. Go for issue tracking tools that have dedicated issue tracking features rather than just documenting issues as tasks.
The issue tracker should have compatibility with other popular software such as Microsoft Office or Google Apps. With this data doesn’t get abated, but continues to flow across all your systems.
Integration enhances productivity, placing all data together and accessible to you and your team. You and your team can view and edit calendars, documents, and everything without overwriting or missing data.
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Prioritization
Not every issue should be given equal priority. Some issues will not impact your project destructively while some can lead your project to fail, if ignored. That’s why it is vital to use a software that allows users to set the priority of identified issues.
Once you encounter an issue, set its priority as high, medium, or low. Determine these priorities keeping the impact that issue can have on the overall project in mind.
Prioritizing an issue as high means there is no way to overcome it or no easy fix, the issue can cause hurdles in project continuation. Medium prioritized issue also cannot be ignored, but only affect the primary functions of the project. Low priority issues are ones that can be addressed later.
Thus you must prioritize the issues so that you can tackle the issues as per project requirement. Without prioritizing issue you don’t have a proper direction to start tackling the issues.
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Collaboration
Issue tracking tools that can bring all the scattered data tools you use to a single ground. You get that data, prioritize it, and work on resolving the issues. It is feasible to choose an issue tracker that supports the collaboration of all resources together and fix those issue speedily.
It is essential to have the issue tracking software online to provide preliminaries for a collaborative response to any issue. Teams on the same geological space or distributed remotely in different parts of the globe can have a common platform. Through this common platform, they can exchange ideas, share files, and archive their work at a single place, rather than in their disarranged email box.
In cloud-based issue tracking systems, these collaborations can be done in real-time. This way delay, mismanagement, and black holes can be avoided.
You should always have an issue tracking software that gives you and your team the ability to track and resolve those issues and also to make sure nothing goes wrong.
Wowdesk is an issue tracking software that tracks project issues in real-time. It is equipped with collaborative tools that are required to fix the issues and simplify project management. See for yourself by taking a free trial!