The tasks required to manage a project do not need to be difficult for leaders and team members. After all, there are already project management tools that help organize activities and facilitate communication between employees.

Using these project management tools helps minimize the risk of initiative failure. With them, it is possible to prevent expenses with unforeseen costs, in addition to avoiding delays in the schedule that end up having an effect on the entire team. All of this can contribute to the central objective not being achieved.

As a way to help your progress, this text covers a little more than you need to know to get to know the main project management tools on the market. Furthermore, by consuming the content, you will be able to understand a little more about your strengths in the project management process.

Keep following this article to get the information. Good reading!

What are project management tools?

Project management tools are software or applications designed to assist teams in organizing, planning, executing and monitoring projects. These tools provide features and functionality that enable project managers and teams to collaborate, track progress, manage tasks, document information, set deadlines, and achieve project objectives.

Project management tools often include features such as:

  1. Planning and scheduling: allow you to create schedules, define tasks, establish dependencies between activities and assign resources.
  2. Task management: enable the creation of task lists, assigning responsibilities, setting deadlines and monitoring progress.
  3. Collaboration and communication: Facilitate communication between team members, enabling file sharing, comments, status updates, and notifications.
  4. Documentation and information sharing: Enables the creation and storage of documents, manuals, meeting records, status reports, and other materials relevant to the project.
  5. Resource management: help allocate and manage resources, such as people, equipment and budget, efficiently.
  6. Tracking and monitoring: Provide dashboards, charts, and reports that show project status, task progress, milestones reached, costs, and other key performance indicators.
  7. Risk management: allow you to identify, evaluate and manage the risks associated with the project, helping to implement mitigation measures and make informed decisions.

To better understand the concept of project management software, it helps to understand how larger projects are conducted. There are usually many necessary steps, with the execution of each one occurring according to a series of conditions. It is also necessary to control the duration of each of these phases, in addition to good management of all resources involved in the project.

Doing all this without the help of a tool would be difficult, even impossible. It is in this scenario that support systems emerge. They are made especially to meet this demand, so that managers carry out projects in the desired way. Furthermore, it is also easy to share the content with all participants, and this contributes to the success of the endeavor.

What are the aspects to consider when choosing a Project Management Tools?

When choosing a project management tool, it is important to consider several aspects that align with the needs of the team and the characteristics of the project.

Here are some aspects to consider:

  1. Project scope and complexity: Assess the nature of the project and determine whether the tool provides adequate capabilities to manage the specific scope and complexity of the project. Consider whether the tool can handle large projects with multiple teams and interdependent tasks.
  2. Essential functionalities: Identify the functionalities required for your project. Make sure the tool offers features such as task planning, collaboration, document sharing, time trackng, reporting, among others, according to the team’s needs.
  3. Ease of use: The usability of the tool is crucial so that the team can adopt and use it effectively. Check that the tool interface is intuitive, user-friendly and easy to understand. Consider the learning curve and whether the tool requires additional training for staff.
  4. Collaboration and communication: Evaluate the tool’s collaboration and communication capabilities. Check if the tool allows you to share information, assign tasks, comment and exchange messages easily. Consider whether the tool offers email notifications or other means to keep your team updated.
  5. Integrations and interoperability: Check whether the tool integrates with other applications and software that the team already uses. Consider whether the tool offers integration with productivity applications such as emails, calendars, cloud storage platforms, among others.
  6. Technical support: Check whether the tool offers adequate technical support, such as documentation, tutorials, user forums, or customer support. Also consider whether training and assistance options are available if needed.
  7. Cost: Evaluate the cost of the tool against the value it will provide to the project and team. Consider whether the tool is free, has a subscription model, offers scalable plans, or if an initial investment is required.
  8. Reputation and reviews: Research the tool’s reputation and read reviews from other users. This can help you get an idea about the quality, reliability, and effectiveness of the tool.

By considering these aspects, you will be able to make an informed decision about choosing the project management tool that is best suited for your specific team and project.

What are the top 10 project management tools?

There are several project management tools available, from simple and free solutions to more advanced and complex platforms. Below, we list the main ones so you can analyze the one that best suits your interests.

Remember, choosing the appropriate tool depends on the team’s needs, the complexity of the project and the available resources. Follow:

1. Microsoft Project (Project Management Tools)

The Microsoft Project application is probably one of the oldest and most widespread project management software used to conduct traditional projects.

The basic idea of ​​this software is to make management easier. In this way, he presents the proposal that anyone can lead a project, as this instrument has an intuitive and uncomplicated approach.

In the name of this proposed simplicity, the Microsoft Project proposes to facilitate both the planning and development of projects. Furthermore, he has the flexibility to choose methods that best meet the company’s needs.

Over time, cloud versions of MS Project were created that allow team members to contribute to the project’s evolution even remotely. This way, the team is given the chance to update their work simultaneously, providing remote access.

What’s more, Project Online also offers the possibility of integration with Microsoft Teams. This facilitates communication between those involved, allowing online meetings, sharing files, archiving conversations, etc.

Another highlight of Microsoft Project is the possibility of using Power BI to create personalized dashboards and reports. Thus, in addition to having a comprehensive view of the project details, you can use the data to make consistent and conscious decisions, which are much more in line with an organization’s objectives.

2. Jira

Developed by Atlassian, Jira is one of the most used software for agile project development. The software guarantees great visibility of project activities, in addition to respecting the team’s workflow and allowing it to be integrated with the tools already available in advance.

With Jira, it is quite easy and intuitive to create Kanban and Scrum boards, for example. This promotes both collaboration and a complete view of the project, allowing all members to have a better sense of everything that is happening.

When using Jira it is also possible to create agile reports, allowing the entire team to have access to what is accomplished in each sprint. Furthermore, Jira makes it easy to create and share roadmaps that suit the work being performed at the time.

3. Trello

Also developed by Atlassian, Trello brings an interesting concept for project execution. It aims to provide the organization with greater cooperation and productivity, in addition to providing more flexible, satisfactory and even fun project management.

In it, information is available in a consultation and gives the opportunity to work with any type of project. It also allows synchronization with different devices and ease of collaboration anywhere (remote access via the cloud).

The process is very simple:

  • Create a board (Kanban) for the project and invite the team;
  • Create workflow steps;
  • Create cards for tasks or information to be organized;
  • Drag cards between steps, updating their status.

Another point in Trello that is worth mentioning is workflow automation, which aims to eliminate the monotonous tasks that exist in an enterprise. Furthermore, the program allows integration with other applications, and there are Power-Ups, which are apps that allow you to extend Trello, adding new forms of visualization and integrations, for example. You can download power-ups from the Marketplace or build your own according to the needs of the project being carried out.

4. Microsoft Planner

This is another tool developed and offered by Microsoft, but with a more agile and simple proposal than MS Project. This solution focuses on organizing team work.

Thus, the objective of Microsoft Planner is to eliminate misalignment during the execution of a project. Therefore, it was designed to help develop new plans, structure the distribution and organization of tasks, facilitate document sharing and optimize communication to obtain information on the status of work progress.

It has a clear interface (Kanban board), giving visibility and transparency about the real status of tasks. You also have the flexibility to move the task from one column to another when your situation changes.

Planner is a Microsoft Office 365 application and is part of Office 365 business subscriptions. Therefore, it is an excellent alternative to Trello, especially if the company already uses the Office 365 platform, which will allow integration between Microsoft software.

5. CA Clarity

Counting on CA Clarity means having a robust management program. This tool is a completely integrated system.

Proof of this is that it acts in scope management and allows the outlining of all project needs, as well as their determination and expected results. Furthermore, it allows you to inspect proposals and estimate the costs for developing the initiative.

CA Clarity also acts in contract administration, facilitating communication between team members, risk management, quality control and incorporation of project data. In this way, this tool offers a complete approach to project management.

CA Clarity is recommended for large companies that execute large, complex projects.

6. Asana

Asana is another flexible tool for agile projects. It also assists in creating plans, organizing tasks, and managing the project schedule.

It also allows the integration of applications already used by the company. Another factor that helps to distinguish this tool is the possibility of automating daily activities, making work more fluid.

In it, a Gantt diagram can be quickly built, giving an overview of the project progress, in addition to allowing real-time monitoring of the initiative’s status. In fact, task management can be carried out using the Kanban board, increasing productivity and agility in processes.

7. Monday

Monday is a multifaceted platform that allows you to work with a variety of project management methods. Therefore, it is an instrument that can be easily adapted according to what is proposed and developed.

In addition to facilitating a broad view of the entire enterprise, this solution facilitates data-based decision making and allows the evaluation of results in real time. Not to mention the board sharing functionality that allows greater involvement between team members, ensuring great effectiveness for the project.

Simplifying the process even further, with Monday there is the chance to create a single work area for the entire project, facilitating the administration of resources and stages.

8. Dynamics 365 Projects Operations (Formerly Dynamics 365 Project Service Automation -PSA)

The Dynamics 365 Project Operations is a complete tool. It is recommended for companies that execute projects for third parties, integrating information about the sales process, planning and execution of projects.

Furthermore, it also provides resource and supplier management, billing and analysis on a single platform, promoting better communication between the parties involved and ensuring efficiency in the development of the initiative.

Microsoft (developer of the product) presents it as a new generation between ERP and CRM applications, as it combines the functionalities of both systems to execute projects on a single platform.

In this way, the proposal of Dynamics 365 PSA is to accelerate business growth in an intelligent way, making it different from other solutions presented.

Smart also developed two add-ons to this solution for end-to-end project management, ranging from sales to financial analysis of profitability of projects sold. Discover Smart PO.

9. Bitrix 24

This software aims to fully manage a business, which is why it also offers CRM and project management solutions. It has support for Gantt charts and document sharing. It is even possible to create websites and automate the sending of emails, proving that your objective is to serve companies as completely as possible.

10. Gantt Project

The system is available as free software and is recommended for companies that do not want to incur high costs with the tool. Even so, its purpose is to serve small and medium-sized companies, mainly in the function of monitoring Gantt curves. It is worth mentioning that it only works on-site, and it is not possible to access it through the cloud.

11. Artia

Artia is an online platform, which means it can be implemented in a few hours in an uncomplicated way. With this software, it is possible to obtain performance reports, create project schedules, carry out financial control, manage employees’ time recording and view activities on a kanban panel, in an intuitive way.

In addition, the Artia also has the pomodoro technique tool as a distinguishing feature. This methodology is one of the best ways to increase team productivity, as it divides work into small blocks of 25 minutes, with 5-minute breaks.

In total, the platform has more than 50 features and offers a free version, with a limit on participants and storage. However, its paid versions are ideal to meet the needs of companies of different sizes.

Conclusion – Project Management Tools

Finally, it is worth highlighting that the best choice among project management tools is the one in which the system best suits the management needs and culture of the company. After all, the main objective is the success of the projects carried out and the choice of software is crucial to achieving it. By balancing the features offered with existing needs, it is possible to achieve great results and promote success to the team that conducts a given project in an organization.

Did you like the content? So, get in touch and learn about the solutions we provide to improve project management in your company!