Being asked to see what the individuals who make up the Design group are using to track projects or tasks is a great introduction to the team.
Using SurveyMonkey allows for a quick Q&A. I will enhance/follow-up with one-on-one discussions. I’ll be intermixing survey results and on-on-one sessions to determine what the team might need and what the team might use.
Here are a few things after seeing results from 5 out of 12 folks:
- my deliberate use of vague language was caught/singled out; I stand by the use though as I received a wide response from those 5 without ‘leading the witness’
- folks like the idea of using their phone to update a project system (or task system or tracking tool)
I’m sure I’ll have more to say/do/think once I see the other responses.
I’ve found a few things to review/test: http://gigaom.com/collaboration/4-project-management-apps-that-rock-your-mobile-device/ lists two iPhone, one Android and one Blackberry tool. Another site listed project management, SmartTime 4, that seemed more like a calendar/task system translated from ‘paper’ to your iPhone – just my first impression… but since I use paper – this could be cool.
I saw more – but I am really avoiding anything that has Gantt or Pert charts (even though I like them, they are cumbersome and that’s NOT where we are going with this.) This rules out a very cool item that has Tweet capabilities. That would be Liquid Planner. I liked workspace chatter … @Name directing commentary to a specific person. However, I want something that is free to manage vs a monthly charge. Call me kooky!
What fails
I saw a lovely list of 14 other project management tools. However, Clocking It and Klok immediately fail, because I’m not looking for something that tracks time. This is not about billing; it is about productivity, streamlining effort, finding materials and encouraging/supporting collaboration where needed.
Tell me the cost please
LifeRay looks good, but anything that is either Windows only, or enterprise, where I cannot easily find a price associated AND it doesn’t clearly say OpenSource, does not receive my vote/focus/time/attention.
Streamlined tool for our efforts
@Task was looking promising, especially if we could ‘turn off’ or hide certain sections – TOO MUCH going on… however, it still was a ‘give us a lot of information and we will show you a demo’ situation. That doesn’t work for me… No, I am okay with enterprise software, but I think fast/innovative, easy to manipulate/transform and friendly does not MATCH UP with enterprise. Bad dog.