Project management software to keep your eye on in 2021

BY

02 February 2021

Software Development

Technology

Agile Project Management

post-cover-image

The new year has officially started, with most people now back at work trying to remember exactly where they left that last project before their Christmas break.

As always, planning and procedure is key to the successful outcome of any project, and one of the best foundations for these two pillars is using a quality project management tool. In this article I will be exploring what are some of the best project management software tools available in 2021.

What we will look at is:

  • What are some of the important things project management software can do.
  • Finding your use case.
  • What is available for certain budgets.
  • Overall favourite.

What are some of the important things project management software can do

Project management software becomes extremely helpful in agile project management methodology, as it allows for a central, collaborative space where the entire team can track who has done what and when, meaning there is no cross over or duplication. Additionally, from a reporting perspective, this allows management to very easily see if a project is running on time, and where any efficiencies could be made.

Key tools you will use in most project management software:

Gantt Charts

  • Gantt charts are a visual representation of a projects schedule, it allows you to quickly see who is working on what and what their availability/workload is at a high level.

File storage

  • Having a centralised space for file storage allows for systemisation in where your team can store work and access it at future dates.

Task Delegation

  • Being able to see who has time available quickly ensures that you can delegate tasks to the best suited team members on the project.

Calendar integration

  • Integration into your calendar/email server allows you to ensure your team is able to access their daily plan from anywhere.
  • Additionally, it makes for seamless meeting bookings.

Discussion boards

  • Communication is key in any project, and having a centralised/dedicated space for the team to communicate about their focus/blockers/bugs is a highly valuable addition.

Finding your use case:

So you have decided to start looking into what project management software is best for you and your organisation, the first thing you will need to do is discover what are the most important things for you and your team that your current process is lacking?

Questions to ask:

  • Do I need file storage?
  • How many users will need access?
  • Do you need time tracking?
  • Is budgeting/revenue projection needed?
  • What integrations will I need?

After you have answered all of these questions the selection process can begin.

What is available for certain budgets

TeamGantt

  • TeamGantt offers a free account with an unlimited amount of storage for up to 3 users
  • If you want premium features like forecasting, time estimations and guest user accounts then you will need to subscribe to one of their paid accounts (for a team of 20 on their standard plan you would pay $214/month)

ZoHo Projects

  • Offer a free plan for up to 3 user across 2 projects at a time
    • Limited to 10MB of storage space
    • Includes Gantt chart viewer
  • Premium pricing for a team of 15-100 users costs $7.75/user/month
  • Features include:
    • Unlimited projects
    • 20 project templates
    • 100GB of file storage
    • Utilization forecasting

Notion

  • Offer a free plan for 1 User with upto 5 guest users
  • Syncs across devices
  • Allows for search across all notes, wiki’s and projects
  • Comprehensive Gantt Charts
  • Milestone Tracking
  • Works inline with Agile software methodologies well
  • Premium Features:
    • $8/month/user
    • Unlimited team members
    • Admin tools/access partitioning

Jira

  • Offer an always free plan for up to 10 users
  • Scum and Kanban boards
  • Agile reporting
  • Customisable workflows
  • Road mapping
  • 2GB File Storage
  • Premium features
    • Unlimited file storage
    • 24/7 support
    • 10,000 user limit
    • Project role allocation
    • Advanced road mapping and project automation
    • Audit logs
    • Pricing: $14/month/user

Overall Favourite

It’s hard to advise on what is going to be the best project management software for you in 2021, ultimately it is going to come down to what your needs are and what your budget is.

For a small team looking for a free version as a starting point I would recommend TeamGantt as it has a large enough list of features on the free version, unlimited storage and can scale with your team.

For a small-medium sized team I would recommend Notion due to it’s comprehensive features and mid tier price range

For Medium to Large teams, it is hard to look past the Atlassian suite and use Jira for your project management software. This is what we use at WorkingMouse and it suits our needs very well.

If you have any questions about how to pick a project management software to fit your agile software development team, please feel free to contact us.

How we empower departments and enterprises

Government

author-thumbnail
ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Josh Beatty

Account developer and hair gel hoarder

squiggle

Your vision,

our expertise

Book a chat