It's the nature of an entrepreneur to have rich, innovative ideas and plans with the potential to be quite rewarding. Much of their success revolves around effective planning, organization and execution. But implementing such ideas and plans is never a smooth affair – many problems, issues, changes and risks can crop up, leaving the door open for confusion and mismanagement – problems that in turn can result in troublesome delays or the outright failure of the initiative
No one wants to waste their time, money and effort with no tangible gains. So many adopt solutions for planning, organization and execution of business plans and projects.
Internet-based project management tools facilitate enhanced planning and organization of projects and plans, helping team members execute them in an orderly and scheduled manner. Problems and issues become more easily identifiable, and thus can be more easily resolved. Communication and collaboration are enhanced and recorded; tasks can be better distributed and executed in a systematic manner. Accountability improves, and efficiency is boosted.
Below is a list of eight project management tools that should help entrepreneurs develop a better understanding of which tools they should further investigate.
1. Basecamp: This application tops the list of project management applications. In it, users can stack all their tasks, discussions, schedules, files and other important project information in a single centralized location. Through its dashboard feature, people remain updated about any new activities being performed in projects they are assigned. Members’ access to different project areas can be easily controlled. It’s well integrated with various third-party tools for time-tracking, mobile, accounting and invoicing, to name a few.
2. ProofHub: Proofhub stands apart from similar applications in terms of effective functionality and ease of use. Collaboration among team members worldwide is well integrated and efficient. Mobile integration is handled well for on-the-go updating. Tasks can be properly described and better distributed among members, so that they are executed in a scheduled and systematic manner. Time spent over various tasks’ execution is precisely documented, and Gantt bar charts assess a project’s progress. It also provides subtasks and labels for better task management.
3. Asana: Asana facilitates teamwork without the use of emails. Team members’ ideas, conversations, plans, files and tasks are consolidated, boosting team efficiency and output. Members are quickly updated on important project updates. As important goals and milestones can be better visualized, these can be achieved in a timely manner.
4. Trello: Trello enhances organization of plans and projects so they can be conducted rapidly and with ease. Its specialty is "cards" which are employed for precise documentation of important information. Users can create their own apps and plugins as per their unique needs. Its intuitive interface makes communication and collaboration among group members easy, updating them on project progress. Tasks get assigned, managed and executed in a systematic manner.
5. Wrike: This utilitarian tool improves efficiency at work by enabling team members to work in a collaborative, fast and flexible manner. Wrike includess various features like templates, activity streams and Gantt charts which enhance work productivity and save time. Tasks can be created with ease from emails. Its notable integrations are with applications like Gmail, IBM and Dropbox, among others.
6. Podio: With Podio, users employ "work spaces" to create various customizable apps to their specific needs to execute tasks in a better way. Task management, commenting, file sharing, activity streams and likes are some useful features in this application.
7. Teamwork: Teamwork significantly reduces the need to hold face-to-face meetings over work-related matters. Team members can conduct their work from any location in the world. Members’ access to various project tasks and items can be effectively controlled through its lock-down feature. Like Proofhub and Wrike, its Gantt chart feature enables precise tracking and proper analysis over projects’ progress.
8. AtTask: This enterprising application enables enhanced communication and collaboration among team members over work through its social collaboration feature. Members’ work requests can be easily seen and better compared as they are located at a single location. Its key features are dashboards, team management, time tracking and report building.
With these useful tools, entrepreneurs can better organize and implement their plans and projects, giving them a better chance of having their dreams and aspirations come true. So take an in-depth look at some of these products, decide how each will suit your needs and interests, and choose the tool that perfectly fits your needs.
A project and business manager by profession, Sharon loves to write about ways to simplify work through a project management software. She tries to provide an insight into the best project management tools out there and how they help people in improving their productivity and efficiency, as well as save time to focus on what’s more important.