The right project management tool can be a true lifesaver, the backbone of an entire operation we can sometimes take for granted. In fact, before we lived in times, so permeated and facilitated by technology, employers had to hire a separate team member to take care of everything a project management tool now does quietly, from the background, for free.
Not only do project management tools streamline business operations and help everyone keep track of their duties and timelines, but they ask for very little in return in terms of effort and understanding of such technologies.
And when you take into account that 59% of U.S. workers identify communication as the biggest challenge their teams need to overcome, project management tools start to feel like true godsends.
In that spirit, Hubstaff has compiled the 6 easiest project management tools to use in 2019. We haven’t included the classics like Trello and Basecamp in order to introduce you to platforms that are less known, but every bit as worthy of your attention.
actiTime
Similar to Hubstaff, actiTime helps you govern time rather than the other way around. actiTime is a time-tracking tool by default, however, it’s making the transition to project management, and it’s doing so seamlessly. Its features are as robust as they are diverse.
actiTime allows you to compare the time it took to complete a project with the time estimates you had set up beforehand. This way, project managers can draw conclusions about project costs and make adjustments to future budgets.
The tool is also very comprehensive in terms of the level of details it provides on the various little projects that make up an actual project. You can turn report data into colorful charts and use the time and billing data to devise specific forecasts for time and costs.
It’s also worth noting that actiTime is available as an on-premise application as well. You can download the app for iOS and Android and get access to all the data you normally have at your disposal.
Waffle
Waffle is great for close progress monitoring and automation of some mundane chores.
The tool automates all key notifications. Project managers are relieved of the hassle of manually notifying colleagues about every completed step of a project. The milestone burndowns, graphs, and metrics, on the other hand, all make for a more interactive and in-depth progress monitoring experience.
If that wasn’t good enough, Waffle is actually free for up to 10 users.
BamBam!
BamBam! Is considered one of the most versatile projects management tools for its variety of customizable features that facilitate the lives of regular employees, managers, and clients.
BamBam! gives project estimates on every step of the way and constantly sets up milestones that make larger projects more structured and digestible.
With BamBam!, everyone always gets the memo. Notifications come in many different forms like mentions, smart updates, email-to-task conversions which are all quite user friendly and nurture a collaborative environment.
FreedCamp
FreedCamp is praised for being an intersection of user-friendliness, simplicity, and robust functionality. Many see it as a balanced blend of a to-do manager and a project planner, incorporating only the necessary ingredients of each.
A nice touch is the ability to highlight certain events on the calendar which really unclutters the view and helps you gain some perspective. A Kanban board that comes in the form of sticky notes, neat to-do lists, and helpful milestones all help users feel in control and actually maintain it.
To top that off, FreedCamp is free, which seems almost too good to be true.
Liquid Planner
Liquid Planner epitomizes the best kind of simplicity – the kind that makes the complicated breezy. Arduous tasks which any project manager dreads, like adjusting project completion dates according to changes of plans, resources fluctuations, and shifts in tasks’ priorities, are practically automated, letting project managers use their time and energy in ways that can make a difference.
Liquid Planner is also quite interactive and dynamic, great for those who need to visualize in order to fully grasp a project’s scope and development.
Overv. io
Overv. io is for the projects that get done predominantly by ticking off issues rather than checkpoints. Over.io is not just a tool for project management, but for risk management in particular.
This tool also provides a Kanban board and collaboration features, but it really is in the issues department where it stands out. You can analyze problems in their various stages, obtain estimates, and even employ special filters to identify potential risks before they’ve become issues that can be detrimental to a project.
Those project management tools represent technology’s best practices – making the hard feel easy through carefully devised features that streamline the processes in both human minds and business operations.
Image Credits: Project Management from NicoElNino /Shutterstock