Startups can provide a lot of daily challenges to cope with, from funding issues to product failure to staffing problems and everything else in between. You surely don’t need to add disorganization to the fray. Having a reliable set of tools to keep communication streamlined and accountability on point can make a huge difference in making sure things run smoothly.
As business evolves quickly within a startup and team members tend to wear a lot of different hats, it’s important to know who’s doing what, when and how. Transparency is key and the right project management software can make the difference in keeping things on track and organized.
There are a lot of project management software on the market so how do you know which one is right for you? We encourage you to shop around as some of the more robust software come with a bigger price tag and you’ll need to analyze if your startup really needs all the features they offer. If not, choose a lighter software so you don’t end up spending more than necessary. Also, it’s important to verify that you’re buying a software that integrates with the apps your company is already using.
nTask – nTask’s goal is provide a simplified software management system that’s intuitive and easy to use. With nTask, you can assign tasks to your team members and flag priority tasks so your team knows which ones need to get done first. Their tracking feature allows you to choose a start and end date for a particular assignment and helps keep you on schedule until it’s finished. It also allows all team members to log billable hours. Their collaboration feature means team members can leave comments on files and share among each other to keep communication up to date. They also have an online meeting software that allows you to conduct team meetings. You can share the agenda before the scheduled meeting and share main points discussed with the team afterwards, so everyone is on the same page.
Pricing:
- Basic - Free for freelancers and individuals
- Premium - $2.99/mo. per user, ideal for SME’s and startups
- Business - $7.99/mo. per user, ideal for larger corporations
- Enterprise – customized pricing
Notion – A truly innovative approach to team and project management, Notion has several unique features. Their company wiki allows you to document office policies, company mission statements and goals, employee contact info and other company information in one location that’s easy to access by all team members and is easy to update was information is changes or is added. Their Roadmap feature allows you to assign and track tasks and scheduling with a simple interface. Real-time collaboration means teams can work on the same project page simultaneously, with unlimited team members. And their smart notifications feature takes the onus off of the manager to check in with employees by notifying you every time a status is mentioned so you can keep track of them on your own time.
Pricing:
- Personal – Free for individuals
- Personal Pro - $4/mo.
- Team - $8/mo. per member, ideal for SMEs and startups
- Enterprise – Customized pricing for larger businesses *Right now, Notion is offering a $1,000 credit towards the Team Plan for startups who work with their partners.
Basecamp – Basecamp is a heavyweight in the project management category. They’ve been around a while and they know what they’re doing and how to do it well. Their message boards allow employees to leave important messages for each other. Managers can add tasks to the To-do list and check them off when completed. Their group chats give team members an easy and seamless communication tool. Their scheduling feature makes for effortless scheduling of events and meetings and team members can easily share docs and files. Basecamp also has a pause button that allows workers to stop receiving notifications from Basecamp while they’re busy on a project, then turn it back on to see what happened when they were in the zone. Their activity view lets managers easily see what projects are on schedule and which are lagging and to view upcoming events. Though it comes with a heftier price tag, their all-inclusive features replace the need to use a variety of specialized apps like those for team messaging, to-do list tracking, file storage, calendars and more. Basecamp has it all in one package.
Pricing:
- Personal – Free, ideal for students, freelancers and individuals.
- Business - $99/mo. with a 30-day free trial, unlimited projects and users.
ProofHub – ProofHub is an all-inclusive team and project management software. The popular Kanban boards allow team members to self-manage while managers can customize workflows to notify the right team members when tasks are completed. Their Gantt chart offers a visual timeline to easily track all projects, participants and deadlines while their project manager feature encourages accountability for deadlines. Custom roles grants access to project information only for the participating team members instead of overwhelming the team with a lot of notifications and documents that not everyone needs access to. Easily track billable hours with their time tracker and get access to projects and resources reports that offer a clear picture of budgeting issues. Discussions can take place in real time for efficient communication, so everyone stays up to date. Like Basecamp, ProofHub can replace several apps that charge per user.
Pricing:
- Essential- $45/mo. is great for individuals
- Ultimate Control - $89/mo. billed annually is ideal for businesses of all sizes *ProofHub offers a free trial for both account types
Flow – Flow offers a great variety of features including the ability to switch viewing modes so you can see projects as a task list, kanboard or calendar format. Its real-time notifications let employees know when you’ve given them a task as soon as you’ve assigned it and also sends alerts for mentions in discussions. Flow allows you to designate who has access to project documents and information. It also lets you designate tasks as recurring and then automates the scheduling and assigning process so you don’t have to. It also gives you an easy-to-read overview of resource management, so you can prioritize and reassign tasks to different team members as needed. Their updates feed gives you task progress reports to keep you on top of all the moving parts. Their pricing is ideal for startups who may not need all of the advanced features and can choose from three different plans.
Pricing (you can choose monthly or annual billing, with higher fees for monthly billing. The following reflects annual billing)
- Basic- $6/mo. per user
- Plus - $8/mo. per user
- Pro - $10/mo. per user *Flow offers a free 30-day trial
Conclusion
Whatever your startup size, scope or budget, there’s a project management software that fits your needs. Take advantage of 30-day free trials to see which one works best to manage your startups’ projects. Enjoy greater organization and accountability so you can focus on other tasks and plan for the future.
1st July 2020