There are lots of project management tools floating around the world right now. From installed applications like Microsoft Project, to online favorites like Basecamp and Activecollab. I’ve tried using several of them before, but haven’t really found one that stuck. I have a feeling that I’m not the only one. Among web application development and design agencies, I know a number of people who maintain a monthly subscription to Basecamp – just because they think they ‘should’ get more organized – but end up managing most of their projects with email and Doc files.
A big problem I’ve always run into is that these tools really take some effort to maintain, to actually be useful. If a hot new project comes in, with a short deadline, it still takes email and meetings to get everyone on board with the new project, to focus their efforts onto the new project. Meanwhile, all of the existing projects of varying importance are still logged, and still continue to vie for the attention of team members.
There’s a new project management tool out that hopes to bring some order to shared team tasks lists. It’s called CoHuman.
It’s not quite as polished as Basecamp is – though it has a few interesting features to it that make it more useful for me.
1. It uses intelligence to dynamically update and prioritize team members task list to help prioritize their work across different projects. Things are very fluid when many projects are going on at the same time. For instance, as a deadline approaches, certain tasks become much more important than others.
2. It has a concept of ‘blocking’ – some tasks need to be completed before another person can complete a task. For instance, a designer needs to complete a new Photoshop template before the developer can cut it up into WordPress and upload the finished site to a server. The tasks that ‘block’ another person from being productive are weighted as a higher priority than others that are not blocking.
Here’s a video with more about it:
If you’re not totally in love with Basecamp, it might be something worth trying out. It’s free to use – and $20 per month if you want to setup more privacy restrictions around projects.