Online project management tools can let your team collaborate remotely to manage projects and share data. Which one should you use? Here are 12 of the best project management tools for online collaboration.
Online collaboration is fast becoming the norm in business. Businesses are adopting collaboration tools and collaborative mindsets to develop their products, services, and business processes.
The days of writers and creators slaving away alone with no need for input and no interaction with other creators are almost gone, too. Even publications that once thrived on writers working alone are developing collaborative environments where writers, editors, copyeditors, and graphic artists can work together to create articles, presentations, and publications that appeal to reader interests.
There are different kinds of collaboration tools. You’ll find collaboration tools for communication, time tracking, file sharing, project management, and more.
If you are involved in managing multiple projects that involve different individuals from different geographical locations, departments, and organizations, you might find the following project management collaboration tools helpful. Which is the best choice for your business will depend a great deal on your organization’s values, processes, leadership, and current technological capabilities. You may have to go through a process to incorporate the following collaboration tools into your organization’s operations, but when you do, you’ll find that your company is better equipped to handle the project management challenges of the 21st century.
Popular Project Management Collaboration Tools
Online collaboration tools for project management come in a variety of shapes and sizes. If your organization does a lot with spreadsheets and word processing, you may be familiar with Google Drive, which allows you to share documents and assign editorial and review privileges with the right individuals within your organization and third-party users you do business with. The following online collaboration tools are specific to project management. Review each one to determine if it might be useful to your organization.
Asana – Some large companies use Asana, including Deloitte, Salesforce, NASA, and Comcast. It allows you to build project plans, coordinate tasks with team members, and build Gantt charts. You can also manage work projects by seeing how much each team member is committed to each project and automate some processes. The basic plan is free. The business plan is $24.99 is paid annually, or $30.49 per month. There is also an enterprise plan by consultation.
Basecamp – Basecamp is a simple tool that includes a message board, to-do lists, scheduled events, file sharing, group chat, and automatic check-ins. They promise better organization and fewer meetings. Basecamp Personal is free but limited while Basecamp Business is $99/month.
GanttPRO – Based on Gantt charts, GanttPRO us used by Sony, Salesforce, NASA, Booking.com, Vodafone, and other top organizations. Pricing starts at $15 and goes up to $8.90 per user per month for teams with 5+ users. There is also an enterprise solution.
LiquidPlanner – LiquidPlanner is recognized as a G2 Crowd leader in project management and resource management. This platform focuses on dynamic project management, instantly updating as tasks and projects are completed. With automated resource leveling, team leaders can see at a glance if one of their team members has too much on the plate. It also comes with robust forecasting tools. Pricing starts at $45/month per user and goes up, with an enterprise-level solution by consultation. There is a 14-day free trial.
MilaNote – MilaNote is the new tool on the block. It’s designed for creative individuals and organizations with features centered on brainstorming, storyboarding, mind mapping, and collaborative planning. Pricing starts at free and goes up to $9.99/month per user.
Nimble – Nimble is used by GoDaddy, Upwork, Coldwell Banker, and many other top organizations. It’s a nimble CRM for Office 365 and G Suite, which makes it limited to a specific type of user. But for that user, it’s a great resource. It costs $19 per user per month and comes with a free trial.
Podio – Podio is used by Deloitte, Volvo, the NFL, and more. Features include app integrations, file sharing, task management, workflow management, and more. Pricing ranges from free to $24/month.
Stormboard – Stormboard allows teams to collaborate remotely, share meeting notes easily without whiteboards, secure data, and manage business processes. It’s designed for organizations that thrive on meetings. Pricing starts at free and goes up to $16.67 per user per month.
SwiftKanban – As the name suggests, SwiftKanban is a lean visual project management tool that utilizes Kanban boards. Pricing starts at free and goes up to $15/month per user.
Zoho Projects – Zoho is one of the best Google alternatives without the search engine. Zoho Projects is the project management tool based on the cloud. It offers vertical solutions for the construction industry, software development, education, marketing, testing, real estate, and consulting services. There is also an enterprise solution. Features include task management and automation, time tracking, charts, social project management, and more. Pricing starts at $3/month per user (6 user minimum) to $6/month per user for the enterprise solution. It offers a 10-day free trial.
ProofHub – ProofHub makes use of Kanban boards, Gantt charts, and calendars to help keep your team on task. With customized roles, team members can share files, have threaded discussions, create timesheets, and more. Pricing starts at $45/month and goes up to $150, but for a limited time you can get “ultimate control” for just $89/month. ProofHub offers a free trial.
Trello – Trello offers a sleek and unique way to manage projects through boards, cards, lists, and teams. Each project can have its own board and administrators can assign levels of permission while allowing project managers to move projects from one board to another so you can see at a glance where each project is and who is next in line to perform a task. Pricing starts at free and goes up to $20.83 per month per user.
There are hundreds of online collaboration tools, and plenty of them focus on project management. This is a handful of the best. Do your due diligence and pick the tool that is right for your team.
