When your business starts to grow, there will come a time to hire staff, freelancers, and/or virtual assistants to assist with your day-to-day operations. Whatever your circumstances, having the ability and tools to manage your projects effectively will be an important factor in the success of your business.
When I think of “traditional” project management tools, thoughts of Gantt charts and highly detailed project schedules come to mind. But today’s web-based project management software tools are capable of offering much more than these traditional methods of monitoring projects.
Web-based project management software means that members of your team can access the tools and interact with other project members online. They are often a “software as a service,” which includes hosting of the project management tool for your business. I recently reviewed a slew of web-based project management tools in search of one that would meet my business requirements. The tools reviewed consisted of both paid and open source options.
Purposes
If you are searching for a suitable project management option, I would recommend firstly identifying your business requirements, as each tool offers features that are suitable for different purposes. Some common uses for project management software include:
- Managing Resources – If your company hires staff, freelancers, or virtual assistants, a project management tool will help your business to manage its resources more efficiently. If your business has multiple staff performing similar tasks, a web-based tool can effectively distribute the same message to a group. It can remove the need to repeat the same messages to your staff multiple times by email. And with the ability to view each other’s comments, staff can learn from one another.
- Project Task Management – These tools should help your business to manage different projects and to track the tasks and time spent on individual projects.
- Collaboration – These tools often have a collaborative element and therefore team members can interact and communicate easily with each other. This approach is useful for generating ideas and brainstorming, for problem solving, and to communicate the status of projects so that the handover of tasks between members can be completed. Collaboration through project management tools can also extend to dealing with clients and suppliers.
Other Issues
Other issues to consider when selecting an appropriate project management tool:
- Initial costs – Both paid and open source options are available. Find a solution that fits your budget.
- Ongoing costs – Some options have an initial outlay to purchase the software, followed by a regular monthly fee.
- Scaling – As your business grows in terms of team members and possibly the number of projects being undertaken, it may need to upgrade its project management software tool to increase data storage, and allow access to more features.
- Other “Nice to Have” Tools – Your business may have a feature in mind that it would like in a project management software tool. For example, an online whiteboard would be useful for brainstorming ideas with others or to work together to solve a problem.
- Support – Assess the technical support provided. This may be via a forum or help desk facility. Having access to an active forum run by the developers is useful for solving technical issues as you learn the new project management software tool.
Project Management Tools
Here is a run-down on some popular project management software tools for managing online projects and for coordinating virtual teams.
Basecamp
Basecamp by 37signals is one of the most popular tools for managing projects online. Projects can be managed through a shared dashboard, complete with the ability to upload and share files, send messages, document milestones, create to-do lists, and track time spent on projects.
One of the benefits of Basecamp is its friendly user interface. It can also be synced with other 37signals tools like Highrise (for managing your contacts), Backpack (for organizing your business), or Campfire (for chatting with group members).
Basecamp is a good option for those looking for a friendly project management interface and collaborative elements.
RescueTime
Rescue Time has the ability to track your time and that of other team members, with no data entry (a time saving in itself!) through a tracking application installed onto your computers.
It’s well suited for those with a focus on time management and for companies who want to improve the productivity of staff and help reduce distractions. It provides detailed graphs to show trends in work productivity.
Due to its automatic tracking, Rescue Time is especially good for managing outsourced staff without being overtly intrusive.
Clocking IT
Clocking IT is an open source project management software tool. It has a moderately friendly interface and is useful for creating to-do lists, for creating multiple projects, and for assigning different levels of access to users. It offers collaboration features like Wiki, chat, and forums, and is available in multiple languages.
Clocking IT is a good option for those on a budget and who need the usual project management functions.
Vtiger
Vtiger is an open source solution focused on customer relationship management (CRM). It can help your business to manage the activities of your sales team (e.g., management of accounts, leads, and sales). Users can also opt for the paid Vtiger CRM on Demand, which stores your data on Amazon secure servers.
Vtiger is suited to those who need a CRM to manage their customer sales function and team.
ActiveCollab
ActiveCollab is another popular project management and collaboration tool suited to both small businesses and corporates. One feature of ActiveCollab that appeals is the ability to set up the software on your own server. This feature will allow your business to have greater control over its activities.
ActiveCollab provides good documentation on using the software from the perspective of a user, administrator, or developer. It also has an Invoice module as part of its tool.
ActiveCollab is a solid solution for those who want to have greater control over their project management software.
CentralDesktop
Central Desktop has all the essential features of a web-based project management tool – the ability to manage projects, share online documents, and tools for team work (e.g., create Wikis, blogs, and forums).
For an additional monthly fee, it also provides a service to host online web meetings and conferences.
Plans range from a free option up to an enterprise solution. Date storage is limited for the free plan or low monthly plans.
CentralDesktop would be a good project management choice for businesses who want extra features like online web meetings.
Summary
There is an extensive range of project management software tools available on the market, each with its own particular range of benefits and features. Work out the requirements for your online business first, and you will be better placed to decide on which particular software suits your own needs. Keep in mind that as your business grows, it can always upgrade your project management software to suit its changing business requirements.