Long gone are the days when Microsoft Project is the only tool available to Project Managers. There are several tools on the market now that are available online and offer free and affordable options for service-based businesses. I’ve even heard of a few people who use it for managing their personal lives as well. Hey, if it works, it works. Here are my top picks of online project management tools.
ClickUp
I love, love, love, love love, ClickUp. Did I say I love ClickUp? I just wanted to be sure.
This online project management tool has several features that made me transition from my previous PM tool. It allows you to switch your project view from task list to calendar view with the click of a button. If you need to add customized columns, it gives you this option when you setup each project. And, so that you don’t have to reinvent the wheel for every new similar project you create, you can save a ‘project’ as a template and use it as a base instead of starting from scratch.
BONUS FEATURE: ClickUp does not allow you to close a task that has open dependencies. So, if you forgot that subtasks were included in a major tasked and tried to close it out before checking to see if everything is done, it will not allow you to. A note pops up saying, task cannot be closed because of open items……. or some verbiage along those lines.
Asana
Asana was one of the first PM tools that I tried. It is quite popular in the online community for service-based businesses. The features that I like include the daily emails with the tasks that are scheduled to be completed for each day. You have the option to turn this off, if getting more emails in your inbox is not your thing. I like the accountability factor of it. Plus, it’s a quick reminder of what I need to get done and then I just delete it.
The other feature that I like, is the ability to setup multiple ‘Workspaces’. If you have multiple businesses or clients that you need to manage within the same account this is a good option. I still use Asana for certain parts of my business, just because I haven’t made a plan to transition everything over to ClickUp at this time.
BONUS FEATURE: Recently, they’ve added something called Goals (paid account feature) that allows you to list/share the overall company goals on a single page for your Workspace. I think this is neat and allows your team to have an area to review what the team is currently focused on accomplishing.
Other PM Tools/Honorable Mentions
The above tools are my favorites, but here are some others that you can look into if you’ve found that ClickUp or Asana does not met your business needs.
- Trello
- Monday
- Teamwork
I hope you’ve found this list helpful and choose the right project management tool to help you manage your business. If you have any questions about these tools, leave them below and I’ll address them if I can. Always happy to help other business owners find the tools that work for them.
Looking for a Project Manager to help you setup an online project management tool or transition from your current tool that just isn’t working? Let’s chat and see how I can help your business effectively use an online PM tool that will allow you to be more organized and even scale your business.