Most of the project managers are not effective, efficient and organized. And this is not because they are incompetent or haven’t learnt from the experience – but because of work burden and conflicting priorities. As a result, a great majority of projects fail – or at least, do not achieve their goals fully.
Have a look at the following statistics.
1. For every $1bn invested in the USA, $122 million was wasted due to lacking project performance (Pmi.org)
2. Last year, fewer than a third of all projects were successfully completed on time and budget (Standish Group)
3. 80% of PMs don’t know how their projects align with their company’s business strategy (Changepoint)
4. 97% of organizations believe project management is critical to business performance and success
Personally, my experience as a project manager was nothing more than stress. Working all day long, striking my head against the desk and at the end of the day – my work accumulated more than the previous day. I never thought of using the technology the way it meant to be. Smartphone in my pocket, iPad in the car and laptop right in front of me, I was wasting my resources.
Long story short, I didn’t realize the power of technology and how I could utilize in my day-to-day activities. I knew how to play Candy Crush and most of my smart devices were loaded with games and entertainment stuff – but I never tried out any productivity focused management app.
This led me to search for ways and tools to improve my performance and boost productivity. As a result, I was able to find out a few powerful applications for project and work management. That search changed my life – as I’m very much organized and productive – no more stressed out professional.
In the following, I’m sharing the very list of tools that helped me make the most out of my time – hope, they do the same for you.
1. Asana
Asana is the best app (in my opinion) to easily create and assign tasks to your team. Projects can be organized into shared lists or boards for meetings, initiatives, and programs. It also allows you to interact with freelance contractors and remote workforce.
Asana is user-friendly and powerful project management app to run and manage your business effectively. You can monitor your projects without sending an email or schedule a status meeting. One of the best features, which I personally love in Asana, is the built in templates that can be used to add workflows swiftly and easily.
2. Basecamp
Basecamp is for project managers looking for a little more freedom, yet good at keeping their projects in check. The real-time chats and pings allow users to show work, get feedback and ask a question. The application allows you to stay away from messing up with email chains. The conversations are organized, centralized and on the record.
Basecamp does not want you to keep reminding people what to do. Instead, it keeps track of everything to follow up so that you never miss anything or get late. The app allows people to write what they have worked – on the daily, weekly or monthly basis. Basecamp also gives reports so that you can track who is working on what project, what tasks are overdue and what was completed on a particular day.
3. Trello
Trello is another app for project managers to work collaboratively and deliver the optimum results. The boards offered on Trello allow you to organize and prioritize your tasks in a flexible and rewarding way. The best thing about this app is that it dives deeper into the details by adding attachments and comments to collaborate on projects from beginning till the end.
Trello allows your team to remain organized whether you are working on a company’s project, side project or planning your next vacation. Moreover, it allows you to integrate the apps, used by your team. No matter, what device you use, Trello can synchronize your devices and interact with your team anywhere.
4. Evernote
Evernote can be considered partially as the project management app because a number of people use it. It allows you to create a list of to-do projects. You can also snap a picture of the sketch. Once you have taken the note, you can access it anywhere you go.
Evernote makes sure to find anything fast, whether it’s a document, images or text and nothing gets buried. Last but not the least, you can share your pictures, documents or text with your peers, family, and friends.
5. Wrike
Wrike is equipped with a number of features to help the team to perform their best. The application allows you to align your team to work smarter and faster throughout the organization. It has the ability to take complex projects and make them easier for people in your team.
Get real-time insights on everything your team is working on. Moreover, it can create reports to monitor team performance and projects. Interactive timelines keep everyone on the same page.
Why IT Projects Fail? Read here> https://t.co/7NmuX9DNUG #software #projects #management #business #failure pic.twitter.com/XlhEyTGo8L
— IQVIS (@TeamIQVIS) January 12, 2017
6. Zoho Projects
Zoho Projects app is powered with a set of features for tracking, collaborating, charting and reporting your projects with full control and efficiency. The application allows you to communicate with teams with push notifications to get real-time updates about the status of the project.
In addition, the time tracking feature allows you to record time spent on each task.
7. Smartsheet
Smartsheet is best for people who prefer using spreadsheets to organize their projects. There are a number of views available, making it flexible to view all of your projects. For example, you can change the view as lists, Gantt charts or spreadsheets, adding more flexibility to the app.
A large number of pre-made templates are available to you for creating spreadsheets according to your requirements. Moreover, you can also give access to anyone within your organization for collaboration and visibility.
8. OmniPlan
OmniPlan is built to help you simplify, visualize and maintain your projects. You can break down your project into smaller tasks, optimize required resources and screen your plan in a glimpse.
Moreover, OmniPlan can automatically synchronize your projects across various personal devices with your peers and share them. It also helps you manage simple and complex tasks, as you need without making it much complicated.
9. Wimi
Wimi is yet another application for project managers that offers one platform for each task or project. It reforms teamwork, allowing businesses to view and quickly access the shared documents, project calendars or tasks.
No matter, where your team is located, you can get in touch with them to get the updates. Wimi is all in one solution for businesses to collaborate their processes, projects and teamwork in real-time.
10. Microsoft Project
Microsoft Project is one of the widely used project management applications, even though it is a bit difficult to use. The application comes with many features that allow project managers to easily manage and organize their day-to-day tasks and projects.
Microsoft Project allows you to generate customized reports and follow the track until the projects are completed. Moreover, scheduling tools, synchronization across smart devices and built-in templates allows team managers and teams to follow the right track.
Conclusion
Project Management was never easy before the release of these apps. In my opinion, project management tools and software is designed for various industries operating in various niches to fulfill their needs. An app that suits to one project manager might not be very friendly to the other. If you are looking for best management apps in 2017, make sure to try one of these. Your productivity and delivery of projects will be effective without any glitches.
