Workforce Management vs Project Management Software: What’s the Difference?

Your company’s success relies heavily on how well your employees work together to meet shared objectives. That’s why collaboration software is crucial for any organization, particularly now when most employees are working from home. A recent survey shows a 62% increase in the use of collaboration software by teams since the COVID pandemic began, emphasizing the need for employees to have a cohesive working relationship.

This software generally falls under two categories: Workforce Management and Project Management. While both are instrumental in keeping communication fluid, they function in different ways. This post compares the two and how each can help your company achieve its goals so that you can decide on the best tools for your organization.

Project management software is used for planning specific projects, such as launching new services and product features, or creating specific marketing campaigns. Large projects like these have a lot of moving parts, and collaboration software keeps all the pieces in one place for everyone involved. Here are key benefits and features to give you a snapshot of project management software.

PM Software Uses:

PM Software Benefits:

You don’t necessarily have to apply project management software to large, collaborative projects. It can be used to simply provide guidelines to employees who are tackling special tasks outside of their usual duties. Once used solely by project managers, project management software can now be used by all employees to offer more transparency and limit the silo effect.

Overall, project management software helps users keep track of progress by setting clear goals within well-defined deadlines. Therefore, it can help team members apply their knowledge, skills, tools, and techniques to meet the project requirements. This gives both teams and individuals the tools they need to succeed.

Workforce Management (WFM), on the other hand, is an integrated strategy designed to streamline internal processes within an organization. Rather than taking the usual “siloed” approach to everyday tasks and projects, WFM standardizes these processes across departments. Therefore, workforce management increases efficiency by giving employees the freedom to dedicate more time to their actual work, and reduce time spent on solving workflow issues.

WFM software also optimizes project management by establishing standards for the processes employees use to complete everyday tasks. It also allows managers to gain a better understanding of employee strengths and weaknesses to improve their overall job performance. Workforce management software helps the organization as a whole operate more efficiently and effectively, increasing productivity and yielding optimal results.

So which software is best for your business? Both have their advantages, particularly for sharing information and files. Both help employees prioritize tasks, manage their time better, and collaborate more cohesively with coworkers.

However, workforce management software tends to have an edge over project management software. WFM solutions provide more comprehensive benefits to companies and contact centers. For example, automated call monitoring solutions and speech analytics help improve agent performance on every single phone interaction, which, in turn, enhances the overall customer experience.

Implementing collaboration software is especially important during these unprecedented times. Discover what your company needs to keep the lines of communication open among your employees and keep your business flourishing. Schedule a short demo with a speech analytics expert to find out how our workforce management solutions can improve efficiency within your organization.