Project management has become significantly easier and more streamlined with the advance of information technology and the development of clever tools to help project managers identify and prioritise tasks, collate information and lead effective teams.
Top five online project management tools.
Here are five of the top tools to help those in project manager jobs in search of quality tech solutions:
1. Pivotal Tracker.
A superb online workload management tool, Pivotal Tracker encourages teams to adopt Agile techniques, sometimes known as extreme project management. Particularly useful for engineering, for information technology and for product development projects, it allows tasks to be managed in specific, time-limited chunks and is thus very focused. Tasks are separated into one of three lists and then timeframes are assigned as ‘sprints’ or short bursts of activity. Pivotal tracker will monitor these and make adjustments to the workflow accordingly.
2. Producteev.
Producteev has a wider remit than Pivotal Tracker and is aimed at co-ordinating teams. This is a social task management solution and users can create as many projects as they like, spanning any number of participants and groups. Regimes for task assignment, coordination and completion are excellent. Progress is easy to track and results are simple to measure. All participants are in sync and mobile apps are available.
3. Trello.
One of the best collaborative tools for use in project management jobs, Trello organises information on virtual cards, assigns them to lists and allows information to be added when needed, for example checklists, due dates, comments and other attachments. Updating by participants is instantaneous. Similar to Pivotal Tracker in some ways, Trello is much more flexible in others and this makes it particularly suited to high level strategic planning for items such as marketing, PR or SEO. Trello is ideal for non-technical teams working in a technical environment.
4. Conceptboard.
Conceptboard is very visually orientated so ideal for IT projects requiring centralised whiteboards where team members can post visual ideas as part of brainstorming, collaboration or workflow management. There is an option to choose live location, which allows participants to understand where everybody is in terms of progress and in what area or screen section they are currently engaged. A powerful visual tool, Conceptboard works with a number of different software programs, such as Excel, Photoshop, PDF files and Word, for example. Integrated with Google Drive, it allows participants to access voice, chat and live video or enhanced collaboration.
5. Google Apps.
Increasingly popular, Google Apps has gained favour primarily because it makes it possible to build project sites without using code or to use one or more of the hundreds of project templates available. Virtual storage on Drive makes it easy to create documents and make them available to other team members so as an online productivity suite it delivers great features for collaboration. Communication is via Google Hangouts, offering instant messaging and video conferencing. The calendar app will send reminders for scheduling files that are time sensitive.
Employers advertising IT project management jobs with Randstad Technologies sometimes specify which software they would like candidates to use, so it’s always worth checking out what’s currently in vogue in order to boost personal knowledge.
