Team leaders have been managing their calendars, to-do lists and employees since long before project management software existed. But digital tools have made these processes a lot easier.
Project management apps simplify planning, organization, delegation and task-tracking to help teams stay on top of their projects from beginning to end. Whether you’re coordinating sales teams, managing content production or preparing products for launch, businesses of all types and sizes can benefit from good project management software.
Here’s how to pick the right project management tool for your team.
What is a project management tool?
A project management tool is a digital solution dedicated to preparing, executing and tracking tasks. The best project management solutions clearly display every project’s lifecycle and the status of each task through intuitive, easy-to-read graphics and visual tools.
When you create a task in your project management app, you can assign it to yourself or someone else on your team and give it a deadline. From there, your app should let you track the task’s progress from “to do” to “done.”
Streamlined task management
Project management software streamlines task management by preventing missed deadlines and misunderstood responsibilities. Your chosen platform should make it easy to visualize your team’s to-dos both individually and in the big picture. The interface should let you zoom out to review all the tasks you have in progress, including each one’s owner and status, ensuring that nothing gets lost and all your work is completed on time.
Collaboration and communication
A good project management app does more than just task-tracking; it also lets you collaborate with your teammates. You might be able to add co-assignees to tasks, link task items together or create comment threads for easy collaboration, all right in your project management platform.
Plus, many of the best project management solutions integrate with Slack, letting you create, discuss and edit tasks without having to leave the Slack platform.
Key features of project management software
Options for project management apps can be overwhelming. Navigate your choices more effectively by looking for the following features.
Customizable project workflows
Your team is unique, and your project management platform should reflect that. The best project management apps adapt to you, not the other way around. You should be able to customize workflows within your project management software so the interface fits your team’s processes.
Automation capabilities
Top-notch project management platforms let you automate certain workflows to save your team from repeating the same mundane tasks over and over. For example, you might program a workflow so when a user updates the status of a ticket in your project management system, the system automatically creates a board using the appropriate preset template.
Tap into an intuitive user interface
Your project management platform should have an easy-to-use interface that makes it simple to create tasks as tickets, sticky notes, cards or tiles. If you find yourself hunting for hidden menus or buttons or struggling to figure out basic concepts like task creation and assigning tickets, it might be time to consider a different project management solution.
Gantt charts
A Gantt chart is a horizontal bar chart that illustrates a project’s current completion status and compares it to the project’s planned due date. Gantt charts are popular among project management apps because they provide a quick, clear visual to communicate a project’s status and whether it’s on track. The best project management platforms feature built-in Gantt charts for the tasks on your board.
Allocate resources and track tasks
Here’s how project management software can streamline the process of assigning and overseeing tasks.
- Data visualization: With an intuitive interface, project management software provides broad visibility across projects so you can easily see who is working on what.
- Filter settings: Many platforms let you filter tasks by assignee so you can easily balance workloads and allocate resources accordingly.
- Task tracking: Because project management apps list all your tasks in one place, it’s easy to check on each task’s progress.
- Teamwide visibility: Giving all relevant teammates access to the same board in your project management app keeps everyone in the loop on each project’s progress.
- Task linking: Your software should enable you to link tasks to each other so you can view the dependencies, meaning fewer tasks get lost in the shuffle.
- Notifications: With real-time updates of task status changes and user comments, you can easily monitor roadblocks and progress for each project.
How project management software supports Agile methodology
Though it’s typically used in software development, Agile methodology can apply to any type of project. Let’s explore how to implement the Agile framework using project management software.
What is Agile?
Developed by The Agile Alliance, Agile is a collaboration-focused project management approach that breaks each project into development phases, often called “sprints.” Agile promotes continuous collaboration, across a project’s lifecycle, including gathering feedback and implementing incremental improvements before moving from one phase of a project to the next.
For example, let’s say you’re using Agile project management to organize a cluttered garage. One phase, or sprint, of this project might dedicate 30 minutes to picking up and throwing away trash. You can’t move on from this sprint until you’ve gathered feedback and made requested improvements.
At the end of the trash sprint, you’ll solicit feedback from your partner on whether the garage looks rubbish-free. If your partner spots any remaining bits of trash, you’ll throw them out and repeat the feedback cycle until there’s no more trash to be found. Only then will you progress to the next phase of garage organization.
Kanban boards and Agile task management
Kanban boards originate from the Agile methodology and are popular tools among project management software. Using various statuses, such as “in progress” and “in review,” kanban boards let you visualize project progress and boost efficiency. Most project management apps use kanban boards as visual aids.
Backlog management and sprint planning
Strong project management software makes it easy to address a work backlog while also pushing forward with new sprints. Choose a platform that supports a virtual backlog of incomplete tasks for you to prioritize and assign on an ongoing basis. At the same time, you can use kanban boards and other tools to manage in-progress tasks from sprint to sprint until they’re complete.
Burndown charts and velocity tracking
While a kanban board illustrates zoomed-out project progress, a burndown chart shows the progress of each sprint within a project. Use a burndown chart to understand how many tasks have been completed within a specific project phase and which tasks you still need to tackle. This helps you track velocity so you can determine and adjust timelines and resources for each sprint.
Best project management software for 2024
Your team deserves the best, and the best project management tools integrate with Slack. Check out the most popular platforms for task and project management.
Trello
Similar to a virtual bulletin board, Trello is a simplified task management software that revolves around boards, lists and cards. You can create, adjust, assign and discuss tasks right in the Trello platform. Plus, with Trello’s Slack integration, you can add new Trello cards and make changes to existing ones right in Slack.
Jira Cloud
Jira is one of the best-known project management apps, allowing users to create workflows and track projects on a full-feature platform. Jira’s Slack integration lets you create tasks directly from Slack messages. Slack can also notify you of status updates and flagged issues in Jira.
Miro
Build a robust remote collaboration strategy with Miro, the Agile-inspired visual platform. Get organized with brainstorms and digital sticky notes, and invite members of all teams at your company to work with you in Miro. And Slack helps you get the most out of Miro with in-app notifications.
Standup.ly: Poll & Survey ToDo Bot
If your workdays are getting a bit too meeting-heavy, Standup.ly can help. This project management bot for Slack enables asynchronous standups so your team can plan sprints and groom backlogs. It also offers automated workflows, check-ins and 360 reviews.
Workast
Workast is designed for Slack to assist remote teams with task and project management. It’s an email-free solution that simplifies teamwork organization, task creation, priority tracking and delegation. Easily convert Slack messages into tasks and connect Slack channels with Workast projects for seamless project management. (By the way, Workast is free!)
Notion
Notion offers features beyond just project management, providing a centralized space for note-taking, task management, brainstorming and page customization. Notion supports real-time collaboration and integrates with Slack so you never miss an update.
Asana
Asana helps teams align on their project goals by connecting individual tasks to broader objectives. The app provides a clear picture of how everyone’s work contributes to the team’s overarching initiatives. Asana offers a robust free plan as well, making it a great tool for small businesses. Its Slack integration lets users turn Slack messages into action items and receive notifications about project updates.
Figma and FigJam
Figma’s design-focused project management products help teams maximize efficiency so they can complete design tasks more quickly and effectively. Figma’s Slack app lets you respond to Figma and FigJam comments and view notifications right in Slack.
Confluence Cloud
Bring your team together in a shared workspace for collaboration, documentation and task management with Confluence Cloud. The Slack app for Confluence delivers notifications from across Confluence’s various platforms so you can stay on top of ongoing projects without too much context switching.
ClickUp
ClickUp brings you simple, straightforward project management, allowing your team to track productivity and leverage tools on one collective platform. ClickUp’s Slack app is free for all users, including those on ClickUp’s free plan.
Add your favorite project management software to Slack
Take your project management strategies to the next level with collaboration-forward, remote-friendly software. The top project management apps offer a core set of functional tools to help you track tasks and manage workflows with confidence and ease. With a variety of software options to choose from, there’s a good fit out there for every type of team—and many of these tools integrate with Slack.
