Many organizations have projects that change from basic individual tasks to complex projects, including different segments, teams, and budget plans. Following all parts of a task can be overpowering, which is where project management software comes in. What is project management software? Well, the answer is:

It is software used for planning, organizing, and management. It permits project supervisors, partners, and clients to control costs and oversee the planning, quality management, and documentation, and most people use it as an administration system. Project management software also helps in communication and collaboration between teams and partners. (Wikipedia)

After knowing what project management software is, the next question is about the best project management software. Choosing suitable software is challenging, as there is no such thing as the best software. Every software gives unique features according to the need of your company. Join us in learning a bit more about the different types of project management software and what they do.

WHAT DOES PROJECT MANAGEMENT SOFTWARE DO?

There is a lot of software with a wide range of functions and features. These are the uses of project management software:

TASK MANAGEMENT:

Quite possibly, the most valuable use of project management software is to assist you with looking for the long list of tasks and track them. You can track a task by defining it, appointing it, setting the deadline, and getting an alert of completing the task. In most of the case, managers only look for this function while selecting management software. The software can be powerful for complex tasks or simple for little activities. The low-level woodworker to the large-level worker can benefit from this function to monitor their development and expectations.

PLANNING:

A manager may utilize the software to plan project assignments and outwardly portray task collaborations to characterize a project plan. A good project management software has the feature that permits you to draft the entire plan. The software assists you in the following ways:

• In designing the basic plan for the project and pictures the independent assignments
• In making diagrams, planning for time, and set deadlines for a project.
• In making a separate list for the completion of the task and who is answerable for each errand
• In designating staff to complete the tasks

TIME TRACKING:

The function of time tracking in software assists organizations with following work costs by having representatives track the time spent on each task. Proficient administrations, where hours worked are charged to the customer, use this function regularly. Workers can follow their time in a timesheet design or with some other time-assortment technique.

The software has a feature of Gantt charts:

Gantt chart is a bar chart that helps to schedule and track the timing for any project. It came in design in around 1910. Its inventor is Henry Gantt. On the x-axis or horizontal line of the graph, there are time intervals, whereas, on the y-axis, it shows lists of tasks. The width of each bar gives the duration of each task. (Wikipedia)

COLLABORATION:

Working together with colleagues, senior managers, and teams is fundamental to any project. A coordinated effort can occur among individual workers in a similar area (office or field) or worldwide. It can occur among colleagues who see each other every day. Collaboration is getting more typical in the managing project as clients need to share data or thoughts on a project. Many organizations also use the collaboration feature of project management software to record sharing, sending notices, and commenting on tasks.

MANAGEMENT OF ANY BUGS AND ISSUES:

Complex projects can undergo issues that will extend your deadline or make a wrong impression on customers. Issues can be bugs, breakdowns, glitches, or loopholes that will affect your project management. Project management software has a feature that can remove or look for these issues and can give you consistent workflow. Similarly, the software also saves long reports or conversations on how to settle the issue. It might likewise track and store issues like open inquiries or remarks so that you can know in the future about the solution.

MANAGEMENT OF DOCUMENTS:

Another valuable feature of project management software is the management of documents. Users can store archives and different documents with the name of the specific project. Users can also impart documents to different clients and set authorizations for access, like read-just or the capacity to alter.

CLOUD-BASED ARRANGEMENTS:

Cloud-based arrangements have been the new top pick of the business world for a long while now. The most noticeable advantage of Project Management Software is its cloud-based administrations. As the task groups become remote and greater, better communication and collaboration are required, and cloud-based innovation works with this consistent cooperation throughout the planet with one click. Not just this, cloud-based arrangements are quite affordable when contrasted with purchasing a permit for the software. They are simpler to carry out and work with adaptability and versatility.

Apart from these, many uses and features only present in few project management soft wares.

Before we go into why project management software is useful and the best project management software for different job roles, departments, and industries, I’d like to recommend some additional articles available on this blog for you to read next. Open them in a new tab and read it later!

WHY IS PROJECT MANAGEMENT SOFTWARE USEFUL?

 If you do not use project management software, there is a chance that you are wasting your time, spending energy on details, and doing hard work when it is not necessary. It gets difficult to plan, manage or collaborate without good software. Here are the few benefits of using project management software:

• More mechanized work process:

A project management software can track minor details about a project. It has an automated workflow and built-in alert system that remind users about the deadlines and upcoming assignments and tasks.

• Increased productivity:

Another significant benefit of the software is that it upgrades your decision-making cycle and improves efficiency at work. With the help of software, you can find all information in one place, and you can generally settle on educated choices inside the briefest time.

• Better knowledge of project expenses and budget:

The budget plan of any project is challenging to handle. Every manager needs to prevent costs from soaring. Project management software comes with the feature of monitoring and calculating the price of a project and keeps it under budget.

• Improved document sharing and collaboration:

Collaboration is significant for a group that works on a single project. Project management software includes collaboration and document sharing features. An undertaking supervisor can relegate a particular assignment to a client and directly discover the errand’s status from the software. Clients can share reports, comment on documents that others can alter.

• Distant Working:

With the current pandemic, people are working from home and are now in different places. Project management software manages and collaborates with distant and remote groups to manage teams and managers. They can manage their time and work with ease.

• Better association and more standardized measures:

For organizations that work on a few similar tasks like numerous projects for similar customers, it’s critical to have a normalized cycle that can be computerized to decrease the time engaged with the project following. Project management software has different templates that you can repeatedly use for similar tasks. Likewise, all sources identifying with the project are concentrated, which keeps projects more coordinated.

• Capacity to coordinate with different integration:

Project management software can integrate with other systems, particularly cloud-based software. Such a system can incorporate Microsoft Office programs, Google Apps, and many social media sites.

Teams that can benefit from project management software:

Today, all associations anticipate that their teams should convey more outcomes with fewer resources. These apparently incomprehensible assumptions can be satisfied and surpassed if organizations use project management software. Here is the list of a few groups or teams that will benefit from software:

1. Marketing or advertising teams: 

There are various moving projects, input, expectations, content work processes, and due dates in marketing. With so much data included, it is hard to track down the correct document at the right time. Preparing documents and communicating between teams without putting a strain on the accessible resources while guaranteeing business development is hard without project management software.

2. Product team: 

After the approval of the stakeholders, the product manager may have to follow the number of details on an everyday premise and work alongside an assortment of groups. Project management software will help managers interpret the plan into identifiable projects and collaborate with everybody successfully.

3. Customer care team: 

Great client experience is the main element for the success of many organizations. Nonetheless, if the customer care team is engrossed with chaos and shuffling responsibility, they might not have sufficient opportunity to help the client. Project management software can help your customer care group to team up better, deal with their responsibility, and discuss adequately with clients.

4. Event organizers: 

Organizing an event is a challenging task. It takes a ton of cooperation, regular spending checks, sticking to deadlines, and a ton of obligations to have an occasion effectively. Missing a little detail can make things turn out badly. Project management software helps plan, manage and do every task effectively. 

BEST OVERALL PROJECT MANAGEMENT SOFTWARE

There are many project management software available, from free online applications to big business-level tools. Some software is proposed distinctly for exact organization sizes, while most others are for organizations of all sizes. A few software are even industry-explicit, like construction or designing, and others are focused explicitly on work capacities (e.g., marketing, IT). We have listed the overall best software below:

1. TRELLO: 

Trello is an advanced variant of a sticky note board accessible on the web, iOS, and Android that assists clients with sorting out their assignments using a list, board, and cards. It gives layouts and over 100 incorporations. Trello is best because it is mostly free of cost. This implies that most clients will not ever have to change to the paid choices, in any event, for business utilization. The free option gives you the entirety of the significant features. 

It is best for small groups and individuals who need simple task management that adjusts rapidly to a group’s current work process. Check below for a tutorial video explaining more about how to use Trello!

2. MONDAY.com:

Monday.com is a cloud-based system intended for all business sizes to deal with projects, measures, and regular work. It highlights shading coded boards supportive for seeing the project improvement initially. Monday.com makes collaboration among groups simple with specific task features for unified correspondence, record sharing, and document management.

3. WRIKE:

Wrike is incredible project management software that works for all sizes of organizations. The software allows you to follow time and oversee projects in a hurry through its versatile mobile application. While it is somewhat pricier than a portion of its rivals, Wrike is a quality decision that can help you tackle tasks of any size. Here is the video for beginners: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CjaLQYuSafI

4. SMARTSHEET:

Smartsheet highlights an instinctive, accounting page-like interface that offers automative and synergistic capacities for the individuals who work best with spreadsheets. Self-administration reports and dashboards give an understanding of your investigation. Gantt graphs and automated work features include inside Smartsheet make the project management simpler.

5. BASECAMP:

Basecamp has been around for longer than ten years and has assembled an enormous, faithful client base during that time. The software takes a significant numbers of the features from different other software and folds them into one system. Planning and schedules, private informing, documents storing, and more are incorporated. A cleaned-up interface and incredible search tool make it clear to find the task, picture, or message you are after, and a solid report suite releases you as wide or profound as required. It has the feature of email integration and can send individual messages to groups. You can also alter notifications according to your needs.

6. ASANA:

For small to medium-sized organizations, it is difficult to turn out badly with Asana. The software makes it simple to design activities and tracks progress, and assignment conditions ensure you do not lose track of what is most important. This arrangement likewise offers complementary plans that permit up to 15 individuals to work together.

7. LIQUID PLANNER

Liquid Planner may be a standout amongst other project management software available for huge organizations and undertakings. Liquid Planner dominates in loaning visibility to huge organizations. Consequently, it keeps track of completion dates, and project supervisors consistently know the number of resources and staff they have available to them. Estimating price might be restrictive for medium-sized organizations. However, groups that are more prominent will consider it a wise choice.

BEST PROJECT MANAGEMENT SOFTWARE FOR CONSTRUCTION:

Construction management oversees and dissects development projects beginning to finish projects effectively on schedule and financial plans. Errands incorporate booking laborers, allocating resources and hardware, adjusting partners and subcontractors, overseeing project records, taking care of RFIs, evolving orders, buying requests, and tracking task budget plans and courses of events.

1. Builterra:

The best development software for contract organization. 

Builterra is a contract organization tool with ongoing quotes, a Bid Preparation entrance, RFI and submittals, occurrence detailing, normalized thing inventories, geo-found photograph refreshes, a progress dashboard, exact regularly scheduled installment authentications, and more.

2. Onware:

Cloud-based arrangement with information stream between records, PDF access without extra modules, time tracking, adaptable revealing, and more. 

Onware is software intended to make, oversee, and convey project archives and afterward report with a high-level engine controlled by an elite association with Tableau.

3. ConstructionOnline:

First-class development PM software with booking, RFI following, task following programming, position costing, and more. 

ConstructionOnline is an exceptionally evaluated development software with highlights like cloud file management, plan and drawing markup instruments, assessing and work costing, and primary way project planning to oversee projects from pre-development to the total task lifecycle.

4. CMiC:

Construction software suite with PM highlights like document management, job management, and helpful correspondence highlights. 

CMiC conveys field tasks arrangements solution built for development and capital undertakings organizations utilizing a single information base stage for all arranging. You can oversee invoices, subcontractor consistency, change orders, and punch records, along with your client relationship management in a single spot.               

5.  GenieBelt:

Software for builders with a great UI being used at the absolute most prominent development organizations on the planet. 

Letsbuild, formerly GenieBelt and Aproplan, is a computerized tool for development experts that helps to guarantee groups are in a state of harmony, plans are state-of-the-art, partners and associated with the correspondence, and development measures are digitized, so all colleagues approach project data.

BEST PROJECT MANAGEMENT SOFTWARE FOR SMALL BUSINESS:

1. monday.com :

Cloud-based work OS, where groups make work process applications in minutes to run their cycles, projects, and regular work 

• CROOW:

 Best for work process customization, computerization, and permeability into mostly business execution

• Zoho Projects :

Best adaptable work assignment tool

• Kissflow Project :

Best for offering fundamental highlights at a reasonable cost 

• Wrike:

Small business tool for project management that dominates in simple work process perception with intuitive dashboards and graphs

BEST PROJECT MANAGEMENT SOFTWARE FOR REMOTE TEAMS:

1. monday.com:

 Best PM tool for distant worker combinations 

• MeisterTask:

Best instrument for on the web, distant task management

• Kissflow Project :

Best basic software for distant groups 

• Wrike:

Best for remote collaboration effort across offices 

• Teamwork :

Best for enormous organizations and projects

BEST FREE PROJECT MANAGEMENT SOFTWARE: 

1. ClickUp:

 Best free software for all size groups

2. Kissflow Project :

Best free task management programming for non-project chiefs

3. TeamGantt :

Best for making Gantt graphs 

4. Wrike:

 Best for real-time stream use

5. Cooperation:

Best for the feature of Kanban board

6. Podio :

Best for task management

7. nTask Manager :

A best free project management with limitless clients 

8. Bitrix24:

Best for small groups 

9. PivotalTracker :

Best free software with limitless capacity 

10. Freedcamp :

Best free software with limitless tasks

BEST PROJECT MANAGEMENT SOFTWARE FOR INDIVIDUALS:

1.    monday.com 

2.    Wrike:  

Best profitability application for collaboration

3.    Squint:

 Specialized software that brings desk less workers together

4.    Todoist:

Personal productivity application for handling task

5.    Buffer:

Simple social media tool for communication

BEST PROJECT MANAGEMENT SOFTWARE FOR LARGE ORGANISATIONS:

1.    Monday.com

Best adjustable project management software

2.    Hive:

Best software for handling project portfolios of large organizations

3.    Celoxis:

 Best for project groups that are in different geographical locations

4.    Wrike:

 Best for Scaling Organizations 

5.    Liquid Planner:

Best project management software with cross-project visibility

BEST PROJECT MANAGEMENT SOFTWARE FOR STARTUPS:

1.    monday.com:

 Best for inventive groups 

2.    Kissflow Project:

 Best for adaptable form building 

3.    Freedcamp:

 Best free arrangement for project management

4.    Trello:

 Best for Kanban boards

5.    Wrike:

Best for tracking of time

FINAL THOUGHT:

Picking the correct project management software can require some serious energy. It is critical to consider what sort of work your group does, the number of individuals is in the association, and how you need to maintain your business. There is a lot of brilliant alternatives to fit each spending plan. 

With a dependable project management application set up, individuals can team up effortlessly on project work. Besides, entrepreneurs and group directors can get valuable experiences into how their groups work, regardless of whether projects are on target and how to manage them back to an effective spot when they slip.

REFRENCES: 

The Beginner’s Guide to Using Project Planning Software

The Complete List of Project Management Software

https://financesonline.com/5-top-uses-project-management-software-benefit/

https://smallbusiness.chron.com/benefits-using-project-management-software-2196.html

https://www.thebalancesmb.com/best-project-management-software-4175032#best-for-collaboration-basecamp

The Ultimate Guide to Project Management Basics – 2021 Edition

Project Management Software: Complete Guide (Top 8 Tools)

9 Key Benefits of Using Project Management Software

The importance of project management software to improve team productivity