Project Request Forms | Need Better Project Intake?

How Do You Currently Manage Project Requests?

Project request forms and project request management provide a framework for better project intake, but many companies still use outdated methods for requesting and tracking new project submissions.

The best project request process should break down every aspect of a potential project into its components. Digital intake forms include fields for every project detail and can be customized with business logic to adapt to each user’s needs.

Digital project forms and an automated project approval workflow enable you to build up a consistent cycle to submit, assess, execute, and track project tasks based on your unique project request workflow and are available 24/7 to all project submitters.

A streamlined project request cycle saves time, brings clarity to all team members, and eliminates risk as it tracks each singular task’s progress.

Digital Request Form and Workflow Benefits

Brings clarity.

Using project request forms ensures no room for discrepancy between stakeholders. When using project management software to manage tasks, pertinent information can often get lost in translation. All details and work requests are added to the form to clarify what needs to be done and the priority order; request forms act as virtual planners.

Provide automatic notifications to users across functions with clear project status, next steps, and owners.

Tracks ongoing progress.

One of the highlights of using digital forms and routing combined with workflow automation is that it tracks every task’s ongoing progress. As part of a workflow automation system, each task form is a part of a workflow. Once completed, viewing and managing what task is next in line is easy. As a manager, this can be especially useful in determining where your team members are regarding completing an assignment.

This saves time emailing back and forth with coworkers or waiting around wondering if the project has made any headway. This can further aid in reaching goals, ensuring progress is made well before a deadline. Administrators can open the request form and see updates as they are made, resulting in efficiency.

Staying organized and transparent eliminates risk.

A standard issue organizations have before using digital project request forms is the element of risk. Some common causes of risk:

• Duplicate requests

• Conflicting requests

• Unstructured or requests or incomplete requests

• Improperly-approved projects

Using request forms enables decision-makers who are part of the project approval system to view the request, including all the details, and ask questions before putting efforts forth to a request that has already been taken care of by someone else, is missing important information, or figuring out if the project needs to be reconsidered. 

Keep standard project documents with the workflow.

Provide project requestors with standard forms and documents to submit projects correctly and store them as part of the request workflow. No fishing around for documents on a shared drive, in Sharepoint, or on people’s hard drives. Keep all relevant materials together and accessible for project teams and management.

Streamlines all requests to one place.

The main focus of using request forms is consolidating all requests into one place. Employees often switch back and forth from different applications, trying to find where they left off. This wastes time not only juggling different tasks but also juggling different applications. Each form is streamlined into one place, eliminating these highly stressful situations.

With a centralized list of projects (or project proposals) that instantly and automatically updates all users with information changes or new project submissions, there is less scrambling and attention shifting for employees involved in the project or administrators who need to check on progress.

Create custom reports by geography, department, project type, and cost; however you want to view the project data. Lay out dashboards to show critical project information tailored to any team member.

Increase Efficiency

Productivity and efficiency are boosted with the use of project request forms. It helps to cut out time-wasting tasks, as there is less reliance on outmoded methods for requesting projects like:

• Instant messaging

• Meetings

• Emails

• Conversations in passing

With these aspects out of the picture, it allows all your time to be spent where it matters, boosting effective time management.

Interested in Developing a Digital Project Request Workflow?

We have a variety of resources to help you on your journey to business process compliance: 

• Process Tools and eBooks

• Workflow Ideas Weekly eMail Newsletter

• Recorded Demonstration of our Process Automation Software

• Request a Live Demonstration