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"Ask DN:" Project Management Systems

almost 9 years ago from , Designer Buffer

Can anyone recommend a good project management system for teams under 20 people?

33 comments

  • Vladislav ArbatovVladislav Arbatov, almost 9 years ago

    Yes. Basecamp.

    4 points
  • Bryce DriesengaBryce Driesenga, almost 9 years ago

    Asana is another option to check out.

    3 points
    • Matt Pinheiro, almost 9 years ago

      Definitely the best for me. Have been using it inside my company and in some side-projects. With the new calendar view is easier than ever to have a big picture of what's going on.

      0 points
  • Julie RobertsJulie Roberts, almost 9 years ago

    Podio is pretty good. They don't have gantt natively, but there is integration for it from a Podio partner. My team has used Strikebase (like Trello but with a better calendar), but have started to prefer how assigning tasks in Podio allows us to link to an actual project/item.

    2 points
  • Stefan TrkuljaStefan Trkulja, almost 9 years ago (edited almost 9 years ago )

    We are using activeCollab, never looked back.

    Also, what @Joel said.

    2 points
    • Yasen DimovYasen Dimov, almost 9 years ago (edited almost 9 years ago )

      Agree with this. For small teams activeCollab is great...

      0 points
    • Nemanja NenadicNemanja Nenadic, almost 9 years ago (edited almost 9 years ago )

      Same. Using AC for freelance stuff and @ not so small company I work for. Works great, there are no monthly fees and you get to host it on your own server unlike many other solutions.

      0 points
  • Stephan JunghannsStephan Junghanns, almost 9 years ago

    We are currently using Google Drive (Spreadsheets, Calc) and Trello which works okay. We are going to build a "Team Gantt" like application called Tymeline (tymelineapp.com) which should fit our needs...

    1 point
  • Gonçalo MoraisGonçalo Morais, almost 9 years ago

    Give Trello a spin. If you try a bit before putting everything there, I believe you’ll find a good system.

    1 point
    • Kevin N. Kevin N. , almost 9 years ago

      Yep, nearly everything can be managed in there even the move in another apartment/city.

      We use it in a team with more than 20 members, works like a charm.

      2 points
    • Joshua HynesJoshua Hynes, almost 9 years ago

      We use Trello at Stack Exchange. It works well for keeping our teams (large and small) on track.

      2 points
  • Joel LJoel L, almost 9 years ago (edited almost 9 years ago )

    What problem exactly do you want to solve?

    "Project management" is quite a vague term — you have time tracking tools, communication tools, "collaboration" tools, Gantt charts, …

    If you've decided that — for example — you need a gantt chart, that will lead you to a much more specific set of options.

    1 point
    • David O'CallaghanDavid O'Callaghan, almost 9 years ago

      I guess it's more task management between team members - scheduling tasks, project goals that could be sorted into to do list etc

      1 point
      • Joel LJoel L, almost 9 years ago

        Re: Basecamp — we use it and are very happy.

        Another useful question to ask is "how much structure do you want imposed by the tool?".

        Basecamp is very free-form, enabling you to use any todo structure you want. You can structure things differently by makings lists like "Current stuff" or "New feature: X" or "Feature requests" or "George has to do this". It does give you a nice calendar view based on that, and allows you to set people responsible for items.

        Many other apps are extremely demanding, forcing you to fill out x metadata fields for each todo. It might provide useful data, but the risk is that a tiny difference between "your usage" and "intended usage" might make the tool really uncomfortable to use, forcing various workarounds etc.

        0 points
      • Shane RicheyShane Richey, almost 9 years ago

        We're currently using SmartSheets and it's working great, however we do have a dedicated project manager that is responsible for keeping it tidy and up to date. We did use BaseCamp but it didn't fit with what we needed since it was more of a collaboration tool than a task management.

        SmartSheets took a bit of time to fully set it up to take advantage of all of the features, but once you figure it out and get everybody using it, it's pretty nice. Though I will say that we have a shared network drive for our project files, so we just reference file location on the drive rather than uploading the files to the task management system.

        0 points
  • Tanveer C.Tanveer C., almost 9 years ago

    We're about to launch something new: Forecast

    It's a project management app that marries Trello-like, easy to understand interface with the structure of a more traditional project management workflow (i.e Basecamp) Designed mostly for ourselves and friends at various startups and agencies: something light and flexible that doesn't have unnecessary bells and whistles. So it's decidedly not suitable for large companies.

    Sign up for a free account if you guys want to test drive. We'll be rolling out private beta invites in coming weeks!

    0 points
  • Andy ShawAndy Shaw, almost 9 years ago

    Basecamp all the way! It's really popular so chances are your team/clients have already used it before and they'll be quicker adoption.

    0 points
  • Robin , almost 9 years ago

    We use Jira on to keep track of projects on a whole and a few of us use Trello to keep our own small task lists.

    I just use Trello for everything outside of work because it does everything I need.

    0 points
  • Nick MNick M, almost 9 years ago

    Have used Trello, Asana, and Basecamp. My preference is listed in that order.

    0 points
  • Richie TaylorRichie Taylor, almost 9 years ago (edited almost 9 years ago )

    I have used a lot of different Project Management systems: Basecamp, Creative Manager (workamajig), Asana, Trello, Agile Zen, Jira, and more. It really comes down to what you're 'managing'

    Workamajig was Horrible. Like... really really bad.

    Basecamp... meh... It's ok... I wasn't sad leaving it behind even after 2 years of dedicated use.

    Currently our UXD team is using Glip which is AMAZING!! http://glip.com

    One click zoom video chat, threaded team and group chat, share files, annotate images and comps, share links, manage tasks etc.

    I still use ASANA for my detailed to do / project management, but I use Glip for everything collaborative and communication related.

    Glip is constantly iterating as well... Each week there are new features. So far, in my opinion, they've hit it out of the park.

    0 points
  • Jayson HobbyJayson Hobby, almost 9 years ago

    I know this wasn't the ask, but does anyone have suggestions for a larger agency? Of around 50-75 people?

    0 points
  • Nick PfistererNick Pfisterer, almost 9 years ago

    I recommend Asana. I use it for my game dev team and it goes far beyond task tracking. We use it to track roadmaps and milestones, sprints, bug tracking, meeting agendas, team ideas and suggestions, Kickstarter and blog update schedules, and more. It's an invaluable tool and having so much being tracked in the same place is super helpful for my small team.

    0 points
  • TJ TaylorTJ Taylor, almost 9 years ago

    I've been using http://taskware.do/ for a bit and it seems really promising.

    0 points
  • Sol MarchSol March, almost 9 years ago

    Checkvist is a very task-focused web-based management tool. For a quick overview of what it does best, here's a review I recently wrote.

    0 points
  • Martin LeeMartin Lee, almost 9 years ago

    We use different solutions for different types of projects. Basecamp for smaller projects where you only need todo lists and conversations. We've also had great success with LiquidPlanner for large projects - especially where it's not strictly design or development related.

    0 points
  • Surjith S MSurjith S M, almost 9 years ago

    http://todoist.com

    0 points