Project management is one of the most crucial aspects of building software. It is the process that ensures everyone on the team understands what needs to be done, who is going to do it, and when it will be completed.
Teamhood project management tools can help to stay on track and communicate effectively, keeping projects on schedule and within budget. Here are our top picks for tools to manage your agile team for custom software development.
A good project management tool can help to stay on track and communicate effectively, keeping projects on schedule and within budget. Here are our top picks for tools to manage your agile team for custom software development.
Trello
Trello is a project management tool that uses boards to keep everything organized. It's great for small teams, particularly those just starting with project management as a formal practice.
Trello is free for unlimited users and boards, and you can create as many cards as your team needs to track tasks. You can also give each card unlimited comments and attachments. Trello's popularity stems in part from its simplicity — it's easy to get started with, but you can add extra features if you need them.
It's easy to customize the layout of each board to suit the needs of your team. You can change the background color and add an image, or you can use one of Trello's pre-made "power-up" templates designed for specific types of projects, like editorial calendars and software development.
You can install different "power-ups," or optional features, for each board. There are dozens of power-ups available, including Google Drive integration, which lets you attach Docs, Sheets, and Slides directly to your Trello cards.
Asana
Asana is an online project management tool that helps you manage your team and stay on top of your work. From basic task lists to Kanban boards, calendar views and Gantt charts, this work management tool offers much of the functionality you'd find in paid software without the price tag. You can even integrate it with GitHub or Bitbucket to add context to each task and track your progress in real-time as code is changed and commits are made.
Asana is a cloud-based collaboration tool that allows you to manage everything from small projects to company initiatives.
Asana's features include task assignments, deadlines, dependencies, conversations, search, and reporting. There are native apps for iOS and Android and it integrates with Slack, Dropbox, and Google Drive.
The free version of the software allows you to use it with up to 15 people. Asana Premium costs $9.99 per user per month and includes unlimited tasks, projects, and conversations; admin controls; priority support; forms for requesting work; custom fields for more detailed organization; calendar sync; private teams/projects/tasks; advanced search; as well as unlimited dashboards, rules, tasks, and projects.
Basecamp
Basecamp is a project management tool that allows you to have all your projects, plans, and communications in one place. Unlike other tools, Basecamp comes with time tracking and invoicing.
After setting up your account on the Basecamp website, go to the 'Projects' tab to create your first project. Once created, you can invite team members to join the project by sending them links to either an iOS or Android app or a web app. A personal URL can be set up for each team member.
Basecamp has three main features: Campfire chat, Message Board discussion threads, and to-do list items. The campfire chat feature enables you to set up chat rooms for different topics and allows members of your team to collaborate on them in real-time. The Message Board feature allows the threading of ideas and discussions about projects. This will enable you to discuss assignments for various tasks with members of your team via threaded conversation.
The To-Do feature allows you to assign tasks to specific individuals in the team or everyone in the team at once. You also have the option of assigning due dates for each task or even attaching documents or files as references.
Basecamp comes with a 30-day trial, and the Basic plan is $29/month (billed annually).
Jira
Jira is the choice for Agile development teams. It offers features to manage projects, plan sprints, and track issues. Jira’s primary audience is software developers, but it can also be used by marketing and service teams.
The tool integrates with Atlassian Confluence, a team collaboration software. Together, Jira and Confluence can serve as an all-in-one project management solution for non-technical users.
Jira is one of the most popular and widely used project management and bug tracking tools. It can be used for planning, managing, and reporting on projects, as well as tracking bugs and issues.
Jira can be set up to work with a variety of development methodologies, including Kanban and Scrum. The tool allows developers to create tasks, track time spent on those tasks, plan sprints and releases, set up boards for visualizing workflows and reporting progress.
Zoho
Zoho is a software suite that provides online project management tools, task management, and issue tracking. You can use it to manage your team's tasks and projects in a collaborative way.
You can set up projects and assign tasks to your team members. It comes with drag-and-drop Kanban boards with multiple views. Zoho Projects works seamlessly with the other apps from Zoho Suite, enabling you to create and assign tasks from Zoho Creator or send emails through Zoho Mail or Office365. It also integrates with Google Drive, Dropbox, GitHub, Asana, Freshdesk, and over 40 other third-party apps.
The software's time tracking feature allows you to track the time spent on each task, and it comes with a built-in timer for easy tracking.
It also has a web client, desktop client, and mobile apps for Android, iOS, and Windows devices.
Pricing: Free for 1 user (with limited features); $3 per user per month (Professional plan); $9 per user per month (Enterprise plan)
Conclusion
Each of the above tools provides something for agile project management, but each is also unique in another way. Whether you are looking for a solution to your software development projects, or even if you want to initiate one of your own, there is plenty of information and easy access to help increase productivity and deliver great work.
I hope the above review will help you find the best software development project management tools for agile development that matches your specific needs.