The Best Project Management Tools | The Knowledge Academy

So you’ve got your project management certification and you’ve managed to land yourself a job. How do you make sure you’re working as efficiently as possible? The answer, in this digital age, is to let technology help you.

There are a wide range of project management tools and apps out there designed to make the life of a project manager easier, from full enterprise software solutions to free-to-use online productivity and organisation applications. In today’s fully-connected world, many of the main market players tend to be web-based and designed to be used in organisations by multiple users, not just a single project management super-user.

Here we look at some of the best including their benefits and drawbacks.

Microsoft Project

Part of Microsoft’s famous Office suite of software, Microsoft Project is arguably the world’s most popular project management program. First created in 1984, Microsoft Project has been specifically designed to help project managers plan projects, manage resources, track progress and much more. A long established and reliable player, Microsoft Project remains the gold standard for many companies at the enterprise level, and it integrates well with other Microsoft products. Although immensely powerful, the software can have a steep learning curve – it is criticised for not being particularly intuitive to use, and it’s really only suitable for larger companies with a number of complex projects.

Oracle Primavera

With a version of it having existed since 1983, Oracle’s Primavera is considered a ‘market pillar’ in the industry. Specifically designed for enterprise-level project portfolio management in project-intensive industries such as (but not limited to) engineering and construction, Primavera has been and continues to be popular. The software suffers from some of the same drawbacks as Microsoft’s offering, however, as it is considered to be quite complex and Primavera training is often a wise choice in order to use it effectively.

Asana

If we were to be picky, we’d class Asana as a workflow management or task management app. No, it hasn’t been designed specifically for project management, but that does not mean that it can’t be used to improve many areas of day-to-day work. It’s not an all-in-one solution like Project or Primavera, but it does let you delegate tasks, add deadlines and generally manage your team more effectively. Founded by two ex-Facebook employees in 2008, Asana works especially well for agile-style management, incorporating features such as sprint planning and backlogs into an easy-to-learn, user-friendly interface. It’s also free for up to 15 team members. As for the drawbacks, users say it’s not great for more complex projects, and it lacks the ability to see progress from the top-level, e.g. using a Gantt or Burndown chart.

Basecamp

Basecamp is a highly popular project management/team communication solution which has been a big player in the market for a long time now. Originally released in 2004, like Asana, Basecamp is best suited to task and work management as it lacks the dedicated project features of other software, such as the ability to assign timelines or use advanced reporting features. Even so, many project managers find it useful because its simplicity and ease of use makes it easy for anybody to pick up, whether they have prior knowledge of project management or not – perfect for small to medium size businesses. Another useful feature is people do not have to sign up to Basecamp in order to reply to messages from those using it. However, pricing is fixed no matter the team size, and there is no free option unless you’re in education as either a student or a teacher.

Zoho Projects

Zoho Projects’ main weapon is its value. Starting from $20 (£15) per month for 10 projects and 15 users, it’s pretty affordable, and even larger, less limited options don’t break the bank. This online project management software was created in 2006 by Zoho Corporation, a provider of software solutions for areas such as CRM, sales, email and accounting. It won the editor’s choice award from PC Magazine in 2017, although some users note it can be a little limited in its features, making it best for small to medium sized businesses.

Agile project users should note, too, that there’s a special version for Agile teams – Zoho Sprints.

Monday.com

While Monday.com may not yet attract the same brand recognition as other apps, its 4 and a half star rating on Capterra after 1065 reviews proves it must doing something right. A newcomer to the project management industry, monday.com was founded under the name “Dapulse” in 2012. The name change came in 2017 – probably a good idea. Users really like its extremely visually-focused interface with the ability to use colours to indicate different project stages. A commonly cited drawback is its pricing structure can be inflexible, especially for those with small businesses.

These are some of the most well-known and highly-rated project management tools out there but of course there are plenty are of others. What do you use?