Project Management Tools and Techniques That Actually Work
Project management is a vital part of any business, especially when teamwork is involved. Many projects are complex and require multiple people to complete them successfully. And whenever more than one person is involved in a task, seamless collaboration becomes paramount. To ensure this, businesses use specialized tools and techniques to manage their projects and teamwork.
Project management tools and techniques help streamline these processes by providing task systems, dashboards, team-sharing, and more. They help you keep track of your progress, manage task assignments, provide feedback, and even track metrics. You can find all the best tools on Findstack, which provides expert software advice.
What are project management tools and techniques?
Project management tools are software specialized in organizing, planning, and tracking project tasks. They allow you to add tasks, assign tasks, track task completion, set deadlines, and communicate with team members. You can use these tools to easily monitor progress. Their overall goal is to improve work efficiency and collaboration.
Project management techniques are strategies designed to optimize project workflow. They can be visual techniques, such as charts, or a collection of steps to follow. Their main goal is to enhance your management process. They also provide different approaches to project management, such as agile project management, which allows you to find the best methodology for your company.
Why are these tools and techniques important?
Better scheduling
Scheduling becomes much easier when you can always view task deadlines. They help you better manage your work schedule.
Effective task delegation
You can quickly assign tasks to different team members and change assignments if necessary. This flexibility makes task delegation much smoother.
Improved team collaboration
Managing projects efficiently improves overall teamwork. You can keep track of everyone’s duties, make sure they’re on task, and give constructive feedback.
Better budget management
Project management can give you an overview of your project scope. This can help you determine how much the project will cost. Monitoring tasks and deadlines can also keep you from going over budget.
Criteria to consider when choosing your business project management tools and techniques
Ease of use
The interface should be clean and user-friendly for optimal work efficiency. Steep learning curves or cluttered UI can cause confusion and delay work progress.
Customizability
Each project requires different tasks and resources. Tools should allow you to customize the workspace according to your specific project needs.
Integration
Businesses often spread their work across various programs, such as Slack and Sage, which both specialize in different areas. It’s best to find a project management tool that allows for app integration in case you need to migrate data across platforms.
Cost
Every business has its budget. Project management tools and techniques should be cost-effective and not exceed your budget.
Best Tools and Techniques of Project Management
Techniques
Work Breakdown Structure (WBS)
WBS breaks down your main project tasks into smaller tasks to make them easier to understand.
Waterfall
The Waterfall technique separates a project into different stages to create a task hierarchy. Tasks can’t be started unless the previous task has been completed.
Gantt chart
A Gantt chart is a visual technique that displays tasks on a vertical bar chart. Task progress is measured against a weekly calendar.
Agile project management
Agile project management (APM) is a technique that separates a project into broad steps, which involve a lot of iterations. You try different methods to complete the steps and adapt as you go according to feedback.
Kanban board
A Kanban board is a visual technique that displays task progress. You separate tasks into three columns:
- To-Do
- In Progress
- Completed
Tasks are written on cards, which can be moved from column to column. Popular management tools like Trello use Kanban boards.
Software tools
There are so many project management tools available with all sorts of features. It can be hard to choose the right one and even harder to do it quickly, which is why sites like Findstack exist. They help you choose the right software by providing detailed product reviews and comparisons.
To save you a bunch of time, we’ve decided to put together 4 of the best project management tools. They offer customizable workspaces, integrations, and even free plans.
We’ve broken down each tool according to key features, price, and pros and cons.
1. ClickUp
ClickUp is a free project management tool that focuses on visualizing and customizing your workspace. You can plan and organize your tasks as well as communicate with your team.
Pros:
Cons:
Key features
Design Templates: Easily customize your workspace using ClickUp’s large library of templates.
Automation: Automate your workflow to increase efficiency and save time.
Hierarchy: View all your tasks and lists in one go to quickly find information.
Tasks: Add, remove, and organize tasks to easily assign duties and track progress.
Pricing
ClickUp has an entirely free plan as well as 3 paid plans. They also have a custom plan, which changes in price depending on your company’s needs. Contact ClickUp to get a quote.
The free plan offers unlimited tasks and members, collaborative docs, real-time chat, and native time tracking.
The paid and custom plans offer unlimited storage, custom role creation, and advanced automation.
2. Monday.com
Monday.com is a free management software with a focus on the visual aid, such as Gantt charts and pie charts. They offer features for customization, automation, and integration.
Pros:
Cons:
Key features
Custom Dashboards: You can fully customize your workspace by creating custom dashboards. Organize tasks and charts to get a clear overview of your progress.
Automation: Receive email updates and status updates to get notified about task progress.
Tool Integration: Integrate third-party apps to get everything you need in one place and improve work efficiency.
Gantt Charts: Easily visualize and track task progress using Gantt charts.
Pricing
Monday.com offers a completely free plan as well as 3 paid plans and 1 custom plan.
The free plan allows up to 2 users and offers unlimited docs, over 200 templates, and mobile apps.
The paid and custom plans offer unlimited items, custom dashboards, and analytics.
3. Asana
Asana is a free project management tool that’s both flexible and user-friendly. It uses Kanban boards to visualize your tasks and offers features for customization, automation, and collaboration.
Pros:
Cons:
Key Features
Kanban Boards: View and manage tasks on Kanban boards to easily track progress.
Project Brief: Create detailed project briefs using Asana’s simple text editor to clearly outline work scope.
Timelines: Display your project on a timeline to clearly view tasks and deadlines, and use it to stay on track.
Workflow Automation: Automate actions like task assignments and status updates to increase work efficiency.
Pricing
Asana offers a completely free plan as well as 2 paid plans and 1 custom plan.
The free plan offers unlimited activity logs, unlimited storage, and unlimited tasks.
The paid and custom plans offer unlimited dashboards, custom fields, and task milestones.
4. Kissflow
Kissflow is a paid project management tool that offers analytics and reports as well as the usual management features, such as dashboards, automation, and real-time chat.
Pros:
Cons:
Key Features
Dashboards: View all your tasks on a simple dashboard to easily manage your work.
Analytics and Reporting: Receive custom reports and analytics to measure performance and success.
Workflow Automation: Easily automate your workflow using the drag-and-drop feature to increase efficiency.
Built-in Chat: Communicate with your team members directly to quickly give feedback and share information.
Pricing
Kissflow offers 2 paid plans and 1 custom plan. Features include workflow management, invoicing, order generation, and analytics. Each plan has different user limits.
Conclusion
Project management is a key part of any business. In order to produce high-quality results, your projects must be organized and streamlined for maximum efficiency. Most businesses use specialized tools and techniques to help them manage projects. They allow you to visualize tasks, customize workspaces, automate workflows and communicate with team members.
In order for your work with these tools to go smoothly, you should start by clearing cache on your device. Then you will be able to complete your tasks much faster.
If you want more information on project management tools, use Findstack to receive expert advice and resources. Our mission is to provide comprehensive software reviews and comparisons to help you find the perfect tools for your business. Explore our software categories to start your search today.
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