The Benefits of Project Management Tools

If your company is like most, you have multiple teams working on multiple projects at any given time. This can make keeping track of deadlines, budget, and progress a challenge. Fortunately, there are a number of professional project management tools available to help you stay organized and on track. Unfortunately many of the best tools will not easily work together, but there are solutions to that.

Why you need project management tools

Simply put, project management tools are software applications that help individuals and organizations plan, execute, and monitor projects. There are a variety of different project management tools available on the market, each with its own unique set of features and capabilities. However, the most popular project management tools typically offer users the ability to create and track tasks, set deadlines, assign roles and responsibilities, and communicate with team members.

Benefits of Using Project Management Tools

There are many reasons why you might want to consider using project management tools in your personal and professional life. Here are just a few of the benefits:

1. Increased Efficiency: Project management tools can help you optimize your workflow and get more done in less time. By keeping all of your tasks and deadlines organized in one central place, you can avoid wasted time spent searching for lost files or trying to remember when something is due.
2. Improved Communication: Project management tools make it easy to communicate with team members and keep everyone on the same page. With features like task assignment and real-time messaging, you can avoid miscommunications and misunderstanding that can lead to costly mistakes.
3. Reduced Stress Levels: Trying to manage a complex project without the help of project management tools can be extremely stressful. With a good project management tool, you can rest assured knowing that everything is under control and running smoothly. This can help you stay focused and avoid burning out.

Example project management tools

1. Asana Asana is a web-based project management tool that helps you keep track of all the moving parts of your project in one place. With Asana, you can create task lists, set deadlines, assign tasks to specific team members, and more. Asana also offers handy features like a built-in calendar and real-time notifications to help keep your team on track.

2. Basecamp Basecamp is another popular web-based project management tool. Like Asana, Basecamp allows you to create task lists, set deadlines, and assign tasks to team members. Basecamp also offers a built-in messaging system so your team can communicate directly with one another without having to leave the app. And, like Asana, Basecamp offers a handy calendar view to help you stay on top of deadlines.

3. Trello Trello is a web-based project management tool that takes a different approach from Asana and Basecamp. With Trello, you create “boards” for each project and then populate those boards with “cards” representing individual tasks. You can then drag and drop those cards around to visualize the progress of your project. Trello also offers features like due dates, comments, and file attachments to help keep your team organized and on track.

Problems with project management tools

Except for Basecamp, the other two project management tools do not offer a way of storing written documentation. Let’s say you are brainstorming a new product or an enhancement to an existing product, you will want a easy way to put together a list of requirements and supporting documentation easily. Google Docs is the tool of choice for this free form documentation.

Project documentation with Google Docs

Google Docs is a powerful, yet free, online application that can be used for documenting projects. A killer feature of Google Docs is its real-time collaboration capabilities. With Google Docs, multiple users can edit the same document simultaneously. This is perfect for team projects as it allows everyone to work on the same document at the same time without having to send endless emails back and forth. And if you need to track changes or leave comments for your team members, you can do that with ease thanks to Google Docs’ built-in commenting and revision history features.

Project management with Google Docs and Asana

If you landed on using a combination of Google Docs and Asana to manage your companies projects then the next step is to integrate these two world class tools together.

With the Jargonfly Google Workspace Add-On you can document your tasks in the Google Doc and then with a click of a button, create bi-directional tasks in Asana. This makes it easy to reference the document from the Asana task and saves a ton of copying and pasting from Google Docs to Asana and back.

Conclusion:

If you’re looking for ways to increase your efficiency, improve communication, and reduce stress levels, then consider using a combination of Google Docs and Asana today!