You’re managing an IT project. What are the best task management tools to keep you on track?

1 Project Management Software

Project management software is a comprehensive solution that allows you to create, assign, monitor, and report on tasks throughout the project lifecycle. It enables you to define your project scope, goals, milestones, and deliverables, and to break them down into manageable tasks. Furthermore, you can use project management software to allocate resources, set deadlines, track dependencies, and manage risks and issues. The benefits of this software are clear; it gives you an overview of your project status and progress, enabling you to identify potential problems and delays. Additionally, it helps you collaborate with team members, clients, and stakeholders as well as share documents and feedback. Moreover, it integrates with other tools and platforms used in IT projects including code repositories, testing tools, or cloud services. It also provides various reports and dashboards that help measure and improve project performance and quality. Examples of project management software include Asana, Trello, Jira or Basecamp.

2 Task Management Apps

Task management apps are simpler and more focused solutions that help you organize and prioritize your daily tasks and to-dos. You can create lists, checklists, or boards of tasks that you need to complete and mark them as done when finished. Additionally, you can set reminders, due dates, and priorities, as well as sync your tasks with your calendar or email. Such apps can be beneficial in numerous ways; for instance, they can help you stay focused and motivated by breaking down your work into smaller tasks, avoid procrastination and distraction by showing what needs to be done next, balance your workload to prevent stress, and track accomplishments in order to reward yourself. Popular task management apps include Todoist, Wunderlist, Evernote, and Google Tasks.

3 Kanban Boards

Kanban boards are a visual and agile method of managing tasks that originated from the Japanese manufacturing industry. They consist of a board with columns that represent different stages of a task, such as to-do, in progress, or done. You can use them to create cards that represent your tasks and move them across the columns as you work on them, while also limiting the number of tasks at each stage to avoid bottlenecks and waste. The benefits of kanban boards are numerous: they help you visualize your workflow and identify any gaps or inefficiencies in your process; optimize productivity and quality by focusing on the most important and urgent tasks, reducing multitasking and context switching; adapt to changes and feedback by allowing you to modify your tasks and priorities as needed; and foster teamwork and transparency by showing everyone what everyone else is working on. Examples of kanban boards include Trello, Jira, or LeanKit.

4 Gantt Charts

Gantt charts are a classic and widely used tool for managing tasks that show the timeline and dependencies of your project. Consisting of a horizontal bar chart, these charts help you estimate and allocate time and resources more accurately and efficiently, while also assisting in tracking and controlling your project scope and budget. Gantt charts help to anticipate risks or issues, as well as to communicate project status and progress to team members, clients, and stakeholders. Microsoft Project, Smartsheet, or GanttProject are some examples of gantt charts. Overall, they can be used to plan, schedule, monitor tasks, manage changes or variations that may occur, plan for contingencies and alternatives, and show the impact of tasks.

6 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?