If you work in a digital design/development project environment, then you already know how an efficient, easy-to-use project management tool can be the difference between sleepless nights and delighted stakeholders.
But with so much choice available today, how are you supposed to know which are best for your business? And while I can’t answer that question for you, I can tell you the top five project tools I can’t live without working as a busy project manager for digital marketing agency Six & Flow:
- Asana
- Harvest Forecast
- Databox
- Slack
- HubSpot Tickets
Asana
Asana is a robust yet simple web-based app designed to help teams organise, track and manage their project workload. And with millions of users spread across 192 countries already using the software, it’s easy to see why we decided to make it a cornerstone of the Six & Flow technology stack.
We like Asana because it lets us communicate with both internal teams and external clients across multiple geographical locations. It also allows us to assign key responsibilities to relevant parties using individual task cards meaning information, assets and comms can be picked up by anybody working on the project.
Because each Asana board - the user interface used to create simple ‘drag and drop’ tasks for each project - acts as a centralised conversation hub, it means all stakeholders can see at a glance the progression of each project in real-time.
Harvest Forecast
Harvest Forecast, although a new addition to the Six & Flow project management suite, has undoubtedly revolutionised the way we work as a team. Harvest is a time mapping tool that allows teams to not only formulate new ideas but also manage their progression with clarity. With Harvest, not only can you easily see all team members availability at a glance, but it also ensures key delivery dates are always kept front and centre as projects move forward.
Although we’re still adjusting to Forecast as a tool, it’s already become invaluable to the way I map my team’s schedule because it allows us to monitor schedule gaps and achieve maximum efficiency.
Databox
Databox is a Business Analytics platform built to give us a real-time understanding of Six & Flows daily activity. It creates comprehensive dashboards and data visualisations for all projects by pulling in KPI’s from our core platforms such as HubSpot, Drift, Google Analytics, Harvest, Asana and Xerox.
As a project manager in a busy agency servicing multiple clients, it’s vital I have consistent visibility across multiple projects in real-time. With customised screens set up across the Six & Flow office, Databox allows me to keep a constant eye on both budget and project progress without having to switch between multiple platforms.
Slack
Slack describes itself as ‘a collaboration hub where the right people and the right information come together, helping everyone get work done,’ and it does exactly what it says on the tin.
Six & Flow are huge fans of Slack for two reasons. First, it’s expedited the rate we can now exchange ideas as a team by allowing instant access to a variety of web-based content. Second, it lets us compartmentalise our workload through the creation of unique client channels so we can share and curate project-specific ideas both internally and with off-site clients.
(Although, it should be said that not all Six & Flows Slack channels are about ‘curating ideas’ - sometimes we just use it to argue about who keeps putting terrible office music on).
HubSpot Tickets
HubSpot’s ticketing software helps us track all our customer requests so we can stay organised, prioritise work and make tasks more accessible. At Six & Flow I constantly have both internal and external clients requesting support on a variety of projects. The HubSpot ticketing system allows me to manage client expectations and prevent critical tasks slipping through the cracks by letting us record, analyse and track all activity through a single UX friendly dashboard accessible by our entire team.
