When you have an online project to deliver, whether you work with a team or on your own as a “solopreneur”, it always pays to keep every task organized and, above all, under control.
That way you’ll have a much better handle on what each team member needs to do, so nothing slips through the cracks and you can rule out any mix-ups over who is responsible for what.
That’s why today I’m bringing you the solution to all your problems when it comes to organizing yourself as efficiently as possible around the projects you have to carry out.
The solution I’m suggesting is a tool that works as a “project manager”, making it easier for you and your whole team to handle new work in a more professional way.
Want to know more? Then keep reading this guide I’ve put together just for you, where I’ll answer any questions you might have and also show you the best project management tools available today.
What is a project management tool?
After reading the introduction to this post, you may already have a rough idea of what we’re getting at when we talk about project management tools, but at this point I’m going to explain a little more about what they are.
A project management tool is a tool where you can create a new project, either shared with other people or just for your own information and tracking, where each of the project’s completed and pending actions is noted down and moved on to the next phase of the plan.
The advantage is that you can organize and assign specific tasks to each team member, with the added bonus of being able to set a deadline for each piece of work.
As you can see, a project management tool is the best option for dividing up the work, keeping delivery times under control and boosting productivity, especially if, as I mentioned earlier, you work with a team of people.
But although it’s designed for groups, that doesn’t mean you can’t use one for solo projects: even if you work alone, it will help you get a clear view of the project and see how much time you have left to finish each activity.
Why does an entrepreneur (and almost anyone) need a project management tool?
Now that you know what project management tools do, you may be wondering what might lead you to use one.
There’s no better way to answer all your questions than to show you every advantage, point by point:
1) More agile information management
Because project management tools give you a dashboard where you can add all the information you need for your day-to-day work, you can have everything in one place, which is a real relief, so you don’t have to jump from one browser window to another or switch apps every few minutes.
In the tool you can highlight whatever you consider most important, so you won’t lose any relevant information that, for example, someone sent you as an email attachment or through another channel.
There’s no doubt that project management tools save you that hassle, because they let you keep all the information in view, where your whole team can see it and add more if needed.
2) Easier medium-term planning
Whenever you want to carry out a piece of work or a project in the best possible way, what you need to do before you start is proper medium-term planning, which will give you better control over every task that needs doing and, above all, over which team member will be in charge of it.
This is one of the advantages a project management tool gives you, since you can break down everything you need to do and always keep it in view.
It’s convenient to be able to assign each group member an activity to carry out, giving you more control over planning individual tasks.
Some programs even let you set the deadline that team member has to complete it, after which a notification is sent to the relevant person to warn them that it wasn’t completed in time.
3) Saving time with clients
Project management tools let you see all the tasks at a glance, along with the stage each one is at, whether it’s started, finished or still to do.
This will give you clear authority in front of the client (if you share this information with them), because they’ll have all the information about the project they asked you for in a single window.
At first you might think that letting your client see how the job they hired you for is going could mean they’ll “poke their nose” into something that’s private to your team, but sometimes it’s a good thing…
Let me explain: you’ll be able to avoid those long meetings where you have to explain how the project is progressing point by point, because simply giving them a preview of the work will be enough.
4) Clear deliveries
Something that’s extremely important, and that every client likes, is having everything clear when it comes to dates, of course. And I don’t just mean the final delivery of the project, but each of the tasks needed to complete the final piece of work.
With project management tools this won’t be a problem for you, because each task will have a time frame in which it must be completed, and your client will also know what the deadlines are and when to expect the finished project from you.
This happens to me with some companies whose corporate blogs I manage: although they delegate the complete management of the blog to me (content creation, strategy, choosing the main keywords, coordinating with the writers…), sometimes they have someone in charge of supervising and giving the “OK” to everything that gets scheduled in the editorial calendar and making sure it’s in line with what the brand wants to convey on its blog.
Well, thanks to tools like these, communication and coordination with this in-house contact are excellent, and they know at all times what kind of content will go out and how it will be published.
5) Recognizing project profitability
When you want to take on any kind of project, what can work against you most is the number of hours you put into it compared to the money it’s actually going to bring in.
The benefit of using a project management tool is that you can see in the tool how much time you and your team have invested in the different areas.
This way you’ll know whether all the time spent on the project has a positive ROI, and identify where the problems come from, whether it’s a planning mistake or simply that you didn’t quote the client enough and/or didn’t allow for a profit margin.
As I’ve shown you throughout this post, project management tools are the best option for planning individual or team work, since they let you anticipate these setbacks.
For example: imagine you plan out and enter in the tool every single task that’s needed (in theory), which person on your team will do each one and how much time (estimated) they’ll spend on it.
Add all of that up, including the fees your employees or collaborators will receive, whether paid by the hour or as a monthly salary, as the case may be, and then weigh it up against the final quote you plan to give the client.
Laying it out in the tool like this will give you an idea of whether to accept the project at the price you originally had in mind or raise it… so you don’t get your fingers burned financially and your work pays off.
That’s why it will be the best tool in your arsenal for every job that comes your way, so don’t hesitate any longer and start using one.
11 best project management tools to be more productive
Now that you know all the benefits a project management tool offers for your future projects, you must be eager to start using one.
But before you start a long search for the best project management tools, I’ve already done that work for you. Below are the most widely used ones online, chosen for their efficiency and, of course, the ones that have given me the best results personally:
1) Trello
The project management tool Trello will not only help you deliver your work projects, it will also work as a personal planner where you can organize the upcoming tasks you have to complete.
It also lets you go into more detail in the descriptions. By this I mean you can even attach files and set due dates, in case, as I mentioned earlier, an action has to be completed by a deadline.
You can also tell tasks apart by color, assigning a different one to each client or, if you prefer, to each level of urgency or importance.
Without a doubt, it’s one of the best options you’ll find for organizing the activities your team has done or still has to do, and it has the advantage of being available for Android and iOS, which means it will be with you wherever you go.
2) Harvest
The project management tool Harvest is without a doubt the best choice when it comes to large projects, by which I mean work that takes you a long time.
It lets you organize all your tasks in a calendar divided into weeks, where you can assign those pending tasks day by day with a specific amount of time.
Something else I should mention, which is also very appealing, is its wide range of integrations: you can integrate it with Google Chrome, GitHub, Basecamp, Asana and Trello (the last one mentioned above), from which you can start or pause any task.
This powerful project management tool is available for mobile devices, both Android and iOS, and it also has a stopwatch-style timer you can add to your computer.
3) ActiveCollab
ActiveCollab is the project management tool that will give you the best user experience, since you’ll have all your projects in view and it lets you manage them easily.
Another great advantage is its notifications panel, where you can leave comments and interact with each of the project members.
Finally, it also gives you the option to create invoices from within the app itself, based on the time tracked.
This amazing tool is available for mobile devices, both Android and iOS, and for computers running Windows and Mac.
4) Freedcamp
The project management tool Freedcamp gives you lots of options when it comes to assigning tasks, since you can have public or private tasks, so you can keep track of both your personal and work commitments.
What’s more, it lets you create subtasks, so you can break down all your projects in a more specific and organized way.
Other features worth considering are monthly calendars, discussions between people on the same project, version control for documents and bug tracking.
Available on mobile devices for Android and iOS, and for Windows computers.
5) Asana
Asana is a project management tool with a very user-friendly interface that lets you see all the pending tasks in each project.
One good thing about Asana is that it has a progress indicator, where you can say whether you’re behind, on time or at risk.
On top of that, it also generates charts where you can see how busy team members have been over the course of the project.
Asana also offers a very wide range of app integrations, around 100 in total, including LinkedIn, Gmail, Google Docs, Slack and Dropbox.
Without a doubt, it’s a very complete project management tool that offers lots of options, and it’s available for Android and iOS devices.
6) Todoist
The project management tool Todoist is the fastest way to schedule all your tasks, both personal and work-related, with the option to assign subtasks and priorities.
It also gives you charts that show your daily output in terms of number of tasks, and you can set daily goals for time and for the number of things to get done.
It can also be integrated with several apps, such as Alexa, Dropbox, Google Calendar, Zapier and IFTTT.
But there’s no doubt that the best thing about Todoist is the number of devices you can use it on: computers, mobile devices, Google plugins, email plugins and even smartwatches, so you can access it from anywhere.
7) IceScrum
According to its developers, this tool is very useful for sharing the vision with other team members through an identical interface for every role involved.
Although it has several pricing plans, ranging from €29.90 to €249.90 a month, you can also start using it with its Free plan, which gives you 100MB of free storage.
All its management features are very visual and customizable, so I recommend going straight to its website to see what it can do.
8) Slack
Like IceScrum, Slack can also be synced with the Hootsuite app so you can work on everything from the same place, and it has several pricing plans. But if you want to start using it for free, you can do that too. And be careful, because it’s addictive!
What I’d highlight about this project management resource, apart from its very pleasant and colorful interface, is how much it makes communication between people easier and how well it connects different work tools.
9) TaskJuggler
Although this project management software is quite powerful, I have to say that it doesn’t look as nice as the 3 tools I’ve told you about so far (as you can see in the image).
It’s free to download but, mind you, it’s only in English. If languages aren’t a problem for you, this resource may get you out of a jam, since it lets you schedule all your tasks according to different variables in a very flexible way.
10) Microsoft Teams
With this Microsoft management software, you can start working as a team in no time at all.
Its main purpose is somewhat different from the other tools we’ve looked at, as it focuses on making team meetings easier through audio and video conferencing, as well as sharing files and apps, and offering built-in access to Office 365 tools.
Oh! It’s also an extensible tool. What do I mean? That it integrates with other platforms such as Trello, Hootsuite, Visual Studio and Wrike.
11) Project Planning Pro
This is paid software available for Mac and as an app (iOS and Android), where you can manage your projects with interactive charts and update tasks from any mobile device.
Honestly, I’ve never had the chance to use it, but given all the awards it has received since 2012 as the best business app, I’m sure it won’t disappoint you.
It also offers lots of options, such as importing data from Microsoft Project, syncing documents in iCloud or sharing files in PDF, CSV or XML with your colleagues.
Management tips for project managers
I don’t consider myself a particularly organized person (quite the opposite, in fact), but if someone had given me guidelines like the ones I want to share with you now when I was starting out, I would have been extremely grateful.
It’s true that managing projects independently isn’t the same as getting tasks from different departments of a large company up and running.
However, there are some tips that are very useful both for small entrepreneurs and for teams with several members:
- Prioritize communication between team members. It’s essential for communication to go both ways so that all the work flows consistently. We need to listen and be listened to.
- Define the goals up front. You need to be very clear from the start about the goals to be met and what expectations the client has when they hire you.
- Identify everyone involved in the project. It’s not only the client and a team’s internal members who can influence how a project is managed. Keep in mind that parts of the work are often subcontracted, or certain tasks depend on third parties.
- Make the best choice of tools. Once the most practical project management tools have been chosen, all members should be informed so there’s some coordination. If you switch tools, do it well in advance so everyone can adapt.
- Be prepared for possible contingencies. It’s not always possible to foresee the risks a project may face, but if we know our weaknesses well, we can work out which parts of the project will need more attention.
On top of all these tips, you’ll of course need to keep in mind all the phases that make up project management, so you can stay alert to every moment that could be decisive for a good result.
Conclusion
When it comes to team or solo projects, you need to run them efficiently to keep things in order and deliver them on the agreed date, and with good organization that’s possible.
That’s why working with project management tools will make your life much easier. By this I mean you’ll have a better overview of the work as a whole.
That’s because you’ll also be able to break it down into small tasks, with the advantage of seeing each one and being able to assign it the time it needs, so you can complete the project as smoothly as possible.
They even let you handle not just one job, but several from the same tool, giving you much broader control.
So a tool like this is a must, and you should start leaning towards one right now to improve your team’s or your own performance.
So take advantage of the programs I’ve shared with you, enjoy the benefits of the one you choose and start optimizing your productivity.
My recommendation is that you stop putting it off and start enjoying everything project management tools can offer you in your upcoming work.
Still haven’t chosen one of these programs? Do it right now!
Having a good project management tool is key if you work with Agile methodologies, and if your team works remotely, in the benefits of remote work for companies you’ll see why these tools are even more important.
Many of these tools include Kanban boards or work well with Scrum methodologies.