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.
Comments
You should build it Geof.
benry on March 02, 2010
Look at active collab. You can turn off the extra features to get almost exactly what you have written up.
Evan on March 02, 2010
Scott: That’s crossed my mind on several occasions. We have the skills and experience to make it happen, just not the time…yet. Could be a nice side-project with potentially positive results.
Evan: We actually own a copy of activeCollab; purchased several years ago. I’ve set it up and used it multiple times as our go-to solution, but it never really feels right with all the layers and steps. I suppose we could dig into the code and modify it to suit our needs; as above, just haven’t had the dedicated time to make it happen. Guess that’s why I’m still searching for the magic solution.
Geof Harries on March 02, 2010
Ah, bummer! And here I thought you had the perfect answer! :)
Stacie on March 03, 2010
Back when I worked in a Microsoft shop, I stumbled upon this great little program called MS Team Manager. It did everything I needed for project management, without all of the MS Project cruft. All coordination between project members was done through Outlook, in a simple fashion. For me, it was just as you described: everything I needed, and nothing I didn’t.
Unfortunately, at the time (late 90s) I seemed to be the only person on the planet using it; I found it bundled in the MSDN Universal pack that had everything MS had ever produced. And now it seems to have been retired. The most recent reference I can find is a 1996 press release: http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/press/1996/oct96/prdancpr.mspx
Pity.
Dave Rogers on March 04, 2010
Stacie: Haha, I guess the blog post title is somewhat misleading.
Dave: MS Team Manager sounds like a focused, lightweight project management system. And hey, it’s only $109, well “was” in 1996. Darn.
