Have you ever heard the saying, “Never bring a knife to a gunfight?” That’s a little like how it feels to show up to a project management situation with Excel instead of Project or Word instead of Primavera. Many times, clients focus on the software or the technology: we want SharePoint, or we want Basecamp. What they bypass is the project itself; what will work best for our needs? What will facilitate this project and allow us to accomplish our goals? Sometimes a knife works just fine.

In large projects, a software program like Microsoft Project is a necessity. Even for smaller projects, SharePoint can be a lifesaver because it allows you to share documents, keep them in a central, accessible location, and coordinate dispersed team members. But there are other tools that are essential, and here’s where the knife/gunfight analogy comes in. These tools include:

• Project charter
• Project scope document
• Communications plan
• RACI
• Risk management log
• Status report
• Issues log
• Deliverables timelines
• Roles and responsibilities documents

These are your basic, run-of-the-mill template type documents but they are absolutely essential. They help us answer the questions: what are we trying to accomplish? What’s in scope? What’s out of scope? What’s the budget? What’s our test plan?

All of this information needs to be clearly articulated, which these documents allow for, and need to be signed off on by those involved with the project. If they are not, you’re flying by the seat of your pants. You’re potentially compromising the integrity of the project and the quality of the outcome.

The tools in your PM toolbox need not be high-level technological wonders; having SharePoint or another comprehensive solution is certainly beneficial to many projects and a must-have for others, but project management documents have a prominent place as well.