Seven ways project managers can use OneNote

OneNote can be an invaluable tool for project managers when it comes to planning, collaboration, and tracking a project.  Here are seven ways OneNote can be applied when it comes to project management:

1. Collaborative Requirements Gathering - By using a section in an OneNote notebook, project requirements can be captured and reviewed by the team. When finished the section can be saved to streamline the production of a final requirements document.
2. Task Assignment and Tracking - OneNote can be used for simple task assignment through checklists. Notes and completion statuses are captured on the same page to provide the PM a real time view of work status and issues.
3. Meeting Minutes - Creating a template to capture meeting minutes in OneNote makes them searchable, updatable for accuracy, and easily summarized for later reference.
4. Team Member Reference - Team member reference information can be stored in OneNote including contact information, reference information, and relevant links such as LinkedIn profiles as needed.
5. Templatized Project Process Steps - If your working on recurring or repeating projects a template in OneNote makes avoiding missed items and maintaining consistency of execution easier for the project manager and team members.
6. Status Reporting - Status reports are the lifeblood of many projects and OneNote makes the process of gathering, composing, and distributing the status reports more efficient.
7. Project Information Archiving - Consolidating the project information into a OneNote notebook makes the process of archiving the project information after completion as simple as storing a single file (the OneNote notebook file, not an export, to be clear.). The notebook sections can also be exported as PDF files for permanent project records.

This is just a small sample of the ways OneNote can assist when it comes to project management.  If you have ideas or suggestions, please share them in the comments below.