A Comprehensive Guide to Project Management Software

Busyness is a good thing in business.

It is a consequence of success. The more clients and customers come in, the heavier the workload gets – there are more projects, people, tasks, and project management required. When that happens, you’re either going to need more hands to help the juggling act, or a project management tool capable of handling most of it for you.

From Jira and Asana to Trello and Monday.com, there are so many tools out there that solve the individual problems of project management. There are even one or two – like Magnetic – that offer an all-in-one solution that takes care of them all, including financing, CRM and more. Magnetic also sets you up for success with predefined templates and experts who understand your industry and how you work, helping you apply best practices tailored to your needs.

Before you get make your decision, it’s important to consider the following:

• Your budget
• The size of your team both now and in the future
• Options for integrating with the other tools within your business
• Permissions and reviews and approvals both internally and externally
• File storage capacity
• Security requirements
• Is your PM tool tailored to the unique needs of your industry, or is it more of a generalist solution?

That should help you create a shortlist. Once you have that, it’s a good idea to test each project management tool yourself, and invite the key members of your team to do the same.

You’ll soon have an idea of which software is best for your organisation.

Remember that being busy is a good thing. All you need is project management software to help you so you can keep a clear head and focus on fostering the client relationships that are so important to the success of any business.

Why Professional Service Firms Need Project Management Software

Every company is unique, as are their challenges. However, when it comes to project management, there are certain common threads that weave their way into most projects. So what are they? (You’re welcome to smile wryly and nod your head as soon as you relate!)

Scope creep

With vague requirements comes vague responsibility. Clients are notorious for having hazy requirements, and adding additional tasks and deliverables outside of what was agreed upon.

Miscommunication

A dangerous problem with a simple solution. A lack of communication can mean silent blockers, no progress updates, team conflict, and ultimately delays.

‍Lack of clear metrics

Clarity is one of the most important requirements for the successful completion of the project. If no one knows where the goalposts are, they’re seldom going to reach them. Having milestones along the way will also help with progress tracking.

Budgeting issues

Most managers consider financial issues as one of the biggest stumbling blocks in project management. Sometimes this is down to lack of budget, but resource mismanagement is often one of the main causes of budget overruns.

Lack of accountability

A project team performs really well when every member feels responsible and tries to fulfill the role assigned to them. If everyone knows what they need to do, they’re responsible for their own success, and the success of each individual leads to the success of the team.

Unrealistic deadlines

Having an impossible deadline is another project management challenge that can severely affect the quality of the end product. A project manager knows the capability of the project team, and needs to negotiate the timeline, set realistic goals and stick to them.

Stakeholder Engagement

Stakeholders are often brought in at the wrong time, or are not available when they’re needed. This can delay approvals, cause friction and lead to trying times.

These are all real problems, and they could all lead to trouble down the road. But luckily we have project management software to help us overcome these challenges. With project planning, time tracking, resource management, team collaboration, finance and billing, you can take care of most of your problems with a single purchase.

Key Features to Look for in Project Management Software

‍Time Tracking

Effective time management is crucial for project success, making time-tracking features indispensable in project management tools. These features not only help monitor individual and team productivity, but also aid in resource allocation and project planning.

Reporting and Analytics

These days everything is driven by data, and project management is no different. The ability to generate insights and analyse project data is essential for making informed decisions and driving project success. Robust reporting and analytics features in a project management tool empower teams to evaluate project performance, identify trends, and pinpoint areas for improvement.

Data Visualisation

Half the people on the planet go into a flat spin when you put numbers in front of them. So choose a project management tool that offers data visualisation capabilities, such as charts, graphs, and dashboards, to present project data in a format that’s easy to digest. Data visualisation enhances comprehension and enables stakeholders to identify trends and patterns quickly.

Collaboration Tools

Collaboration lies at the heart of successful project management, enabling teams to work together seamlessly towards common goals. A robust project management tool should offer a variety of collaboration features to facilitate communication, file sharing, and teamwork.

Chat and Messaging

Look for something that has built-in chat and messaging features, allowing team members to communicate in real time. Whether it’s one-on-one chats, group discussions, threads, notification capabilities or project-specific channels, real-time communication fosters collaboration and enables quick decision-making.

Task Management

Efficient task management is a big one. A robust project management tool should empower teams to create, assign, and track tasks seamlessly while providing features for prioritisation and deadline management.

Budget Tracking

Budget tracking features allow project managers to monitor project expenses and compare them against planned budgets. Look for a project management tool that offers budget tracking functionalities, with options to set project budgets, track expenses, and generate budget variance reports. Ideally, you’ll find something that allows you to forecast effectively as well.

The Top Project Management Software for Professional Service Firms

Finally, it’s time to take a closer look at your options, starting with our favourite, of course:

1. Magnetic

Magnetic is an all-in-one business management tool designed to streamline your entire operation.

• Manage your project lifecycle, from scope estimation and planning to tracking and invoicing, all in one place. Magentic’sOur integrated system combines sales, delivery, and financials, offering a real-time overview of your projects and performance.
• Refine the way you manage resources by easily forecasting your resource requirements against project needs, allowing you to make informed decisions on staffing. Avoid overloading team members, and maintain a positive, productive work environment.
• Get a clear view of your financial performance to spot profit drivers and cost burdens. Magnetic’s tools empower you to adjust pricing or reduce costs, enhancing profitability. Make smart decisions to streamline your operations, cut inefficiencies, and ensure every project positively impacts your bottom line.

Key features

• Project Management - Simplify project tracking, scheduling, and financial oversight with intuitive tools designed to streamline your workflows, reduce workload, and support project delivery.‍
• CRM and Forecasting - Keep a pulse on your business with live data that reveals where opportunities stand, their journey through the sales funnel, projected close dates, potential value, and how they affect your resources.‍
• Resource Management - Magnetic helps you build more  efficient teams, by giving insight into , t resource capacity, and the allowing you to book resources for jobs in real-time
• ‍Finance Management - Streamline operations with dashboards and reporting that provide detailed insight into the financial pulse of your business. Magnetic helps you better forecast, manage finances effectively and empowers you to make strategic decisions with confidence.‍
• Timesheets - Magnetic’s advanced timesheet software allows you to track time spent on projects in real time, streamlining productivity and your billing process.‍
• Automations - Magnetic’s automation functionality helps to simplify processes, workflow automation to simplify processes, reduce manual tasks, so you can focus on strategic growth opportunities
• ‍Reporting and Dashboards  - Magnetic’s detailed, cross-departmental reporting gives you the insights you need to - make informed, strategic business decisions with confidence.

Pricing

‍2. Monday.com

An undisputed name in the project management game, Monday.com is a cloud-based platform that allows you to manage tasks and workflows to fuel team collaboration and productivity at scale. You can streamline workflows and gain clear visibility across teams, allowing you to make strategic decisions based on data.

Key features

• Save time with automations
• Store information in workdocs
• Visualise with dashboards and charts
• Organise your workflows
• Explore all your views
• Track your time
• Integrate with other tools within your workspace

Pricing

3. Asana

Asana is mainly for small and medium-sized businesses. This project management software is another one-stop solution for project creation, task delegation, collaboration, portfolio management, and workflow management as well.

• Task and subtask creation and assignment
• Project organisation by list, board, calendar or timeline
• Multiple workspaces
• Comments and mentions for team members
• Centralised inbox for updates on tasks and projects
• Gantt chart timelines
• Visual Planning
• Custom reporting and dashboards
• Advanced search
• Over 150 integrations

‍Pricing

4. Zoho

Zoho is for businesses of all sizes, and it prides itself on accessibility, privacy and uncompromising quality. With just the free version, you can break down your project activities, allocate resources, and schedule your work items using the Gantt chart. And it obviously gets better as you work your way up the pricing ladder.

Key features

• Task management
• Customisations
• Team collaboration
• Automation
• Time management
• Charts and reports

Pricing (for project management)

5. Jira‍

Jira is a powerful project management tool that excels in tracking and managing tasks, issues, and workflows, particularly in Agile environments. It supports Scrum, Kanban, and custom workflows, offering features like sprint planning, backlog prioritisation, and real-time reporting. Jira's customisable dashboards, integration with various tools, and detailed analytics enable teams to collaborate efficiently and maintain transparency throughout the project lifecycle.

Key features

• Customisable workflows
• Powerful issue tracking
• Integration capabilities
• Advanced reporting
• Scalability
• Community support
• Complexity for beginners
• Cost considerations

Pricing

6. Trello

Trello organises projects into their famous Trello boards, allowing you to see everything in a glance – what's being worked on, who's working on what, and where something is in a process. Imagine a white board, filled with lists of sticky notes, with each note as a task for you and your team.

Key features

• Keep everyone accountable and never have to ask “who’s doing that” by adding members to cards for their projects and tasks.
• Doing and due dates go hand-in-hand. They're easy to set, hard to miss (with reminders!), and oh-so-satisfying to mark as “done.”
• No more digging through endless email chains to find attachments. Just drag and drop them onto a card so the right files stay with the right tasks.
• Overpower overwhelming tasks, break big tasks into small ones, check things off the list, and watch that status bar go to 100% complete.
• Up to 10 boards per workspace
• Unlimited cards, power-ups per board, activity logs and storage
• Custom backgrounds and stickers
• iOS and Android mobile apps
• 2-factor authentication

Pricing

7. Confluence

Also owned by Attlassian (the Australian brains behind Jira), Confluence has a slightly different approach. In their words, “Goodbye silos, hello teamwork.” Confluence is a team workspace with dynamic pages that give your team a place to create, capture, and collaborate on any project or idea. You can take notes, plan projects, and refine ideas with flexible Confluence Pages. Or let AI do it for you.

Key Features

• Document collaboration
• Knowledge sharing
• Integrated task management
• Communication
• Customisable workspaces
• Unlimited pages and spaces
• Templates for marketing, product, program management and more
• Up to 3 active whiteboards per user
• Support for apps and integrations
• Atlassian community support
• Up to 2GB file storage

Pricing

8. ClickUp

Clickup has a scalable architecture, attractive UI, and hundreds of fully customisable features, making it one of the more popular project management tools on the market. You can plan, track, and collaborate on any project, build the perfect workflow, create marketing campaigns, manage development sprints, and more.

Key Features

• Task management
• Complete customisation
• Templates
• Integrations
• Automation
• Tracking
• Reporting
• Unlimited tasks
• Two-Factor authentication
• Collaborative docs
• Real-time chat
• Multiple view options
• Sprint management
• In-App video recording
• 24/7 support

Pricing

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Comparing Project Management Software

Let’s compare the tools we’ve just looked at in a single view:

‍

Magnetic – Your Solution to Over Servicing

Magnetic tackles the challenge of over-servicing head-on. Magnetic integrates features tailored to identify, address, and mitigate over-servicing before it spirals out of control. One of the standout features of Magnetic is its dashboard, which provides insights on over-servicing across different dimensions: company, client, and project.

‍How to Choose the Right Project Management Software for Your Firm

Everyone will have their favourites, but we urge you not to make your choice based on a logo or a screenshot. Follow the steps below to ensure you make an informed decision.  

Step 1: Define your project needs‍

Step 2: Note down your challenges and limitations

Step 3: Understand your project management team

Step 4: Identify your “must-have” features

Step 5: Create a list of platforms

Step 6: Test software with your team

Step 7: Calculate your budget

Step 8: Make a choice

Conclusion

Project planning is no easy task, mainly because it’s not just one task – there are so many things to think about, worry about, and manage on a day-to-day basis. But there’s no reason for you to feel like a clown spinning plates at a circus.

Using the right project management tool can cut your workload in half, thanks to the host of features designed to suit project managers’ needs. With project planning, time tracking, resource management, team collaboration, finance and billing, project management software can take care of most of your problems.

There are so many tools out there that solve the individual problems of project management. So why consider Magnetic?

While many of the tools above specialise in one or other aspect of project management, Magnetic does it all.

Efficiency is key in business management, and our platform is designed to streamline your entire operation. Manage your project lifecycle, from scope estimation and planning to tracking and invoicing, all in one place. Our integrated system combines sales, delivery, and financials, offering a real-time overview of your projects and performance.

Why not schedule a demo and get a free 14-day trial to help you make your decision?