My ideal project management software
March 02, 2010
March 07, 2010: I signed up for a Backpack account. So far, so good. Backpack has a simple, easy-to-use calendar and the handy addition of “pages” where we can add project documentation including photos, text and links.
I’ve tried a lot of online project management software over the years. From the most basic, homegrown Microsoft Outlook set-up to the complexities of Microsoft SharePoint, everything falls short.
My ideal project management software isn’t feature-rich. In fact, it’s quite the opposite. All I need to effectively schedule and manage our projects is a focused, calendar-based tool that allows me to do the following:
- Add/edit projects and link them to a client name
- Add/edit milestones as part of those projects
- Add/edit tasks and to-do items, then link them to individual milestones
- View milestones/tasks from all projects in a weekly or monthly calendar
- Export this calendar in a format that can be imported by Microsoft Outlook
That’s it. No document collaboration tools. No messaging options (except for the previously mentioned calendar feed). No file sharing. No time tracking. Just clear and simple, calendar-based project management.
Too many project management systems try to be everything to everyone. In my case, I’m after a product that only does a few things and does them extremely well.
