Comparing Project Management Tools

Comparing Leading Project Management Tools, Software & Apps

There was a time when project management software was used almost exclusively by large companies. Not so anymore. Nowadays businesses considered medium or small are using project management tools as part of their administrative tasks. You can think of project management software as a toolbox to help you start, manage and complete a project. Project management software can be loosely divided into four types:

• Basic
• Comprehensive
• On-premise
• Online

Basic: A more basic or simple project management software, as the name indicates will have the fewest features to help with tasks. This doesn’t mean they are in any way inferior or useless. The features that come with most of them may be all that you need to finish your administrative tasks, especially if you are running a small business. The basic features most project management tools are offering are task management, email integration, file management, team collaboration and sometimes, learning materials.

Comprehensive: Comprehensive project management software will have all the features the basic models offer plus added next-level features, but will be more costly. So, what do you get for the extra money? You can expect to get features like resource and financial management, scheduling, more advanced task management capability, more accurate estimates, real-time progress tracking, to name a few.

On-Premise: On-premise software resides on the company server. It is likely managed by the IT department of your business at all times.

Online: Online software is cloud-based and it is usually offered as a software-as-service product. It will be managed by the cloud company for a monthly fee. Online software service is more popular with small companies that can’t afford to have a separate IT department. Hence, most of them are offered as an online product.

When you are thinking about a new tool, you need to understand your options. Some of the popular project management tools are:

Trello

Trello is a highly versatile software that can be used by large companies or fo your personal use. This task management tool excels in letting you know who is working on what project. The software is based on a system called Kanban system, which in turn was developed by Toyota.

Basecamp

Basecamp is known as a "sandbox" style project management software. This is because it makes it easy for people to collaborate and work on a project together. Just upload files and track and discuss projects with colleagues and clients.

Smartsheet

Like Basecamp, Smartsheet is also considered to be a "sandbox" style management tool. However, it gives priority to share with other team members, rather than customers. File sharing, sending alerts and reports, collaboration, are some of the strong suits of Smartsheet.

Wrike

Wrike is a cloud-based project tool and is more suited for teams consisting of 20 or more people. Some of the top features include Gant charts, workload view, custom dashboards, calendars, and real-time project updates. Wrike is popular with many types of businesses, such as tech, finance, advertising, and creative ventures such as advertising.

Monday.com

Monday.com takes the "sandbox" concept to another level. It collects and synchronizes all information into one easy to access hub. Whether you are team member, third party vendor or customer, everyone will have access to relevant info. However, one of the main reasons for Monday.com's popularity is its ease of use.

Quire

Quire is relatively a new project management software and hasn’t garnered a large customer base as some of its competitors. So, you may be wondering why then is it on this list? The reason is that at this point in time you can get it for free. For those of you who have never used a project management software before, and don’t want to make a financial commitment just yet, then Quire would be a good way to get your feet wet and see what it’s like to use this tool.

Asana

One of the top project management software companies is Asana. Asana enjoys a large subscriber base because the product is compatible with businesses of any size. Like most project management software packages, it is Cloud-based, which makes it a SaaS (software as service) and you pay a monthly fee to use it. Installation can be done on Windows and Mac. Apart from all the tools, you would expect for administrative tasks, it also comes with project tracking.

Metatask

If you want a project management tool that can do it all, then Metatask deserves closer scrutiny. This award-winning management system is capable of taking things to a whole other level by automating all your operations. It can be used to manage any process in any area of running a business. Approvals, tables, parallel tasks, review cycles, conditions, data entry correction, and many more features, are all within easy reach with Metatask.

Wimi

In the world of project management software, Wimi is a little different. Generally, more popular with medium to large companies, the features that Wimi offers is what makes them stand out from the crowd. The main reason for its popularity is because of its capability for organizing and promoting teamwork. Compared to most other project management software, Wimi gets high marks for letting teams track everything they are working on. You will have access to tasks, calendars, files & drive, messaging channels, video conferencing and more, to help with administrative tasks.

How to Choose the Right Project Management Tools

You have been thinking about getting a project management software or app and started shopping around for one. However, the more you look at each one, you feel confused, overwhelmed and find yourself not being able to make a decision on which one to go with. This is common with any new software, especially one that comes in so many different flavors and have subtle differences from the next one. The following is a brief list of items that will help with finding the right software to help with administrative tasks and make life easier.

Why do You Need it in the First Place?

This may seem obvious, but the first question to ask is why you need it. The best place to start is by outlining what your needs are and how you are going to use the software to help improve things. This will help you figure out where a tool such as a project management software will help you. This is also a good time to figure out if there will be any implementation barriers. For example, it could be an issue with data migration, Integration, costly training sessions and even resistance from employees not wanting to learn something new to do administrative tasks.

How Much is it and How Useful Will it Be?

The cost versus practicality issue is an age-old riddle that business owners have been trying to solve. You start your research and find out about all the top project management tools, but then the cost side of things tends to real you back in from what you want. In this day and age, the pressure of selecting digital alternatives is very real. Ultimately, finding the right software is about seeing if it will fit your needs. The trick is to see project management software as an investment to improve efficiency and administrative tasks.