best project management tool
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- Benja82
any recommendations? Does anyone use ActionMethod or Basecamp?
- set0
I've used basecamp.. it's ok. Pivotal tracker is the one I use, it's good.
- Benja820
i'll check them out, cheers :)
- Continuity0
I like Copper Project for the accounting/billing functionality (especially since you can specify a cost for a team member on any given project, plus his/her marked up fee to the client), and I also like PHP Collab for its open source-ness.
- Also, both of these are installed on your own server, as opposed to hosted on the software vendor's.Continuity
- yes, I've had PM's demand local install, but I've had IT geeks mess up local install too...vaxorcist
- manonthestreet0
Benja - these tools will only be as good as your team's ability to use them. I find that if any one team member is not using the tracking software all goes to hell.
- < ultimately, thisContinuity
- not trying to be negative just factor in everyones ideas before choosing the softwaremanonthestreet
- It's not negativity, just plain fact: people hate filling out time sheets, doesn't matter if they're on paper or online. :)Continuity
- I concurd_rek
- This is so true. I bought a sub. to Basecamp and none of my clients would log in and use it.Josev
- d_rek0
Basecamp is good - I prefer it over other software. Especially in conjunction with other thirty-seven signals apps.
Open Atrium was pretty janky IMO - would take a lot of finessing to get it to work they way you want it to. Free, but not ideal.
Not familiar with others...
But as manonthestreet said - the tools will only be as good as a teams ability to use them. I am constantly fighting an uphill battle to get other staffers to use basecamp for file and feedback sharing. The worst part is that we pay a premium for those services yet the other staffers always default to using less than desirable mediums to share files and specific project feedback.
- Such as outlook ? Still amazes me how lazy some peeps areattentionspan
- manonthestreet0
I love it when you have at least one higher up that demanding a 'microsoft project' file that ultimately reflects an unachievable timeline, budget, and set of deliverables.
- get a few copies of Fred Brook's The Mythical Man Month, throw them at bosses desk...vaxorcist
- manonthestreet0
There will be two types of offenders:
The non user - people who will get email messages from the system and respond via email [outside of the system.The power user - people who use the system for all communications, often using a subject line that does not correspond to the communique, glutting the system for other users.
- vaxorcist0
Many of these work fine....
NOTE that many people will complain about a particular feature or whatever because they really just don't want to be held accountable, so you may get in an oddball loop where you keep trying different tracking/collaboration packages and people keep objecting to certain quirks when they really just don't want to be held responsible...
Note also that many, many programmers have a bit of PTSD about completely unrealistic deadlines and random feature changes due to PHB's just tweeking stuff in MS-Project or similar and not asking if it's possible first....
Note also that... alas, the real problem here, is that it's really, really hard to guestimate timelines when 15 minutes of smart insight can replace 3 days of going down the wrong road sometimes...
- rascuache0
Zombie thread time.
My company is looking in to a PM system, but I'm having trouble finding an elegant software based tool that will do all we need.
Ideally I think we need something like ActionMethod (http://www.actionmethod.com/), but that includes a really strong scheduling/timeline feature like Tom's Planner (http://www.tomsplanner.com/).
Anyone know of a system that might incorporate both feature sets?
I should point out at this stage that the department has used BaseCamp in the past, and they hated it so will likely never go back, and i've used Sohnar's Traffic before (rubbish) so would be unlikely to try anything based inside Filemaker again...
Any suggestions welcome, there's talk of using ping pong balls in jars and magnets with post it notes attached to them, ffs...
Cheers
- why exactly did they hate basecamp? Listen very carefully, maybe hidden fears,etc.vaxorcist
- grafisk0
Works well, but needs the PM's to understand the role of UE, and how creative is different to dev to fully work under agile.
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Organize stories (requirements), tasks, defects and tests
Plan and track iterations (sprints) and releases
Collaborate across functional silos
Multiple teams work towards a shared release
Coordinate multiple release backlogs
Roll-up progress against shared commitments
A real-time visual system-of-record
- rascuache0
Thanks for the suggestions! Hive looks nice and easy to use.
Any more for any more?
- doesnotexist0
find a person who's great at project management, wipe your hands clean of the task
- oktalk0
I use Redmine. It's open source and you can add a lot of plug-ins to extend the functionality.
http://www.redmine.org/
- Miguex0
This is kinda nice, love that it syncs w the one on the phone
- only syncs through wifi though
mightyj - and... you... wanted... it... to... sync... hmmm... mentally...?Miguex
- haha well they have a secure wifi at my job so i can't connect my phone. I think if the phone would sync when connecting to your computer or syncing through bluetooth would be better.mightyj
- your computer or syncing through bluetooth would be better.mightyj
- also they have not upgrading to using a cloud setup. So with multiple computers (work/home) it's a pain.mightyj
- only syncs through wifi though
- albo0
- bkw0
I like Insightly because it is integrated with Google Apps (which I use)
that, and its 100% free for unlimited use.