Do you run or own a fast-growing business, and seek to meet the demands of your customers by creating innovative and convenient products and services? Many times, budding entrepreneurs do not know exactly how to run a startup. That is, no matter how enthusiastic you are about the idea and concept of your business, you are not sure how to go about it to ensure that you minimize errors, loss, and increase profit.
In this article, I’ll show you the importance of founding your startups on the fundamentals of project management, especially if you are particularly interested inefficient planning, delivering value to customers, budgeting, and effective execution, among others. How do you go about this? With project management, you stand a high chance of avoiding errors and optimizing your resources. This is best achievable by using any of the top/best project management software on the marketplace.
I believe this would be a great and insightful read for anyone who needs help with identifying the best project management software that could help them crack the hard nut of their businesses and, at the same time, enjoy some competitive advantage as a startup.
Choosing the right project management methodology
Statistically, ninety-seven percent of people surveyed about the importance of project management to productivity confirm that it is key to the success of any business. An interesting part of this is that you can engage in project management at any stage, given the right project management system.
First, you have to understand what your needs are, including the size of your organization, your goals, the degree of complexity of your project, the deliverables, and the structure of your business. It is essential that you take note of these things prior to determining which of the project management software suits your business the most.
Recently, a report published by the Project Management Institute (PMI) suggested that “the companies with a well-planned EPMO (Enterprise Project Management Office) report is successfully able to meet almost 48% more than their initial goals and objectives.” This confirms the key role played by project management software in ensuring simplicity and enhanced integration.
Candidly, without project management, managing projects could be difficult, especially because of the workload you have to pull through. More so, bearing in mind that the workforce will change over time, and as such, new productivity would be demanded, more emphasis is being laid on project management tools, among which are of great importance, the project management software.
Startups usually have difficulties with getting things done on time, and this is where the best management software comes in handy. Meanwhile, budget is always the primary factor for many owing to lack of resources. Therefore, they have to find the most appropriate and suitable one to meet and greet their needs within the time frame. Generally, project management tools will help startups manage tasks well, carry out effective planning, keep files and documents, bug reports, budget and invoice, share files, schedule resources and manage inventory, among others.
As of today, there is a vast majority of this software, and you will be spending a lot of time trying to dive in to find a suitable one. I have made things pretty easy. In this text, I’ll explicitly highlight some of the top best management software a startup should consider.
Your selection of the appropriate methodology determines the pace at which you move and how you communicate with the rest of the project team. Moreover, the methodology you choose will depend on how you choose to work with your team. Some of the methodologies include Hybrid, Agile, Waterfall, Kanban, and Scrum.
Project Management Software: What is it, and why is it important?
A project management software is a tool for managing, systematizing and regulating the budget, time and scope of a project to increase its efficiency. It enhances team organization and schedule reporting, among other things.
Many business owners are using project management software for a thing or another and it has thus become an essential tool for making running a business smoothly. It is of great importance because it helps conquer the challenge of delivering a project within budget and within the deadline. Also, it guarantees proper documentation.
The Best Project Management Software for Startups
You can exceed your dreams and make them realities by utilizing the right tool. In fact, given the necessary magnitude of support and nurture, your team can equally achieve success, too. Hence, the following project management software/tools will foster the creation of a team of incredible performance and contribution. Each software would be considered based on certain evaluation criteria, including usability, user interface (UI), features and functionality, integrations, and value for money. Tag along!
1. Wrike
Wrike is one of the favorite collaboration software. It supports the self-help concept of startups, and enhances work standards. It is a robust and versatile tool that helps teams collaborate and communicate transparently. It is more appropriate for a team of more than 20 users who enjoy or have access to custom dashboards, Gantt charts, and resource management. However, it has a free plan perfect for teams of maximum of 5 users. It also has versions or pricing including free plan, professional, businesses, marketers and enterprise.
2. Bonsai – Best For Keeping Up With Your Schedule
Managing a startup can be hectic because you may not have the budget to hire an extensive number of workers. This means your team may have to overwork to develop new products and services. In such a case, having project management software can help you minimize workload without a high price tag.
Bonsai also offers this by offering workflow automation, various form templates, and trackers. You can integrate the app with Calendly or other programs to sync your appointment dates to Bonsai. It will also allow you to enter new meetings into your calendar.
The software also takes things to the next level by letting you set reminders for the scheduled meetings. If you’re hosting an event, Bonsai also allows you to get upfront payment for that scheduled day to offer more security. Another great thing is that setting reminders using this platform is also very easy.
You will receive notifications from the app for your meetings and events. Bonsai will also send email reminders to you and everyone else involved in the meeting to ensure no one misses the important day. This is an excellent feature if you have a habit of forgetting dates.
A low entry price also makes Bonsai great for startups because you may be on a tight budget. The platform also offers a free trial to make your purchasing decision easier. If you don’t like the software, you will not have to worry about losing your money due to the trial and two weeks moneyback guarantee.
3. Trello
Trello is one of the most popular project management platforms. Common among startups, Trello has a great user interface design that team tasks management. It allows you to design a board to track your workflow and manage other processes efficiently. What’s more? You can use different functionalities including file attachments, assigning collaborators, and many others, especially if you are in the design and development agency.
Trello has a free version that supports up to 10 members in a team. But there are other paid versions, too with more automation and for better security. These are the business class and enterprise versions. Unfortunately, Trello can get cluttered, especially if many cards are used on board. Trello also lacks any tracking abilities, offered by many other software. With its super easy-to-use feature, the time tracking feature would have been a great compliment.
4. Asana
Asana gives a massive leverage and ease when it comes to managing project across large and small teams. Asana is a well-recognized project management software that enhances task management. It is an excellent choice for companies that have designed their workflow and seek to manage it with a tool. In terms of integration, Asana is rich, and its usability is also very convenient. In addition, the intuitive design and features make Asana a perfect tool for team collaboration- regardless of the size of the business. It can equally help with the creation of to-do lists and sharing among teams.
5. Jira
This is a great tool for managing a project that cuts across different teams. It is flexible and focuses on collaboration. It features Scrum, Agile and Kanban planning boards to help you plan, track, and manage your projects with a single tool. It is a useful collaboration suite because it fosters production of high-quality results. Moreover, the team leader can utilize the reporting features to achieve a better outlook of each project singly. As a matter of fact, it is well recognized as one of the best project management tools for software development teams.
6. PeppyBiz
PeppyBiz is a commonly sought-after software and one of the most flexible tools in the marketplace. On PeppyBiz, you can use Kanban Boards to manage your workflow, and this is one of the most interesting things about the software. It features customizable user interface, Gantt charts to manage and visualize deadlines, task prioritization, discussion boards to improve decision-making, centralized storage for all documents and files, among others.
7. Monday.com
Monday.com is a web-based application offering a complete solution for all project management needs you might have. It has a wide range of features, beginning with a 3-user plan. Some of these features include task management tools, integration with third-party apps, multiplatform accessibility, and automated workflow. It offers a free 14-day trial after which users can subscribe to any of the basic, standard, pro and enterprise versions- which are all paid.
8. Slack
There are arguments on whether Slack is actually a project management tool. But why is it not? It allows a project manager carry out his team management approaches efficiently. It can be integrated with Google Drive so that users can create, share, and access files from their Slack Workspace.
In addition, it integrates with other popular apps and services such as Github and Trello. It is one of the best teams for team collaboration where members can communicate and share files with minimal effort. Also, project manager can create many threads and chat channels for the respective projects, bringing in all team members on board to work on the same project. It is an excellent tool for keeping the project manager up-to-date with the details of multiple projects. It is also perfect for remote teams that have no central location.
9. Nifty
Nifty is gradually rising to the top, identifying among the best project management tools. It has features which provides its users with greater team collaboration, better efficiency, and in turn, better project management. It has a Kanban board view where users can categorize their respective tasks according to the progress in terms of New, In progress, and Completed. It has a visual overview where managers can see the deadlines and milestones of each task at a glance.
Additionally, users can filter the tasks by milestones or by user. The managers can also assign team members to different tasks. On Nifty, you can enjoy an opium of file storage which is available for images, code, videos, audios, presentations, and spreadsheets. The software also integrates with Google Calendar and Google Drive while its integration to Slack is currently under process. The only drawback is that it lacks some essential features like Gantt Charts, activity dashboard, task progress, and task priority.
10. Teamwork
Teamwork, as the name implies, is a task management software aimed at streamlining team collaboration such that it becomes incredibly effortless. It offers solution where project management features including time tracking, estimates, milestones, notifications, task board, and milestones are available for its users.
Teamwork is suitable for all sizes of business including startups. It brings all your teams and workplaces into a place for easier management. It also has a handy ability to track time and log hours both billable and non-billable. Moreover, users can create diverse tasks and link them to the Teamwork Calendar and/or milestones.
With the Task Board, users can exchange ideas in comments, and chats while the managers get to control who receives the notifications. Teamwork for Startups is free up to five users. It integrates with Trello, Slack, YouTube, and Gmail. These numerous features sometimes affect the usability. This is the only drawback to using Teamwork for project management as a startup.
11. Podio
Podio is another great project management tool. It was founded in 2009 and currently has more than 500,000 teams, organizations and businesses using the software. It is a cloud-based tool with the workflow hierarchy of Organization, Workspaces, Apps, and Items.
Podio integrates (very conveniently) with many third-party apps and services including Evernote, Dropbox, Google Drive, and Google Calendar. Users get to enjoy extended features and functionalities with Podio and it offers greater comfortability and efficient collaboration- giving the team everything they need to run their day successfully.
Final Verdict
In a nutshell, as a startup, you can join the league of winners, those who achieve incredible teamwork and make history by applying the appropriate tool. One of the best ways to go about this is to choose among the best project management software listed in this text. There is no gainsaying that you can accomplish great feats if you build effective communication into the epicenter of team collaboration.
This explains why many startups are aware that they can, with the help of any of the project management software, get things done quicker and for the ultimate reward of achieving success. Overall, the best project management software features some common characteristics, including time tracking, calendar, budget management tools, document sharing & collaboration, and task management.
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