Tools Archives - ProjectManager

Change Request: How to Submit, Manage and Execute

Quincy Yarbrough — Wed, 14 May 2025 19:00:33 +0000

We say it all the time — change is inevitable. This adage is as true for projects and organizations as it is for everything else. Change can feel like an inconvenience or a response to unexpected trouble. And while this does happen, a change request can also be completely natural, and even positive, in the grand scheme of things. Because, ultimately, change is evolution.

So, how can changes be used to your advantage in project management? We create a system to guide these changes. This system prevents confusion and disorganization which can sink and operate, and it all begins with a change request.

What Is a Change Request?

Change requests act as these formal documents and are a core component of a change management plan. These documents outline modifications to some aspect of the project or organization — usually at a high level, such as a project deliverable or organizational operations.

The requests for change can come from within or outside the organization, and while requested changes can vary wildly, the process for creating them is the same. This continuity simplifies the process of creating, submitting, monitoring and approving (or denying) them.

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Change Request Form

Use this free Change Request Template for Word to manage your projects better.

What Is the Purpose of a Change Form?

In any project or organization, there is the potential that processes or tasks will need to be changed. Change requests exist to officially document details about those aspects that need to be altered. Their purpose is to request a modification and control this change.

These modifications can be necessary when high-level goals and objectives and/or project deliverables change or are added on to. For example, a client may want to change the deliverables of a project, a company may want to expand its mission, an organization may want to improve communication or internal operations. The list goes on. Regardless of what the change is, change requests document the proposed modification.

These formal requests list all pertinent information and are then passed along to an individual stakeholder (or a board or comity of individuals) for approval. Change requests summarize everything they need to know and simplify how the change management process will progress.

Project management software makes it easier to manage change for your projects and wider organization. With ProjectManager, incorporate change into your project schedules with robust Gantt charts with dependencies, baseline tracking and version control. Leverage built-in risk management features and collaborate on tasks online with your team in List or Board views. It’s software designed specifically with project management in mind. Try ProjectManager today for free.

Accomodate change with dynamic project timelines and detailed task management. Learn more

What Should Be Included in a Change Request Form?

No matter the kind of request for change is made, there are a few bases you should be sure to cover. Start with these core components and build out the rest of your change requests around them.

Request Title: A brief, descriptive title that summarizes the nature of the change being requested.
Request Number / ID: A unique identifier assigned to the change request for tracking and reference.
Date of Request: The date on which the change request is formally submitted.
Requestor Information: The name, role and contact details of the person initiating the change request.
Description of Change: A detailed explanation of the proposed change, including what is being changed and why.
Reason for Change: A justification for the change, explaining the problem, opportunity or requirement prompting it.
Impact Analysis: An evaluation of how the change will affect the project’s scope, schedule, budget, resources and quality.
Resource Requirements: A summary of additional personnel, tools, time or budget needed to implement the change.
Potential Risks: Any known risks or uncertainties that could arise as a result of implementing the change.
Proposed Solution or Alternative: The recommended approach to implement the change, including any alternative options.
Affected Documents/Deliverables: A list of project documents, components or deliverables that will be impacted by the change.
Priority Level: The urgency or importance of the change, typically categorized as low, medium or high.
Approval Section: A space for reviewers or decision-makers to record their names, roles and signatures as part of the approval process.
Decision: The final determination (e.g., approved, rejected, deferred) regarding the change request.
Implementation Plan: A high-level plan describing how the change will be executed, including steps, timeline and responsibilities.
Comments: An optional section for additional notes, clarifications, or supporting information related to the change.

Depending on the type of change or the organization or project, you may wish to include additional details. This is completely fine, but you’ll want to keep these additional sections short and sweet and be sure the format of each request is as consistent as possible.

Change Request Form Example

To better understand what a change request is, here is an example. The section below outlines the essential details of the change request, including who submitted it, when and what the change entails. In the example, the request is to add e-commerce functionality to a website redesign project, with a high priority due to shifting business goals.

Here, the broader implications of the change are evaluated, such as the effect on project scope, budget, resources, risks and schedule. The proposed change adds complexity, requires additional staff and time, and shifts the deadline by several weeks—factors critical to project planning.

The final section captures the official decision regarding the change, with space for comments and approval signatures. In the example, the change is accepted with a note on privacy considerations and the necessary stakeholders sign off to authorize implementation.

Change Request Form Template

Get started making change requests at your organization with this template. Our free change request form template for Word will help you describe the change, evaluate the impact of the change, establish a sign-off process and more. It’s the ideal way to integrate change management into your projects and business. Download yours today.

Free change request form template

What Is Change Request Management?

Change request management is the structured process of identifying, evaluating and implementing changes within a project or organization. It ensures that any proposed modifications—whether to scope, schedule, budget, resources or deliverables—are carefully reviewed and approved before execution. The goal is to maintain project control and alignment with objectives while minimizing disruptions and risks.

This process typically involves submitting a formal change request, conducting impact assessments, involving key stakeholders and documenting decisions. Change request management is essential in dynamic project environments where new information, shifting priorities, or unforeseen issues can necessitate adjustments. By following a standardized approach, teams can make informed decisions, ensure transparency and maintain accountability throughout the project lifecycle.

Free Related Change Management Templates

The change request form is only one of over 100 free project management templates for Excel and Word that cover all aspects of managing projects across multiple industries. Here are just a few that relate to change management.

Change Management Plan Template

Download this free change management plan template for Word to guide organizations through the process of managing change effectively. It outlines how changes—whether organizational, technical, procedural or strategic—will be identified, assessed, approved, implemented and monitored. This template provides a standardized format to ensure consistency, clarity and alignment across all change initiatives.

Change Impact Assessment Template

Use this free change impact assessment template for Excel to evaluate how a proposed change will affect various aspects of a project, process, organization or system. It helps decision-makers understand the scope and implications of a change before implementation, enabling better planning, risk mitigation and communication with stakeholders.

Change Log Template

This free change log template for Excel is used to track and manage changes throughout the lifecycle of a project. It provides a centralized record of all requested, approved, deferred or rejected changes, including essential details like the nature of the change, when it was made, who initiated it and its impact on project scope, schedule and cost.

Types of Change Requests

Change requests can be sorted into different categories, depending on the objective of the change. Here are the four key types of change requests to be aware of. Each of these four can apply to both projects and organizations as a whole.

Normal Change: A normal change request addresses a significant alteration to operations, existing systems, infrastructure, etc. This type isn’t uncommon, but it does imply substantial, far-reaching changes need to be made. And, as you can imagine, normal change requests often result in additional ones.
Standard Change: A standard change request proposes a low-risk change that occurs often. As we’ve discussed, many changes are perfectly natural over the course of a project or in an organization. These changes can be thought of as evolution. They are proposals outlining what needs to be modified, but the modification itself will follow a preexisting system.
Major Change: A major change request proposes a significant change that will require substantial financing. Major changes pose a high risk, but they can also reap high rewards. These changes don’t occur often, and if they’re handled poorly, they can do serious damage. That being said, they’re necessary to make extreme modifications.
Emergency Change: An emergency change request is a high-priority proposal for immediate change. This type is generally the result of a mistake or something not going as planned and can be used to prevent these unexpected circumstances from wreaking havoc.

How to Establish a Change Request Process

It’s important to have a concrete system of processing requests in place. This creates a set of steps anyone can follow and cuts down on errors. This will look different depending on the industry, organization or project, but there are some universal points they need to hit. Here are a few to focus on:

1. Create a Change Request Form for Your Organization

Change requests can impact many aspects of a project plan or even the entire organization. But, no matter what kind of requests are submitted, they should all contain the same components and answer the same questions. For this reason it is highly advisable to use a change request form for any change requests that might be required throughout the organization. This consistency in formatting makes for better records and more thorough reporting.

Because consistency is so important, many organizations choose to use templates when creating one. These templates make it simple to find the information you’re looking for because you’re already familiar with the formatting. A template also ensures no details are left out.

2. Assemble a Change Control Board

Assembling a Change Control Board (CCB) involves selecting a group of stakeholders who are responsible for reviewing, evaluating, approving or rejecting change requests in a structured and consistent way. A well-formed CCB ensures that proposed changes align with project goals, stakeholder interests and organizational priorities.

Typically, the change control board includes the following.

Project Manager: Chairs the board, facilitates discussions and ensures the change process aligns with project goals and timelines.
Project Sponsor or Executive Stakeholder: Provides strategic oversight and ensures changes align with business objectives and funding constraints.
Product Owner or Client Representative: Represents the end-user perspective and assesses how changes impact functionality, value and usability.
Functional Leads or Department Heads: Offer input on how proposed changes affect operations, staffing and departmental responsibilities.
Quality Assurance Lead: Evaluates changes for their impact on deliverable quality, testing protocols and compliance.
Risk Manager: Analyzes potential risks introduced by the change and recommends mitigation strategies.
Technical Lead or Systems Architect: Assesses feasibility, resource implications and technical impact of the proposed change.
Change Manager (if applicable): Oversees the change process and ensures adherence to organizational change management frameworks.

3. Establish a Chain of Communication Between Requestors and the Change Control Board

Submitting a request to the change control board is not the end of the process. In fact, submitting often only starts a longer conversation. Regardless of whether a change request is approved or denied, there will likely be some back and forth between the person submitting the request and the person responsible for reviewing it.

Because change requests do often start these conversations, it’s important to establish exactly how these “edits” will be discussed or questions will be asked. Each party must know who to speak to and how to voice their questions, concerns, criticism, etc. When there is a set communication plan in place, this cuts down on conflict and improves efficiency.

4. Create a Change Log to Register Change Requests

This step involves documenting all submitted change requests in a centralized change log. The change log acts as an official record that tracks each request from submission through resolution. It captures key details such as the request ID, date submitted, description, requestor name, status, priority and decision outcome.

Maintaining a change log ensures transparency, accountability, and traceability throughout the change management process. It helps project managers and stakeholders monitor progress, avoid duplication and evaluate the overall impact of changes on scope, budget, timeline and resources. An up-to-date change log is essential for successful project governance and communication.

5. Assess the Potential Impact of Change Requests

Before approving a change request, it’s essential to evaluate how the proposed change will affect various aspects of the project. A structured impact assessment helps project teams make informed decisions, avoid unintended consequences and maintain alignment with project goals. Below are the core areas to assess.

Scope: Determine whether the change expands or reduces the project’s deliverables or objectives. Will new tasks be added? Are existing requirements being modified?
Schedule: Evaluate how the change will affect the timeline. Will it delay milestones or the final delivery date? Does it compress time for other tasks?
Cost: Assess the financial implications. Will additional funding be needed? Are there potential cost savings or increases?
Quality: Consider how the change may impact the quality of deliverables. Will it compromise standards, or does it aim to improve outcomes?
Resources: Analyze whether the change requires more personnel, equipment, or materials. Is current capacity sufficient, or are additional resources needed?
Risks: Identify new risks introduced by the change and determine how they affect the project’s overall risk profile. Are mitigation strategies required?

6. Approve, Deny or Defer the Change Request

When evaluating a change request, there are typically three decisions a change control board (CCB) or project decision-makers can make.

Approve: If the change request aligns with project goals, provides value and has acceptable impacts on scope, schedule, cost and resources, it should be approved. Approval indicates that the change will be implemented according to the proposed plan and reflected in updated project documentation.
Deny: A change request is denied if it introduces unacceptable risks, costs or misalignment with project objectives. This decision halts further consideration unless the request is revised and resubmitted.
Defer: Deferring a change request means postponing the decision. This often happens when more information is needed or when the project isn’t at the right phase to accommodate the change.

7. Implement the Change Request

When approved, it’s time to execute the resulting changes. This usually falls to many different individuals and can even involve different departments. Perhaps the most important part of establishing a change management process is deciding what will happen after a request is approved.

Although the changes being approved can vary widely, the steps after approval should look the same. This includes holding a meeting and completing necessary forms such as a change order. The key is having a system in place to take approved requests from documents and turn them into reality.

8. Conduct a Post-Implementation Review After Executing Change Request

A post-implementation review (PIR) after executing a change request assesses whether the change met its objectives, its impact on the project and lessons learned. For instance, in a project where a new user feedback feature was integrated into a website, the PIR evaluates whether the feature improved user engagement and provided valuable insights. Feedback from stakeholders, including product owners and support teams, confirmed the success of the change.

The review also looks at the impact across various areas like scope, schedule, cost, quality, resources and risk, all of which were successfully managed. Key lessons learned include the importance of early stakeholder input and the smooth collaboration between teams. Recommendations for the future might include continued monitoring of user engagement trends and exploring additional interactive features for the site. This review ensures that the change request was not only successfully executed but also provides valuable insights for continuous improvement.

How ProjectManager Helps Manage Changes in Your Project

When creating and submitting change requests, it’s important to have the proper documentation tools. Throughout the course of a project, you will need to organize and store an array of documents so that everything is easy for anyone to find and nothing is lost. ProjectManager allows you to upload all the documents you need to your project, with unlimited file space.

And if you need to point out a specific detail on a change request, simply leave a comment in the document and tag the team member(s) you want to show. This eliminates the need to email PDFs. back and forth and puts all your correspondences in one space.

Keeping all of your change requests in one location also makes it easy to execute the changes themselves. Because these requests live in the same space as your project plan, schedule, dashboard, task management tools and more, you can make adjustments with only a few clicks and get to work immediately.

Microsoft Project for Mac: How to Run MS Project Files on Mac

William Malsam — Mon, 28 Apr 2025 22:00:39 +0000

You’re probably here because you’re looking for Microsoft Project for Mac. Unfortunately, Microsoft Project, also known as MS Project, wasn’t designed for Mac computers, so its desktop-based editions (Microsoft Project Standard and Microsoft Project Professional) won’t work on any Mac operating system (macOS).

Is There a Microsoft Project for Mac?

Microsoft Project for Mac doesn’t exist, but there are alternatives for those who want to work with Microsoft Project Plan (MPP) files on an Apple computer. The two most commonly used workarounds are trying one of the inferior, web-based versions of Microsoft Project or installing a virtual machine, a software that allows users to run a Windows operating system on Mac. The latter doesn’t work for everyone as it requires a complex setup and significant system resources such as CPU, RAM and storage.

However, there’s another way of opening and editing MPP files on Mac without any complicated setup. If you need to run Microsoft Project files on Mac, ProjectManager is the perfect solution. With ProjectManager, you can import MPP files and work on them in a more user-friendly platform: online project management software that has nearly all the same features as Microsoft Project, and it works on Windows, macOS and OS X. Empower your teams by eliminating the barrier between Microsoft Project and Mac.

How to Open & Edit Microsoft Project Files on Mac Using ProjectManager

ProjectManager has a free trial so you can test out its project management features and see if it’s the right software for you and your team. Viewing and editing MS Project files online with your Mac is so simple you won’t even remember Microsoft Project for Mac doesn’t exist. Just follow these steps to get started.

1. Start a Free 30-Day Trial

To use ProjectManager and edit MS Project files on your Mac, you must first sign up for a free 30-day trial. Visit the pricing page and choose your plan. All plans provide compatibility with Microsoft Project. Each plan lets you seamlessly import, export, view and Edit MPP files on a Mac computer. Once you choose a plan, ProjectManager is free for 30 days with no strings attached!

Follow the walkthrough below to open and edit Microsoft Project files on a Mac computer. This way you can manage MPP files on your own machine, or collaborate with someone else who uses a Mac computer.

2. Import MPP Files into ProjectManager on the Gantt Chart View

Once you’ve created your account and started your first project, switch to the Gantt chart view. From here, it’s easy to import your Microsoft Project Plan files so that you can manage them on your Mac computer. Below is a step-by-step walkthrough showing you exactly how to edit your MPP files without the necessity of Microsoft Project for Mac.

Start your MPP file import with one click. Go to the Gantt chart view. Then click the “Import” button in the Gantt ribbon.

3. Select Which MPP File You Want to Import

Follow the prompt on the popup window and select the Microsoft Project file you want to import. After you’ve imported your MPP file, you can view and edit the project on your Mac.

4. Choose Your MPP File Import Options

Pick from the options shown on the new popup menu, such as importing the MPP file to a new or existing project.

5. Import All Data or Just the Task List

Select from the next popup menu whether to import all the data on the MPP file or just the tasks.

6. Close the Success Prompt

If you see a new window that says “Success,” that means you’ve successfully imported the MPP file.

7. Bask in the Final Product: You’re Running Microsoft Project Files on Mac!

See the MPP file as it now appears in our project management tool. You can view it in the Gantt chart, as seen below, where dependencies can be linked, milestones set, etc., or use one of the other multiple views.

Open & Edit MPP Files

After you import the MPP file, it opens in the online Gantt chart feature. All of your columns, tasks, resource data, etc., will remain intact and appear on your project plan as they did in MS Project. Plus, the MPP file in ProjectManager is not view-only. You can update the tasks, deadlines and resources online, and you can invite team members to collaborate on the MPP file as well.

You can update the tasks, deadlines and resources online, and you can invite team members to collaborate on the MPP file as well. With a tool like ProjectManager, you and your team won’t need to wait for a version of Microsoft Project for Mac.

Use the Real-Time Dashboard

The data from your imported Microsoft Project file is instantly populated across the charts and graphs of the ProjectManager real-time dashboard, where you can see the project’s progress, team productivity, task status, budget, etc., in real time.

Create 1-Click Project Reports

Now that your Microsoft Project plan has been imported into ProjectManager, you can take advantage of our easy-to-use yet detailed project reports. We provide different types of project reports including status reports, task management reports, workload reports and more. Use our powerful project management tools to closely examine the progress of your project.

Download & Share

Once you’re done viewing, editing and analyzing your Microsoft Project Plan, seamlessly download your data with one click. All of your updates will be reflected on the MS Project file you download. You can then share this file with your colleagues who are using MS Project, and they’ll be able to see all the changes you made. Now you can work on the same files without having to run Microsoft Project on Mac.

Why There’s No Microsoft Project for Mac

As we’ve explained, there’s no Microsoft Project for Mac. It just doesn’t run on Mac computers or Apple devices by default, only on Windows. But why would Microsoft want to keep over 100 million Apple users from running their project management software?

It boils down to the fact that Microsoft wants more people to use Microsoft computers and Windows operating systems. By not creating a version of MS Project for Mac, Microsoft is betting that Apple users will come to the Windows platform to use MSP. So sadly, the development of a Microsoft Project for Mac is unlikely.

This leaves many Mac users to seek a Microsoft Project alternative for Mac since most “Mac people” would never switch to a Windows PC. Tools like ProjectManager give teams the flexibility to work on project plans, regardless of operating systems preference.

Web-Based Versions of Microsoft Project for Mac

MS Project isn’t traditionally thought of as an online product, but there are web-based, less-robust versions of Microsoft Project for Mac to consider.

Microsoft Project for the Web

Microsoft Project for the Web is accessible through a web browser as it’s an online version of Microsoft Project that lacks the features of its desktop counterpart. Part of the Microsoft 365 suite, Microsoft Project for Web aims to provide users with a more intuitive and accessible Microsoft Project experience. But, despite being more user-friendly, it still has a steep learning curve and has limited advanced features such as resource leveling, advanced reporting and sophisticated scheduling—which is probably why you are using Microsoft Project to begin with. It’s simply not powerful enough to manage complex projects.

Microsoft Planner

Microsoft Planner is another MS Project for Mac alternative. It’s an online tool accessible through a Microsoft 365 account. It’s known for its project management and task-tracking features to help teams organize and manage work.

Users can leverage kanban boards to track tasks through different stages and use charts and reports to view task statuses. But its effectiveness stops at task and team management. It has poor reporting and analytics compared to dedicated project management software and nearly no integrations with non-Microsoft third-party tools. What’s worse, there are regular reports of import and export issues for MPP files.

Microsoft Planner Pricing

Microsoft 365 Business Basic: $6.00 user/month, billed annually
Microsoft 365 Business Standard: $12.50 user/month, billed annually
Microsoft 365 Business Premium: $22.00 user/month, billed annually
Microsoft 365 Apps for business: $8.25 user/month, billed annually

Microsoft Planner Reviews

G2 review: 4.2 / 5
Capterra review: 4.3 / 5

Highlighted Positive User Reviews

“Overall I really enjoy it. It’s not as robust as MS Project of course, but it’s perfect for day-to-day projects and task assignments.” Karen L – From Capterra
“Overall this is an easy to use project planning tool with good integrations with other Microsoft products including Microsoft To Do and email.” Kate M – From Capterra
“Microsoft Planner makes task organization effortless. The ability to create tasks, assign them to members, set deadlines and prioritize them in one platform is a boon.” Naif H – From G2

Highlighted Negative User Reviews

“Microsoft Planner serves as a rudimentary tool for project management, best suited for simple tasks. It falls short in providing the necessary tools for managing larger or more complex projects.” Michael D – From Capterra
“Really more of a planning or task management tool than a full project management tool, as it does not include time or risk management features or a dashboard to view multiple projects at the same time.” Samuel S – From Capterra
“It doesn’t allow you to tag people in a comment, so multiple coworkers have missed the updates on different tasks.” Deisy S – from G2

Why You Need an MS Project Alternative for Mac

On top of not offering a version of Microsoft Project for Mac, the expense of the software and its steep learning curve make it an unrealistic solution for many industry professionals. And, unfortunately, the list of reasons to look for a Microsoft Project alternative for Mac goes on.

Microsoft Project Features Can Be Found in Other Software

Microsoft Project offers useful project management features that can help you manage projects, but those can also be found in other software such as ProjectManager. Here are some of them.

Gantt charts: Gantt charts are an essential component of project management software. Microsoft Project is no exception to this rule, and it offers a Gantt chart view where users can manage tasks and create project timelines.
Project calendars: Project calendars allow project managers to plan and schedule projects while helping team members manage their personal tasks.
Project reports: Microsoft Project offers a variety of project reports that let you quickly check the status of your projects and share it with stakeholders.

Too Many Versions of Microsoft Project

Another problem you might encounter as an Apple user is finding compatibility for the numerous different versions of Microsoft Project. Fortunately, ProjectManager is compatible with every version of Microsoft Project, including:

Microsoft Project 2021
Microsoft Project 2019
Microsoft Project 2016 (with Office 365 subscription)
Microsoft Project 2013
Microsoft Project 2010
Microsoft Project 2007

And, since ProjectManager is an online software, it’s always up to date. You never have to worry about buying the latest version because our software team regularly releases updates and improvements that work on Mac and Windows. ProjectManager is also compatible with over 1,000 apps and platforms such as Microsoft Office 365, Onedrive, Google Drive, Slack and Outlook.

Microsoft Project Pricing: It’s Expensive Software

To get the on-premises version of Microsoft Project, you’ll need to pay $679.99 for Project Standard 2021 and $1,129.99 for Project Professional 2021. If you’re interested in other Microsoft Project products, such as Project Online, you can choose between three subscription plans, Planner Plan 1 (formerly Project Plan 1), Project Plan 3 and Project Plan 5.

To use all the features that Microsoft Project Online offers you’ll need other Windows apps such as Sharepoint, Microsoft Teams and Power BI, among others. Of course, all this is moot when you’re working on a Mac, simply because there’s no such thing as Microsoft Project for Mac.

Why ProjectManager Is the Best Microsoft Project Alternative for Mac

If you’re not wedded to antiquated software like Microsoft Project, there are many reasons to stop worrying about running Microsoft Project on Mac and change to ProjectManager. First and foremost, at least to your chief financial officer, is the price tag. Because ProjectManager is online and subscription-based, it’s a much less expensive solution to project management. Let’s look at the main features that make ProjectManager a great MS project alternative and one of the best project management software for Mac.

Real-Time Data

ProjectManager is a cloud-based project management software that provides real-time data. You’re not looking at project progress from yesterday or even an hour ago, but as it happens. You can monitor and track any metric through the real-time dashboard and easy-to-read charts and graphs. Real-time data is critical for effective time tracking, task management and resource management.

Timesheets

Timesheets are also online, which means that team members can update their timesheets anywhere and at any time. Managers receive alerts when the timesheets are ready for approval so that the process is swift and efficient. Given the range of ProjectManager’s features, you’ll be able to ditch other resource management tools and keep all your project management under one roof.

Collaborative Environment

As noted, one of the biggest benefits of using ProjectManager as an alternative to running MS Project on Mac is that it fosters collaboration among team members. They can add files and comments at the task level on the online Gantt chart. Discussions are facilitated either one-on-one or at the group level. Project managers can easily assign tasks and track progress with time tracking and task management features.

Again, whether they’re using a Windows or a Mac OS device, ProjectManager allows your team to seamlessly import and export both MS Project and Excel files without losing any data. With robust project management software like ProjectManager, you won’t have to look for complicated workarounds to run Microsoft Project on Mac.

Using Virtual Machines to Run Microsoft Project on Mac

Speaking of workarounds, a virtual machine (VM) allows you to run Microsoft Project on Mac by emulating a Windows operating system. The most commonly used VM solutions for Mac are Parallels Desktop and VirtualBox. They’ll allow you to run MS Project on Mac computers, but there are several drawbacks. A large volume of system resources such as CPU, RAM and storage are needed for these virtual machines to be effective. If you have a Mac computer that already has limited resources, adding this can significantly slow down how fast your computer operates.

The initial setup for VMs is also important to factor in too. Those who aren’t tech-savvy may spend hours researching and understanding the process behind installing and setting up the VM software properly. Perhaps most crucially, there can be compatibility issues when file sharing, which is a huge detriment if you are trying to collaborate using Microsoft Project on Mac. All that being said, here are some virtual machines to consider.

Parallels Desktop

If you choose Parallels Desktop, you’ll need to install the VM on your Mac and pay for several software licenses and subscriptions. You’ll have to pay for Parallels Desktop, the Windows operating system, Microsoft Project and all the Windows apps that you might need.

Parallels Desktop Pricing

Standard Edition: $74.99 user/year, billed annually
Pro Edition: $89.99 user/year, billed annually
Business Edition: $112.49 user/year, billed annually

Parallels Desktop Reviews

G2 review: 4.4 / 5
Capterra review: 4.5 / 5

Highlighted Positive User Reviews

“For the short time that I used it, Parallels was definitely a smooth experience because they do a great job planning for what the users might want to accomplish in their VM deployment.” Ben L – From Capterra
“Being able to run Windows in the background and work with a windows app in my Mac environment has been awesome.” Will G – From Capterra
“It supports Windows, Linux and other operating systems. You can run them if you have a Mac and you can also share files between the two operating systems.” Ali J – From G2

Highlighted Negative User Reviews

“It’s not completely intuitive, so if you aren’t computer savvy or have little patience, you’ll probably be a little frustrated in the beginning.” Jennifer B – From Capterra
“If you want the Parallels Desktop for Mac to run smoothly and stably, your computer needs to have a lot of RAM, otherwise it will cause crashes or lag.” Francis M – From G2
“I’m not an everyday user of the software so the price is a bit high for someone like me.” Takasur A – from G2

VirtualBox

On the other hand, you can download VirtualBox on your Mac for free, but you still have to pay for the Windows operating system, Microsoft Project and other Windows apps. Its user interface is also more difficult to use than the Parallels Desktop, which requires users to be more tech-savvy.

VirtualBox Pricing

VirtualBox Base Package: $0.00 free to use for personal and educational use
VirtualBox Enterprise User One-Time License Price: $50.00 one-time license purchase, 100 users minimum
VirtualBox Enterprise User Annual Support Price: $11.00 user/year, billed annually
VirtualBox Enterprise Socket One-Time License Price: $1000.00 one-time license purchase, 1 socket minimum
VirtualBox Enterprise Socket Annual Support Price: $220.00 per socket, billed annually

VirtualBox Reviews

G2 review: 4.5 / 5
Capterra review: 4.6 / 5

Highlighted Positive User Reviews

“I’ve installed Ubuntu and it’s running great. The data gets saved and it feels like I’ve got another computer right inside my main one.” Daniel C – From Capterra
“VirtualBox is very efficient when it comes to providing an environment that allows running more than one operating system.” Pascual G – From G2
“I love how seamlessly VirtualBox integrates the host and guest operating systems. I can share folders and files, copy and paste stuff, and even drag and drop files between them.” Stephen S – From G2

Highlighted Negative User Reviews

“The USB support is not enabled and requires a lot of configuration to make it work.” Maha S – From Capterra
“The user interface could benefit from some improvements to enhance usability and make certain features more intuitive.” Regan T – From Capterra
“VirtualBox can be laggy even when you allocate tons of storage, RAM, and cores. The mouse controls are always delayed a little bit, same with the keyboard controls.” Alex A – from G2

VMware Fusion

Similar to Parallels Desktop, VMware Fusion requires installing VM on your Mac. The basic edition of VMware is typically around $149.99 for a new license. Once VM is installed and set up, users can launch Microsoft Project within the Windows virtual machine and interact with MS Project alongside other macOS applications.

VMware Fusion Pricing

VMware Fusion is free for all users

VMware Fusion Reviews

G2 review: 4.4 / 5
Capterra review: 4.9 / 5

Highlighted Positive User Reviews

“VMWare Fusion helped my productivity with its ability to let you run dual operating systems side by side.” Wale A – From Capterra
“Overall, if you are looking for a simple solution to boot into different operating systems, VMWare Fusion is a great solution.” Clay K – From Capterra
“VMware Fusion allows me to run almost any software on my Mac and also access my VMWare ESXi Servers from the same program.” Jeff D – From G2

Highlighted Negative User Reviews

“To get the most out of VMware Fusion, you’ll need a fairly powerful computer, which might not be ideal for everyone.” Sugam P – From Capterra
“It’s not easy to install when compared to other virtualization software.” Christian I – From G2
“The only thing I found to be a bit trickier to set up in VMware Fusion is the CPU/RAM/SSD settings.” Adam M – from G2

More Ways to Run Microsoft Project on Mac

Beyond virtual machines, there are other workarounds on how to use Microsoft Project on Mac devices.

Boot Camp

Apple provides Boot Camp, a utility that enables users to install and run Windows using a different area of their hard drive. As a result, they can use a native execution of various Windows applications, including Microsoft Project. To install Boot Camp, you’ll need to make sure your Mac meets the system requirements for Windows and Microsoft Project, meaning you’ll need Windows 10 or later in addition to an MS Project license. This is a clumsy and expensive option: a reboot is required when switching between Windows and macOS, and a separate Windows license is required, increasing costs.

Microsoft Remote Desktop

Similarly, Microsoft Remote Desktop is another way for Mac users to use Microsoft Project. Users will set up a Windows machine using the Microsoft Remote Desktop app. This connection can be established using the internet or a local network. From there, users will be able to control the Windows desktop and navigate Microsoft Project. However, due to its dependence on internet speeds, slower connections and lag time are apparent and can hinder the management of moderate to complex projects.

Microsoft Project for Mac FAQs

Here are some of the most frequently asked questions when it comes to Microsoft Project and Mac.

Does Microsoft Project work on Mac?

No, there’s no Microsoft Project for Mac. However, you can use ProjectManager to get all the project management tools from Microsoft Project without its drawbacks. Get started for free.

Does Project Professional Work on Mac?

No, Project Professional was designed for the Windows operating system, so unfortunately Microsoft Project Professional doesn’t work on Mac.

Can I Use Project Online on Mac?

Yes, Project Online can be used on Mac. However, if you’re looking for Microsoft Project or Project Professional, you won’t get the same features.

Does Apple Offer Project Management Software?

No, Apple doesn’t offer any project management software like Microsoft Project. However, there are software alternatives such as ProjectManager that let you open and edit Microsoft Project files on Mac.

How Can I Open MPP Files on Mac?

There are several apps and software that allow you to open files in a read-only view, known as Microsoft Project viewers. If you want to edit your MPP files but can’t run Microsoft Project on Mac, you can try ProjectManager for a full project management experience.

Microsoft Planner vs. Project: In-Depth Software Comparison

William Malsam — Mon, 28 Apr 2025 14:45:43 +0000

If you’re looking to manage a project and facilitate better collaboration with your teams, chances are you’ve heard of and are thinking of trying Microsoft Project and Microsoft Planner. To help with that decision, we’ve set up a comparison with Microsoft Project vs. Microsoft Planner. May the best app win.

The stats when comparing Microsoft Project vs. Microsoft Planner tell us that the former is a robust project management tool and the latter is more of a stripped-down version. MS Project integrates with MS products such as Office and has financial management tools and Gantt charts. However, it doesn’t have a mobile app and is expensive and complicated to use.

Microsoft Planner also integrates with MS products and has kanban boards and other project views. It’s bundled in the business edition of Microsoft 365 and is good for single projects. However, it’s weak on integrations with competitor apps and is feature-light compared to Microsoft Projects.

In the battle of Microsoft Project vs. Microsoft Planner, the winner is an outsider: ProjectManager. This cloud-based tool can deliver the pros of both apps without the cons. It’s a great collaborative platform, with multiple project views, resource management and more, all delivered with real-time data. ProjectManager’s Gantt chart does more than either, linking all four task dependencies, filtering for the critical path and setting baselines to track project variance. They also have a mobile app, which Microsoft Project doesn’t, and you can seamlessly import and export Microsoft Project files. Get started with ProjectManager today for free.

ProjectManager is the winner in the Microsoft Project vs. Microsoft Planner contest. Learn more

Microsoft Planner vs. Project: Why Should You Choose MS Project?

We’re getting ahead of ourselves. There are reasons to prefer ProjectManager in a Microsoft Project vs. Microsoft Planner battle, but let’s provide some context first. To start, we’ll take a closer look at Microsoft Project, which is the big project management software in the room and deserves a fair shake.

What Is Microsoft Project?

Microsoft Project is a project management software that has a suite of tools that are used by project managers to work more efficiently when managing projects and portfolios. It’s used in industries such as construction, manufacturing, pharmaceuticals, government, retail, financial services and health care.

Microsoft Project Pricing

Planner Plan 1: $10.00/user/month, billed annually
Planner and Project Plan 3: $30.00/user/month, billed annually
Planner and Project Plan 5: $55.00/user/month, billed annually
Project Standard 2024: $679.99, one-time license purchase
Project Professional 2024: $1129.99, one-time license purchase

Microsoft Project Reviews

G2 review: 4/5
Capterra review: 4.4/5

Highlighted Positive User Reviews

“The most helpful aspect of Microsoft Project & Portfolio Management (PPM) is its comprehensive project management capabilities, enabling organizations to efficiently plan, track, and manage projects from start to finish.” Tushar K – From Capterra
“I really like the tie-in with every other Microsoft product we use in the office. It’s been very easy to collaborate with the other people on my team and keep everyone on track.” Jeb B – From Capterra
“Most project managers across industries understand reports/project plans generated from MS Project, whether or not they have used the software before.” Alex N – From G2

Highlighted Negative User Reviews

“The UI may look a bit complex to new users and the learning curve is steep as well. Also it is pricey if you are a small business.” Aviral G – from Capterra
“There is a learning curve—especially for new users. It’s not as intuitive as some newer project management tools, and setting up complex projects can take some time.” Alicia B – From Capterra
“The software is sophisticated and tough to master, with a steep learning curve, in my opinion. Others have pointed out restrictions in customizing possibilities and integration with other products.” Aamir A – from G2

What Is Microsoft Project Used For?

Microsoft Project is used to help set realistic goals for project teams. It does this by creating project schedules, distributing resources and managing budgets. Microsoft Project users can create projects, track tasks, generate reports to monitor progress and manage resources and costs.

Who Uses MS Project?

As we’ve noted above, Microsoft Project is used across several industries. Anyone who’s tasked with delivering a project will find this software useful. Some companies that have used or are using Microsoft Project include Northrop Grumman and Lockheed Martin and Harris Corporation, all in the aerospace and defense sector. Deutsche Bahn, which is in the rail, bus, commuter and taxi sectors and many others. Notably, MS Project isn’t the choice of Mac users as it doesn’t work on Apple computers.

Microsoft Project Key Features

Microsoft Project has many use cases and it tends to be used by businesses that are managing one or many larger, more complex projects. Here are some key features that help with enterprise project management:

Project and portfolio management tools such as Gantt charts
Task and resource management tools such as roadmaps and resource allocation
Collaboration and reporting tools that integrate with other MS products

Microsoft Planner vs. Project: How Is Microsoft Project Better Than Planner?

Now that we have the stats down, it’s time for Microsoft Project vs. Microsoft Planner to get in the ring and see who comes out on top. When the bell rings, it looks as if Microsoft Project has a big advantage over Microsoft Planner.

It’s more comprehensive and built to manage more complex projects with more complex tools that use time-phased scheduling for medium to large-sized teams. Microsoft Project creates more detailed project outlines and comprehensive project planning, with task structuring and timeline. It also consolidates project scheduling, resource allocation and budget management.

Microsoft Planner vs. Project: How Is Microsoft Project Worse Than Planner?

Microsoft Project is on the ropes when it comes to ease of use. Planner is far easier to use and is a superior tool for team planning when working with less complicated projects. It has fewer features, but that makes it more user-friendly, especially if you’re working on a project that doesn’t need those advanced features.

Therefore, Microsoft Planner is going to be the choice for small teams and agile projects that prefer a lightweight and user-friendly tool that’s more focused on task management exclusively.

Microsoft Planner vs. Project: Why Should You Choose MS Planner?

In the bout of Microsoft Project vs. Microsoft Planner, Microsoft Project has come out strong and looks dominant. It’s more powerful, has more features and is the preferred project management software for very established companies that run big projects. But Microsoft Planner isn’t down for the count. There are many reasons why Microsoft Planner is the champion in this bout. But don’t take our word for it. Let’s look at what makes Microsoft Planner so good.

What Is Microsoft Planner?

Microsoft Planner is a lightweight, mobile and cloud-based tool that’s included with some subscriptions to Office 365. Unlike Microsoft Project, Microsoft Planner can be used as a personal task management app. In fact, its main focus is task management, which is an integral part of project management and is an ideal tool for simple projects being managed by smaller teams. It’s a collaboration tool that can create plans and assign tasks.

Microsoft Planner Pricing

Microsoft 365 Business Basic: $6.00/user/month, billed annually
Microsoft 365 Business Standard: $12.50/user/month, billed annually
Microsoft 365 Business Premium: $22.00/user/month, billed annually
Microsoft 365 Apps for business: $8.25/user/month, billed annually

Microsoft Planner Reviews

G2 review: 4.2/5
Capterra review: 4.3/5

Highlighted Positive User Reviews

“Overall I really enjoy it. It’s not as robust as MS Project of course, but it’s perfect for day-to-day projects and task assignments.” Karen L – From Capterra
“Overall this is an easy to use project planning tool with good integrations with other Microsoft products including Microsoft To Do and email.” Kate M – From Capterra
“Microsoft Planner makes task organization effortless. The ability to create tasks, assign them to members, set deadlines and prioritize them in one platform is a boon.” Naif H – From G2

Highlighted Negative User Reviews

“Microsoft Planner serves as a rudimentary tool for project management, best suited for simple tasks. It falls short in providing the necessary tools for managing larger or more complex projects.” Michael D – From Capterra
“Really more of a planning or task management tool than a full project management tool, as it does not include time or risk management features or a dashboard to view multiple projects at the same time.” Samuel S – From Capterra
“It doesn’t allow you to tag people in a comment, so multiple coworkers have missed the updates on different tasks.” Deisy S – from G2

What Is Microsoft Planner Used For?

Microsoft Planner is an app that helps teams create plans, assign tasks, chat about those tasks and track progress on their work. It’s used to give project team members better tools to manage their tasks, facilitate teamwork and give managers visibility into that work. It’s used by teams to collaborate on a visual interface that helps them organize their work and enables each team member to manage their tasks while fostering collaboration with the whole team. It’s used for lightweight projects.

While it sounds like a project management tool, it’s more of a task management app that helps with projects through work management and team collaboration. Along these lines, it shows the tasks that are behind schedule, prioritizes tasks and shows how many tasks each team member has to complete and if they’re over-allocated. Therefore, it’s used for simple task management and can help with project management through time management.

Who Uses Microsoft Planner?

Microsoft Planner is part of the suite of Microsoft tools for project managers and their teams. Therefore, one group of users are certainly project management professionals who want to add to their project management software by incorporating an app that helps them with task management and collaboration.

It’s meant to be used by a group, however, because of the lightweight quality of the app, it’s also popular with the general public who wants help with managing their personal work. For example, it could be used by a family that wants to coordinate tasks among its members or if someone is planning a small event.

Microsoft Planner Key Features

There are many features that Microsoft Planner has to help project managers and their teams with task management and collaboration. Here are the main features:

Visual status chart
Kanban-style boards
To-do lists
Preview pictures to quickly identify tasks
Calendar that can be used to schedule events
Meeting notes that are great for collaboration
Microsoft 365 integration as well as the full Office suite of products as well as Microsoft SharePoint for documents

Microsoft Planner vs. Project: How Is Microsoft Planner Better Than Project?

Microsoft Planner is better than Microsoft Project if you’re looking for a simpler, easier-to-use tool. It has kanban boards that can be quickly created, which has content-rich task cards and is more appropriate for ad-hoc teams. It excels at team collaboration and is simple to use, unlike Microsoft Project. Planner is preferred by smaller teams working on less complicated projects.

Microsoft Planner vs. Project: How Is Microsoft Planner Worse Than Project?

Microsoft Project is the preferred tool for larger teams who are working on longer, more complicated projects. Planner doesn’t offer a grid or timeline view. You can’t link dependent tasks, which can cause delays, and there’s no roadmap for managing multiple projects, such as programs and portfolios. Microsoft Planner also lacks advanced project management features, such as baselines, critical path, resource and risk management. Fortunately, there are a number of Planner alternatives, besides just Microsoft Project, to choose from for managing your work.

Microsoft Planner vs. Project: Pricing Comparison

Finally, let’s look at the bottom line: cost. More often than not, the price of subscribing to the app is going to be the determining factor in one’s decision-making.

There are several plans offered by Microsoft 365, which features MS Planner. They are listed below.

Microsoft 365 Business Basic: $6 user/month with an annual commitment
Microsoft 365 Business Standard: $12.50 user/month with an annual commitment
Microsoft 365 Business Premium: $22 user/month with an annual commitment
Microsoft 365 Apps for Business: $8.25 user/month with an annual commitment

What does it cost to use Microsoft Project? Below are the three tiers of subscription.

Project Plan 1: $10 user/month
Project Plan 3: $30 user/month
Business Plan: $55 user/month

ProjectManager Is Better Than Microsoft Project and Planner

If you’re thinking that it’d be great to have one software product that combined the advanced project management features of Microsoft Project with the more agile task management and collaborative tools of Microsoft Planner, good news: there is. ProjectManager is award-winning project management software that’s flexible enough for teams of any size who are working on projects big or small.

Our software has features for portfolio management, risk management and is also a collaboration tool that makes it easy for teams working anywhere to work better together. You’ll find all the project management tools available on both Microsoft Project and Microsoft Planner, but they’re more accessible, less expensive and easier to use. Plus, we have a mobile app for Android and iOS so you can take the tool anywhere.

Work With Better Resource Management Features

Microsoft Planner has no resource management features and Microsoft Project has some, but it isn’t available for Mac users and is complicated and expensive for everyone else. Our resource management tools allow you to set the availability of your team, including vacation, PTO and global holidays, which makes it easier to assign tasks. Our color-coded workload chart allows you to see who is overallocated and then lets you reallocate resources right from that chart to quickly balance the workload so everyone is working at capacity.

You can manage human and nonhuman resources on our Gantt chart, which by the way links all four task dependencies, filters for the critical path and can set a baseline to track project variance in real time. We also have secure timesheets to streamline payroll and manage labor costs.

Track Progress With Real-Time Project Tracking and Reporting

Once you’ve set a baseline for your project plan on the Gantt chart, you can monitor your progress and performance across our tool. You can get a high-level overview of the project with our real-time dashboard or portfolio dashboard, both of which automatically collect live project data and display it on easy-to-read graphs and charts.

There you can see everything from time to tasks, costs to workload and more. Unlike Microsoft Planner and Project, there’s no complicated and lengthy setup required. It’s ready when you are. If you want more detail, use our customizable reporting features. You can quickly generate status and portfolio reports as well as reports on variance, timesheets, workload and more. Each report can be filtered to show only the data you want to see and then shared across multiple formats to keep stakeholders informed.

In addition to these robust project management features, ProjecManager allows users to easily import Microsoft Project Plan files (MPP files), Excel files and CSV files so they can seamlessly switch from Microsoft Planner and Microsoft Project.

Primavera P6 vs. Microsoft Project: In-Depth Software Comparison

Peter Landau — Fri, 25 Apr 2025 20:35:36 +0000

The stage is set. Primavera P6 vs. Microsoft Project. Two heavyweights in the project management software division. Known as project scheduling software, project portfolio management, project planner and more, but which is the champion or is there a dark horse in the wings to steal the title?

To make the Primavera vs. Microsoft Project fair, we’ll define both, explain what they’re used for and where one surpasses the other. These are both widely used project management tools, but that doesn’t mean they’re without issues. One of the main complaints is the cost and complexity.

We’ll get into the stats and let readers decide which is better, Primavera P6 or MS Project, but know that there is a galaxy of project management software for all industries, including construction scheduling. In the battle between Microsoft Project and Oracle Primavera, the best choice might be neither.

That’s because ProjectManager is award-winning project and portfolio management software that is less expensive and easier to use than either of these products. Our software has multiple project views which means project managers can schedule projects on robust Gantt charts or multiple projects on roadmaps, while teams execute their tasks on the visual workflow of kanban boards or task lists. Stakeholders can stay up to date with calendar views.

But a lot of tools have multiple project views. Ours differs in the power they give users. For example, our Gantt charts do everything a normal Gantt chart can do, but also link all four types of task dependencies to avoid delays and cost overruns. They can also filter for the critical path instantly, which means no complex calculations. Then set the baseline to track progress in real time. Get started with ProjectManager today for free.

It’s no contest, ProjectManager is best when it comes to Privamera P6 vs. Microsoft Project. See all features

Primavera P6 vs. Microsoft Project: Why Should You Choose Primavera P6?

Excuse our enthusiasm, but we can’t contain our endorsement for ProjectManager, which does what Primavera and Microsoft Project do and does it better. But fair is fair. Let’s give Primavera vs. MS Project its due and examine where they excel and where they fall short.

What Is Primavera P6?

Primavera P6 is a comprehensive project management software suite developed by Oracle. It’s designed to plan, manage and execute large-scale and complex projects. It is widely recognized for its ability to handle large numbers of tasks, resources and project dependencies. This tool is known for its advanced features in scheduling, resource management, cost management and project portfolio management.

Primavera P6 Pricing

You may acquire a desktop license or pay a monthly subscription for the online service for any of these and other versions of Primavera.

Primavera P6 Enterprise Project Portfolio Management: $2,750
Primavera P6 Progress Reporter: $950
Primavera P6 Professional Project Management: $2,500

Primavera P6 Reviews

G2 review: 4.4/5
Capterra review: 4.4/5

Highlighted Positive User Reviews

“Baselines are used to keep track of how a project has changed since day one, and re-baselining is so easy to do.” Juan R – From Capterra
“I usually segment the project into trades and then these trades into their respective WBS, the straightforward approach this software takes, in which I am able to see, expand, collapse each WBS is the most helpful thing.” Srinidhi S – From G2
“Comprehensive set of tools for managing projects, from planning and scheduling to execution and monitoring.” Muzammil H – From G2

Highlighted Negative User Reviews

“Oracle Primavera P6 is a high-end project management solution, which means that the cost can be high for small companies or small projects.” Coraly C – from Capterra
“The software UI feels old and the options are not properly organized. There are some software bugs that are still persistent and Oracle has been very slow in debugging them.” Muhammed Anshad K – From Capterra
“It does not have a good dashboard. Activity-wise delegation is not available. Earned Value management and cost management is complex and difficult to perform. It is costly to own and train your people on it.” Saurabh A – from G2

What Is Primavera P6 Used For?

As noted above, this project management software is used to manage complex and large-scale projects. It handles significant resources, multi-layered dependencies and multiple teams. This involves project scheduling, resource management, cost management, portfolio management, risk management, collaboration and reporting.

Who Uses Primavera P6?

Organizations across various industries use the tool. Some of these are construction companies, engineering firms, oil and gas industry, aerospace and defense, utilities and energy, project management offices (PMOs) and government agencies.

Primavera P6 Key Features

Primavera P6 has many tools that allow it to be used across many industries. The project management software is designed to handle complicated, large projects and, therefore, has these key features.

Tracks critical path method, dependencies and project baselines with Gantt charts
Has resource usage profiles, as well as resource allocation, leveling and histograms
Project portfolio management with optimization and cross-project resource management

Primavera P6 vs. Microsoft Project: How Is Primavera P6 Better Than Microsoft Project?

Unlike Microsoft Project, which is more suited for smaller to medium-sized projects with fewer tasks, Primavera P6 can handle thousands of tasks, dependencies and resources. MS Project has basic resource management, but Primavera P6 allows for detailed resource management across multiple projects, including labor, equipment and materials, and is better at managing larger teams.

Again, MS Project has similar features, such as portfolio management, but it’s not as comprehensive as Primavera P6. The same is true with cost and budget management, where Primavera P6 includes features like earned value management (EVM), which helps to track project performance against the baseline. Primavera P6 has enterprise-level project management features that can handle complex workloads, while Microsoft Project is simply not that robust.

Primavera P6 vs. Microsoft Project: How Is Primavera P6 Worse Than Microsoft Project?

However, there are limitations compared to Microsoft Project, particularly in terms of usability, cost and flexibility. Both are not known for their ease of use, but Primavera P6 has a steeper learner curve and requires significant time and training. Primavera P6 is also prohibitively expensive, which makes it out of reach for small-to-medium-sized businesses.

Then there is the resource management complexity. Primavera P6 has advanced resource management capabilities, but they might be too detailed for smaller teams and organizations. Also, integrating Primavera P6 with other software, such as ERP systems, can require custom solutions and technical expertise, whereas MS Project seamlessly integrates with the Microsoft ecosystem and other third-party applications without such difficulties.

Primavera P6 vs. Microsoft Project: Why Should You Choose Microsoft Project?

That’s one side of the Primavera vs. MS Project debate. Now, it’s time to give the other side its due. Don’t make a decision quite yet. While Primavera P6 might look like a superior alternative to Microsoft Project, it’s still not a loser. It has its merits which we’ll explore now.

What Is Microsoft Project?

Microsoft Project is project management software that provides tools for project planning, scheduling, resource management and collaboration. The project management software is designed to help project managers create detailed project schedules, assign tasks and resources, track project progress and generate reports.

Microsoft Project Pricing

Planner Plan 1: $10.00/user/month, billed annually
Planner and Project Plan 3: $30.00/user/month, billed annually
Planner and Project Plan 5: $55.00/user/month, billed annually
Project Standard 2024: $679.99, one-time license purchase
Project Professional 2024: $1129.99, one-time license purchase

Microsoft Project Reviews

G2 review: 4/5
Capterra review: 4.4/5

Highlighted Positive User Reviews

“The most helpful aspect of Microsoft Project & Portfolio Management (PPM) is its comprehensive project management capabilities, enabling organizations to efficiently plan, track, and manage projects from start to finish.” Tushar K – From Capterra
“I really like the tie-in with every other Microsoft product we use in the office. It’s been very easy to collaborate with the other people on my team and keep everyone on track.” Jeb B – From Capterra
“Most project managers across industries understand reports/project plans generated from MS Project, whether or not they have used the software before.” Alex N – From G2

Highlighted Negative User Reviews

“The UI may look a bit complex to new users and the learning curve is steep as well. Also it is pricey if you are a small business.” Aviral G – from Capterra
“There is a learning curve—especially for new users. It’s not as intuitive as some newer project management tools, and setting up complex projects can take some time.” Alicia B – From Capterra
“The software is sophisticated and tough to master, with a steep learning curve, in my opinion. Others have pointed out restrictions in customizing possibilities and integration with other products.” Aamir A – from G2

What Is Microsoft Project Used For?

Microsoft Project is used to create project plans and schedule projects. It can allocate resources, track progress and manage budgets and costs. The tool can also generate reports on progress, timelines, costs and resource usage. There are also some collaborative features, though the product is not known as a great collaboration tool.

Who Uses Microsoft Project?

A wide range of industries and organizations of various sizes use Microsoft Project. Typical users include project managers, small-to-medium-sized businesses and freelancers and professional services consultants. It can also be found in departments within larger organizations as well as government and nonprofit organizations.

Microsoft Project Key Features

We’ve listed some key features that make Microsoft Project one of the best-known project management software products.

Gantt charts with task dependencies and milestones
Cost tracking against the project budget and assigning costs to resources, tasks and projects
Pre-built and customizable reports and visual dashboards

Primavera P6 vs. Microsoft Project: How Is Microsoft Project Better Than Primavera P6?

Microsoft Project might be a better choice than Primavera P6 in the following scenarios. For example, when managing smaller or similar projects, where it’s more straightforward and has sufficient tools to schedule tasks, allocate resources and track budgets. No one would say MS Project is easy to use, but it is in comparison to Primavera. It’s also not more cost-effective than most project management tools, except when comparing it to the expensive Primavera P6.

One of the main advantages is that it works easily with other Microsoft tools that organizations are probably already using, such as Outlook, Excel, Teams, etc. While MS Project is not a collaborative tool, it can be used with other Microsoft products, such as Project for the Web and Project Online. Of course, this will add to the cost of using the software, which might make some shy away from the extra purchases.

Primavera P6 vs. Microsoft Project: How Is Microsoft Project Worse Than Primavera P6?

If users are looking for project management software that’s designed for large-scale, complex projects, then Primavera P6 will be a better solution than Microsoft Project. It’s going to struggle to manage bigger projects effectively. Therefore, Primavera P6 is the choice for enterprise-level project management as it provides detailed control over multiple, complex projects.

This includes Primaveria’s dominance in resource and portfolio management when working with large, distributed resources across multiple projects. Primavera P6 also has built-in features for detailed risk management and analysis. MS Project lacks the depth required for managing high-risk, large-scale projects. It also doesn’t have the advanced scheduling capability that allows for fine-grained control over complex timelines, task dependencies and constraints that Primavera P6 has.

How to Make a Microsoft Project Gantt Chart With ProjectManager

We haven’t talked about ProjectManager for a while, but at this point, it’s important to bring up the fact that our software can make a superior Gantt chart. Both Primavera P6 and Microsoft Project have Gantt charts, but they’re difficult to learn and expensive to use. Our software will also allow Mac users to view and edit MPP files, unlike MS Project. A quick way to clear those hurdles is to take a free 30-day trial with ProjectManager.

See how easy it is to take a Microsoft Project (MPP) file and import it into our software. There, it can be shared easily among the project team, edited without difficulty and then exported back to Microsoft Project. While it’s better to just use ProjectManager to manage projects, this workaround is helpful for those working in organizations that are wedded to MS Project. Just follow these steps.

1. Export Your Microsoft Project File as an Excel, MPP or CSV File

Users can import MPP files, excel documents or any CSV file into ProjectManager. Open the Gantt chart view. On the top ribbon, click the import button, which looks like a box with an arrow piercing its top.

2. Choose the Excel, CSV or MPP File You Want to Import

Now, follow the prompt and select the file you want to import. Once the file has been imported, users can view and edit it on their PC or Mac.

3. Select Options

At this point, users will be given the option to choose which option they want, such as importing the MPP file to a new project or adding it to an existing one.

4. Import Into ProjectManager

Select whether to import all the data from the Microsoft Project file or just the tasks.

5. Customize Your Microsoft Project Gantt Chart With ProjectManager

When a window that says success pops up, you’re ready to customize your Microsoft Project Gantt chart within ProjectManager, which means using our all unique and easy-to-use features.

Primavera P6 vs. Microsoft Project: Pricing Comparison

We’ve talked a lot about pricing, but having provided details. If you can take the sticker shock, below is a pricing comparison between Primavera P6 vs. Microsoft Project. (Note: there are two versions of Primavera P6, but Oracle Primavera Cloud.)

Primavera P6 Pricing

Oracle Primavera P6 Professional: The P6 Professional version of Primavera is a desktop-based software that can be purchased directly from Oracle, or through an authorized Oracle software reseller. It must be installed into workstations. Oracle Primavera P6 Professional costs $2,570 for an annual subscription. That price includes $2,020 plus an annual maintenance fee of $550 for upgrades, fixes, patches, etc. The renewal of the maintenance cost isn’t required, but it’s suggested.
Oracle Primavera P6 EPPM: There’s also the enterprise option, Primavera P6 Enterprise Professional Project Management (EPPM). This version of Primavera P6 is accessed via the web rather than being a desktop software application which makes it easier to implement in large organizations. This option will run you $2,750 for a perpetual license, which includes an annual maintenance fee of $605.
Oracle Primavera Cloud (OPC): Like Primavera P6 Professional and Primavera P6 EPPM, Oracle Primavera Cloud focuses on project, program and portfolio management, but has a different feature set. OPC has the added benefits of faster delivery and fosters collaboration to improve efficiency and quality.

Microsoft Project Pricing

Planner Plan 1: $10/user/month
Planner and Project Plan 3: $30/user/month
Planner and Project Plan 5: $55/user/month

ProjectManager Is Better Than Primavera P6 and Microsoft Project

For those still reeling from the prices of Primavera P6 vs. Microsoft Project, don’t worry. There is an alternative. ProjectManager is award-winning project and portfolio management software with features like Primavera P6 and MS Project to deliver projects on time and within budget but without the expenses or steep learning curve. Our software is designed to deliver projects whether they are big and complex or small and simple, for one project or a program or portfolio of projects and across industries like construction, IT, manufacturing, professional services and more. Our software has powerful risk management features to identify and track issues, automated workflow with task approval settings to ensure quality control, version control, global search and unlimited document storage.

Monitor Project Progress, Timelines and Costs in Real Time

Of course, being about to plan and assign tasks is only the start. Project and portfolio managers need to monitor their team’s performance and progress to ensure it aligns with the schedule. To get a high-level overview of the project, toggle over to the real-time project or portfolio dashboards. They’re collecting live data and displaying it on easy-to-read graphs and charts that show time, cost, workload and more. For more detail, use customizable reports on status, portfolio, workload, timesheets, variance and more. They go deep for teams or provide a summary to keep stakeholders updated. Secure timesheets streamline payroll and provide a window into labor costs to help deliver projects within budget.

Schedule and Balance Project Resources

Managing resources is also essential to delivering successful projects. Gantt charts can schedule human and nonhuman resources, including costs. Project managers can then view their team’s resource allocation on color-coded workload charts and see who’s overallocated or underutilized. Then, balance their workload to keep everyone working at capacity without risking burnout. There’s also a team page that shows a daily or weekly overview of the team’s activities. This page can be filtered to show priority, progress and more.

Trello Dashboard: Key Features, Pros and Cons

Peter Landau — Fri, 28 Mar 2025 19:00:24 +0000

Trello is project management software, but does it have the essential features that project managers and their teams need? Let’s focus on one important tool, the dashboard. Is there a Trello dashboard?

We’re going to give the software its due and find out. If there is a Trello dashboard view, great; we’re going to try it out and see if it has the bar graph, pie chart and other reporting features that make it so essential for keeping track of project status.

What Is Trello?

First, let’s understand what we’re working with. Trello is a web-based project management application designed to help individuals and teams organize and prioritize tasks. Its primary view is called boards, lists and cards, similar to kanban boards. It’s known for its intuitive, visual interface, which allows users to create and move cards across lists to track projects. Cards can contain detailed information, attachments, due dates, checklists and comments.

The software is used by a wide range of people, from individuals managing personal tasks to large organizations coordinating complex workflows. Its flexibility makes it popular among project managers, marketers, software developers and creative teams. The tool is used to manage tasks, to-do lists, plan content and track project milestones.

It’s been around since 2011 and gained popularity for its simplicity and ease of use. In 2017, Atlassian acquired the software company. Atlassian is known for productivity tools like Jira and Confluence. Trello has since expanded its features and integrations, maintaining its user-friendly reputation while supporting more sophisticated business needs.

However, is it serving the needs of the project management community? Project managers and project teams require a suite of powerful tools to schedule, manage and track projects, both individually and multiple projects for program and portfolio management. Chief among those features is the dashboard. So, let’s see if there is a Trello dashboard.

Does Trello Have a Dashboard?

Why all this emphasis on whether there’s a Trello dashboard? That’s because a project dashboard is important. It’s a visual tool that tracks and displays key metrics, tasks, timelines and overall project status in one central place. It provides a snapshot of a project’s progress, helping project managers and their teams easily monitor performance, identify potential issues and make data-driven decisions.

Without a Trello dashboard, there would be less project transparency and communication. All projects need a tool that can provide a clear, at-a-glance view of important project details. This helps teams stay aligned on goals, deadlines and resources. It also allows stakeholders to quickly assess the project’s status without having to dig through emails or detailed reports. A Trello dashboard is necessary to call itself project management software. Let’s get right down to the answer.

Short Answer: Yes, Trello Has a Dashboard

The Trello dashboard is indeed part of the software’s features, but it’s a basic dashboard accessed through its workspace view and board-specific views. This limits its usefulness. But, at least it has a dashboard that allows users to filter and view boards by status, such as completed or in progress, and track specific tasks, deadlines and assignees.

Long Answer: Trello Dashboards Lack Key Features for Project Management

However, the Trello dashboard is relatively simple compared to more advanced project management tools. All they do is summarize the board view, which is primarily the only project management tool that Trello offers. That’s bad enough, but that means the Trello dashboard view isn’t a project management dashboard, but more of a task management dashboard that’s limited to measuring the cards. For example, it shows cards per label, cards per member, cards per due date, etc. This isn’t high-level project management data. And there’s more bad news.

No Cost Tracking or Resource Management Features: The Trello dashboard doesn’t have built-in tools to track project costs or manage resources (such as personnel, equipment or budget). While users can add due dates, checklists and comments to cards, there’s no way to easily manage and monitor project budgets or costs within the dashboard itself. Users who need to monitor expenses, allocations or resource usage must turn to external tools or manual tracking methods. For teams or businesses that need to manage project budgets or allocate resources across multiple tasks, Trello’s basic dashboard falls short.
No Project Time Management Data: A Trello dashboard lacks robust time management features, such as tracking the amount of time spent on tasks or calculating the total time spent on a project. While users can set due dates and reminders on cards, they can’t track actual time versus estimated time or see how long tasks take over time. Without this data, project managers can find it challenging to measure team efficiency, spot delays or optimize workflows. For teams that rely heavily on time tracking (for billing, scheduling or performance analysis), Trello’s native features are not sufficient.
Can’t Be Used for Project Portfolio Management: Project portfolio management (PPM) involves managing multiple projects across an organization, ensuring alignment with business goals, prioritizing resources and tracking overall performance. A Trello dashboard is limited to displaying individual boards and doesn’t provide an overarching view of multiple projects at once. As projects grow in scale and complexity, Trello lacks features like consolidated reporting, prioritization frameworks and resource allocation views that are crucial for managing a portfolio of projects. Teams managing large portfolios may need more advanced software that offers centralized dashboards for tracking performance, budgets, timelines and resource usage across projects simultaneously.

For those looking for a real project management dashboard that tracks costs, has resource management features and delivers key performance indicators (KPIs) for both individual and multiple projects, check out ProjectManager. Our award-winning, real-time dashboards don’t require time-consuming setup. They’re ready when you are to provide a high-level overview of project cost, time, workload and more.

The easy-to-read pie charts and bar graphs make complicated data simple to understand. Plus, the dashboard is connected to a full suite of project management tools, including multiple project views, such as Gantt charts, kanban boards, task lists, calendars and more. Get started with ProjectManager today for free.

ProjectManager’s dashboards are better than a Trello dashboard. Learn more

Cons of Making a Trello Dashboard

Not only does Trello lack the features that project managers and their teams need to track projects, but there are other issues with the software that make it less than ideal as a project management software tool. Some might sign up for the free feature and feel as if they’re getting something for nothing. In fact, they’re getting little for nothing as the free version of the app restricts integrations, has fewer customization options and limited automation.

Even for those who pony up and pay for a subscription, a Trello dashboard can get overwhelming when working with large teams or projects. Finding specific tasks or keeping track of many items can be difficult. But users are starting from a poor position, as Trello’s built-in reporting and analytics are minimal and fall short of tracking features found in more specialized project management tools. Then there’s the fact, as mentioned above, that there are no project portfolio management tools.

Another ding against the Trello dashboard is that it has no native time tracking. Third-party integrations are needed to get this function and keep track of how long tasks or projects are taking. That, of course, adds to the overall cost of using the software. Also missing is a native way to establish task dependencies. There are workarounds using custom labels, integrations or manual systems, but it’s not as seamless as tools designed for managing complex projects.

How to Make a Trello Dashboard Better With ProjectManager

Looking to take the Trello dashboard to the next level. There’s something that can be done. Import a project from that software into ProjectManager and get additional features, like reporting, resource management and detailed analytics. Just start a 30-day free trial with ProjectManager, no credit card necessary, to see the difference. Follow the steps below to get more robust tracking.

1. Export Your Trello Project

First, export the Trello project into a format that other project management tools can read. Trello allows users to export board data as an Excel file. This step ensures tasks, lists and cards are ready to be imported into ProjectManager.

2. Select the Excel File and Import It Into ProjectManager

Once users have exported their Trello project as an Excel file, go to ProjectManager and choose the option to import. Locate the Excel file you just exported from Trello and upload it into ProjectManager.

3. Add the Data to a New or Existing Project

After uploading the file to ProjectManager, add the data to a new project or incorporate it into an existing one. ProjectManager allows users to merge Trello data seamlessly, making it easy to continue from where you left off or fit it into a broader project plan. If you’re adding data to an existing project, make sure the project in ProjectManager aligns with Trello’s project structure or manually match the task categories and columns to create consistency.

4. Choose What Data to Import

When importing the Trello data into ProjectManager, select which parts of the board to include, such as tasks, due dates, labels or assignments. This lets users fine-tune the data being imported and ensures that only relevant information is transferred. To compare actual vs. planned data on the ProjectManager dashboard, be sure to set a baseline on the Gantt chart. Then, toggle to the dashboard view to access live project data.

5. Success! View Trello Dashboard Data In ProjectManager

Once the data is successfully imported, view the Trello dashboard data in ProjectManager. Take advantage of ProjectManager’s features like Gantt charts, resource allocation, detailed reporting and real-time collaboration to enhance the project management experience.

ProjectManager Has a Better Dashboard Than Trello

While a Trello dashboard offers a simple and user-friendly interface for task management, ProjectManager provides a more robust dashboard, ideal for handling complex projects. With advanced features like detailed reporting, progress tracking and resource management, our dashboard helps teams stay on track and effectively manage multiple projects. Here’s how its dashboard stands out:

Project Portfolio Management Dashboard: ProjectManager’s dashboard gives a high-level overview of all the projects, helping to track progress, allocate resources and assess project health in one place. This centralized view makes it easy to manage a portfolio of projects simultaneously.
Planned vs. Actual Project Management Data: The dashboard displays planned vs. actual project data, giving users a clear comparison of where their projects stand relative to their schedules and budgets. This helps to identify potential delays or overruns early.
Progress Tracking: With ProjectManager, users can track progress in real-time. Whether through Gantt charts, kanban boards or task completion percentages, users always know how far along each project is and which tasks need attention.
Cost Tracking: ProjectManager enables detailed cost tracking, providing insights into project expenses, budgets and forecasts. Monitor whether the project is staying within budget and make adjustments if needed.
Workload Management Data: The dashboard provides a view of team members’ workloads, ensuring that tasks are evenly distributed. It helps to avoid overloading team members while also preventing underutilization.
Slippage Reporting: ProjectManager’s dashboard tracks project slippage (the gap between planned and actual timelines). It helps identify areas where projects are behind schedule, so corrective actions can be taken before delays escalate.

Trello Dashboard Example

We’ve been talking about a Trello dashboard for a while now. It makes sense to look at an example to better understand how it works. Below is a visual representation of part of the various metrics of the dashboards.

Here, the Trello dashboard is tracking work completed over the week, month and quarter. This valuable data is displayed as a couple of bar graphs, showing how many tasks are done each month, which allows project managers to track progress. It also breaks the work down by type of task.

How to Make a Dashboard In Trello

If, after all this, readers still want to create a Trello dashboard to organize their boards, lists and cards, simply follow these steps. Set up a new board for the project or team. Break down tasks into columns or lists, like to do, in progress and completed. Add cards for each task, with detailed descriptions, due dates, labels, attachments and checklists.

Of course, users will have to integrate features like calendars, reporting tools or other apps to extend the functionality. But, again, this will become problematic due to cost, but also complexity when scaling to larger projects. As projects grow, users may need multiple boards for different teams or departments. Managing all these boards and aligning them for a unified dashboard view is confusing and time-consuming.

Why ProjectManager Is a Better Project Tracking Software Than Trello

Instead of dealing with the shortcomings of a Trello dashboard, why not move to a real project management tool that can monitor one project or multiple projects in a centralized place? Why not use software that has cost tracking and resource management? Why not manage projects with tools that compare the planned effort against the actual effort in real time to help keep work on schedule? ProjectManager is award-winning project and portfolio management software that can do all that with risk management features, version control, workflow automation and task approval settings to ensure only quality deliverables get through the process.

Plan, Schedule and Track with Multiple Project Management Views

We’ve already mentioned the multiple project views, but didn’t get into the details that make our Gantt chart unique. Yes, it can schedule tasks, resources and costs, but that’s just the beginning. Project managers can link all four types of task dependencies to avoid delays and cost overruns. To find the critical path, filter the Gantt chart. There’s no need to do complex and lengthy calculations. Then, set a baseline to track the planned effort against the actual effort in real time. Trello dashboards can’t do that. Plus, plans can be shared so teams can use kanban boards, which are better than Trello’s, and task lists to execute tasks, while stakeholders monitor progress on the calendar view.

Track Costs with Online Timesheets, Workload Charts and Reports

There are more ways to track projects with our software than just dashboards, which provide a high-level overview. We have secure timesheets that do more than streamline the payroll process. They give project managers transparency into labor costs, which helps keep projects on budget. Then there are resource management tools like color-coded workload charts. They provide a view of resource allocation. See who is overallocated or underutilized and balance the team workload to keep everyone working at capacity, but avoiding possible burnout.

For more information, use customizable reports on project or portfolio status, variance, workload, timesheets and more. They can all be filtered to go deep into the data or summarize progress and be shared with stakeholders to keep them updated.

How to Use an S-Curve in Project Management

Brenna Schwartz — Thu, 13 Mar 2025 19:00:01 +0000

Projects reach a successful completion by planning, but a plan alone isn’t enough to deliver on time and within budget. Costs, resources and performance must be tracked to ensure the actual effort aligns with the project plan. An S-curve is one tool that can help do that.

To understand why, let’s first define an S-curve graph in project management. Then we’ll explain why it’s used and how to make one. To save readers time, we’ll also link to a free downloadable S-curve template for Excel, followed by an example to show how it’s used in real-life projects.

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S Curve Template

Use this free S Curve Template for Excel to manage your projects better.

What Is an S-Curve?

An S-curve is a graphical representation of a project’s progress over time, typically used in project management to track costs, resources or work performance. The curve gets its name from its S-like shape, which reflects the natural lifecycle of a project—starting slow, accelerating in the middle and tapering off as the project nears completion.

S-curves are commonly used for performance analysis, forecasting and resource management. They help project managers compare actual progress against planned progress, identify deviations and make data-driven decisions to keep the project on track.

While an S-curve is useful for tracking progress, scheduling that work requires project management software. ProjectManager is award-winning project and portfolio management software with robust Gantt charts to schedule and forecast project tasks, resources and costs. To ensure the project progresses as planned, link all four types of task dependencies, filter for the critical path and set a baseline set to track the project in real time. Get started with ProjectManager today for free.

ProjectManager’s Gantt charts help forecast and schedule projects. Learn more

Why Use an S-Curve in Project Management?

An S-curve is a valuable tool in project management for monitoring and analyzing a project’s progress, resource allocation, costs and risks over time. By visually representing project performance, it helps teams make informed decisions, stay on schedule and ensure resources are used efficiently. Below are key reasons to use an S-curve in project management.

Progress Tracking: The S-curve allows project managers to track progress over time by plotting actual work completed against the planned schedule. The horizontal (X-axis) of the graph represents time, while the vertical (Y-axis) represents key metrics such as cost, work hours or tasks completed. This helps teams identify delays or deviations from the original project plan.
Resource Management: By analyzing an S-curve, project managers can assess whether resources—such as labor, materials and equipment—are being allocated efficiently. If the curve shows a steep incline, it may indicate a high demand for resources, helping teams anticipate and manage workload distribution more effectively.
Cost Control: S-curves help track project expenditures over time, allowing managers to compare planned vs. actual costs. By monitoring cost trends, teams can detect budget overruns early and take corrective action before financial risks escalate. This ensures the project remains financially viable.
Schedule Management: An S-curve graph provides insights into whether a project is on schedule, ahead or falling behind. If the actual progress curve lags behind the planned curve, it signals delays, prompting the need for schedule adjustments. This visibility helps teams stay aligned with deadlines and project milestones.
Risk Management: By comparing planned and actual performance, S-curves help identify potential risks, such as unexpected slowdowns in work progress or resource shortages. Early detection of these risks enables project teams to implement mitigation strategies, reducing the likelihood of major disruptions.

How to Make an S-Curve Graph

An S-curve graph is a powerful tool in project management for tracking progress, costs or other key performance metrics over time. It visually represents the natural growth of a project, starting slow, accelerating in the middle and leveling off toward completion. Below are the key steps to create an S-curve graph.

1. Establish a Timeline for the S-Curve

The first step is to define the project timeline, which will be plotted on the horizontal (X-axis) of the graph. This timeline should cover the entire project duration, from initiation to completion, with specific milestones or phases marked along the way. A well-defined timeline ensures accurate tracking and analysis of project performance.

2. Determine What Project Area Will Be Measured

Next, decide what key metric the S-curve will track. It could measure progress (tasks completed), costs (budget spent), resource allocation or other performance indicators. This data will be represented on the vertical (Y-axis) of the graph. Choosing the right metric ensures the S-curve provides valuable insights for monitoring and decision-making.

3. Plot the S-Curve Graph

Once the timeline and key metric are defined, plot the S-curve by graphing actual project data against planned data. The curve typically starts with slow progress, then rises steeply as work accelerates, and finally flattens as the project nears completion. Comparing planned vs. actual curves helps identify trends, delays or budget overruns, allowing teams to adjust as needed.

S-Curve Graph Example

Let’s explore a real-life example to understand the practical application of using an s-curve. In the one we’ve sketched below, a construction company is building a bridge for vehicle traffic. Read how using an s-curve graph helps the construction firm keep track of its progress.

The infrastructure construction project commenced in January 2025, with an initial one percent actual progress, slightly ahead of the estimated 0 percent. The project steadily gained momentum throughout the early months, closely aligning with the projected timeline. By March 2025, actual progress was at seven percent, slightly trailing the estimated 8 percent, but recovered by April 2025, surpassing projections (12 percent actual vs. 10 percent estimated).

From May to August 2025, the project experienced a strong acceleration phase, with actual progress significantly exceeding estimates. By August 2025, 60 percent of the work was completed, compared to the forecasted 50 percent, indicating an efficient resource allocation and smooth execution.

By the end of September 2025, the project had reached 75 percent completion, maintaining a lead over the planned 70 percent. The trend continued into November and December, when the project exceeded estimates (96 percent actual vs. 85 percent estimated in December 2025).

As the project entered 2026, the final stages saw a controlled approach, ensuring quality checks and finishing tasks were properly executed. By March 2026, the project was successfully completed at 100 percent, precisely matching the estimated progress.

S-Curve Template for Excel

Pictured above is our free S-curve template for Excel to visualize project progress over time. Download this template to compare planned performance against the actual performance. The s-curve graph helps keep projects on track.

Our free template is a fully customizable document. We’ve formatted it with a chart on the left to capture the project timeline and actual and estimated progress. On the right is the c-curve graph, which automatically populates once the graph has been filled out.

Benefits of Using an S-Curve in Project Management

Project management professionals wouldn’t use an s-curve if there weren’t ample benefits to the tool. Here are a handful of those advantages.

Helps compare actual project results against projections and estimates
By plotting costs, risks, progress or other key project management areas, an s-curve graph helps identify project variances as they occur
Can be used as a visual resource to document lessons learned
Helps set realistic stakeholder expectations by showing the normal progression of projects, which in most cases isn’t depicted by a straight line
Allows project management teams to decide when to reallocate resources to get projects back on track

Disadvantages of Using an S-Curve in Project Management

While S-curves help track project progress and performance, they also have limitations. Below are key disadvantages to consider when using an S-curve in project management.

S-curves rely on historical data and may not accurately reflect sudden changes or disruptions in a project
Analyzing S-curve trends can be challenging, especially for those unfamiliar with data visualization techniques
The curve provides an overview of progress but does not break down specific task-level details or bottlenecks
Any errors or inconsistencies in data collection can lead to misleading conclusions and poor decision-making
S-curves work best for long-term projects with measurable trends, making them less useful for short, fast-paced initiatives

Related Project Management Templates

An s-curve template is only one of the over 100 free project management templates for Excel and Word that are available for immediate download on our site. They cover all aspects of managing a project across multiple industries. Here are just a few that can help monitor project metrics.

Project Dashboard Template

A project dashboard offers a high-level overview of project metrics. This free project dashboard template for Excel is set up to track tasks, workload, costs and more. The colorful graphs and charts help keep projects on track.

Budget Dashboard

There are also dashboards that are focused on specific metrics, such as cost. Download this free budget dashboard for Excel to view graphs and charts on total costs, planned vs. actual costs, direct material, direct labor, direct equipment and overhead costs.

Task Tracker Dashboard

Use this free task tracker dashboard for Excel to monitor, organize and track the progress of tasks or projects. It provides an overview of all tasks, their status, deadlines, priorities and other important project information.

Why ProjectManager Is Better Than an S-Curve for Managing Projects

An S-curve graph or any template is not what a project manager and their team want to plan, manage and track projects. These are static documents that have to be manually updated and are poor collaborative tools. Projects are dynamic and need project management software to provide everyone involved with the features they need to deliver the project successfully. ProjectManager is award-winning project and portfolio management software that has Gantt charts to schedule work, kanban boards and task lists to execute it and a calendar view to get a monthly overview of the project.

Manage Resources and Keep Teams Productive

Resource management begins on the Gantt chart, where human and nonhuman resources are scheduled. When onboarding teams, project managers can set their availability, which makes it easier to assign tasks to the right person at the right time for the right job. Resource allocation across all projects can be viewed on the color-coded workload chart which makes it easy to see who’s overallocated or underutilized. The team’s workload can then be balanced without having to leave the chart. There’s even a team page that shows daily and weekly team activity, which can be filtered by progress, priority and more.

Monitor Project Metrics on Real-Time Dashboards and Reports

To get a high-level overview of the project’s metrics with a template, you’re going to have to add the data to see the graphs and charts. Our real-time project or portfolio dashboards automatically collect live data from one or multiple projects and display those metrics on time, cost, workload and more without having to set up the tool. Customizable reports go deeper into the details and can be filtered to show specific data points or a more general summary that can then be shared with stakeholders to keep them updated. Even our secure timesheets help by tracking labor costs to keep the project on budget.

32 Must-Have Project Management Templates for Google Sheets

Camilo Tristancho — Thu, 13 Mar 2025 16:00:12 +0000

There are many ways to manage a project. While project management software is the gold standard, there are many free project management templates for Google that you can download to plan, manage and track your projects. Get these free project management templates for Google and take control of your project to deliver it successfully.

Best Project Management Templates for Google Sheets

There are many project management templates for Google online. They cover all phases of the project through its life cycle. It can be a bit intimidating to search such a large database to find the free project management templates for Google that are right for you.

It’s easy to start using these free project management templates for Google. Simply click on the link for the template you want, which will then open it as a view-only file. Go to file and click make a copy. Now, you’ll have a workable project management template for Google that you can customize to fit your project.

1. Project Budget Template for Google Sheets

A project requires funding to execute the plan. Without a budget, that plan is no more than a good idea. But having a budget is no simple task. It involves accurately estimating all the costs associated with the project. If you are off that money can come out of your pocket.

Using this free project budget Google template can help you better forecast project costs, which will help when you’re bidding for that work. It has space to capture all your labor and material costs, but also travel, equipment and fixed costs. You can add more if you like as the Google template is fully customizable.

Not only does this free project management template for Google help as you’re planning the project budget, but it also allows you to track costs to help you stay on budget. You can see your planned and budget costs to gauge if you’re on track.

As good as free project management templates for Google are, they’re not a perfect solution for managing your project. For one, they’re static documents that require manual updates. More than that, they’re standalone documents, separate from your other project management tools.

ProjectManager is award-winning project management software that has robust Gantt charts to not only organize tasks, link all four types of task dependencies and filter for the critical path, but also manage your resources and costs in real time. Once you’ve made a budget, set the baseline to capture it so you can track your planned costs against your actual costs in real time without having to constantly update your Google sheet. Get started with ProjectManager today for free.

ProjectManager’s Gantt charts help you plan, manage and track costs in real time. Learn more

2. Gantt Chart Template for Google Sheets

Gantt charts are one of the most versatile project management tools there are, as they allow project managers to plan, schedule and track their projects. They have two main components, a table with project task information such as due dates and duration and a stacked bar chart that shows the project timeline.

This free Gantt chart template for Google Sheets can help you visualize your project timeline and the order in which project activities will be executed. Simply enter your task details and the Google Sheets template will generate a stacked bar chart for your project.

3. Action Plan Template for Google Sheets

An action plan is just that, a plan of action. It’s a way to realize a goal. It’s what a project is all about. You have goals and objectives and plan to achieve them. Use this free action plan template for Google Sheets to create a pragmatic framework to do that.

A good action plan is thorough and this free action plan template for Google covers all the bases to ensure you reach your objective in a timely manner. Like any project, it’s broken up into phases and each phase is further broken down into the individual tasks necessary to complete that phase successfully.

There’s also a place to assign team members to specific tasks and add a start date and an end date to those tasks. You can add the planned hours for each task, which department is responsible for the work, the materials needed and the costs associated with the job. There’s even a status column to track progress.

4. Task Tracker Template for Google Sheets

Creating a plan is the first step, but without monitoring the progress of those tasks, your plan can quickly fall apart. To avoid costly delays, you want to track your tasks and make sure they’re keeping to the project schedule. The free task tracker template for Google is a great tool to monitor your progress.

To track tasks, you first must list them, which the free template for Google Sheets lets you do. Then you can add who the task is assigned to and what its priority is. There’s also a place for you to add the scheduled start date and end date.

All that information is important, but the real power of this free task tracker template for Google is the status column. Here, you can show whether the task is opened or closed. Since the Google Sheet template is customizable, you can add other statuses to better follow the task’s progress.

5. Work Breakdown Structure Template for Google Sheets

Projects have a final deliverable, which is usually a product or service. But throughout the project’s life cycle, there are many deliverables. To identify all the deliverables that make up a project, you can use this free work breakdown structure template for Google Sheets.

From identifying each deliverable you can figure out the tasks that will get you there, which will then inform your schedule. The free WBS template for Google Sheets is an essential planning tool to ensure that you don’t neglect any of the steps necessary to complete your project.

The free WBS template for Google is divided into two sheets. The first is a spreadsheet in which all your tasks can be listed, including any dependencies, resources and more. Then the second sheet is a tree diagram in which the final deliverable is on top and stemming from there are all the deliverables that make up the five phases of the project.

6. To-Do List Template for Google Sheets

People have understood the power of a to-do list since the pen hit the paper. It’s one of the earliest task management tools and its longevity proves its worth. Just think, is there any greater satisfaction than crossing a task off your to-do list? The free to-do list template for Google Sheets brings the tool into the modern age.

This isn’t any to-do list that you’d jot down on a sticky note and paste to your computer. The free project management template for Google is more dynamic. As with any to-do list, it starts with a list of all the tasks you have to complete, including their start dates and end dates.

Until a run-of-the-mill to-do list, there’s a column where you can note the percentage complete for each task and even its status. This allows you to track your progress and make sure that you complete your work in a timely manner.

7. Google Sheets Kanban Board Template

A kanban board is a visual tool that can help you manage any type of project. Simply use the kanban cards to represent tasks and columns to show each of the stages of your workflows and move cards across the board as tasks are completed.

On top of that, this free Google Sheets kanban board allows you to collaborate with your team members online, assign tasks to them and track their progress.

8. RACI Matrix Template for Google Sheets

Organizing projects makes them run better. Everyone involved in the project must know their roles and responsibilities or else there’ll be too much time explaining what to do and not enough time doing it. Using a free RACI matrix template for Google Sheets is the perfect tool to get everyone on the same page and avoid problems.

RACI is an acronym that stands for responsible, accountable, consulted and informed. The RACI matrix is a chart that gives everyone in the project team and its stakeholders one of those titles. The chart is divided into phases on the right vertical and running across the upper horizontal are the names of everyone in the project.

This creates a grid or matrix and within each box under a person’s name will be one of the letters, R, A, C or I. For example, the project manager will be responsible for the project plan and key project stakeholders will want to be informed.

9. Resource Plan Template for Google Sheets

Resources are everything you need to execute the project, from your team to materials, equipment and more. Having those resources in sufficient quantities when you need them is a complicated endeavor and one that must be planned in detail. Using the free resource plan template for Google Sheets will help your project run smoother.

Use this free template for Google to identify all the project resources you’ll need. Each is then listed and in another column, you’re able to identify the team and its members as well as the amount of resources needed for that line item.

There’s also a column to capture the rate and then the total cost. Now you can integrate your project schedule and budget to help you better track costs. Use the calendar grid to define when each resource is needed. The Google template can then be saved and used as historical data as you plan resources for future projects.

10. Status Report Template for Google Sheets

When you’re executing the project, monitoring its progress and performance is critically important. One tool in your toolbox to do this is reports. There are a variety of different reports when managing a project, but few are as comprehensive as the status report, which captures data over the course of a specific period in the project.

Having the free status report template for Google lays out all the various components of a status report so you can provide a snapshot of the project to help you understand better how it’s progressing and performing. This will provide project managers with vital information on how to manage the project and also give stakeholders updates to manage their expectations.

Get an overview of the project, from progress to deliverables and milestones achieved. There’s also a section on the health of the project, including budget, schedule, scope and quality. Finally, there’s an overview of the project’s risk management and a place in which recommendations can be made.

11. Risk Register Template for Google Sheets

Speaking of risks, they’re a part of every project and must be managed. Risks can be positive and negative, one to take advantage of and the other to mitigate. Using the free risk register template for Google ensures that you’re ready to respond to risk when it occurs as an issue in your project.

On this free Google template, you have a column to collect every risk you can imagine happening in the project. Then, you’ll want to define its impact on the project and what the response will be if, in fact, it occurs.

That just sets you up to identify risk and resolve it when issues show up. But the project management template for Google goes further, defining the level of risk to help you determine the priority of your response. There’s also a place to assign a team member to own that risk and take responsibility for action if it shows up in the project.

12. Timesheet Template for Google Sheets

Timesheets are essential project documents that ensure your team is compensated fairly for their work. It’s important to the team, but also to the project manager as it provides a means of tracking the amount of time they’re taking to complete their tasks. Use the free timesheet template for Google Sheets to streamline payroll and help track progress on your projects.

This project management template for Google breaks down the work week by day and adds the date and pertinent information about the employee, such as name, department, supervisor and hourly rate.

The Google template goes on to show the employee’s start time, lunch and end time for each time. After that, the hours worked are recorded. There’s a column for any overtime and the total hours worked are added. That column is then added for the week for the employee’s weekly pay.

13. Google Sheets Inventory Template

This Google Sheets inventory template is designed to help you keep track of the raw materials or any physical items such as equipment your team needs to complete their tasks and produce deliverables.

It allows you to monitor the number of units in stock, price per unit, reorder information and total inventory cost. In the case of project managers, it’s important when keeping track of costs and project budgets.

14. Schedule Template for Google Sheets

This free schedule template for Google Sheets facilitates the process of creating a schedule for tracking the time your employees work each week. Because it is a Google Sheets spreadsheet format, it can be easily shared with your team members by simply sharing a link with them so they know when they’re scheduled for work.

The best part of using this schedule template for Google Sheets is everyone on your team can view their weekly work schedule from any device at any time as long as they’re logged into their Google account. Another advantage of using this Google Sheets template is that it saves any changes you make in real-time for all users who have access to your file, which means all your employees will have the latest version of the work schedule.

15. Yearly Business Budget Template for Google Sheets

Creating a yearly budget for your business or department is a great way of ensuring there will be available resources for running its operations. This free budget template for Google Sheets allows you to track different types of business costs related to labor, equipment, materials and more. Additionally, it allows you to specify the recurrence of each project cost and compare planned versus actual costs.

16. Google Sheets Calendar Template

There are many tools you can use to schedule a project such as Gantt charts, kanban boards and many more. But sometimes you need a simpler tool that’s easy to understand by everyone on your team, such as a project calendar.

This Google Sheets calendar template allows you to map all your project tasks, their due dates and durations over a project calendar spreadsheet. You can use it for all types of projects and share it with project clients, team members and other project stakeholders.

17. Google Sheets Timeline Template

As long as you’re managing a project of any kind, you’ll need to estimate the duration of tasks and then make a timeline to help you coordinate the efforts of your team members to produce project deliverables on time.

This free Google Sheets timeline template helps you easily make timelines that can be used by organizations from any industry.

18. Google Docs Gantt Chart Template

While this is not exactly a Google Sheets project management template, this Google Docs Gantt chart has the same functionality as Google Sheets. However, this format can be useful for making project management reports and documentation, or it can be easily printed and distributed among the participants of a project meeting.

19. Google Slides Timeline Template

This Google Slides timeline template is very similar to the Google Sheets timeline template we described above, but the main difference between them is that this Google Slides timeline template was specifically designed to visualize project timelines during project management meetings. It has two main components, a timeline overview for marking events such as key deliverables and milestones and a series of detailed monthly timelines that show project tasks, durations and due dates.

20. Project Estimate Template for Google Sheets

Download this project estimate template for Google Sheets for an easy and straightforward way to identify and collect all project costs. In reality, countless costs must be factored into a project estimate, and it can be hard to keep track of them all in an organized manner. This free template is one of the most effective tools for helping project managers avoid overspending on projects. Plus, it’s in a format you and your team can easily access.

21. Google Sheets RAID Log Template

A RAID log stands for risks, assumptions, issues and decisions. This Google Sheets RAID log template is the ideal tool to use to better manage and track issues when they show up in a project. The sooner you identify and understand these issues, the less chance they have to impact your project as a whole. Use the Google Sheets RAID log template to list the RAID category and provide a description as well as the impact, response, priority level and more. It’s helpful for more effective planning and can help teams better understand how changes will impact the project.

22. Risk Matrix Template for Google Sheets

Risks can quickly go from a possibility to something that derails the progress of the entire project. However, not all risks are the same; some can be positive and some can be negative. The best way to manage and mitigate risks is to have a system for determining if risk will happen in a project. Download this risk matrix template for Google Sheets as a communication tool to let the project team know if a risk might occur during the project. Categorize each risk based on the likelihood and severity of it happening to identify risks and come up with a plan to address and resolve them.

23. Change Request Form for Google Docs

Change is inevitable in any project, and things rarely go perfectly. If you don’t respond to change in the right way, it can cause the project to be unsuccessful. This is where the change request form for Google Docs comes in handy as it acts as a structured process for dealing with changes. This is part of the change management process to help project leaders better prepare for and respond to change. This Google Docs template includes a description of the change including the reason, priority, impact on deliverables and more. It also has room to add the impact of the change.

24. Change Log Template for Google Sheets

Similar to the change request form, the change log template for Google Sheets is also designed to make it easier to understand how a change will impact a project. A change management log is a written document that outlines all notable changes made to a project. This could be anything from a new resource that needs to be added, a delay in the project timeline or a change to how stakeholders want to be communicated with. It helps improve transparency and accountability and supports better risk management.

25. Issue Tracking Google Sheets Template

It’s important to be aware of any project issues that could come up in the project. This makes it easier to ensure they are all addressed in a timely manner and increases accountability for how the issues will be mitigated. An issue tracking template for Google Sheets helps document and manage issues that come up during a project. This makes it easier to notate, prioritize and track how these issues are resolved. The template helps define the priority of issue and assigns it to specific team members so they can check it off when it’s complete.

26. Objectives and Key Results (OKR) Template for Google Sheets

In projects, the objective should be a qualitative description of a goal or ideal outcome. This should be a lofty goal but one that is achievable. Key results, on the other hand, are specific, measurable metrics that help determine if progress has been made during the objective. OKRs are ideal for aligning your team’s efforts and tracking their progress and goals. This free objectives and key results template for Google Sheets helps teams foster a sense of accountability and ownership while facilitating discussions around key objectives. Download it now to help you achieve your goals.

27. PERT Chart Template for Google Sheets

PERT is an acronym for program evaluation and review technique. Using this free PERT chart template for Google Sheets helps teams visually map out project tasks, dependencies and timelines. It provides a structured way to break down complex projects into individual tasks, estimate durations and identify the critical path for efficient scheduling.

28. Critical Path Template for Google Sheets

The critical path is the longest sequence of dependent tasks in a project that determines the shortest possible completion time. Use this free critical path template for Google Sheets to help project managers when scheduling projects. It enables project teams to calculate task durations, set dependencies and pinpoint activities that, if delayed, could extend the entire project timeline.

29. Lessons Learned Template for Google Sheets

Use this lessons learned template for Google Sheets to review what went right and what went wrong after completing a project. The review process identifies weaknesses and opportunities, ending with action items to implement for future projects to avoid those pitfalls and take advantage of improving the management of projects.

30. Stakeholder Register Template for Google Sheets

Stakeholders are any person or organization with a vested interest in the project’s success. Project managers can use this stakeholder register template for Google Sheets to track and manage key stakeholders. It serves as a central document to record stakeholder details, influence levels and communication strategies.

31. Change Impact Assessment Template for Google Sheets

This change impact assessment template for Google Sheets is a tool used to assess and document the potential impacts of a proposed change within a project or organization. It helps teams evaluate how changes will affect various aspects such as processes, resources, timelines and stakeholders.

32. Eisenhower Matrix Template for Google Sheets

Named after US President Dwight D. Eisenhower, this Eisenhower matrix template for Google Sheets is based on his principle of distinguishing between tasks that are urgent, important or neither. It helps project managers and their teams prioritize tasks based on urgency and importance by dividing them into four categories to guide decision-making. It helps project teams focus on what truly matters.

Go Beyond Project Management Templates for Google Sheets with ProjectManager

As good as project management templates for Google are, they can only take you so far. You’ll find it frustrating to have to manually add all the data to these static spreadsheets, which are isolated from your other project tools. If you’re looking for a seamless and more efficient way to work, then you’ll want to explore project management software solutions. ProjectManager is award-winning project management software that helps you plan, manage and track your projects in real time. Everything a project management template for Google does, our software does better.

Keep Your Team’s Workload Balanced

You’ve already combined your action plan, resource plan, to-do list, budget and WBS into our powerful Gantt charts. Now, you need to make sure your teams are working at capacity without burning them out and threatening morale—which is a project killer. Our resource management features allow you to set the availability of each team member, including PTO and global holidays. Then toggle to the color-coded workload chart to see who’s overallocated and who’s not. Without leaving the chart, you can reallocate resources to balance your team’s workload.

Track Progress and Performance in Real Time

Planning is only the start of a project. Next, comes the execution and control. That involves having the tools to monitor what your team is doing. Our real-time dashboard gives you a high-level view of the project across various metrics, such as time, cost, workload and more, with easy-to-read graphs and charts. Unlike lightweight project management software, our dashboard doesn’t make you waste time setting it up. Just toggle to the dashboard and it’s ready to go.

If you need a more detailed analysis, use our customizable reporting tools. They’re easy to generate and can be filtered to show only what you want to see. There are status and portfolio reports, timesheet and workload reports, plus many more. All can be shared in a variety of formats with stakeholders to keep them updated.

Those are just a few of our features. We also have multiple project views beyond the Gantt chart, including kanban boards, task lists and more, all updated together so you can work the way you want and still be able to collaborate with cross-functional teams. There are also task management tools to help with productivity and risk management features that manage issues. Project management templates for Google can’t do any of this, let alone automate workflows and assign task approvals to ensure quality deliverables.

ProjectManager is online project management software that connects teams anywhere and at any time. We empower you to plan, manage and track your projects in real time with dynamic features that allow you greater control over your projects to deliver success. Join teams at companies such as Avis, Nestle and Siemens who use our software to succeed. Get started with ProjectManager today for free.

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15 Essential Excel Report Templates

Brenna Schwartz — Tue, 11 Mar 2025 14:00:09 +0000

Planning a project only gets you so far. You also must monitor your progress and performance to track if you’re on schedule and within budget. Then there are your stakeholders whose expectations must be managed. That’s where Excel report templates come in.

Project reports are tools that project managers use to extract valuable project data. Excel report templates are a great tool to determine how you’re doing and keep your stakeholders updated.

Using Excel Report Templates for Project Management

The great thing about Excel report templates is that they’re free to download. Below are 15 essential Excel reporting templates you can use now to get valuable data on your project. These templates cover everything from status reports to risk registers for a clear view of how your project is doing.

Microsoft Excel is a great tool as these templates show, but they only go so far. Excel reporting templates must be imputed manually and are labor-intensive. They also don’t reflect real-time data so they’re always slightly behind. Project management software is the next step to gaining greater efficiency in managing your project, but if you’re not ready for that, Excel report templates will help.

Excel Report Templates for Project Management

Below are Excel report templates for project management, but they’re only a small sampling of the free project management templates we have to download on our template page. There are dozens of Word and Excel templates to help you through every stage of your project’s lifecycle.

We’ve culled through that pack of templates to highlight our free Excel report templates. Download one or all of them now and use them to extract the information you need to deliver a successful project. When you’re ready to take your project templates one step further, read to the end and see how project management software leaves Excel project templates in the dust.

1. Project Dashboard Template

Just as the dashboard on your car helps you track speed, mileage, gas consumption and more, our free project dashboard template is a window into the progress and performance of your project. It’s made up of a variety of graphs, such as a pie graph that shows how your team is progressing on their tasks to bar charts on workload, task lengths and project costs.

The free project dashboard template is a high-level view of your project. It gives project managers a glimpse into what’s going on in the project so they can make better decisions. This Excel report template makes for a great communicative tool. Numbers can end up floating around on the page if math isn’t your strong suit, but the visual elements of the free project dashboard template create a quick and easily digestible way to deliver project data to stakeholders.

ProjectManager software delivers more than any template. ProjectManager is online software that isn’t static like a template but instead connects to your project plan, schedule, resources and more. Our real-time dashboard receives live data as teams update their status so you’re always seeing current and accurate project information. There’s no data to input and it’s all done automatically. Get started with ProjectManager today for free.

ProjectManager’s dashboard gives you an overview of your project in real time. Learn more

2. Project Status Report Template

Being able to get a snapshot of your project that shows its current state is critical for proper management. Our free project status report template lets you see the health of your project and how it’s progressing against your project plan. It can be used to communicate with stakeholders who prefer a more general synopsis of how the project is doing.

This Excel report template is still a wealth of important information, from a summary to project health to risks and recommendations. That includes key accomplishments, what work is completed, what’s still ahead, milestones that have been reached and deliverables. There’s also a place for action items, overviews of the budget, schedule, quality and scope, and even roadblocks that need to be addressed.

3. Progress Report Template

Knowing the progress of your project is one of the best ways to make sure you’re meeting scheduled milestones. Our free progress report template is a way to record the movement of your project over a specific period of time. That timeframe can be a week, a month or whatever is appropriate for your project Our free Excel report template captures the data.

The Excel report template provides a summary of the project status, scope, schedule, cost and risk and then goes into more detail about all the tasks executed over the timeframe. It also looks at any issues that came up over this period and how they impacted the budget. It then notes any existing or expected accomplishments.

4. Project Task Tracking Template

Keeping a project on schedule is one of the main responsibilities of a project manager. One way to accomplish this goal is with our free project task tracking template. It’s a tool that allows you to create a task list and use that to make sure each task in your project is on track to make its deadline. If not, you can reallocate resources to get it back on schedule.

The Excel report template is set up to capture the task and a brief description. It outlines if it’s a dependent task and who it’s assigned to. There are also pulldown menus to note the priority, start date, planned end date and actual end date for each task. There’s a status column to note if the tasks are opened or closed and a space to add other details not collected already.

Of course, tracking tasks is even easier in project management software like ProjectManager. You can create subtasks, assign work, filter for tags and update progress in real time. Managing tasks in the kanban board lets you visually monitor a task’s lifecycle and eliminate bottlenecks to keep work moving.

Manage tasks with sheets, kanban boards, task lists and more in ProjectManager. Try it free.

5. Cost Benefit Analysis Template

This Excel report template is a bit different. You use a cost-benefit analysis template to see if the project is viable and worth funding. There are always questions to answer before initiating a project, such as whether will meet a need, provide a service and whether you can deliver on deadline and for a reasonable cost.

The cost-benefit analysis is a way to answer those questions before investing and risking the financial solvency of the organization. It lets you examine the numbers and make a knowledgeable decision about whether to go through with the project or not. This might be one of the most important Excel report templates you’ll use and it should always be part of your research.

6. Gap Analysis Template

Whether you’re managing a project or an organization, you’re always on the lookout for ways to innovate and be more efficient and effective in meeting your long-term goals. A gap analysis template is a tool that helps conduct a strategic analysis of when you are, where you want to be and, most importantly, how to get there.

Using this Excel report template is the first step to making an action plan that can help you close the gap you’ve found in your analysis. It helps you see the path to achieving those strategic long-term goals that help you grow and stay competitive. Like many Excel report templates, it also acts as a communication tool for stakeholders and employees, providing a lodestar to follow.

7. Lessons Learned Template

After you’ve delivered a project, it’s important to learn from it. What worked? What didn’t work? You can then take that knowledge and apply it to future projects to manage them better. One of the most important Excel report templates you can use is this free lessons learned template.

The lessons learned template creates a space in which you can capture all the information you need from what is a win or a loss, describing what happened, the impact, how to change things to improve and then a list of action items to implement those changes. Use this Excel report template when doing a post-mortem with the project team. Get their feedback as they were on the front lines of the project and can offer a unique perspective.

8. Timesheet Template

Another Excel report template is our free timesheet template. It’s a tool that not only helps with payroll but allows project managers to track the time each team member is spending on their tasks. You can track cost per hour, vacation and overtime to help stay on schedule.

This free Excel report template captures the personal data of each team member, including the department in which they work, their supervisor and their hourly rate. Their weekly hours are then collected and totaled to show you how much time they put in and what tasks they’ve completed or are still working on. Finally, there’s a signature line for the employee and supervisor.

9. Risk Register Template

All projects have risks associated with them. We think of risks as bad, but some risks are good in that they open up an unforeseen opportunity. Our free risk register template helps you plan for risks, set priorities and outline who on the team is responsible for following through.

This free Excel report template is important in helping you identify and respond quickly to any issues that show up in the project. You can’t know every risk that might show up, but with the help of your team’s experience, you can outline a majority of the likely risks and have a plan in place to effectively mitigate risks or take advantage of them.

10. Change Log Template

Having a change log template is key to any change management process. Project plans are important but they’re not etched in stone. When changes occur in your project, whether external or internal, you need to have this free Excel report template to capture that change and track it throughout the project or until it’s resolved.

The free change log template has a place for everything you need to identify and track changes in your project, such as when it was first discovered and who discovered it. The more data around the change, the more you can control it and make sure it doesn’t derail your project.

11. Daily Report Template

Use this free daily report template to record and communicate key activities, progress and issues that occur within a single workday. It helps teams stay updated, track productivity, and ensure accountability in projects or operations.

This Excel report template streamlines the work management process. It collects the tasks collected over the day and those that are ongoing, including priority, estimated duration, who’s assigned and more. The template also tracks upcoming tasks to help keep the team prepared.

12. Budget Dashboard Template

A budget dashboard is a visual representation of the financial aspects of a project. It shows key budget related metrics in easy-to-read graphs and charts. Download this free budget dashboard to help keep projects on budget.

Use this Excel report template to track planned vs. actual costs, expenses and forecasts. This allows project managers to quickly assess whether a project is within its financial constraints or not. It also helps to efficiently allocate resources, highlight potential overspending or delays and make more informed decisions.

13. Task Tracker Dashboard Template

An Excel report template that is useful when monitoring, managing and tracking the progress of tasks is this free task tracker dashboard template. It helps to keep project managers and their teams organized, prioritize work and help meet deadlines.

The task tracker dashboard provides a visual tool that can be tailored to meet one’s needs, whether by adding columns for priority, deadlines or task owners. It can also be customized with color to represent different statuses.

14. Balance Sheet Template

A balance sheet provides a snapshot of an organization’s financial position at a specific point in time. Use this free balance sheet template for Excel to outline assets, liabilities and equity to help stakeholders assess the financial health, liquidity and solvency of the organization.

This Excel report template simplifies financial reporting by performing essential calculations automatically. It sums current and non-current assets, liabilities and equity, for more accurate financial tracking. It also computes critical financial rations, including debt ratio, current ration, working capital, assets-to-equity ratio and debt-to-equity ratio.

15. Profit and Loss Statement Template

Use this free profit and lose statement template for Excel for businesses to track financial performance over a given period of time. This Excel report template provides a clear breakdown of revenue, expenses and net income to help understand profitability and more informed decisions.

Use this profit and loss statement template to automatically sum up revenue, cost of goods sold, operating expenses and other crucial components. Because the template is automated it makes sure results for gross profit, operating income and net income are accurate.

How ProjectManager Makes Reporting More Robust

These Excel report templates are a good start, but if you want to cross that project finish line on time and without accruing extra costs, then you need project management software. ProjectManager is online project management software that automates reporting and delivers real-time data for more accuracy and better decision-making.

Use Real-Time Dashboards

The dashboard template only gives you a taste of what a dashboard can do. Our real-time dashboard automatically captures live data. You don’t have to manually input it. It also does the calculations for you and then displays the results in easy-to-read graphs and charts. This high-level view is constantly updating so it’s like a high-level status report that’s always at your fingertips. While other project management tools have dashboards, often you have to set them up. That wastes time. Our dashboard is ready to go when you are.

Get Customizable Reports

All of the Excel report templates we’ve featured for free download are static documents. Our reports can be generated quickly and each can be filtered to show only the data you want to see or share with stakeholders. There are reports on portfolio status, project status, project plan, task, timesheets, availability, workload and various others to help you see in real time how the project is progressing and performing. Excel report templates don’t take the complex data from your project and turn it into helpful and digestible information, but our software does.

The dashboard and reports are all collecting data from the many features that make our software unique in the project management space. We have robust Gantt charts that schedule tasks, resources and costs. Our kanban boards help to visualize your workflow while the sheet, list and calendar views are all designed to help you work how you want. Our collaborative platform connects everyone on your team, different departments and even outside enterprises so your reports can be shared with those who need to see them.

38 Project Management Excel Templates and Spreadsheets for Free

William Malsam — Mon, 10 Mar 2025 18:40:44 +0000

Before you can manage a project, you need the right project tools to collect the necessary data to formulate a strategy—and project management Excel templates are a great place to begin. Employees and team members are often familiar with Microsoft Excel, since there are 1.1 to 1.5 billion Excel users worldwide, so it can be a comfortable starting software for project management.

Whether you need to plan a project, track progress, run a status report or balance a budget, you’ll find a project management template for Excel in this list that suits your needs.

Using Excel for Project Management

Microsoft Excel does a lot of things well: mathematics, analysis and organization. But, it’s not intuitive for project management due to its blank spreadsheet format. So, without using pre-built project management templates or spreadsheets, it’s hard to execute project management on Excel, especially as a team.

Think of all the things you have to process along the way to a successful project—scheduling, resource planning, defining tasks and milestones, etc. The days of Post-It notes and notebooks filled with scraps of paper are long gone. Thankfully, today project managers can use Microsoft Excel templates for project management—or better yet, project management software.

Best 38 Project Management Templates for Excel

Visit our project management templates page and you’ll find Excel and Word templates for creating all the project documents you need to manage your project. But, if you just need free Excel project management templates and spreadsheets, then look no further. Here are 38 essential project management Excel templates you can download and use right now. Transform your bland Excel spreadsheets into expertly-designed project management templates, and take your project management Excel processes to the next level.

1. Gantt Chart Template

A Gantt chart is a visual tool that helps you see at a glance the scheduling of tasks and their dependencies over the project timeline. That makes it an ideal project planner template for Excel.

While it’s true that a Gantt chart template can be overly complex in Excel spreadsheets, especially when you need more advanced scheduling features like task dependencies and resource allocation, they remain a vital part of any project manager’s toolkit. That’s why we recommend using online Gantt chart software to help plan tasks and projects collaboratively with your team.

Online Gantt chart tools integrate into project management & planning software, so they update in real time. This allows for easy drag-and-drop changes and can be color-coded to customize as you need. ProjectManager is project management software that does this and more. Try it for yourself today!

Plan and manage your project online with ProjectManager’s robust tools. Learn more

But to quickly make a Gantt chart from your task lists, download this free Gantt chart Excel template, also known as a project timeline template, for an easy way to create a project schedule. Simply add tasks and deadlines to this Excel spreadsheet and visualize how long your project will take.

2. Project Management Dashboard Template

The project dashboard is what keeps you in the driver’s seat as you travel through the lifecycle of the project. It allows you to monitor the project, tracking the task status, budget and more in one place.

From this free project management dashboard for Excel, you create graphs and charts that give you a visual and easily digestible look at your task and workload management, as well as cost. It’s a sure way to stay on top of a project generally and know where you have to drill down into specifics.

You can add more power to your PM dashboards when you use online project management software. That way, when team members are updating task statuses, the dashboards populate with real-time data.

3. Project Status Report Template

The need for a project status report is obvious. If you don’t have good intel on what’s happening in the project, then you’re managing blindly. You have no idea if you’re on track or if resources are being blocked.

With this free Excel project status report template, you have a tool to greatly improve your project communications, both with stakeholders when you’re delivering a presentation and also with team members.

It’s up to you to decide on the frequency of the reports. But with a project status report template, a lot of the busy work that can pull you away from a project is already done, giving you greater access to the information you need.

4. Action Plan Template

A project is initiated to complete the realization of a goal. But achieving that objective requires a strategy and the steps to implement that strategy successfully. In short, projects require an action plan.

Projects are pragmatic and the action plan is a framework to collect your thoughts about executing the project plan effectively and efficiently. With our free action plan template, you can fill in the blanks to ensure that you’ve covered all bases and make your project start on the right foot. It’s a great companion template to an overall project plan and project charter.

From prioritizing tasks to assigning and noting the status, timeline and resources, we have you covered. And, again, the action plan can be uploaded seamlessly into ProjectManager, so you can then use all our great features to visualize workflow with kanban boards and monitor progress with our real-time dashboard.

5. Project Tracker Template

Tracking the project is crucial to ensure that it remains on schedule. That means also keeping tabs on the work at a task level.

This project tracker & task list template can help as a task to-do list, and it includes columns for the planned and actual duration of the project to determine what’s working and what needs more attention.

Once you integrate your project and task tracking template into a project management software system, you can then produce Gantt charts to get a clear visual on the project timeline, as well as get that data delivered to your dashboard to note project progress in real time. And, of course, you can import your Excel and Microsoft Project files seamlessly into ProjectManager. Our software can transform your static Excel files into stunning, dynamic project management tools.

6. Project Budget Template

A project can have a great plan, but without the financial backing to pay for it, nothing can happen. That’s why a project budget, as tedious as it might be, is one of the most important phases of getting a project on track to successful completion.

With this free Excel project budget template, you can literally see when you’re in the red because it’s color-coded. And this document, more than just one that’s crucial to the start of a project, is also a way to track that budget across the lifecycle of the project.

This template has room to cover all your costs, from easy ones to collect — such as labor and materials — to ones that change or carry over from project to project. Budgets are estimates, but with this free template, those numbers will be more accurate.

7. Critical Path Template

The critical path method helps with planning and scheduling projects. It can determine the duration of the project more accurately, allocate and optimize resources efficiently and even identify risks. But calculating the critical path is complicated and pulls project managers away from more important work. Download this free critical path template for Excel and avoid the pitfalls of manually doing critical path analysis.

Use this free Excel template during the planning phase to discover the sequence of tasks that must be completed on time in order to successfully deliver a project: figure out the earliest start, earliest finish, latest start and latest finish for each task. Users can also determine slack, which is how long a task can be delayed before it negatively impacts the project schedule.

8. Project Calendar Template

Another must-have project management Excel template is a project calendar. The calendar grid is familiar to most everyone, which makes it a valuable communication tool. It also provides a high-level overview of the project and its progress for stakeholders.

Download this free project calendar template for Excel to improve task management, but also foster team collaboration and communicate changes in workflow. It can also be used to show team availability, holidays, PTO and more.

This free template is easy to use and already divided into the 12 months of the year. It’s fully customizable to adjust for shorter or longer projects and can schedule both human and nonhuman resources.

9. Work Breakdown Structure Template

A project is made up of deliverables and those deliverables are created by tasks. The work breakdown structure (WBS) is a way to visualize the project deliverables, the tasks, and the subtasks, that are necessary to make them.

ProjectManager has a free WBS template that structures the process of breaking down the large project into smaller and smaller tasks, in a hierarchical visual that allows you to see the entire scope of the project work.

This is a key element of project planning, but it’s also critical to estimating project costs and setting up a realistic schedule. Better still, because our WBS free template is an Excel spreadsheet, it can then be uploaded into the ProjectManager software to initiate a project, assign tasks to team members and monitor and track progress once the project is executed.

10. Project Plan Template

A project plan template has everything you need to map out your project once it’s been approved. It has space for you to define your project goals, activities and tasks as well as all the resources you’ll need to execute the work. You can begin to schedule your activities, tasks and the duration of each across a project timeline. There’s even a place to identify task dependencies.

Project plans are tailored around your project and no two are the same. That’s why this project management template has a place to add appendices. Here is where you can attach a scope, cost and schedule management plan or a work breakdown structure (WBS) as well as your business case, feasibility study and project charter. The more detailed your project plan, the more you position yourself and your team for success when the project is executed.

11. Project Risk Template

Risk is a part of managing a project. The job involves being able to anticipate what risks are likely to occur and then formulating a response to get the project back on track. That’s where this free Excel risk-tracking template comes in.

First, it allows you to list all the possible risks you believe may happen throughout the project. Next, you can define how it’ll impact the project. You determine the level of the risk and assign it to an owner so that someone is responsible for keeping an eye on it.

Now you have a plan in place to resolve that risk quickly, and a document that can be shared so the risk is never given a chance to blindside a project.

12. Project Timesheet Template

Team members need to have a way to track their work through the tasks they are assigned, and a simple timesheet can provide an easy way to keep them on schedule as well as give them the needed information to know where they are in their tasks.

The free Excel timesheet can calculate cost per hour and includes vacation and overtime columns, to accurately note the time spent on and off the project. But project timesheets are useful for several different purposes, so this is a handy tool.

When you manage timesheets with online project management software, then the rubber hits the road. You’ll be able to filter columns and customize reports, easily sharing them in an email, PDF or Excel and CSV file. Plus your team can submit timesheets based on actual tasks in the system, and you’ll get alerted by email when they do.

13. Project Estimate Template

This free project estimate template for Excel will help you forecast a more accurate budget and realistic schedule. Before you can plan a project, you need to identify all the costs that will be associated with it. This free project management spreadsheet allows you to do a more detailed collection of what you’ll need to spend on your labor, materials and project resources.

From a job description to estimate details, this project template is a great way not only to figure out your budget but collect the various vendors and contractors you’ll be employing to help you execute the project. Create as many project phases as you require. Each is subtotaled and those subtotals are then tallied automatically for a final sum. Change is impossible to avoid when managing a project, or work plan, but the more accurate your estimate, the more likely you’ll deliver on time and within budget.

14. RACI Matrix Template

Using a RACI matrix template is an essential tool for organizing projects. Projects can be confusing, and if people aren’t sure of their roles, problems are going to occur. The RACI template for Excel is a free tool to identify and define the various roles and responsibilities of everyone involved with the project.

This project management Excel template is broken up by project phase on the left and across the top all the various project positions are listed. Then in the corresponding box beneath the title is filled in with R, A, C or I to explain their relation to that specific point in the project. RACI stands for responsible, accountable, consulted and informed. Defining these roles with this Excel spreadsheet leads to smoother operations.

15. Issue Tracker Template

Issues are when something is happening right now in your project. So, what do you do when this happens? You track those issues and resolve them with the help of this free issue tracker template.

The first thing, of course, is identifying those issues as they occur. This is the document in which you can collect that information. The issue tracking template serves you by making sure every step of the way, from identifying to resolving the issue, is documented.

Of course, you’ll want to share the issue tracker template, and you can with this free Excel template, but only as a static document. With project management software, that information is easy to collect and share, as well as edit in real time.

16. Project Resource Plan Template

Resources are anything you need for a project. Our free resource plan template for Excel is the first step to managing your team and resources. You can use it to identify, list and organize all your project resources as well as figure out how much of each you’ll need and what that’ll cost. You can use this project Excel template to integrate with your schedule and budget to track costs as you execute the project.

While you’ll want to start your resource plan during the planning phase of your project, it should be a living document that’s regularly updated as things change over the life cycle of the project. Once the project has been completed, you can save the template and use it when you’re planning resources for future projects that are similar. Using this free project management template for Excel keeps everyone informed, which leads to a smoother project.

17. PERT Chart Template

PERT charts are tools to plan and schedule project tasks. PERT stands for program evaluation review technique and the PERT chart is a visual representation of the project’s timeline, which shows the relationships between various tasks. Download this free PERT chart template for Excel to visualize a project’s timeline and the relationship between various tasks. This will give project managers valuable insight into analyzing the time required to complete each task.

This free project management template for Excel works by relying on a weighted average of three factors: the most pessimistic, optimistic and likely estimates for a project’s duration. Use the PERT Chart template to do the work instead of having to calculate the complex formula.

18. Change Log Template

Try our free change log template for Excel and create a successful change management process. Change is going to happen in every project, whether due to requests from stakeholders or external forces, such as weather or supply chain issues. Being prepared for change and how to respond to it is going to make or break your project.

This project management Excel spreadsheet allows you to number changes that you identify in the project to track them more easily. There’s a place to capture when the change was first discovered, who owns it and who is tasked with dealing with that change. There’s even space to note its status and set the priority so you know which changes should be dealt with first. Having a change log means you can manage change and not allow change to negatively impact your project.

19. Multiple Project Tracking Template

If you’re managing a program or a portfolio of projects, then you need our free multiple-project tracking template for Excel. When you download this free project management Excel template, you have the tool you need to monitor the progress of many projects at once.

This free template provides a high-level overview of your projects, including all relevant information, all in one place. You can track tasks, dependencies, schedules and costs, which allows you to make more informed decisions when allocating resources across all your projects and helps you identify issues quickly.

Whether you’re a program manager, portfolio manager or work for a PMO, our free multiple project tracking template is going to make your job easier. It will serve you throughout the life cycle of all the projects you’re managing for resource management, communicating with stakeholders and more.

20. Project Timeline Template

Use this free project timeline template for Excel to outline the sequence of tasks in a project. This visual tool captures the entirety of the project, from start to finish, all in one place. Users can even color-code the timeline to differentiate project phases.

This essential project management Excel template is perfect when planning a project. On the left side of the template is a spreadsheet to list all project tasks and their duration. This information then automatically populates the timeline to the right.

A project timeline template is both a spreadsheet and a bar chart, with the tasks shown as bars, their length representing the duration of that task. Project managers can use this free template to visualize the project for the project team.

21. Kanban Board Template

Kanban boards come from the Toyota factory floor, developed by Taiichi Ohno, an industrial engineer and businessman, as a planning system to manage and control work and inventory. Since being introduced as physical boards with columns representing phases in production and tasks that are displayed as cards that move across the board, they’ve evolved into digital tools.

When you download our free kanban board template for Excel, you’ll get five columns and multiple cards, all of which are fully customizable so you can make adjustments to reflect the production cycle of your project. We’ve set up the kanban board to have five columns: backlog, to-do, doing, in review and done.

Cards are color-coded to show the priority level, from high (red) to medium (green) and low (blue). On each card is the name and description of the task, who it’s assigned to and what the due date is. Again, you can add as much or as little information to the card as you like. Of course, you can also use a project management template in ProjectManager and get access to dashboards, reports, resource management features and much more.

22. Production Schedule Template

To balance supply and demand when producing any commodity, you have to have a production schedule. It tracks the production of your product over a specific period. No manufacturer is going to make anything without one. Download our free production schedule template for Excel.

Use our free production schedule as part of your larger supply chain management to manage resources, help your sales team and get your goods to customers on time without negatively impacting quality. Our template helps you to make more accurate production plans and manage your inventory.

You can manage both your workers and your materials, workstations and processes, as well as track your targets, manage deliveries and more. Our free template is a must-have document when you’re in production planning.

23. Punch List Template

A punch list captures the work that still needs to be done on a construction site. The job isn’t complete until that punch list is completed. The punch list is also a great way to capture tasks that fall outside the contract and track their progress. These are only some reasons why you need to download our free punch list template for Excel.

Our free punch list template lists all the items on the punch list, including a description and who has been assigned to do that work. There’s also space to add a date for when it was first identified and when it was approved. You can also add the estimated duration for doing the work.

This is a special template, too, in that you can use it as an Excel document or open up the template in ProjectManager. If you use our software, then you’ll have access to kanban boards to visualize workflow, a real-time dashboard for a high-level view of your progress and performance as well as Gantt charts, timesheets, workload charts and much more.

24. To-Do List Template

A to-do list gets things done. Whether it’s the grocery list you stick on the door of your refrigerator or a task list for a project, being able to collect and prioritize work ensures that you don’t forget anything important and tackle the most important tasks first. Plus, it’s a lot of fun crossing off tasks once you’ve done them.

This free project management Excel template can list as many tasks as you have, each with a start date, due date and even a column that shows the percentage complete of each task. There’s also a column to note the process, for example, to indicate if the task is done. Finally, a column is set aside for notes to capture anything you need to add.

The to-do list template is a simple tool that can be used to make more complex tasks manageable. It helps motivate you to do the work because it’s no longer overwhelming, but doable. It’s a rudimentary plan, and everyone knows planning is everything.

25. Weekly Work Schedule Template

If you need help handling your human resources, get our free weekly work schedule spreadsheet for Excel. You can use it to manage your team’s weekly work and the project’s workflow. Note the days your team can work and collect the rate of pay and hours they work on their tasks. This flexible employee work schedule can apply to the regular nine-to-five work week or a more hybrid model.

Use this project management template for Excel to get info on your team members and their work schedule. You can add their name, tasks assigned to them and the project on which they’re working. There’s space to list all the days they’ll be working. This Excel template is a great place to capture data, but it’s a static document. If you want to update it, you have to do that manually. It can take time and pull you away from managing the project and your team’s work.

26. Change Request Form Template

One thing that’s constant in any project is change. Those changes, however, must be managed. That’s where the change request form comes in.

Our free change request form template gives you the structure to identify, track and resolve those changes when they arise in a project. The free template has space to note what the change is, give a team member ownership to lead the task of resolving it and then get it signed off on.

When used in conjunction with ProjectManager, the change request form is more dynamic. It can act as a collaborative platform in which team members can communicate and attach relevant documents, even hand-offs and sign-offs. Keeping everything under one roof is something you’ll not want to change.

27. Project Prioritization Matrix Template

Project prioritization is a way to objectively determine which projects are the best fit for meeting strategic goals when managing a project. It can also be used to prioritize tasks in a project to figure out what’s critical and what can wait. Download this free project prioritization matrix template for Excel to separate what’s critical and what’s not, as well as what must be done immediately and what can wait. This allows project managers to decide if work should be done now, scheduled for later, delegated or deleted.

Use this free project management Excel template for a variety of work, from prioritizing projects and managing time to getting consensus. It’s valuable for anyone who has to make a project decision, whether a project management office (PMO), project manager or team member.

28. Gap Analysis Template

If you’re looking to improve your business and stay innovative, then you need this gap analysis template for Excel. It’s one of the tools you can use to get a strategic analysis of where you are now and how to get to where you want to be in the future. This project management spreadsheet will help you devise an action plan to move you from your current state of affairs to wherever you plan to take your organization in the future, whether that’s an increase in market share or getting a product to market quickly.

This free Excel template has everything you need to start meeting your goals, from general information and the current state of your business to the future state you’re aiming to achieve, what the gap percentage is and the actions necessary to close that gap. You can identify who in the organization can lead the initiative and even track the status. You have to start somewhere and a gap analysis is where it all comes together.

29. Stakeholder Analysis Template

Stakeholders are invested in the project and project managers have to keep them updated and manage their expectations. That’s where this free stakeholder analysis template for Excel comes in. It helps you identify and manage all the stakeholders in your project. This free template is a cornerstone of any thorough stakeholder management plan.

The stakeholder analysis template gets you started with a project overview, which is followed by a list of all the stakeholders involved with the project. There’s a dropdown menu to note if that particular stakeholder is of high, medium or low influence. That means, how much power they have to impact the project. That information is crucial to how to manage them. Then you identify each stakeholder in the spreadsheet as they relate to the project. Note the frequency you need to communicate with each stakeholder and more to manage them and keep the project moving forward.

30. Cost Benefit Analysis Template

Crunch the numbers to learn if your project is worth pursuing with our free cost-benefit analysis template for Excel. You can see if the project can be delivered within a specific time frame and reasonable cost. This Microsoft Excel template allows you to compare what you expect to spend against the benefits or opportunities the project might provide. From a cost perspective, you can see if the project is viable.

Whether a personal or professional project, our free cost-benefit analysis template is a powerful and flexible tool. It can be used over and over again, collecting the project information, quantitative costs (indirect, intangible and opportunity) and quantitative benefits (direct benefits, indirect benefits, intangible benefits and competitive benefits). Adding up the three cost sections and the four benefits sections of the template provides a total cost to compare against total benefits. It’s an essential analysis to undertake before committing to any project.

31. Project Budget Dashboard Template

A project budget dashboard template provides a clear overview of a project’s financial status, helping project managers track expenses, compare actual costs to the budget and make informed financial decisions. It consolidates key financial metrics, such as total budget, expenditures, remaining funds and cost variances and displays them in graphs and charts.

Download the free project budget dashboard template for Excel to keep the project within their budget. This project management Excel template makes it easier to identify potential overspending or cost-saving opportunities. By using a project budget dashboard, teams can enhance transparency, improve financial control and ensure the project stays on track financially.

32. Project Task Tracker Dashboard Template

Use this project management Excel template as a tool used to monitor and manage project tasks efficiently. A project task tracker dashboard provides a visual representation of task progress, deadlines, priorities and team responsibilities in a centralized format.

By using this free task tracker dashboard for Excel, project managers and teams can quickly identify bottlenecks, track overall project progress and ensure that tasks are completed on schedule. This enhances productivity, improves accountability, and helps maintain project timelines.

33. Stakeholder Map Template

Download this free stakeholder map template for Excel. This project management Excel template is a visual tool used to identify, categorize and analyze stakeholders based on their level of influence and interest in a project. It helps project managers understand stakeholder relationships, prioritize engagement strategies, and ensure effective communication.

The template has a matrix that can be used to place stakeholders into categories by level of influence and level of interest. The four quadrants define if the stakeholder must be kept satisfied, managed closely, monitored or kept informed. Using this stakeholder map, project managers and project teams can proactively manage stakeholder expectations, address concerns and enhance project success.

34. Project Risk Matrix Template

This project management Excel template is used to identify, assess and prioritize potential risks in a project based on their likelihood and impact. It helps project managers visualize risks in a structured format, enabling proactive risk management and mitigation planning.

Use this free project risk matrix template for Excel to determine if the risk is low to very high by placing it on the matrix, which measures the severity and likelihood of the risk occurring. These two axes are broken down from insignificant to severe for severity and rare to almost certain for likelihood. By using a risk matrix, teams can prioritize critical risks, develop mitigation strategies and improve project resilience.

35. RAID Log Template

RAID stands for risks, assumptions, issues and dependencies. A RAID log template is used to track and manage these key project elements. Using this project management Excel template helps project managers and project teams to identify potential challengers, monitor ongoing issues and proactively address critical factors to better deliver a successful project.

Our free RAID log template for Excel improves decision-making, helps with project transparency and gives project teams more control over project risks and uncertainties. It is typically used when planning for a project but can be useful in the execution phase as well. At the end of the project, this template should be archived and used when researching future projects.

36. Stakeholder Register Template

A stakeholder register template is a structured document used in project management to identify, document and track stakeholders involved in a project. Download this free stakeholder register template for Excel and use it as a central reference for managing stakeholder expectations, communication and engagement throughout the project lifecycle.

This project management Excel template lists all the stakeholders involved in the project, whether internal or external. Their role is then identified and each stakeholder is defined in terms of their power and influence on the project. There’s also a column to measure their interest and expectations. Finally, contact information is collected and the preferred form and frequency of communication.

37. Lessons Learned Template

A lessons learned template is a project management Excel template used to capture insights, experiences and key takeaways from a completed project or project phase. It helps teams identify what worked well, what went wrong and how future projects can benefit from these insights.

Use this free lessons learned template for Excel to determine whether the aspect of the project being examined was a win or issue. There’s space to describe it, the impact, how to change it for future projects and then a column to collect the action items by which that change can be implemented.

38. Project Decision Matrix Template

Use this free project decision matrix template for Excel to evaluate and prioritize different project options or solutions based on predefined criteria. It helps project teams make objective, data-driven decisions by scoring each option against key factors, such as cost, quality, value to customer, safety and more, allowing them to compare the relative merits of each choice.

By using this project management Excel template, teams can make more informed, transparent and objective decisions, minimizing bias and aligning with project goals. This template can be used whenever there’s a problem of multiple choices to choose from to make a reasoned decision.

Go Beyond Excel Project Management Templates & Spreadsheets With ProjectManager

Project management software can take you way further than Excel templates for project management ever could. ProjectManager, award-winning project management software, is a comprehensive platform that lets you plan, track and report on your projects online. Because it’s an online tool, you get live visibility into your project team and their tasks.

Plan your projects from start to finish with our Gantt chart feature. This feature allows you to map your project tasks in phases and assign them to team members. You can even create dependencies and set milestones. Plus, you can import Excel files and Microsoft Project files into the Gantt chart, bringing your static templates to life. In addition, ProjectManager integrates with over 1,000 third-party apps such as Google Drive, Slack and Microsoft Office 365 so you can share your project with everybody on your team.

Team members (and managers) can choose to manage their own tasks in either the task list or kanban view. The kanban view is a favorite for visual workers involved in many projects. The customizable columns on a kanban board allow a user to easily see their progress, or sort their tasks by project or department. Of course, every view, whether it’s the Gantt, list or board, allows you to collaborate with other team members and get more work done than you ever thought possible. You’ll wonder why you ever used project management Excel processes.

Notion Dashboard: Key Features, Pros and Cons

Camilo Tristancho — Fri, 07 Mar 2025 20:00:34 +0000

Is Notion the right tool for those looking for a project management dashboard? A Notion dashboard would be ideal for monitoring project progress. It’s an essential tool for task management, whether using a business dashboard or personal dashboard.

There’s no argument about dashboards. They are an important part of any collaborative work environment. But is there a Notion dashboard? Let’s find out, and if there is one, let’s see what it can and can’t do. Only then will readers be able to make an informed decision on the time-tracking tool that’s right for them.

What Is Notion?

Notion is an all-in-one workspace designed for organizing and managing various types of information like notes, tasks, documents and more. Users can create pages, add text, images, checklists, tables and even embed content from other apps.

It’s a highly customizable tool, which users can adapt to fit their own workflows, whether for personal use, team collaboration or anything in between. It likes to think of itself as a digital notebook that lets users combine many different organization tools into one place but without the rigid structure.

Some key features include pages and blocks, which can be text, images, a list, a table or even a calendar. Notion has powerful database features that allow users to organize information. It’s also a collaborative tool allowing users to share pages, comment on content and work together in real time.

If this sounds project management adjacent, it is. But is there a Notion dashboard to provide a high-level overview of work? This might be software that can help with some projects, but without a dashboard, it’s going to fall short. That leads us to the big question.

Does Notion Have a Dashboard?

Project managers and their teams need dashboards. If there is a Notion dashboard, does it have the features that project professionals rely on to monitor key performance indicators (KPIs) such as time, tasks, workload and more?

Before deciding on Notion as the software to manage your project, take a moment to see if there is a Notion dashboard and, if there is, what it can do. Managing a project without a dashboard, or even with one that is not robust, is like driving blind. It’s not a good idea.

Short Answer: Yes, Notion Has Dashboards

Yes, Notion allows users to create dashboards that can help with task management. A Notion dashboard shows tasks and project progress via the kanban boards, tables or timelines. It can also show deadlines and schedules in the calendar view. Meeting notes and documents can be linked pages and embedded files. Progress bars and to-do lists help with goal tracking and other metrics. Embedded widgets and external tools make it excellent for custom workspaces, documentation and personal productivity tracking.

Long Answer: Notion Dashboards Lack Key Features for Project Management

Again, yes, Notion dashboards do exist! However, users have to create them. On the plus side, they are customizable and flexible. But to reiterate, they don’t come pre-built and some features are lacking. These are not plug-and-play dashboards as found in other apps. Here are some areas where Notion dashboards fall short.

No Native Gantt Charts or Advanced Timeline Features

While Notion offers a basic timeline view, it lacks the dynamic Gantt chart functionality found in tools like Monday or Asana. Dependencies, critical path tracking and automated scheduling are missing, making it less ideal for complex project planning.

Limited Automation & Workflow Triggers

Unlike project management tools that support task automation (e.g., auto-assigning tasks, updating statuses), Notion requires manual updates. While third-party tools like Zapier can add automation, it’s not built-in.

No Built-In Planned vs. Actual Tracking

Notion doesn’t have native features for comparing planned vs. actual timelines, budgets or effort. You would need to manually set up formulas or external integrations, making variance analysis difficult.

Lack of Workload & Resource Management

There’s no workload view to show team capacity or prevent the overallocation of tasks. Unlike tools with a workload widget, Notion doesn’t easily track who is over- or underutilized across multiple projects.

No Dedicated Project Portfolio Management (PPM) Features

Notion is not ideal for managing multiple projects at a high level. There’s no native dashboard for tracking interdependencies, prioritization or risk across a portfolio, requiring manual database setups or external tools.

Those looking to use a powerful dashboard for their projects will want to look beyond a Notion dashboard to the built-in and dynamic dashboards found in the award-winning project and portfolio management software of ProjectManager. We have dashboards for a high-level overview of single projects, programs and portfolios of projects, all ready to use when you are and delivering real-time data on time, cost, workload and more. Get started with ProjectManager today for free.

ProjectManager’s real-time project and portfolio dashboards are better than a Notion dashboard. Learn more

How to Make a Notion Dashboard Better With ProjectManager

For those who are itching for a dashboard that can do more than the Notion dashboard, there is a workaround. Use the data from Notion to make a dashboard in ProjectManager. All it takes is a few steps and users will find that they’re can now monitor their project with more metrics for greater insights. Just start a 30-day trial with ProjectManager for free, no credit card required, and follow these steps.

1. Export Your Notion Project

Open Notion and navigate to the database or project page that you want to export.

2. Select the Excel File and Import Into ProjectManager

Choose that file and export it into a CSV file. Then open up ProjectManager and import that file into our software using the Gantt chart view.

3. Add the Data to a New or Existing Project

In ProjectManager, users will either create a new project or, for those who already have an account, they can add the exported file to an existing project. If you’re adding data to an existing project, make sure the project in ProjectManager aligns with the Notion project’s structure or manually match the task categories and columns to create consistency.

4. Choose What Data to Import

ProjectManager allows users to import all the data from the Notion exported file or only the task list. Users can decide to add all data or choose specific task details such as task name due date, assignee, priority level and more. The software will map these fields from the Notion project into ProjectManager. To compare actual vs. planned data on the ProjectManager dashboard, be sure to set a baseline on the Gantt chart. You can then toggle to the ProjectManager dashboard view to access live project data.

5. Success! View Notion Dashboard Data In ProjectManager

When the popup window says, success, that means the data is now in ProjectManager. This allows users to view their project on our robust project dashboard as well as have access to real Gantt charts, resource management features, automation, risk management, global search, version control and so much more.

ProjectManager Has a Better Dashboard Than Notion

Once users have a chance to view their project in our software and compare it to a Notion dashboard, they’ll quickly see how superior ours is. Our real-time dashboard is built in with access to advanced project management features such as progress tracking, cost tracking and slippage reporting. Let’s break it down.

Project Portfolio Management Dashboard: While Notion can build a portfolio-style dashboard, it has to be manually set up and a database linked to it. That requires a lot of customization. ProjectManager has portfolio dashboards, which makes it easier to track multiple initiatives simultaneously.
Planned vs. Actual Project Management Data: Again, Notion dashboards require custom databases and a lot of manual tracking. ProjectManager has planned vs. actual data tracking built in.
Progress Tracking: It sounds like a broken record, but that’s what happens when describing the broken Notion dashboard. Instead of manually setting up progress tracking, ProjectManager has progress tracking with Gantt charts, task lists and, of course, the dashboard, and it’s ready when you are.
Cost Tracking: Notion has no automated way to track expenses in real time. You guessed it, ProjectManager tracks costs directly in the dashboard, including labor, materials and other expenses in real time to set a budget and track actual spending against it.
Workload Management Data: Notion can assign tasks, but lacks built-in workload management tools. ProjectManager can assign tasks to team members, track their availability and balance workloads to avoid overloading, with its color-coded workload charts.
Slippage Reporting: Users better like manually setting up features that ProjectManager has built-in because that’s what they’ll have to do to get slippage reporting. ProjectManager tracks project delays and automatically highlights any milestones or deadlines that are slipping. It helps identify risks early and provides a way to act before the situation gets worse.

Notion Dashboard Example

Enough abstract talk about what a Notion dashboard can or can’t do, let’s look at an example to view this tool in a real-life scenario. Below is an actual screenshot of a dashboard from the Notion software.

Let’s look at two widgets. There’s a today list on the left, which shows a list of tasks, priority, when they’re due and which project they belong to. On the right, there’s a list of projects. These projects are filtered by current and archived projects.

How to Make a Dashboard in Notion

Let’s now look at how to create a dashboard in Notion. It’s more involved compared to tools with pre-built dashboards like ProjectManager. Users have to create multiple databases and link them together manually. Then set up different views to represent the data in a way that works for them.

At this point, filters and sorters can be added to tailor each view based on specific conditions like due dates, assignees, priority, etc. Users can then organize these views into a cohesive layout, which can get complex depending on the amount of information one’s working with.

The level of customization in a Notion dashboard is a double-edged sword. It’s nice to design a dashboard how one wants, but it also means having to figure out how to make it work with one’s workflows. Notion doesn’t offer automatic analytics or reporting, though. To track slippage or budget vs. actuals, users have to manually input and calculate that information.

Why ProjectManager Is a Better Project Tracking Software Than Notion

Rather than doing all that work for so little return, not to mention pulling one away from the more important work of managing the project, users tend to prefer project management software with built-in dashboards. A Notion dashboard is a poor substitute for the real-time project and portfolio dashboards from the award-winning ProjectManager. Not only are our dashboards more robust, but they connect with a suite of powerful project management features that make them stand head and shoulders above the competition.

Plan, Schedule and Track With Multiple Project Management Views

For one thing, our software also has multiple project views, such as kanban boards for visualizing workflow, task and calendar views. But unlike Notion, we have real Gantt charts, which schedule tasks, resources and costs, add milestones, assign teams and more. Unlike other Gantt charts software, though, we can link all four types of task dependencies, which helps project managers avoid delays and cost overruns. Our Gantt charts can filter for the critical path, which means no time-consuming and difficult calculations. Then set a baseline and track progress in real time, comparing the planned against actual live data.

Track Costs with Online Timesheets, Workload Charts and Reports

While our dashboards offer a high-level overview of the project, other features can provide tracking. For example, our secure timesheets streamline payroll and allow team members to update timesheets anywhere and at any time with our mobile app for Android and iOS. But they also give project managers visibility into labor costs, which helps keep the project on budget. Color-coded workload charts show resource allocation, which makes it easy to see who is overallocated or underutilized and balance workload to keep teams working at capacity without threatening burnout. For more details, customizable reports on variance, timesheets, workload, status, portfolio and more can be generated with a keystroke. These reports are also easy to share with stakeholders to keep them updated.

Tools Archives - ProjectManager

Change Request: How to Submit, Manage and Execute

What Is a Change Request?

Change Request Form

What Is the Purpose of a Change Form?

What Should Be Included in a Change Request Form?

Change Request Form Example

Change Request Form Template

What Is Change Request Management?

Free Related Change Management Templates

Types of Change Requests

How to Establish a Change Request Process

1. Create a Change Request Form for Your Organization

2. Assemble a Change Control Board

3. Establish a Chain of Communication Between Requestors and the Change Control Board

4. Create a Change Log to Register Change Requests

5. Assess the Potential Impact of Change Requests

6. Approve, Deny or Defer the Change Request

7. Implement the Change Request

8. Conduct a Post-Implementation Review After Executing Change Request

How ProjectManager Helps Manage Changes in Your Project

Related Change Management Content

Microsoft Project for Mac: How to Run MS Project Files on Mac

Is There a Microsoft Project for Mac?

How to Open & Edit Microsoft Project Files on Mac Using ProjectManager

1. Start a Free 30-Day Trial

2. Import MPP Files into ProjectManager on the Gantt Chart View

3. Select Which MPP File You Want to Import

4. Choose Your MPP File Import Options

5. Import All Data or Just the Task List

6. Close the Success Prompt

7. Bask in the Final Product: You’re Running Microsoft Project Files on Mac!

Open & Edit MPP Files

Use the Real-Time Dashboard

Create 1-Click Project Reports

Download & Share

Why There’s No Microsoft Project for Mac

Web-Based Versions of Microsoft Project for Mac

Microsoft Project for the Web

Microsoft Planner

Microsoft Planner Pricing

Microsoft Planner Reviews

Highlighted Positive User Reviews

Highlighted Negative User Reviews

Why You Need an MS Project Alternative for Mac

Microsoft Project Features Can Be Found in Other Software

Too Many Versions of Microsoft Project

Microsoft Project Pricing: It’s Expensive Software

Why ProjectManager Is the Best Microsoft Project Alternative for Mac

Real-Time Data

Timesheets

Collaborative Environment

Using Virtual Machines to Run Microsoft Project on Mac

Parallels Desktop Pricing

Parallels Desktop Reviews

Highlighted Positive User Reviews

Highlighted Negative User Reviews

VirtualBox Pricing

VirtualBox Reviews

Highlighted Positive User Reviews

Highlighted Negative User Reviews

VMware Fusion Pricing

VMware Fusion Reviews

Highlighted Positive User Reviews

Highlighted Negative User Reviews

More Ways to Run Microsoft Project on Mac

Microsoft Project for Mac FAQs

Does Microsoft Project work on Mac?

Does Project Professional Work on Mac?

Can I Use Project Online on Mac?

Does Apple Offer Project Management Software?

How Can I Open MPP Files on Mac?

Related Content

Microsoft Planner vs. Project: In-Depth Software Comparison

Microsoft Planner vs. Project: Why Should You Choose MS Project?

What Is Microsoft Project?

Microsoft Project Pricing

Microsoft Project Reviews

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Highlighted Negative User Reviews