Coordinating projects can be a challenge, even for seasoned professionals. During an engagement, you have competing deadlines, shifting priorities, client demands to meet, and a project team to coordinate. So how do you keep track of all that? You find a tool that works for you and your team. I recently discovered a web/app-based project management tool, Asana, that made a big difference.
I piloted Asana on a large business process analysis effort with tight deadlines and a geographically dispersed team. With over a dozen pre-made templates to choose from, I set up the project in less than an hour even though I was a new user. The collaboration tools built into Asana enabled my team to communicate seamlessly, track and visualize our work efforts, and adjust our project schedule quickly. All of this was in stark contrast to many traditional project management software products I’ve used. Perhaps the best value of Asana was our ability to grant the client access to view our progress and project files. This reduced our need to rely on back and forth email chains, helped to clarify and resolve specific issues, allowed our client to see real-time project updates, and streamlined review of work products.
Our Asana pilot was a success and I look forward to using it on future projects!