Spotlight Project Management goes Social

Focus on communication first, tasks second

Spotlight is unlike other task management tools. While Spotlight offers a top-quality task management system, Spotlight’s real strength resides in its ability to help manage people and encourage communication among virtual teams. By using social network-like communication tools, virtual teams will get the feeling as if they were all in the same office. In fact, when using Spotlight, communication is even better than it would be in an office because you can quickly see what everyone is working on at any time of the day, anywhere.

Where is John?

How many times have you asked where a virtual team member was when they didn't respond to an email or didn't answer their phone? Managing virtual teams can be really frustrating if you don't know where people are or what they are working on. Spotlight makes your project easier and your virtual team member's job easier by allowing easy availability updates to notify team members where you are and when you will be back.

John found out how much easier his life was when his project manager didn't constantly ping him to ask where he was when we went to get a quick lunch or run an errand. He simply changed his status to away and the time he would be back. Just imagine the way Spotlight can make you and your virtual team's life easier!

Quick, real-time messages

Respond to your virtual team members status updates to quickly ask a question, leave a comment or simply to motivate them! Facebook-like replies to status updates makes it easy to communicate with your team members as well as have a record of questions asked and comments made.

It doesn't take long for project managers to see how useful Spotlight is. The project manager saw that John was working on a task and had spent too much time on the task. The project manager replied to John's status update asking if there were any issues. The project manager learned from John's response that there was an error that he found from a previous task. This type of communication is essential to help notify clients of any delay.

What is John working on and what are his next tasks?

A simple flip of the status card reveals what John is working on, the estimated hours versus the actual hours on the task, what tasks he has finished and what tasks are next on his plate. No longer does the project manager have to bug virtual employees constantly to see what they are working on next. Spotlight gives you quick access to who is working on what and when.

Deliver faster with agile management

Get your projects done faster and more efficiently with Spotlight’s enhanced agile project management system. Studies have shown that agile project management is often the most efficient way to manage projects and can be applied in almost any industry. Based on the Scrum framework of sprints and tasks, Spotlight keeps your virtual team organized and able to quickly adapt to changing project requirements. A powerful reporting system helps project managers and clients keep track of their team and project’s progress to ensure it gets done on time and within budget.

Manage sprints and tasks

Spotlight’s unique user interface is built upon an agile sprint and task management system to help increase overall virtual team productivity. Team members can instantly see which tasks are assigned directly to them, the priority of completion, and any attachments or comments available for the task. Project managers can monitor task efficiency and progress by comparing estimated hours to actual hours so any issues can be quickly identified and addressed.

Tasks are directly tied into a team member’s Status Card and can be selected as part of their status update. As a team member updates their status with a new task, the system tracks the time spent on that task and logs it for reporting or auditing. All data is archived inside the task management system and can be easily retrieved for a project stakeholder request.

Monitor project progress and get reports

Spotlight helpsagile project managers easily track projects from initiation to delivery. Monitor your project’s progress in real-time with the percentage towards project completion, project efficiency rating, and the estimated project delivery date. Using the task management system along with progress rates, project managers can quickly provide updates to customers and other project stakeholders on the status of their project.

Spotlight’s powerful reporting system allows project managers to monitor their virtual team and project via daily progress reports. Detailed reports can be created that show the progress of the project, its estimated delivery date, and the progress of each and every team member. Daily team member scrum reports outlining tasks completed today, tasks due tomorrow, and challenges faced help project managers keep their team on track and quickly identify any distractions the team has encountered. Spotlight reports provide project stakeholders with the insight they need to make certain their project is being completed in the most efficient and timely manner possible.

No more black box

Jack is an entrepreneur. His new start-up, Awesome Software, is comprised of a virtual team. There are 5 developers in India, a project manager in New York, 2 QA testers in Mexico and a designer in in Los Angeles. Jack is in Phoenix. Jack was thrilled with his team because he was able to find the exact talent he needed at the exact price he could afford. However, lately things have been going sideways. The PM cannot seem to tell Jack what the progress of the project is. He’s never sure when the developers are really working. He’s unsure of what is going to be delivered when.

Jack’s story, most unfortunately, is not unique. In fact, 50% - 90% of all software development projects sourced by virtual teams fail. The number one reason? Poor communication. Emails get buried and lost. Skype calls go unanswered. Releases and deliveries are a mystery.

The power of social

Jack is an avid user of Facebook and Twitter. He loves the way he can instantly see what all his friends and colleagues are doing through real-time status updates and notifications. He can chat with them and he knows when they’re around. Jack knows what millions of others know: Social is the best way for dispersed group to communicate.

Spotlight is project management gone social. Spotlight seamlessly blends the power of real-time social network communications with an agile and responsive task management system. Tasks are tied to status updates. That means when a developer works on an assigned task, his status update is broadcasted to every member of the company. Anyone at any time can see what everyone else is working on, their progress and even how efficient they are. Imagine the power to be notified multiple times a day of the status and progress of our project, as well as the status and progress of each and every of your employees… at a laptop, or via mobile.

Jack’s software rocks

Since Jack adopted Spotlight for Awesome Software, his team has been communicating with the efficiency and productivity of working in the same office. Jack has peace of mind now that he has 100% visibility into his people and his project. Jack is happy and Awesome Software is doing great!