With the new year almost upon us it is time to plan for the upcoming year and what better way to do that than reviewing project management tools. If you have been stuck using tools like Microsoft Project, I feel for you. The evolution of online services has matured and the focus on user experience has given people a more enjoyable and productive experience. There are essentially a few core project management tools on the market today – Basecamp, Comindwork, LiquidPlanner, Team Effect and Teambox.
Things to Consider
In my research I came across a great evaluation of these products on Web Worker Daily and they identified some considerations that must be taken into account:
- Microsoft Project compatibility. The first thing is to ensure that you choose a web tool that is compatible with Microsoft Project so that you can use your existing project data.
- Multiple views into project data. In my experience, the Gantt chart can seem intimidating to some team members. As such, I recommend looking for a web-based project management tool that has a wide selection of views into project status (like calendar-, task- and timeline-based views), besides the venerable Gantt chart.
- Flexible subscriptions. One of the limitations of Microsoft Project can be the expense of the licenses. Many web-based project management tools like LiquidPlanner and Zoho Projects work on a subscription model, which offer a level of flexibility you just can’t find with traditional desktop software licensing. Project teams can scale up and scale down their subscription as members join and leave the team. If you rely on contractors and freelancers, you can set them up with a subscription and close it out when their project work is complete.
- Social media component. With social media becoming a growing element of project team communications, it should be an integral feature in web-based project management tools. I recommend looking for a web-based tool that has social media components to augment team communication about project status and scheduling matters. Developing an internal dialog about project scheduling and status is one of the best ways to keep the project on track.
- Online document storage and collaboration. Today’s projects generate a lot of project artifacts and documents. While it can be easy to let your project team stash documents in their email inboxes and local hard drives, choosing a web-based project management tool with its own document storage and collaboration features means that project artifacts can be accessed easily and won’t get lost.
- Mobile client/accessibility. Considering a web-based project management tool that has mobile accessibility or even its own mobile client means you and your team can stay in touch with the project at all times.
Evaluating Features and Functionality
Those considerations up top are good start but for many people there are some specific features and functionality that must be in the system. I call them “deal breakers”. One of my deal breakers was API connectivity to some other applications I am currently using. Here are a few deal breakers that I found from people I asked:
- Ability to Handle Multiple Projects – This is kind of an obvious one but many solutions are about individual projects and
- Visual GANTT Chart View of the Project and Entire Group/Team – Some products are very text based and don’t have visual reviews or reports. This can be a big deal for some people that want the MS Project GANNT chart look.
- Time Tracking – You are doing lots of projects and tasks and professional services firms need to record time for billing. Internal organizations might have a back billing system or need to understand where projects are on-track and completely off the rails.
- Document Storage – Gotta put the deliverables in repository and this is where they should go when clients are reviewing milestones
- Wiki-like Collaboration Pages – This is a place for your team and if you want, your client to interact
- Linked with an Invoicing System – Would be awesome to import Project Name, Tasks and Hours to Bill Clients and not have a double data entry and potential error situation.
- Mobile Web Access – This can be an iPhone or Blackberry app or it could just be usable in a mobile browser.
Want a deeper dive into specific reviews? Here are some great individual product dives and reviews from some Web Worker Daily writers: Comindwork Review, LiquidPlanner Review, Team Effect Review and Teambox Review.
Try and Avoid It Coming Down to Pricing
This is a review that is more focused on the tasks you need to have in these products and whether their capabilities fit your business’ needs. Plus, if I put in a massive price grid it will probably be wrong or have changed when you read this. Most of these products have a 30-day trial and are on a monthly hosted plan. a few have an on-site version and that is great if you think you will need it now or evenutally grow into it. With that said, I would look at each product first in terms of capability and get it down to two products that seem to fit the bill. My strongest recommendation is to not make a final decision on the “lowest price wins” because it usually doesn’t work.
My thought process is that if this tool is effective and makes my team more efficient, allows me to bill more and help the client through great self-service capabilities and provides the levels of detail they are looking for, I am going with that one. As mentioned before, if you get it down to two products, do a 30-day trial and run a project in parallel (a small one) if you can and see which one in actual use fits your day-to-day business.
What Did I Pick? You have to leave a comment and ask….
Again, each company’s needs are unique and different so I don’t want to give you my choice right away since I picked the one that worked for my business. Although I will say that I feel more confident and happier in my decision in my evaluation of these tools before I just went out and signed up.
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