With the right project management tools, you can improve your communication within the team, create project documentation, avoid duplication of work, monitor your schedule and, above all, save a lot of time. We introduce you to the most important tools.

Tools for your project management minimize redundant, manual tasks. With them, you won't get lost in endless email conversations, half of which will remain unfinished. But with so many project management tools to choose from, you should carefully consider which one is best for your needs.

Asana

Asana is very popular as a project management tool and has a whole list of useful functions. We at Raidboxes now also work with Asana (previously with Zoho). It is easy to learn and use. The interface focuses on the essential points, especially your milestones and central features of your projects, which you can keep an eye on at all times.

The application allows you to organize long-term goals in a timeline or switch to a list view for team members that shows each person's individual tasks. There is also a board view so you can see the overall view of all projects. Ideal for agencies with medium to large teams and parallel client orders.

Asana not only shows you exactly which tasks each team member is working on, but also gives you a graphical representation of each individual's workload. You can also assign a workload to each task to prioritize what you need quickly and what can wait.

Asana does not have native invoicing or granular reporting. But it does have the ability to integrate third-party apps to add these features. The tool is available in the following variants:

• Basic: You can enter tasks via the list, board and calendar view, assign team members and due dates. Including the use of mobile apps and Chrome extension for up to 15 team members.
• Premium: This variant offers you user-defined fields, a timeline view, advanced search and reports as well as the ability to add guests. You can also create rules, add forms and milestones, an administration console and areas for private projects and teams.
• Business: Brings workload tracking, portfolios, custom rules, advanced permissions and the ability to integrate additional software.
• Enterprise: According to the provider, comes with individual branding, extended support & backups, data export and deletion as well as guaranteed uptime.

As the individual plans change from time to time, please check the current scope of services. You can also try out some of the project management tools described here free of charge for a while. You should definitely take advantage of this, as not all teams get on equally well with all software.

Trello

If you're looking for a project management software that is user-friendly and has the easiest learning curve in comparison, then you should give Trello a try. Trello's card-based user interface is usually immediately familiar to those who are used to "organizing" their workspace with sticky notes. The most significant difference between Trello's Kanban card system and your probably not very organized workspace is that the app keeps everything organized for you. And that nothing can get lost.

You can also add attachments and use almost unlimited space for comments within each card. Trello's view is arranged vertically to visualize projects, lists of tasks within a project, subtasks, etc. This makes it easier for you to find your way around. This makes it easier for you to find your way around.

This approach makes accessing Trello - and all other tools with a similar structure - particularly intuitive. The left-hand column is for the work to be assigned, then you drag the individual task cards to the next column to the right to distribute and start the current tasks, then you drag them to another column when they are reviewed or completed, and so on. Asana works in a very similar way.

Trello's simplicity is also its biggest shortcoming. This is because Kanban project planning is the central function. Without the option of switching to other frameworks, such as an extended calendar view or an extensive Gantt chart. Nevertheless, the simple operation and low price make Trello a helpful tool for many companies.

Microsoft Project and Microsoft Teams

Microsoft Project is one of the most comprehensive project management platforms available. With MS Project, project managers from small to large companies have a wide range of options for planning their work and distributing tasks among their teams. This includes different visual representations of your projects.

For example, the tool allows its users to present their projects using customizable Gantt charts. Some prefer this visualization for allocating resources and planning workflows over time.

Project goes far beyond the software of many of its competitors when it comes to additional project planning functions. The budgeting toolkit, for example, allows you to calculate the "Earned Value", which shows you the estimated costs and revenues of a particular project. For some this is useless overload, for others it's a must. It all depends on the average size of your projects. But also on the level of professionalism your clients expect from you.

As a sidekick to Project, Microsoft Teams is a popular messaging app. It is particularly useful if your working environment is already geared towards Microsoft products. This is because these can now be linked together quite easily.

Slack

Like its video conferencing cousin Zoom, Slack has grown enormously in popularity due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Suddenly, all kinds of office teams were looking for ways to coordinate and communicate without meeting in person. And that's exactly what Slack is perfect for.

Whether you have a team of two or run a large agency, Slack improves your communication with multiple conversations in separate channels, private communication with direct messages and file sharing. Slack is available in desktop and mobile versions.

The easy-to-navigate layout shows all your conversation threads, all channels or group conversations you have access to and all users who have sent you a direct message on the left-hand side. Slack has voice and video chats, but these are not always particularly robust. We at Raidboxes love using Slack, but have switched to Google Meet for video calls. 

Slack offers a limited free version to try out the tool first. Those who are used to Slack usually no longer want to do without it. But beginners need a little time before they realize the great benefits of the tool.

Zapier

Zapier is perhaps the most curious and innovative of all collaboration tools, because it is not really a collaboration tool at all. Instead, it connects two or more other apps via "Zaps" and enables them to exchange information with each other. This allows you to automate many work steps that you previously carried out manually in a team or in the interface with your customers.

For example, if you receive an email with an attachment, you could set up a one-step zap to automatically copy the attachment to Dropbox and notify you via Slack. You have the option to create zaps based on any trigger.

Another example would be to set up Zapier to automatically write an event to your team members' calendar apps when a Trello card with a due date is assigned. No more "Oh! Was that due today? I forgot...". These are just two ideas of almost infinite possibilities. Even if you're already using a project management tool that lacks certain workflows, it's worth taking a look at Zapier. Perhaps you can use it to expand your existing software landscape so that your various tools and processes "talk" to each other.

Time management and tracking

Beyond the project management suites, there are also valuable tools that help you keep track of everything and everyone. Sometimes they are included in the larger applications, sometimes as a separate app. As a project manager:in a WordPress agency, you're up to your neck in every aspect of your team's work.

But even as a freelancer, you have to keep an eye on the big picture and perhaps coordinate external staff and resources. At the end of the day, project management is all about keeping track of other people's task packages. At some level, it's your job to manage those who complete these tasks.

Time management, time recording and monitoring are an integral part of your overall strategy. That's why you should also know the right tools here.

What does software do for your time management?

One of the central tasks when working in distributed teams is: How can you record the actual working hours for a project when people are working from different locations? Or if you involve other freelancers or agencies who also want to be paid?

We're no longer in a world where you can whip out the time clock. Instead, you'll probably have contractors doing all sorts of different and complicated tasks all over the world, and maybe even in different time zones. Are you familiar with every little aspect of the work required to create a WordPress website? Even then, you have a hard time keeping track of everything.

This is where the management and tracking of various tasks comes into play. First, let's address an uncomfortable truth: No one likes managers:inside looking over their shoulder while they work. Likewise, managers don't want to be seen as the ones wielding the digital whip and getting lost in micromanagement.

The first thing you might have thought when you read the headline "Time management and tracking" was something like: "We're not that kind of place. I trust my team." The fact is, however, that time management software benefits both developers and designers as well as management.

The future is freelance and self-determined

We live in a new era in which freelance work is on the rise, while permanent positions are on the decline. Especially in the WordPress agency environment. And even where contract-based work fortunately still prevails, employees want more freedom. For example, in the form of remote work or working hours that actually deserve the attribute "flexible". See our article on the advantages and disadvantages for employees and companies.

Here are some concrete ways time management and time tracking can benefit everyone, no matter how or where they work.

1. pay your people what they are entitled to

Most employees in the creative sector don't want a traditional office job where they long for the end of the working day. They want shorter, more flexible working hours. In a job where you can regularly take on new challenges and that comes with a higher hourly wage.

As a freelancer, on the other hand, it is often a challenge to ensure that the payment is right. Many creative professionals sell themselves short and are afraid to ask for reasonable hourly rates. After all, others could do it "for less". The fact that this makes it difficult to survive is often neglected. The same goes for the fact that it is possible to find projects that pay well - if the quality is right, see coherent project management.

With time management tools, you as a freelancer no longer have to worry about whether you are getting what you are entitled to. And project managers don't have to worry about whether they've actually worked the hours listed on the invoice. Everyone can look at the timer in the app and see what is due for a specific task or for a specific payment period.

2. convenient billing

And not only that. With detailed figures, you can also reassure your customers that they are paying for exactly what has been done - no more and no less. Who hasn't experienced the unpleasant situation of having to explain that it really took so long to complete this or that task. Just like "No, we're not going to add anything to the bill".

Rather than having these kinds of awkward conversations, most of us would probably rather just round up when it comes to the number of hours. However, if a certain task takes 20 minutes longer than you estimated, and your team completes that task 10 times a week, that's 170 billable hours you're giving away every year.

With time management tools, there are far fewer arguments. You can refer to the report and show your client exactly how long it took for which sub-area. And you don't rely on their estimate or approximation. This is especially helpful if you have several external freelancers working for you.

3. all work is invoiced

Speaking of an agile team that is constantly on the move, let's ask a quick question: Who among you hasn't done work-related things on the train, at the gym or while eating breakfast? Maybe even on your smartphone?

Freelancers, but also many employees in the creative industry, are used to using apps on their cell phones, tablets and computers. In addition, time tracking also tracks work that otherwise tends to go unnoticed: Reading and replying to emails, answering a quick question from a client via Slack or video call, maintaining project management software, and so on and so forth.

With time tracking software, you and your employees are paid for all the extra minutes they work here and there. These are minutes that add up to hours faster than you think.

4. keep an eye on the budget

When we start the production phase of a new project, most of us probably tend to bring a number of freelancers on board in our exuberance. Or people from other teams. To get the project rolling and to finish on time.

However, this approach can quickly get out of hand. Trying to balance the hours of "external" employees with the hours of your internal employees can be a nightmare: Then your costs quickly spiral out of control. And you end up exceeding the budget set by your client.

With suitable time management, you have all the figures right in front of you, ideally on an easy-to-read dashboard. This allows you to take your foot off the gas pedal if necessary if the billable hours get out of hand. Or, conversely, you can put a few more people on the project.

5. submit more detailed offers

Are you familiar with the situation where your team is constantly overestimating tasks, milestones or even entire projects? Time management tools can help. As you get used to using them in your ongoing projects, you will start to develop a set of more precise time frames. In other words, a set for the execution of certain typical tasks and project phases.

This data allows you to give better estimates, which is what all clients want from you. Plus, you no longer have to ask your team to pull all-nighters because you were too optimistic in your time estimates. How about never having to say: "Just this one more project, please. It will get better after that."

Time management tools

Far from being Big Brother, time management tools can help you stay focused on work. Motivate your team to talk about it at any time if they still feel monitored. After all, monitoring is useless if the framework conditions are not accepted. Sometimes it's enough to adjust break regulations or include or exclude certain activities from tracking to make your colleagues feel more comfortable.

Are you looking for support for your time management or time tracking? Then you can take a look at the following applications and apps, among others:

• clockodo
• clockin
• askDANTE
• todoist

There are also lots of free tools available; a simple search in the search engines for "record working time" or "time recording app" will help.

Conclusion: Project management for WordPress

In this series of articles, we have shown you the most important concepts and systems in modern workflow and project management. For each of these steps, it is important to observe whether and how you can use them to take your customers' needs into account. And this applies to every phase of the project, from briefing to final acceptance.

Anyone who has ever set up a sensible project management system wonders how the work could have worked at all before. As a sought-after agency or freelancer, you will always have stressful phases. But with the tools and strategies mentioned above, you'll get through them better and there will be fewer of them. Another nice side effect: planning will mean that you won't accept certain jobs because you'll immediately realize that they're not worth it. Or you will only accept them if the client adjusts the conditions and/or the budget.

Our advice: Try out different project management tools and working methods. Talk to other agencies and freelancers about what they have had good experiences with. Because what one person likes may not work for another and vice versa. We ourselves have noticed that our project management runs much more smoothly since we changed our tool.