Picking software solutions for project management is a very responsible task. The final choice will become one of essential pillars of the whole enterprise’s success. We all work as a team in one way or another. But people don’t always agree that well with each other. Managers can use efficient project management software to better handle teamwork organization and workflow tracking. We will discuss top team management tools.
But how to settle with the most efficient solution for your particular case? Let’s figure out how to pick the top team management tools.
The Business Sense of Project Management Software, Cost Estimation Tools, and Techniques in Project Management
According to the data from the renowned Total Economic Impact™ (TEI) study organized by Forrester Consulting, the use of project management software can significantly save business workflow time and costs, minimize errors, and improve the quality of in-house interactions.
Special management software suites can help optimize many essential parts of your business. From in-house specifics and workflow nuances to business representation and SEO, project management software benefits shouldn’t be neglected. In particular, you get the following advantages.
Cost efficiency
Your key business trinity is analyst, performer, and strategist. Product development is also impossible without developers, designers, project managers, UX specialists, and so on. Sometimes you also have to work with freelancers or outsourcing agencies. Just imagine how much the use of profiled software can facilitate all this versatile cooperation. It will ultimately help you establish workflow, collect all data in one place, assign tasks, instantly exchange information, and so on.
Errors and pitfalls minimization
There are several types of the most common business management mistakes and pitfalls:
No understanding of who is responsible for what
For effective project management, it is absolutely necessary to clearly understand who is responsible for what, who performs what functions.
Neglected deadlines
It is very important to clearly outline deadlines. With the proper software in hand, all deadlines are at a glance - any changes (completed or assigned tasks) are immediately visible to all project participants.
Better interactions
Centralized workflow opens great possibilities to stimulate work activity and create a single field for it - a storehouse of ideas. It's kind of a constant online brainstorm. When everybody’s work is visible, no one's ideas can go unnoticed. This ultimately helps establish effective cooperation.
Picking an Efficient Project Management Tool
Your software should help you handle the following tasks at the highest level of efficiency:
Planning
If a project is poorly planned, it is doomed from the start. Good project management software should enable you to:
- Visualize the big picture of workflow. You can register all the necessary project details in a single system - e.g., how many posts per day to create, on what topic, how often to reply to comments, etc.
- Subdivision by roles. In a more complex system, you can assign roles to different specialists responsible for certain tasks.
Collaboration
There should be tools to help company employees efficiently work with each other. A well-structured, efficient workflow can only be established when everyone works jointly and miscommunication errors are excluded. This can be achieved with the help of:
- Tags. Tagging tasks and users is a fast way to structure user roles and work items on the agenda.
- Messaging. Employees should have a rapid in-house way to share information and discuss workflow specifics.
- Database. Information about all projects, even the finished ones, is a valuable business asset that should be stored respectively.
A dedicated database can also be most beneficially used to store:
- Project progress indicators. The details of ongoing marketing efforts and so on can be specified in the DB for reference;
- Milestones. Consequently, project milestones can be registered based on the progress statistics;
- Feedback. User and customer feedback is crucial to consider and it also can be stored to see how project progresses;
- Reports. Reporting also helps register milestones and make certain conclusions based on workflow results. In this regard, you should store project timelines, scope of tasks, missed deadlines, etc.
Choosing Top Management Tools for Your Team
So how do you choose the project management software that's right for your company? We recommend following these simple rules for the best results:
Define your goals & needs
You should see as clearly as possible what you want to achieve and enhance with the adapted software. Try answering the following questions:
- What business aspects can be improved? Maybe you have problems with planning or some miscommunication moments during project completion? Do you find it difficult to track the progress of tasks? Available on the market team management software development products can help you overcome all kinds of difficulties in organization, communication, reporting, planning, and so on.
- What features do you expect to use? Based on the analysis of business aspects, try to settle with the top-priority features you expect to adopt - e.g., messaging for miscommunication issues, tracking tools for workflow monitoring, etc.
- Who will be using the software system? Determine who exactly will be using the software solution in order to meet user abilities and preferences in terms of accessibility, performance and interface specifics. All this will help you manage your project as efficiently as possible.
Choose from alternatives
It’s good to pick from a selection of software suppliers. Try to make a list of potential software solutions that can match your business specifics and narrow it down based on more particular features and specifics.
Go for trials
Many project management solutions have a trial version that offers a certain scope of functionality to be used for free for some period of time. Don’t neglect such offers. It is a good chance to try out a solution and see how much it fits your business workflow in its core form before making a final decision to purchase it and integrate it fully.
Define the budget
List all your planned expenses. It is very important to provide for the smallest details. The cost of the software may vary from vendor to vendor. It is necessary to competently approach the choice of a provider. Sometimes it's worth overpaying for the supplier's expertise and product quality.
A New Project Management Tool to Consider - Top 10 Options
Here are 10 popular project management tools available right on the market for you to pick.
Hive
An intuitive, feature-rich solution for project management. Hive is a centralized management platform that has plenty of tools for efficient project planning, tasking, tracking and monitoring, and reporting.
monday.com
A “Work OS” that helps manage projects with team distribution tools or individually. A very flexible platform that supports numerous integrations, allows managing workflows in a flexible manner, and is pretty multipurpose.
Celoxis
Online project management service with advanced features, diagrams, tracking and integration tools. Provides user capabilities for portfolio management and effective risk management.
ClickUp
A universal project management platform. With ClickUp's modularity, you can easily implement a sales project with a simple interface or a development project with a complex workflow.
Smartsheet
Smartsheet is an SaaS solution for collaboration and workflow management in projects of any shape and size. It has an utterly intuitive interface and is focused on the table-like functionality.
Forecast.app
Business-oriented forecasting software. It is a dedicated business solution created by the American company Business Forecast Systems to help companies keep afloat with in-depth reports and corporate predictions.
Teamwork
A powerful yet simple-to-grasp business management tool. It makes it easier to complete and track tasks, share files, keep track of time and many other indicators that are important for a successful project completion.
FunctionFox
A time tracking and project management system with an accessible interface. It is an effective online tool for tracking time and costs, estimating and managing clients and projects. Greatly helps optimize business processes for increased productivity and profitability.
Wrike
Corporate online collaboration and project management service. Allows you to plan projects, prioritize tasks, track the implementation schedule, and more. A very popular teamwork tool nowadays, employed by companies from small to large.
Moovila
An AI-powered platform that efficiently identifies risks and aids managers and workers efficiently overcome workflow obstacles. It also helps dramatically increase workflow speed and saves time.
Let Us Help You Develop Project Management Plan Tools and Techniques
The choice of software solutions for project management will determine the development of your business in many ways. Your managers need efficient tools to organize all the ongoing processes.
So, ow to choose a project management software? There is a lot to choose from in the market. Analyze your needs and list the major features you can really put to use. Try to define weak points of your business and go for a solution that can help boost them.
And if you are looking for something utterly individual, you can compose a list of the required business software opportunities and hire a dedicated team to implement them in terms of a custom solution.
We have in-depth experience and expertise in just that - contact us to discuss the details of a custom solution that will boost your business and, ultimately, make your life easier.
