Best project management software

February 1, 2024 5:39 AM

So, I'm in a managerial position now. I need some software, just for myself, that helps me track projects. Of which I have many.

I need to be able to enter a project, a due date, intermediate steps, who I have assigned it to. I want it to bug me with alarms about upcoming deadlines. I'd love to be able to visualize everything on some kind of calendar or timeline and be able to prioritize things. I just need somewhere to organize everything coming in very quickly, like a to do list, but then be able to get very deep with intermediate steps, and the ability to assign things. Integration with Outlook would be ideal, to even keep track of the emails associated with a particular project. Suggestions?

posted by MythMaker to Computers & Internet (12 answers total)

I tried many options and settled on Smartsheet. Hits most if not all your needs, depending on how you prefer working. My team is Outlook/Office-centric and this plays well with them.
posted by late afternoon dreaming hotel at 5:43 AM on February 1, 2024 [2 favorites]

At my job we have a shared Trello board for this - my first time using it, and I've found it pretty easy to learn.
posted by coffeecat at 6:25 AM on February 1, 2024 [1 favorite]

Notion will do this. I am happy to pay for software but I don't need to with Notion, I have not found the limits of the free account. Monday.com is what I used previously and a lot of people like it.
posted by DarlingBri at 6:25 AM on February 1, 2024 [1 favorite]

We use Trello, but if you want to assign sub tasks or relate them to something bigger, it's not exactly what you want. Asana does a better job of being like a to do list with the ability to nest those things as sub tasks.
posted by advicepig at 6:40 AM on February 1, 2024 [1 favorite]

I've used a lot of internal PM tools and the main difference I've noticed is who uses it: some people really jive with Jira (sickos), others can't understand why you'd use anything but Trello, and so on. Since you know your teams and who you need to work with beyond that, there may be some integrations like Outlook that may limit your choices. But first off, I would say the best PM software is any system that you know you like and will faithfully adhere to. Real freaks use spreadsheets.

That said, I've finally landed at a monday.com-using org and can confidently say it's a good product. Can be as high level or as granular as you need, lots of different modes (like auto-generated GANTT or Kanban) and per-user/per-board automations to really enforce those pesky deadlines. The mirror function means you can track items across projects in different boards, but only update the source item: this has proven insanely useful for simplifying things for the C-suite without losing any fidelity.

The name is terrible but so it goes.
posted by Ten Cold Hot Dogs at 6:56 AM on February 1, 2024 [3 favorites]

If you have Office 365 you should have access to Microsoft Planner which may do what you want.
posted by misskaz at 8:01 AM on February 1, 2024 [3 favorites]

We use Asana, most people like it, it has a low learning curve, and it is free.
posted by anastasiav at 8:46 AM on February 1, 2024 [2 favorites]

If you have Office 365 you should have access to Microsoft Planner which may do what you want.

It doesn't quite yet but soon will.
posted by cooker girl at 8:55 AM on February 1, 2024 [1 favorite]

I've recently seen a demo of Odoo more related to CRM, but it does have a project management module and I think they've been targeting sole proprietor/small biz types for their software so I'd bet it's worth checking out.
posted by GamblingBlues at 8:58 AM on February 1, 2024

Microsoft Planner is already part of Office 365, at least the business license. You might also have Project.

Assuming you have them, trying out the Microsoft products first has several advantages. Planner can do everything you outlined, and it's integrated with Outlook. Plus, it's likely your best shot for gradually engaging your team to start using it too.

Most PM tool attempts end up abandoned because nobody wants to learn a new tool, especially something external that you'd need to log into. Since everyone already has it, you can slowly integrate it in. Start using it during your team check ins as a screen share to go through the tasks. At some point, someone will have to miss a meeting, and you can tell them to add their updates in directly. If people pick it up, you eventually may need fewer meetings and check ins. And if they don't, it's still useful for your own management and tracking.
posted by veery at 7:07 AM on February 2, 2024 [1 favorite]

I don't have specific recommendations, but I will say that the main issue with any project planning tool is discipline as far as entering and updating the information - if you don't have everything you need in there, your project management with the tool will not be helpful to you. And by everything I mean you need to also track time off for the people involved in the projects, either planned time off, or unplanned time off (which you need to put in as a means of tracking where delays have happened)
posted by TimHare at 8:29 AM on February 2, 2024 [1 favorite]

I am basically a project manager - I like Asana but have a corporate Monday.com account with most of the bells and whistles so I use that. It can do a kanban board like trello, but can handle other things like Asana, and there are a lot of pretty sophisticated integrations and automations, as well as good product support. I use it as a shadow system for tracking a six figure annual project and for the moving/negotiating bits of a seven figure annual library collections budget, as well as any ongoing project involving more than three staff. It mostly does what I want to do and can be extended or patched via API or integration if the built-in feature set falls short.
posted by aspersioncast at 5:08 PM on February 2, 2024 [1 favorite]