According to the latest research, 58 percent of companies understand the importance of project management. However, only 22 percent are using project management software to help them stay on top of tasks and get things done in a timely manner.
Are you late to the project management party? Are you unsure of which project management tool you ought to be using? If so, we’re here to help.
Read on for some tips that will help you choose the best project management tool for your business.
Why Project Management Matters
Using project management tools to help you run your business, whether you’re a team of two or a team of 200, can have a huge impact on productivity and overall performance.
The following are some of the greatest benefits that project management software has to offer to teams and businesses of all sizes:
- More and better collaboration (including with remote workers)
- Easier delegation of responsibilities
- Easier scheduling
- Easier communication with clients
- Standardization for workflows and business processes
- Easier integration for new teammates
In essence, project management tools can work wonders when it comes to streamlining business processes and making sure everyone is on the same page.
How to Choose the Right Project Management Tool
Clearly, project management software can provide a lot of great benefits for your business. How do you know which is the best project management tool, though?
Here are some steps to take that will help you ensure you’re making the right decision for your business:
1. Make Sure It Offers the Right Features
The first step to take when choosing a project management tool is to make sure it offers the right features and functions for your business. In order for a project management tool to be truly effective, it must offer the following four features:
- Communication: Your software needs to make it easy for you to communicate with your teammates in a variety of ways (voice, chat, video, etc.)
- Task & Project Management: It needs to provide you with tools to divvy up tasks, assign them to different teammates with ease, and see how you’re progressing toward achieving specific goals
- Collaboration: The software should allow for easy collaboration between various team members; you should be able to talk as a group and individually to get things done and provide clarity on specific tasks
- File-Sharing: It should be easy for you to share files to your entire team and to individual team members; look for a software that allows you to create a central hub for relevant documents so everyone can access them as needed
Without these four functions, you’ll likely find that your project management software is incomplete. As a result, you’ll end up spending more money on additional, supplemental tools to try and fill in the gaps. This hurts your bottom line and prevents you from enjoying all of the benefits that a good project management software can provide.
2. Do Plenty of Research
Making sure your project management software of choice offers the right features is one of the most important things you can do when deciding which tool to use.
There are other steps you ought to take before pulling the trigger, though. For example, it’s imperative that you do plenty of research to learn about the options that are out there.
Don’t just move forward with the first tool you find. Look into the specific features it offers, as well as how accessible it is and what other people have to say about it.
3. Test It Out
It’s best if you can take a project management tool for a test run before you commit to it and require all of your teammates to start using it. Look for tools that give you a free trial to learn about the software and see if it meets all of your needs.
Be wary of options that require you to buy before you can try. You don’t want to end up locked into a contract and get stuck using a program that doesn’t do everything you need it to do.
4. Make Sure Everyone Approves
One of the main goals of using a project management tool is to help everyone collaborate with more ease. To do this, though, you ought to make sure everyone approves of the new software before you start using it.
Give everyone a chance to try it out and see how they like it before making a final decision.
5. Think About Your Budget
Of course, you need to think about your business’s budget, too. How much money can you allocate on a monthly or yearly basis to project management software? Do you need to find a tool that comes with a free version?
There are plenty of free and low-cost tools that will help you accomplish all your goals. Make sure you do your research before signing up for one, though, to ensure it checks the boxes outlined above.
6. Consider the Implementation Process
Finally, don’t forget to think about what the process will be like to implement this particular software into your business.
How easy will it be to teach everyone how to use it? When do you want to start using the program? Are there certain team members who need to master this software more than others? If so, what kinds of tools do they need to be able to learn it inside and out?
The right project management tool will be easy to integrate into your business. If the answers to these questions seem convoluted, you might not be making the right software decision.
Put Heycollab to the Test Today
There are tons of different options out there when it comes to choosing a project management tool. There aren’t many that meet all of the criteria outlined above, though.
If you want to see the greatest number of benefits from your project management software, you definitely ought to give Heycollab a try.
Heycollab checks all the boxes described in this post, and it’s also easy to implement into all kinds of businesses. Sign up for free to give it a try today.