4 Of The Best Project Management Tools

Today we are covering project management tools. We will dive into why this kind of software is important, as well as give you an analysis of our four favorite.

Let’s get started!

Why Invest In Project Management Tools

Let’s face it: we are all busier than ever. Most agencies have multiple projects going at any one time, and knowing how to organize them (and communicate with your entire team while working on them) is essential.

This is where project management tools come in. These kinds of software make your entire workflow easier, more orderly, and allow your team to do their best work. It would be counterproductive to not invest in at least a few of them!

Plus, it’s important to remember that different management tools aren’t all that expensive. Depending on what you are using them for, and how many members of you team will be using them, access to the software is usually quite affordable. With that in mind, let’s check out a few of them you might consider for your own agency.

4 Of The Best Project Management Tools 

1) Trello

Trello is a software that we use ourselves at Lúgh Studio. And for good reason: it’s easy to use and has a simple interface. The ability to see everything laid out in front of you is powerful and makes Trello quite easy to get the hang of. It’s also effective in that things rarely get “buried” as they do in some other project management software.

Plus, with a simple “drag and drop” interface, moving projects through different stages in a way that everybody can understand has never been easier. This makes it especially useful for things like content marketing. From laying out content ideas all the way to a finished product, Trello’s system of cards and boards makes sure everybody is on top of the entire process.

That said, notifications can get tricky. Because different projects you are working on will often be on different cards (and sometimes entirely separate boards), notifications can sometimes go unnoticed. Still, as long as you are paying attention to the notifications tab, Trello is an easy tool to get the hang of.

2) Asana 

Whereas Trello is relatively simple (and this is indeed the entire reason many teams use it), Asana is far more expansive in its capabilities. This makes it a good fit for larger companies with several teams or departments. For smaller agencies, though, many of the features might not even be used. 

Asana is built on “tasks.” These are essentially “to do” items that people need to check off. This makes it relatively easy to work on several projects at the same time without ever feeling overwhelmed. As long as you are always assigning tasks to move projects forward, as well as assigning deadlines, Asana can really propel your team’s productivity.

The tool is also largely organized within a system based on “Projects.” Don’t think of these as further tasks to be completed. Instead, they are rather areas of responsibility that different people can take part in. This is a great way to organize things if you have numerous teams. It also makes it much easier to find specific information. 

3) Basecamp

Trello is relatively simple and Asana has more capabilities than most companies actually need. In comparison, Basecamp strikes a nice balance in between. The software is a great tool to keep track of tasks. It also makes including different team members both fast and easy.

The power of Basecamp comes in its projects. Think of these as large, higher level “areas” that your team wants to constantly work on, but that don’t necessarily have an “end date.” An example might be a project named “Backlinks.” If your company is trying to increase the number of backlinks to its site, there isn’t exactly an “end date” when that is achieved. This is often (but not always) how a Basecamp project will look.

These projects are then split into more specific, actionable to-do lists. These lists will be assigned to different people on your team. After this,  they can add files to the task, bring in other people for help, or start a conversation in the task description. With Basecamp’s “ping” system, you are also directly alerted whenever somebody tags you. This makes coordination much quicker.

Lastly, if you are a company that operates on strict deadlines, Basecamp is a great option. Its default organization of tasks is on a calendar ordered by their “due date.” This gives you an overview of when different tasks need to be completed by. In general, this making it easy for your team to prioritize their time and resources.

4) Slack

Whereas the previous three tools fit much more cleanly under the “project management” category, Slack is a tool that focuses on messaging. Still, it’s too popular (and much too useful) to leave out.

Slack’s mission is to “make your working life simpler, more pleasant and more productive.” It achieves this by giving you a platform to instant message people on your team. This makes communication faster and more accurate than slower channels like email. 

As we point out in our ultimate guide to email marketing, email is useful in the right context and won’t be going away anytime soon. But as for communicating with your team and coordinating projects, nothing beats instant messaging. This is why Slack is so powerful.

…

Are you an enterprise, nonprofit or small business looking for help on your website? Give us a shout! We provide a free consultation. Email us at info@lughstudio.com or call us at (718) 855-1919!