89% of employees waste some amount of time while at work. In fact, 10% of the waste over 3 hours daily!
Now that you’ve heard this stat, you’re probably wondering about ways to improve productivity. One way to do so is with project planning tools and software.
Don’t know where to start? Here are 7 project management tools you should use in 2020.
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Monday.com
Monday.com is a very intuitive project management tool. Plus, it’s very visual!
You can categorize tasks and add the details you want, such as the people involved, status, timeline, and files attached. You can add pictures for each person and colors for each status. In addition, the timeline is lit up like a progress bar, which gives you a quick glance at how complete a task is done at any given time.
Monday.com is available with a 2-week free trial. Otherwise, you’ll have to pay based on the plan you get and the number of users on it. For example, a standard plan with 5 users costs around $50.00 per month.
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Teamwork
With a name like that, you’ve certainly got to give Teamwork a try! This project management software allows you to customize your workflow, no matter what methodology your workplace uses.
Like many other programs, Teamwork lets you look at things both on a broad scope and more in detail. This allows you to hone in on weaknesses, such as bottlenecks.
You can also use Teamwork to make personalized dashboards. Here, your team members can see the metrics they need to keep up with to make the project a success.
With this tool, you can stay on a free plan for forever. However, it only allows for 5 team members, 2 projects, and a limited board view.
To take full advantage of Teamwork, you should get the paid version. This starts at $9.00 per month, per user (minimum 5 users).
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Asana
Asana is a great piece of software for multiple people to collaborate on a project. It’s a project management program that allows you to see everything on both a general and granular level.
You can assign responsibilities to different people, as well as set deadlines and review milestones. You’ll be notified whenever there are updates to the project, which can really help you keep things on track.
You can also attach files and comments, which can cut down on the time spent usually playing phone tag.
Asana is free for teams of up to 15 people. Otherwise, you’ll have to pay $8.33 per month, per user.
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Trello
Have you ever wished you could have a digital message board where you can share Post-It notes with your coworkers? Well, Trello is basically that.
Trello uses Kanban software, so if you’re already using it, it’s not hard to get used to. You can create several boards for all the people involved and customize labels. It’s great for all people in an organization.
While there’s a free version available, you should get the paid version to take full advantage of all of Trello’s features. Plans start at $12.50 per month, per user.
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SwiftKanban
Do you enjoy what Trello has to offer? Then try SwiftKanban. It uses Kanban software too and is meant for lean and agile initiatives.
If you’re already using Kanban, this makes SwiftKanban an excellent piece of software to add to your collection. It lets you visualize all your work, kind of like with Trello. However, it’s better suited for IT and agile project managers.
So if your team is more on the technical side, then you might want to give SwiftKanban a try to see how it compares to using Trello. This software comes at a price of $7.00 per month, per user.
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Jira
Jira is also software for agile project management. This can be a particularly handy tool if you’re in charge of dev teams.
With Jira, you can plan sprints, as well as keep track of any issues that may come up. Your team can also generate reports and create workflows to better streamline their processes.
Jira is part of Atlassian, which means you’ll be able to integrate this with Trello. This is because Atlassian acquired Trello back in 2017.
If you have under 19 team members, then you can use Jira for free. Otherwise, prices can be anywhere between $5.00 to $7.00 per month, per user, depending on how many users you have on the plan.
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LiquidPlanner
As far as project management tools go, LiquidPlanner is a very interesting one. It has similar features to the rest of the programs on here. However, it has one major difference: it allows you to look at both best and worst-case scenarios.
This key difference might make LiquidPlanner a project management tool worth exploring, especially if you like to explore all possible options in a project.
Do note that this software isn’t cheap, especially when compared to the others on this list. You’ll have to pay $45.00 per month, per user. However, you can get a free trial that lasts 2 weeks.
Plus, you pay annually, which means you have to set aside a large amount of your budget just to use this software. If you don’t like it, you can’t cancel in the middle of the year either.
Use These Project Planning Tools and Software for Success
Now you have a great list of project planning tools and software to use. Not every single one will be right for every company, so make sure you check out all the features and give them a try, especially if the programs are free.
Through trial and error, you’ll be able to figure out which tools are best for managing and collaborating with your peers. As a result, you’ll reduce the hours wasted at work and help everyone be more productive.
Did you like this article on tools for project management? Then make sure you check out our other blog posts too!