Businesses of all sizes often struggle to manage their projects and teams effectively. Tools like CRM, project management, and invoicing software are commonly used to help with this.
However, a Gartner study found that 70% of employees waste a lot of time each week just switching between different apps. This shows a need for a single, comprehensive work management tool that combines all these functions to save time and increase efficiency.
Top 10 Project Management Tools You Need
With so many work management tools out there, it’s hard to know which one to choose. To assist you in making informed decisions, we have done the research for you and picked out the top 10 tools that can really help you manage your work better.
1. 5day.io
5day.io is a modern work management tool that makes managing projects, tasks, and collaboration easy.
It is a solution ideal for dynamic, fast-moving and hybrid team enabling true-valued collaboration & realization of productivity.
It offers different tools for project management, timesheet, collaboration, and task management, all designed to make your work more effective and efficient. With one platform, users can easily connect their data, teams, projects, while facilitating collaboration, that is built for efficiency and scale.
Key Features:
- 5day Structure
- Work Schedule
- Custom Workflows
- Project Dashboard
- List View, Board View
- Custom Task Types, Fields
- Relationship and Dependencies
- Custom status
- Priorities
- Tags
- Progress
- Reschedule
- Estimation
- Time Logs
- Collaborate with team
- Upload files
- Track all activities
- Bulk Actions
- Custom Views
Pros:
- Work intelligence
- Cost effective
- Easy integration
- Flexible
- Work automation
- Sector Agnostic
- Right Balance of Features.
- Joy of work
Cons:
Initially, 5day.io may seem like a tool just for IT Project Managers, but once you use it, you’ll find that it offers complete breadth of functionalities for any team with a fewer learning curve and right balance of features.
Visit us at www.5day.io to know more about us!
2. Monday.com
Monday is a work management tool used across a variety of industries. Its clear and intuitive interface makes it easier to plan, organize, and track your workflows. In addition to project management, it can also be used as a CRM, or to manage your marketing campaigns, track issues, and manage customer projects. It provides a collaborative space for your teams to stay aligned, agile and efficient in everything they do.
Key Features
- Customizable Team Dashboards
- Customizable Workflows
- Monday Workdocs
- Task Scheduler and Prioritization
- Shared Calendar
- Collaboration & Communication
- File Sharing and Document Management
- Time Tracking
- Budgeting
- Resource Management
- Pre-designed Templates
Pros
- Attractive interface
- Most robust Kanban workflow enhancement
- Encourages transparency and accountability
- Handy project visualization tools
- Seamless Collaboration
Cons
- Gantt charts locked to standard plan and above.
- Platform limits some basic functionality such as activity log and file storage at the lower pricing tiers
- Expensive to manage large-sized teams
3. Scoro
Scoro is a business management tool focused on professional advertising and creative agencies. Their enterprise-level reporting and integrated time management are the key features that made them the favorite among this industry. It is great for automating routine operations like quoting and billing as well as track sales performance & goals. However, it does not do much for solo entrepreneurs, and industries that require specified data entry.
Key Features
- Customizable KPI dashboard
- Shared team calendar & schedules
- Phases and milestones
- Contact management
- Time tracking and billing
- Invoicing & quoting with pre-set templates
Pros
- Gantt charts show real time project updates
- Good for tracking quotes and orders
- Provides management for any billable work scenario
Cons
- Can take some time to get familiarized with the platform
- Limited templates for quotes, purchase orders and invoices
- The pricing model is difficult and a bit expensive
4. ClickUp
ClickUp is a flexible work management tool that empowers you to manage your workflow with literally dozens of customizable features. Each Space, Folder, and List has its own set of optional features to choose from. With the core mission to increase the productivity of the team and reduce the friction of using multiple apps, ClickUp offers almost everything you need to take care of your workload. The multiple views and inbox feature provides a clear view of all the projects and assignments in one place, making it easier for teams to organize and manage their tasks.
Key Features
- Task prioritization
- Scheduling & time tracking
- Custom fields & dashboards
- Work collaboration and file management
- Deep task recurring
- Threaded comments
- Milestone & status tracking
- Baseline assessments
- Resource allocation
- Automations and templates
Pros
- Free forever plan allows unlimited members
- Unlimited file storage on all paid account tiers
- Can email (set-up) a task directly from Outlook
Cons
- Sometimes buggy
- Very task oriented, cannot track on a project level
- Needs more flexible reporting
- Read-only guest permissions are limited to a paid account
- Granular customization options result in a time-consuming set-up
5. Smartsheet
Smartsheet is a leading cloud-based, enterprise work management tool and the only platform that can scale from a single project to end-to-end job management. It empowers teams to manage projects, automate workflows, and rapidly build new solutions—using no-code tools they love, and backed by the security IT needs.
Key Features
- Multiple views
- Resource management
- Time tracking and Reporting
- Issue Tracking
- Automation
- Easy Content Collaboration
- Custom Email Domains
- Forms
- Secure permission controls
Pros
- Custom and powerful Dashboards
- Sheet-to-sheet linking
- Automates relevant business processes
Cons
- Limited calendar view
- Changes don’t update in real-time
- You need to pay for zapier integrations
6. Wrike
Wrike is a cloud-based work management tool that helps teams track, collaborate, and share projects. It is ideal for creative teams as it provides performance data, high-level digital marketing tools, project synchronization, and workflow management across the organization. It also has advanced reporting capabilities that can help you make the most of your resources and achieve your company’s goals. Additionally, with Wrike’s automated approval systems and visual proofing, you can shorten your feedback and approval process. But, if you are a small team, Wrike might not be a good option for you.
Key Features
- Team Collaboration
- Auto-Assignment of Tasks Based on Statuses
- Prioritization
- Centralized feedback tracking
- 360-degree visibility
- Digital Publishing
- Time Tracking
- Custom Request Forms
- Budget Management System
- Pre-Made Tailored Templates
Pros
- Holistic, comprehensive task modeling
- Real-time project reports
- Many options and opportunities to customize
Cons
- Complicated and Clunky
- No subtasks in the freemium plan
- Managing work in calendar view is tricky
- Does not manage contracts
- Lack of customer support
7. Asana
If organizing tasks & meeting deadlines is your top priority, then Asana is a good choice. Although popular for task management, Asana is widely used for managing workload. With a bunch of rich features and integrations, Asana organizes your projects & tasks and helps you track them from beginning to end. You can choose between four different views, set up tasks & subtasks, milestones, and assign tasks to different team members.
Key Features
- Customizable Fields and Forms
- Copy projects
- Sync Tasks Across Projects
- Dependencies
- Custom Templates
- Team Tracking
- Team Collaboration
- Reporting Options
- Export Your Projects
- Automations
Pros
- User-friendly interface
- Create realistic project plans with Gantt charts
- Timeline view makes it easier to manage dependencies
- Capable free version
Cons
- Communication features are not up to the mark
- Excessive Notifications
- Not ideal for graphics-intensive work
- Prices slightly higher
8. Trello
Key Features
- Comments
- Alerts and notifications for task activities
- Dashboard customization
- Ready-made templates
- Document management
- Private/Shared access administration
- No code automation
- Bulk data export
Pros
- Real-time updates
- Responsive design
- User-friendly
- Flexible and customizable kanban app
Cons
- Commenting feature needs improvement.
- Limited storage.
- Many features like time-tracking and billing require add-ons
- No swim lanes
9. Zoho Workplace
If you’re looking at integrating multiple business requirements into a single workflow, then Zoho Workplace can be a great option. It brings context from sales, marketing, or finance into your productivity apps so that you can focus on the core issue. It can be integrated with other Zoho bundles such as CRM, Finance, and Recruit to manage almost every aspect of your organization in one system. However, at times, they have issues with their user experience and integrations.
Key Features
- Time management and scheduling
- Tasks, notes, and bookmarks
- Calendar and resource booking
- Email retention and eDiscovery
- Online file management
- Quick access and search across Zoho
- Real time collaboration
- Corporate social network
- Advanced analytics & reporting
Pros
- User-friendly
- You get to choose just the feature and integration you want rather than paying for everything.
Cons
- No live chat feature
- No social integration
- Can be a little buggy
10. Basecamp
Basecamp is a project management and team communication tool that puts everything you need in one place. It is popular in the web design industry and one of the first few project management applications. With to-do lists, calendars, due dates, and file-sharing, Basecamp provides a way for teams to keep track of priorities and actionable items. But, It is an outdated software which has not updated its features in a long time. So, if you are looking for some modern management features, you may not find them.
Key Features
- Message Boards
- Schedules
- Documents & File Storage
- Separate Dashboards
- In-context Collaboration
- Real-time Group Chat
- Check-in Questions
- Client Access
- Hill Charts
- Email Forwards
- Detailed Reports
Pros
- Easy to set up and flexible
- Bookmark to-do lists, messages, etc. for quick access
- Flat monthly price for unlimited users
Cons
- No proofing tools
- Lacks advanced features like Gantt charts and timesheets.
- Cannot assign priority levels to tasks
- Selecting the Right Work Management Tool for Your Business
When choosing a project management tool, it’s important to match it with your business’s needs and goals. Here are some simple steps to follow:
- Check if It Fits Your Current Workflow: Make sure the tool works well with how your team already does things. For example, if you use agile methods, the tool should support that.
- Look for Needed Features: Think about what features your organization really needs to manage work more effectively.
- Consider Your Team’s Size and Workload: The bigger your team and the more work you have, the more advanced your software should be.
- Think About Automation: If you have a lot of repetitive tasks, choose a tool that can automate these to save time.
- Align with Your Business Goals: The tool should help your team meet important goals like improving productivity or growing the business.
The best tool is one that everyone in your team will use and that helps you achieve your business objectives.
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