Essential features of goal management software that will assist you in your personal and professional accomplishments

Every project or personal undertaking usually has a certain goal. And, as a rule, there should be some kind of planning and management system to help achieve that goal. Fortunately, many modern software solutions offer goal management systems comprising an assembly of tools that help you to execute the activities required to achieve your goals.

Within goal management software, you can develop a plan, define its scope, and program everything you need to accomplish your goals successfully. Given the potential of this software in helping you to achieve your goals, it is important that you choose a goal management tool wisely.

When selecting the best software, you should consider which functions you will need to plan and manage your goals efficiently and successfully. With this in mind, and to ensure that you don’t leave some critical features unaddressed when searching for such software, take a look at some of the essential features of goal management tools.

Gantt chart

Once you elaborate a plan and define what tasks you have to perform to accomplish it, you’ll find a Gantt chart extremely helpful. In a visually appealing way, a Gantt chart will help you to grasp all the details of your plan: its tasks, dates, deadlines, and dependencies in one place. With its help, you can break down complex tasks into smaller ones and carry them out in a well-structured and timely manner. All in all, this feature will provide steppingstones to help you reach your goals.

Task hierarchy

This feature helps to divide your project into groups of tasks with subtasks and create dependencies to get an easy-to-follow structure. Once you connect the tasks and set dependencies between them, you will be able to have better control over each task and understand at a glance the links between your tasks.

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Board view

The board view provides just one more way of working with the tasks. Modern goal management software will generally offer this option along with a Gantt chart view. It allows managing statuses and priorities of tasks conveniently, finding necessary information easily, and having the whole process shown on one page.

Milestones

This feature highlights all the important actions that must be completed or taken into account for successfully reaching a goal. Milestones can be significant dates (like beginnings, particular events, meetings, for example), special deadlines, or external events that may have an impact on the goal accomplishment.

Baseline

A baseline gives a clear picture of the initial plan. With this feature, you can compare the way your plan evolves with the way it was originally programmed. You will always be aware of plans, deviations, and delays; and face any obstacles on your way with ease.

Auto scheduling

Auto scheduling will significantly facilitate planning processes and save your time on management. Software with this feature will automatically put tasks in the right order based on task durations, dependencies, end dates, etc., and recalculate task schedules when the start date of a project moves.

Critical path

This feature may be particularly helpful to those whose goals are time dependent. It shows the connection of the most important tasks that are necessary to reach the goal on the desired date. If one task from the critical path is delayed, the whole project will be delayed too.

In the infographic below you have a summary of the essential features of goal management software taken from GanttPRO. Indeed, this list is non-exhaustive and there are plenty of other important and useful features of goal management software that may become your allies in achieving personal and professional goals. For instance, you can set calendars, keep track of deadlines and time spent on tasks, and many others.

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