Using project management systems to improve workflow systems
Whether you are a small business owner who needs to look for alternative ways of working efficiently with members of your team despite the global pandemic or a CEO who needs to drive sales up by looking for better ways of operating in the face of Covid-19, having an efficient workflow system is a life-saver.
As nations, economies and businesses strive to look past the impact of Covid-19 and the global lockdown, business operations are having to evolve more into embracing contact-less transactions.
Business operations are having to evolve more around embracing the contact-less market!
Virtually Tope
The reason why a lot of success is been recorded in this area, especially in the developed countries, is due to their use of technology which allows employees to work remotely.
Before now, most companies only allowed partial work-from-home days to their employees but they have since gone all the way due to lockdown caused by Coronavirus.
In another light, organisations are realizing that they can work more efficiently by capturing repetitive tasks and thus creating workflow processes that can bring about profitable results for their business despite the disruptions.
Sadly, this cannot be said about some countries who still find it hard to conduct their businesses virtually because of poor infrastructure and they are beginning to learn the hard way that technology is no longer a “nice to have” but a “must-have” during this global pandemic.
So the question remains, how can organisations continue to work in the new market with contact-less and physical distancing features?
The answer is to use task management software that will help them manage their projects and teams. It’s important to find project management software that can help small businesses maximize output while keeping their team’s workload balanced.
What to look out for in an efficient Project Management Software
There are lots of Project Management software out there but as a small business owner or entrepreneur, there’s need to look out for the ones that will make you and your organisation work more efficiently without necessary “breaking the bank” despite the impact of Covid-19.
Here are some features that are indispensible:
- A free version with reasonable limits: As a small business, you do not want to spend so much money from the onset and you would need a solution that allows you to test before committing to it. It should also be one that will allow to scale up as needed.
- Collaboration for team and clients: You would also need to look out for software that will allow you and your team to collaborate easily. Communication effectively is key when you and your team/staff are working remotely.
- Task-flow management, responsibilities and dates: This is one very crucial feature you must look out for when choosing your project management software. You need to be able to manage tasks efficiently, follow up on projects, assign tasks to your direct reports and staff, and set due dates.
- Mobile responsiveness: Ensure that the solution you choose is also available on mobile
- Integration possibilities: The project management app of your choice should be to integrate all your other apps. There’s really no “one-size-fits-all” solution for project management software.
- Support system: Before you decide to go with any software at all, you need to make sure that there is an active development team behind the software keeping it up-to-date and bug-free.
Best Project Management Software for Small Teams on a tight budget
Here are our top project management picks based on features, pricing, customer support, and user experience.
We’ve tested each option out on your behalf (although we still recommend that you try it for yourself) and remember that there really is no one-size-fits-all solution.
We have also carefully selected these options because of their free features which are still quite remarkable for small teams who are on a tight budget to use.
1. Asana
Best project management software for supporting multiple project methodologies.
If your business falls under retail shops, website development, software development, marketing, office setup, etc This is the best project management software for you.
It is a profoundly effective tool that supports multiple project management styles and methodologies. Asana allows you to create task and project templates (which you can use for repetitive tasks), but its default setup is completely open-ended: The only required part of any task is a title. After that, you’re free to add a description, organizational tags, custom fields & task dependencies (available with paid plans), due dates, assignees, and more.
Asana happens to be our favourite and this is why it is one of the services we offer. We can help you set up your organisation on Asana.
Hire an Asana Ninja here
Asana Price: Free for up to 15 team members and basic features; from $9.99/user/month (billed annually) for the premium plan that includes additional features like advanced reporting, custom fields, and more.
2. Trello
Best project management software for simple projects.
Trello is the master of Kanban simplicity and has gained a positive reputation for that reason. However, if you have complex tasks with multiple dependencies, for example, Trello’s features fall short. Despite this weakness, Trello is a simple, effective project management tool for an individual or small business.
Trello Price: Free for unlimited boards and up to 10MB attachments; from $12.50/user/month for Business Class that includes up to 250MB attachments, priority support, and additional features.
3. Airtable
Best project management software for spreadsheet & database lovers.
Airtable is a versatile spreadsheet-style database app that can help you manage any project. Think of it as a clean, ordered appearance of a spreadsheet but with a little more power such as the ability to toggle between the spreadsheet and other formats like a Kanban board or calendar view.
Airtable Price: Free for unlimited users and up to 1,200 records per base; from $12/user/month for the Plus plan with up to 5,000 records per base and 5GB attachments.
4. Basecamp
Best for small businesses looking for an easy to use, low-cost task manager.
If your preference is ease of use, then Basecamp is the software for you. It is fairly simple and is more of a task manager than a full project management app. Their post-it notes style organization makes it easy to create project “cards” and add tasks and details on the virtual “backs” of these cards.
Basecamp is a great solution for businesses of 10-50 employees that need a way to plan and track projects and tasks. It has two pricing options:
- the free plan (which allows you to create and manage three projects, add 20 users, utilize 1 GB of storage, and contact basic customer support) and
- the paid plan (which goes for $99/month for Basecamp Unlimited, access to unlimited projects and unlimited users, 500 GB storage, team collaboration tools, advanced features, and VIP support).
5. Notion
Best project management software for notes, wikis and tasks.
Notion is an excellent all-in-one workspace app. You can use Notion for journaling, note-taking, project management, and so much more. It has a ton of features that make it useful for almost anything you could ever want from a productivity tool.
Notion is a great collaboration tool for teams.
Notion is free for personal use with unlimited pages and blocks up to 5 guests, from $4/month for personal pro and $8/month for teams.
Conclusion
Do you already use Project Management Software? Tell us what you like about it and if you are looking for some additional features, we would sure like to point you in the right direction.