The market for project management software is rapidly expanding. More and more features are added to the PM applications, while more companies are offering PM applications.
It seems “work management software” is a better name than project management software for some of these applications.
There are hundreds of project management software comparison sites and project management tools from free to thousands of dollars in the monthly subscription.
It is a real challenge to select the right application for one’s need.
Why do we need project management software? What is needed in such applications and how do we use them to organize our work and improve our team’s productivity?
At Binfire we believe project management software should enhance not only the planning and tracking of tasks and projects but also make group communication and collaboration seamless.
Good PM software should help you and your team to get organized, communicate, collaborate, and become more productive.
Such software should have a place for holding all project’s files and keep all versions of each file you use in the project.
It also needs to provide tools to facilitate communication and collaboration. Without communication, project’s chances of success are close to nill.
In short, we need project management software to help us to bring clarity and order to complex tasks and projects. Such software should enable diverse groups to work on a common goal and vision.
Basic elements of project management software
What makes a project management application a good tool for planning and tracking projects? what are advantages of a project management software compared to other tools? What is needed in the user’s workspace to make the application useful?
Is a to-do list enough to qualify a software application to be called a good project management tool?
Task management is a big part of project management, but it is not the whole picture and more needed in PM applications to make them useful for managing projects.
To gain the benefits of a project management software, the application should be user-friendly and easily adopted by all team members.
If you don’t use the app because it is hard to use, there is no point getting the software in the first place.
In the past couple of years, we have covered numerous topics about project management best practices in our blog “Collaboration corner”. Browse the list below and read the articles that interest you most.
We love to hear from you about topics in project management and team collaboration. Leave us your comments and suggestion below and we will get back to you.
>> If you are new to project management and want to learn about Agile project management method, this is a good place to start:
Tutorial on Agile project management
>> If you are studying for a PM certificate or think a project management certificate can help your career, this article is a good start:
Project Management certification
>> If you have remote teams and need collaboration as part of your project management software this is a good read:
Collaborative Project Mangement
>> If you want to learn about project workflow, start from here:
>> Waterfall project management has been the longest project management methodology in practice. You find a great resource here:
Tutorial on waterfall project management
>> For web developers, the project management application needs a special feature to conform with the work web developers do. For more details refer here:
Project management for web developers
>> Large corporations work on multiple projects simultaneously. A project management application that can handle multiple projects is a must:
>> The first thing you need to do when the project scope has become clear is to plan the project. Here is a good guide to project planning:
>> Like everything else in life, there are many myths about project management and project management software. This guide separates facts from myths:
Myths about project management tools
>> If you are looking for a new project management application, we have written project management software reviews which might help you start your buying journey:
A guide to the best project management applications
>> Startups have special needs and the PM software they use needs to match how they work. In this article, we explore what makes an application fit for startups:
Project management for startups
>> Like any other thing worthy of learning, there are many misconceptions about project management. Here we point out the lies and expose the truth:
Misconceptions about project management
>> If you need a collaborative project management application this guide is for you:
Guide to collaborative project management
>> A lot of people use Microsoft Excel for project planning and organizing their task list. But Excel was never designed for collaborative work. For small to-do lists it might work fine, but for real projects does more harm than good:
Why Excel is not a project management tool
>> We wrote a piece about our expectations as what will happen in 2017. Read this here:
2017 prediction for project management
>> Binfire has won the 2016 award for project management excellence. Read about it here:
>> For those skeptics which don’t believe project management software can help work better and be more productive, read this article:
>> According to numerous studies, good project management software creates trust in teams by promoting transparency and accountability:
Project management creates trust
>> Like any craft in the world, there are best practices in project management too. Read about these best practices here:
Project management best practices
>> If you manage remote workers, here are a few hacks to improve the work and productivity:
Hacks to improve project management for remote workers
>> Project management software is morphing into work management software. In the article, we explore the requirements for these new type of business application.
>> In addition to Waterfall and Agile a new project management method is gaining acceptance. In this article, we review Hybrid method:
Hybrid project management review
>> If you are in the market buying project management software, make sure to read this guide before you buy:
Buyers guide to project management application
>> Hybrid project management is a new method and in this case study we show the best practices using this method:
Hybrid project management case study
>> If you are working in a digital agency, this guide about project management suited for digital agencies is for you:
Project management software for digital agencies
>> This is the definite tutorial about online project management software. It shows you everything you need to know:
A tutorial on online project management application
>> If you have a small business and need to use software for managing your projects this article is for you:
Project management tools for small businesses
>> There is a tug of war between those who practice Waterfall and those who use the Agile method. In this article, we have clarified the issues and listed pros and cons of each method:
>> If not used correctly, even the best project management tools can do more harm than good. In this, in-depth article, we show you things you need to avoid while using the software and things that you should follow:
What can go wrong with project management tools
>> This is the definitive guide to Hybrid project management. It covers everything you need to know about Hybrid project management before you start using it:
Introduction to Hybrid project management method
>> The framework is what describes a project from start to finish. In this article, we explore project framework for startups using remote work:
>> Most project management applications don’t have bug tracking options. We feel every project sooner or later will have bugs. For this reason, it is much better if the project management application tracks the bugs in the system:
Bug Tracking in project management tools
>> Online applications are gaining acceptance more and more now, but there are still reasons to use desktop application. We explore this issue for project management tools:
Desktop vs. online project management applications
>> Does Microsft will kill Trello and Asana by the introduction of Planner? We explore the likely scenarios here:
Microsoft Planner vs. Trello vs. Asana
>> Everybody is talking about agile project management and its amazing effects on productivity and getting things done. But Agile is not for everyone or every project. Here we explore who should use Agile and who should not.
Is Agile project management for you?
>> If you are in the market for online project management tools, this article shows you what to look for even you evaluate one:
Things to look for in online project management tools
>>This article is an overview of all you need to know about project management practice.
>> A brief description of Agile project management method for a quick review.
Agile project management brief review
>>What is a to-do list and how to use it for personal work.
>>Waterfall project management is the oldest and the most established method in project management.
Waterfall project management software review
>> Hybrid project management is the newest project management method and combines Agile and waterfall methods. Here is a quick overview.
>> If you are using Agile and scrum, there is a good chance you love the Kanban board.
Kanban board Software overview
>>Work management software is a combination of project management, collaboration, CRM and resource management.
Work management software review
>>Virtual Office is absolutely needed in remote work. If your teammates are working from home or across the pond then a good virtual office application can do wonders.
>>Time Tracking software is a great tool for freelancers and contractors.
Time Tracking software overview
We will add periodically to this list as we expand the knowledge added about project management discipline in the Collaboration Corner.
