Anyone who has ever worked on a project or even had leadership responsibility in a project knows that people play a central role in project management. So why shouldn’t people in projects make their lives a little easier and count on the support of tools and software? After all, there is plenty of software available out there - starting with the top dog's MS Project, Wrike, Monday, Jira, Asana and other Asana alternatives. However, many project teams that work on their project in a small circle may think that using one of the software tools is too complex for their project work. That is the reason why we want to introduce you to five project management tools that you might not have thought of when it comes to choosing a suitable tool. These tools are also ideal for use in small teams.
Metro Retro
- If you work in an agile team and cannot meet on-site for every meeting, Metro Retro is an interesting tool for you. With the help of Metro Retro, you can conduct the retrospective online - so you don’t have to meet face-to-face, nor do you have to miss out on this important meeting. Within this tool, there is a shared whiteboard integrated that you work on together with your team colleagues by using post-its. You can see what your colleagues have written and how they interact on the screen. However, each team member has the option to make their virtual note visible to their teammates only when they are finished. Notes can be clustered as well as rated. In this way, you can evaluate your last sprint or completed project with your team and become better and better together.
Kanbanflow
- Kanbanflow is a simple but effective tool to keep track of the pending tasks in your team. As the name suggests, Kanbanflow is a Kanban board that you can use together with team colleagues. It can be used intuitively which makes a lengthy introduction unnecessary and saves you time. Even if you are not yet familiar with Kanban its ease of use will highly improve its adaption by your team. You can create tasks, highlight them, and assign them to team members. There are different columns, which can be named individually - of course, you can also keep the default names "To-Do", "Do Today", "In Progress" and "Done". To keep a better overview of the tasks of the individual team members, it is possible to add extra rows, thus creating a kind of grid instead of the classic column display. Individual cards can contain further tasks to check off, you can attach documents or insert a description of the task.
- Hint: IAPM uses Kanbanflow besides other tools.
Infinity Maps
- Do you and your team prefer to represent your project more pictorial? Then Infinity Maps might be right for you. Here you have the possibility to display notes, to-do-lists but also analyses in a knowledge map. Especially if at the beginning of your project, you don’t know exactly which topics need to be worked on or how you want to work on the different tasks, you should look at this tool. The advantage is that you can restructure or expand tasks or information as you wish. You can zoom out completely to get an overview of the scope of your project or zoom in on the individual tasks and information to see every detail. This tool is particularly useful for communicating with stakeholders or new project team members because everyone can get a quick and ease overview of the status.
Teamly
- Teamly is an all-in-one project management tool designed to streamline task management, enhance team communication, and simplify payroll processing. Ideal for remote teams, Teamly offers a suite of features including custom workflow creation, accurate time tracking, and employee activity monitoring. Its standout feature is the screen capture video and audio recording, which allows for clear and efficient communication within your team. Teamly also provides real-time tracking of project costs and labor expenses, helping you better manage your budget. With a library of professional checklists and Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) templates, 24/7 customer support, and a completely free offering, Teamly is a comprehensive solution that can transform the way your team works, regardless of its size.
XMind
- Do you and your team need support from tools only for collecting ideas and keeping an overview - and do you want to do it without any frills? Then XMind might be the tool of your choice. Similar to Infinity Maps, this tool specializes in mind maps - only both tools have mastered the implementation quite differently. XMind offers different mind map models - both minimalists and people who value sophisticated visual representation will get their money's worth here. In addition to simple mind maps, you can also create tables and integrate them into your mind map, and you can even generate timelines or organization charts.
Hive
- Hive is more comprehensive than the other tools presented here: this tool advertises itself as "planning and execution in one platform", and it lives up to its slogan because it bundles various solutions in one software. As a user, you have the option of generating Kanban board, organizing your resources with the help of Gantt charts, or analyzing your project quantitatively. This tool is particularly interesting for small and medium-sized teams that want to use a selection of solutions for more complex projects - bundled in one software.
Conclusion
Even if you work in a small project team, you should not miss out on project management software support. Depending on your wishes, your team size, and the complexity of your project, there are numerous tools that can support you. These five tools give you just a small insight into the world of PM software. Even if the software doesn’t look like it could be interesting for handling projects at first glance, it could still be perfect for your project. After all, it doesn’t always have to be an all-in-one solution. Why should you fall back on a solution that you don’t even use to its full potential because you don’t need the many features? After all, project management is about completing projects well - how you manage them is up to you and your team.
About the author:
Linda Ottmann, M.Sc., is Certified Project Manager (IAPM) and Certified Agile Project Manager (IAPM). As Chief Communications Officer, she represents the IAPM and is responsible for IAPM's public relations. She ensures that the reputation of the IAPM is built up and maintained. She is the contact person for the IAPM Network Officials, IAPM partners, certificate holders, and all interested parties. Her aim is to give project management the attention it deserves and to support everyone who works on projects now or in the future.
