How to Pick a Project Management Tool

Keeping your employees and your company organized can be a daunting task. You want to make sure everyone is staying within budget, but they also need to meet deadlines. So you decide to look for a project management tool for your company so that everyone has a dashboard that gives insight into what is being worked on. But oftentimes, those types of tools can be expensive and hard to implement.  And on top of that, you want the implementation of a new tool to be easy and not interrupt the day-to-day workings of your office.

There are lots of tools available, so we’ve created a list to help you find the right tool for your organization. Let us know if you have any questions or want more recommendations–we’re happy to help out!

Can you customize it?

Customization is key. Many times, project management software is created out of a need that one company has. So when evaluating potential tools, you want to make sure that you can tweak it to fit your organization’s needs. Some important things to ask:

• Will this also be used as a file sharing tool?
• Will this tool be used to track employee bandwidth?
• Does this tool need to be collaborative?
• Does this tool need to be shareable with clients?
• Will employees be tracking hours here?
• Am I going to bill clients based off of hours tracked by employees?
• Does this software integrate with other software we’re currently using?
• Are there templates that I can use or do I create my own?

Is it secure and easily accessible?

Like at most organizations, you probably don’t just work at the office. Having access to project status from your phone may be crucial. You want to make sure that you’re using a secured platform because you’ll have confidential information stored in your program. When selecting your software, make sure its security is compatible with your company and potential users who may be checking their projects via cell phone.

Is it intuitive and user friendly?

After you’ve selected a software for your organization, you want to get employees (and possibly clients) using it as quickly as possible, so it’s crucial to make sure it’s simple and straight forward to use. Software companies will often offer free training, and it’s important to make sure your project management software’s customer service team is responsive to questions.

What are your favorite project management tools? Leave a comment below!

Photo by: Chris Adamus