We are dedicating this article to Managing Directors and Executive Managers with the purpose of helping them adopt simple digital timekeeping practices that will enhance their business. From saving money and staying compliant with the law to maintaining relationships with both clients and employees, these easy-to-follow tips will add value to your day-to-day processes.
It has long since become known that managing projects via Excel spreadsheets leads to inefficiency and, often, delays. While startups and smaller companies can still make do with that, such an approach eventually becomes the main hindrance to their further growth and scalability.
For this reason, the Software-as-a-Service market (SaaS) is currently booming with all sorts of solutions to aid project managers. Given how much goes into the process and how different the demands of each business are, we have compiled a list of diverse project management tools that will support the scaling of your company and grow together with it.
5 Quick Time Tracking Tips to Adopt Today
While these five products are aimed at making the task of project management easier, they each have a unique value proposition. In fact, on some occasions, they could complement one another by being part of the same digital toolbox.
Timesheet Portal Project edition is our very own solution that comes with a handful of features. From highly customisable timesheets and bespoke reporting to expense management and invoice generation, it is suitable for businesses that both outsource their workforce and rely on in-house employees.
Due to our pricing model, companies can select which features they want and will then pay for them only. This makes the solution accessible to startups and smaller organisations as much as it is to bigger companies. A long list of integrations also makes Timesheet Portal a long-term solution that will continue growing alongside your business.
Basecamp is a great tool for companies that run projects for multiple clients as it offers a simple interface that’s inclusive of different collaboration features. This includes each project having centralised document storage at the bottom, designated discussion areas and a particularly powerful search tool that makes it easy to locate both files and conversations.
However, Basecamp falls short in customisation options. There are also no timelines, milestones or duration estimations for tasks. It also won’t allow assigning multiple users to a task, which can be very inconvenient for bigger teams.
Trello is a highly interactive project management tool that offers a holistic visualisation of the project in a single view. Although in its essence it’s just a kanban tool, the number of customisation options and its modern look make it particularly popular with startup companies.
Another attractive attribute is that Trello’s free package includes unlimited boards and members. However, its key value proposition is its card system, where tasks such as conversations or to-do lists can be moved around the board using a drag-and-drop system.
Not as flashy in its interface, Wrike is a collaboration and project management tool that helps users stay on track with specific project time frames and within a specified budget. Its generous list of integrations includes Excel, Google Suite, Dropbox and many more. The most prevalent integration, however, is the email one.
Wrike allows users to transform emails into tasks within the software. Additionally, this enables document creation, assignment and editing straight from their email account as opposed to having to log into the software.
Backlog is software that focuses on creating smoother team collaboration between different departments. Each team has special features at their disposal: sales, for example, can use it to track lead lifecycles.
It is mostly marketed as a project management tool aimed at the developers, who are also given the feature of reviewing code within the platform. Backlog is also highly favoured for its team communication system, ranging from mention notifications to feedback-encouraging comment sections.
Summary
There’s no right or wrong way to approach project management as it's ultimately tied to your business and project goals. This breeds many solutions that cater to different aspects and address different challenges. Such diversity means that sometimes you might want to include several project management tools in your digital toolbox.
A set of integrative software that addresses your specific needs and expands your data reach will deliver insights that would otherwise be unavailable. This will lead to natural, educated changes within your processes. And this is what we call project management innovation.
Curious to see where Timesheet Portal fits within your project management strategy? Book a demo and we’ll figure it out together.
