5

Best project-by-project management app?

over 9 years ago from

My team is looking for the best possible solution for project management, and since we're an agency I'm talking project-by-project management, not just an all-in-one solution for the agency as a whole.

We need some way of handling several projects at once, but separated from each other. We need to be able to upload images, categorise and annotate them, and also discuss the project in that space.

For a single project I love the simple GitHub + Slack workflow, but with more people added to the team we need a better solution.

If you've done multiple-project agency work before, how did you handle the internal management and drafting/idea/feedback phase of the different projects?

27 comments

  • Alexander Haniotis, over 9 years ago (edited over 9 years ago )

    Trello, definitely.

    https://trello.com/

    10 points
    • Tom GantzerTom Gantzer, over 9 years ago

      +1, very easy to understand and quick to get going.

      0 points
    • Sam Pierce LollaSam Pierce Lolla, over 9 years ago

      If you like Trello but want a fewwwww more features--git integration, time estimates, better milestones, etc--try Pivotal Tracker (esp the beta, which isn't as ugly their current stable version).

      0 points
    • Adrian HowardAdrian Howard, over 9 years ago

      Another +1 for trello. We use it for most of everything that we don't have up on a wall in the office.

      0 points
  • Sam GerberSam Gerber, over 9 years ago

    Asana is incredible. Doesn't do image annotation, but you can easily do that in something like Invision and link to the posts there.

    5 points
    • Clay MacTavishClay MacTavish, over 9 years ago

      My team recently switched to Asana from Basecamp and it has been pretty annoying for the PM and I. We both want to go back to Basecamp.

      We tried using Basecamp with our SCRUM workflow sand it didn't go too well. BC doesn't allow sub tasks like Asana does.

      For personal projects Asana is ok but BC is king I think. Jira was too convoluted also.

      0 points
      • Per VPer V, over 9 years ago

        I have the exact opposite experience. Going from Asana (and Jira in particular) to Basecamp.

        Compared to Jira Basecamp is a mess in some ways and when it comes to managing bigger projects Asana and Jira kills it compared to Basecamp. Just my "humble" opinion.

        But, I can absolutely see myself working with Basecamp for smaller/personal projects.

        0 points
  • Alejandro FloresAlejandro Flores, over 9 years ago

    Podio it's a good solution. http://podio.com/

    3 points
    • Darth BaneDarth Bane, over 9 years ago

      Interesting, not too many features or insight about what the app actually does. They lost me before the sales funnel even began! ;)

      1 point
  • Stefan TrkuljaStefan Trkulja, over 9 years ago (edited over 9 years ago )

    Said it before, I'll say it again: https://www.activecollab.com/

    Never looked back.

    3 points
  • Derek TimmermanDerek Timmerman, over 9 years ago

    Big fan of Teamwork.

    2 points
    • Andy StapleAndy Staple, over 9 years ago

      Same here, their new version is the best I've found for my needs, and I've bounced back and forth through a lot of them trying to find something that I didn't dislike working with.

      0 points
  • Nick Dominguez, over 9 years ago

    Did you try Basecamp and not find it a good solution? When I worked at an agency with multiple clients/projects it was a good fit for us.

    1 point
    • Darth BaneDarth Bane, over 9 years ago

      I have tried Basecamp before, but it was a long time ago and it was a bit...well, boring is probably the right word. Will be spending quite some time in this software so needs something that makes me happy.

      Having said that, just looked at the new Basecamp and it's definitely better than before.

      I'm open to any suggestions really, but want to make sure I haven't missed anything before making a decision.

      0 points
      • Clay MacTavishClay MacTavish, over 9 years ago

        Too boring is a strange reason not to us Basecamp. The current design/ layout is fine.

        0 points
        • Darth BaneDarth Bane, over 9 years ago

          I was talking about the previous design. I don't know, there was something about it that didn't feel 'fun'.

          As a designer spending a lot of time in project management software, to me it's vital that it looks nice and feels fun using. That's the reason I've moved from HipChat to Slack, for example...not that Slack does anything so much better than HipChat, but it looks nicer and is more fun to use in a ten-hour work day than HipChat.

          1 point
          • Tanveer C.Tanveer C., over 9 years ago (edited over 9 years ago )

            Agreed. Basecamp may be many things but "fun" isn't one of them.

            0 points
  • Martin Knoll HaakanssonMartin Knoll Haakansson, over 9 years ago

    I've been using Redbooth for a couple of months now, and without much to relate to I can easily say that it has made my life a lot easier. It works well for both solo and group work.

    Redbooth is apparently the old Teambox, which I never got around working with, but I can easily say that the new tool works wonder.

    www.redbooth.com

    0 points
  • Tanveer C.Tanveer C., over 9 years ago (edited over 9 years ago )

    I like Trello a lot but it lacks certain depth and dimension necessary to be used as a proper project management app. It's better suited for quick and dirty "task management".

    Couple of us are about to launch something new: http://tryforecast.com

    It's a project management app that marries Trello-like, easy to use interface with the structure of a more traditional project management workflow (i.e Basecamp) Designed mostly for ourselves and friends at various startups and agencies: something light and flexible that doesn't have unnecessary bells and whistles. But has bunch of clever touches that makes tackling multiple projects less of a chore.

    Sign up for a free account if you guys want to test drive. We'll be rolling out private beta invites in coming weeks!

    0 points
  • Colin TurnbullColin Turnbull, over 9 years ago

    We have developed a SAS application called Leafcutter which will address your problem. As a digital agency we struggled to find the right suite of tools to manage our projects, clients, tasks and people - so we created one.

    It's Big Agency tools made for small agencies.

    Visit leafcutter.com for the full feature list and sign up for a free account. We are happy to answer questions that you may have on implementing.

    0 points
  • Phil OakleyPhil Oakley, over 9 years ago (edited over 9 years ago )

    The GitHub for Everything approach or Trello.

    0 points
    • Darth BaneDarth Bane, over 9 years ago

      Would love to use GitHub as much as possible, but for this purpose we need something more client-facing. We need to be able to annotate images, discuss drafts with the clients, manage many projects at the same time from the same place, etc.

      0 points
  • Bryant HughesBryant Hughes, over 9 years ago

    We use Basecamp for our agency. Yeah it's kinda boring, and there are quite a few features I would love to see built out, but it does get the job done, and is pretty easy for clients to start using quickly.

    0 points
    • Jonathan CourtneyJonathan Courtney, over 9 years ago

      +1 for ease of use for clients

      0 points
    • Daniel FoscoDaniel Fosco, over 9 years ago

      How do you integrate clients in your workflow with Basecamp? Do you create separate user accounts for them?

      0 points
      • Bryant HughesBryant Hughes, over 9 years ago

        Yep, Basecamp lets you create an unlimited amount of users, and even assign them to various Teams. When you are posting a piece of content (discussion, todo list item, file) you can usually specify who should be able to view the item.

        We typically get the client using Basecamp almost immediately after we have our kickoff meeting, and from then on keep all communication in Basecamp, almost completely shunning emails. Its nice to keep all communication open and transparent making sure nothing gets lost in a random email chain someone forgot to be cc'ed on.

        Also, like I mentioned Basecamp is pretty straight forward to use and we rarely need to do any teaching on how to use it, which is nice.

        0 points