Remote Teams: Effective Tools for Project Management

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Introduction

The Remote work environment has grabbed a lot of buzz. Companies are on the hunt to hire remote developers to build their remote teams. Some companies are even looking to outsource their project development work through software development outsourcing services.

In a remote work environment, having a reliable toolkit of project management tools is important. Having the right tools not only ensures a seamless workflow, but it also ensures effective monitoring of progress & expenses.

Managing projects & dedicated teams spread across different locations & time zones can pose unique challenges. It becomes difficult to handle tasks effectively if a proper approach is not set up.

The majority of individuals i.e., 75% of remote workers find cooperation & collaboration as the most important for achieving job success. They believed that timely communication is important throughout the project management process.

This is when project management tools come into the picture. By using these tools, an organization can achieve effective project management. Using the right tools can help the organization in streamlining the development process.

But, what makes project management successful? Keep reading this article to find out how you can manage your software development project effectively.

Remote Team Collaborations

The success & failure of any organization depends entirely on its team. Having, the right team of developers can help fine-tune the available tech stacks. The same goes for remote teamwork. There are a few traits every company should develop in a team member whenever they hire remote developers.

Action-oriented:

Any action-oriented team can deliver effective results even if they work remotely. A little guidance & consultation can help the remote teams pull off the project successfully. A project manager with the right mix of communication skills & leadership qualities can do wonders in a remote setup.

Trustworthiness:

This is one of the most important traits in remote working. Worrying about whether your team is performing as expected is important. Ensuring that the team is performing as per the expectations will help build trustworthiness in the collaboration efforts.

Communication:

When you are working remotely, it is important to maintain transparent communication. In remote work setup, data is mostly shared through digital mediums, thus it lacks face-to-face interaction. That’s why having efficient professionals with great communication skills is a must.

Now, let’s understand a list of the Top 10 tools to use for smooth project management

Top 10 Tools for Remote Team Project Management

If a project was executed by an in-house team, then it was easy for the project manager to manage the project. But, this wouldn’t have been the case if the organization opted for third-party distributed teams.

We are lucky to have been living in the 21st century, where technology supports instant communication.

We have mentioned a list of 10 tools you can use to streamline your project management.

Zoho Projects

Would you believe us, if we said Zoho allows you to run your whole business? It helps with word processing, spreadsheets, presentations, databases & note-making. It also allows you to perform web conferencing & customer-relationship & project management.

Pros

• It has the strongest mobile application
• It has a lower price per user
• Automation is available with all plan

Cons

• Limited integration options available in lowe plans
• Adding the data can be time-consuming
• No phone-supported

Integration:

It does not have many integrations, but Zoho can integrate well with big third-party platforms like Google & Microsoft.

What is the price of Asana?

Free Plan $0 up to 3 users

Premium plan $5 per user/month

Enterprise plan $10 per user/month

Asana

It is a project management tool for all-sized businesses. Moreover, it enables the user to store files, create dashboards & much more in a single interface.

It has every possible feature for project management, but still managing recurring tasks can be trickier than expected.

Pros

• It is a feature-rich free plan
• Provides attractive & easy integrations
• It suits multiple use cases.

Cons

• It lacks Bi-level reporting
• Has higher prices for smaller teams
• No phone & live chat option is available

Integration:

With more than 200 app integrations possible, Asana makes it stand out from the crowd.

What is the price of Asana?

The Basic Plan of Asana costs $0

Its Premium plans cost $13.49/ per user

Its Business plan costs $30.49/per user

Trello

It uses a Kanban method that includes visual cues to streamline the workflow. Trello will enable the user to create task boards with progress columns. It also helps in moving the tasks based on the status and completion degree of each of the tasks.

Pros

• It has attractive & customizable Kanban boards
• It is a part of the popular Atlassian Group
• Provides a learning curve for new users.

Cons

• The integrations are necessary for fulfilling complex needs.
• It may suit large & complex projects
• No phone support is available

Integration:

Trello can easily integrate with some commonly used communication platforms like Google Meet, Zoom & Slack.

What is the price of Trello?

The Basic Plan of Trello costs $0

Standard plan costs $6 per user

Premium plan costs $12.50 per user

Enterprise plan costs $17.50 per user

Notion

It is a workspace platform that enables the team to build custom dashboards for different contexts. It is best for web designers & engineering teams that value creativity & customization as the core pillars of project management.

Despite a lot of customization options, Notion’s collaboration features are limited for teams that require a constant flow of communication for each recurring task.

Pros

• Enhanced Free plan
• Customizable Gantt charts are available.
• Well-suited for taking notes

Pros

• Security is strongest only in enterprise plans
• Lack of advanced project management tool
• Collaboration features lack improvements.

Integration:

Trello can easily integrate with some commonly used communication platforms like Google Meet, Zoom & Slack.

What is the price of Notion

Free – $0

Plus – $10 per user/month

Business – $18 per user/month

Enterprise – Custom

Hive

It is a project management tool that combines messaging, time tracking & automation with all the standard project management tasks. The best thing about this tool is it updates new features based on user requests generated through the Hive Community Forum.

Pros

• It provides six work views including the Gantt view
• Its messenger facilitates easy communication
• HiveMind Ai capabilities

Cons

• It lacks built-in resource management
• Doesn’t allow portfolio level of reporting.
• Better functionality and features come with more price

Integration:

Hive can integrate with 12 integrations, which is comparatively low compared to other competitors’ offerings.

What is the price of Hive?

The Free Plan of $0

Teams Plans of Hive comes at $18 per user/month

BaseCamp

It is a digital HQ & a project management tool for small businesses. It has a lot of functionality for small businesses but needs more core features for cross-functional collaborations between teams.

Pros

• It has an easy onboarding process
• Has centralized message boards
• Provides powerful basic software management tools

Cons

• Doesn’t provide Kanban Boards or Gantt Charts
• Has a limited ability to scale
• No phone support is available here

Integration:

It has limited integration options available with third-party apps which can provide additional software development & project management features.

What is the price of BaseCamp?

Basecamp $15 per person/month

Basecamp Pro Unlimited $349 per month

Monday .com

Monday .com is a Work Operating system that enables developer-level workflow customization without the need for any coding knowledge. This software offers various templates & tools

Pros

• It has an engaging & attractive interface
• Provides a large number of ready-made templates
• Stronger workflow automation capabilities.

Cons

• It has limited native-proofing features
• It has some stability issues reported in the past
• The display of records can become cluttered & complex.

Integration:

It has limited integration options available with third-party apps that can provide a connection. popular apps like Salesforce, Slack & Google.

What is the price of Monday .com?

Individual Plan $0

Basic Plan $10 per seat/month

Standard Plan $12 per seat/month

Pro Plan $20 per seat/month

Enterprise – Custom

Airtable

Airtable inputs all the utility of spreadsheets into project management by combining it with powerful task management features. By doing so, it stores and displays data, collaborating with the team members & setting up custom automated workflows.

It has lots of useful technical features available for its users.

Pros

• It has a strong option for data-heavy organizations.
• Has a familiar UX for all spreadsheet users
• A customization option is also available

Cons

• It has a time-consuming learning curve.
• Has very limited training resources available
• No proper integration tools available for complex needs

Integration:

It has limited integration options available with third-party apps that can provide a connection. popular apps like Salesforce, Slack & Google.

What is the price of Airtable?

Individual Plan $0

Basic Plan $10 per seat/month

Standard Plan $12 per seat/month

Pro Plan $20 per seat/month

Enterprise – Custom

Jira

Jira originated as a project management tool but now includes Jira Software, Jira Core & Jira Work Management. These tools help companies manage their projects by collaborating with their colleagues to deliver the work.

Pros

• Provides an advanced search functionality
• It has a built-in form builder.
• It has a strong grasp of issue management

Cons

• It is less suited to IT teams
• Doesn’t provide native Gantt charts
• Add-ons need you to incur extra expenses.

Integration:

Jira is a part of Atlassian Group, thus, it provides varied integrations with its sister sites. It’s not very strong with other third-party apps.

What is the price of Jira?

Free Plan $0

Standard Plan $5 per user/month

Enterprise – Custom

Smartsheet

It is a visual-focused project management tool. Smartsheet uses cloud-based spreadsheets & an automated workflow to cater to different teams & contexts.

If you find data handling & technical processes easier, using smart sheets can be invaluable for you.

Pros

• Familiar with Excel users
• There are multiple templates available
• Automation for workflow is available

Pros

• It provides very limited viewing options
• Data is not updated in real-time
• Some add-ons can incur extra expenses

Integration:

Smarsheet has good connections with the best sought-after apps, it also enables additional integration options

What is the price of Jira?

Free Plan $0

Standard Plan $5 per user/month

Enterprise – Custom

Now, let’s understand the features of all the 10 project management tools in detail

Now, let’s understand some of the communication tools to use while managing a software development project

5 Best Communication tools for Managing Software Development Project

Google-Suite

Google Suite or G-Suite is a set of tools used by businesses for collaboration & communication. It’s a combination of various Google tools that you already use for your project management. Tools like Gmail, Google Drive, Google Docs & Google Meet are some of the powerhouse tools available in G Suite.

Integration:

It can easily integrate with Zpier, Gmail, Bitium and Google Calendar

What is the price of a G Suite?

Basic G Suite Starts from $5 per month to $50 per month

G Suite enterprise plan is $25 per month

Free Trial available

Slack

It is a virtual office. Slack is a modern-day communication tool that allows you to create communication channels to keep room for professional & friendly conversations.  It allows you to create project-specific chat rooms to streamline communication flow during the project management process.

Integration:

It can easily integrate with Zoom, Clickup, etc.

What is the price of Slack?

Basic Plan Free

Pro Plan $7.25

Business Plan: $12.50

Zoom

Zoom is the best video conferencing tool for managing remote teams. It also allows you to manage a large group of professionals in one meeting room. As per one report, 94% of business entities have found an increase in productivity by using this video conferencing tool.

Integration:

It can easily integrate with Dropbox. HubSpot CRM, Slack, Zapier, etc.

What is the price of Zoom?

Basic Plan Free

Pro Plan $14.99

Business Plan: $19.99

Skype

It is an enterprise-level communication tool that helps employees connect to anyone from everywhere. Skype allows you the feature to directly call a person on their cell phone.

Integration:

It can easily integrate with Bitium, Microsoft Outlook, Slack, etc.

What is the price of Zoom?

Basic Plan Free

The Basic plan of Skype is Free

Whereas, its premium features can cost €3.49 per month.

Yammer

Yammer brings every IT professional under one social network. It also allows us to connect & communicate faster with each team member.

Integration:

It can easily integrate with GitHub, Microsoft Office 365 etc.

What is the price of Zoom?

Basic $8.25 /user/month

Premium Plan $12.50 user/month

Free Trial Available

Wrapping Up!

Any organization can build a remote team by hiring remote developers for smoother project control. By leveraging software development outsourcing services organizations can achieve cost-effective software solutions. By using this practice, organizations can also reduce costs borne by lengthy hiring processes. Using these services, organizations can scale up or scale down their team based on the project requirements in the long term.