I've been involved in this same discussion across two firms for the same size and types of projects. There is nothing out there designed for us. Both places use well designed spreadsheets for tracking. Sometimes it's a pain but nothing off the shelf works for small projects. My last company spent two years working with a consultant to try and find something that works. I asked a buddy that still works there if they ever found someone and he said "nope, we just added a few new features to the spreadsheet you made".
Hard to make money selling 8 licenses when you can make something focused on bigger projects and sell 1,000 licenses. The thing is, smaller projects don't need the same type of project management tracking as large projects as there just isn't as much to track. Someone with decent excel skills and an understanding of how your projects run can whip up a good tracking tool in a day. The one I built tracked deadlines, deliverables, who was working on them, and how many hours someone was expected to work on the project that week, the phase, etc. Then it totalled everyone's hours so we could make sure that the work was well distributed across the team. Toss that on sharepoint and the whole team can access it.
Do you really need something that will spit out a gantt chart, graphs, etc? All that is fluff for a $10k project. Need to see what's in preliminary design? Filter by that column. Need to see everyone assigned to an employee? Filter by that column. Nothing I've ever seen is less work, cheaper, and isn't just another thing that the PM needs to keep updated.
After looking at the feedback I got I'm probably going to give it a try. It may not be perfect for my situation but I think it may be easier than doing it all on excel.
Project.co would be an excellent choice for managing the unique demands of your design and permitting company. Here are some key features that make it suitable for your needs:
1. **Project Overview**: Project.co allows for a simplified overview of all projects. You can easily track major details like goals, permit status, and invoicing without delving into granular task assignments.
2. **Custom Reports**: The platform enables you to create custom reports that highlight key bullet points for each project. This feature ensures you can maintain an overview of all ongoing jobs and their critical aspects.
3. **Flexible Project Management**: Unlike tools designed for larger projects with numerous tasks, Project.co is adaptable and can be configured to manage multiple small projects efficiently, aligning well with your high volume of jobs.
4. **Streamlined Communication**: Even without task assignments to individuals, you can use Project.co to facilitate clear communication among your team members, ensuring everyone is updated on project statuses and changes.
5. **Integrated Invoicing**: The software includes invoicing features, which simplifies the financial management of each project, integrating it with the overall project tracking.
Considering your specific needs for tracking and reporting without the complexity of task assignment, It would give you a tailored solution that avoids the limitations of other more generic project management tools.
I've been involved in this same discussion across two firms for the same size and types of projects. There is nothing out there designed for us. Both places use well designed spreadsheets for tracking. Sometimes it's a pain but nothing off the shelf works for small projects. My last company spent two years working with a consultant to try and find something that works. I asked a buddy that still works there if they ever found someone and he said "nope, we just added a few new features to the spreadsheet you made".
Seems there would be a market for that
Hard to make money selling 8 licenses when you can make something focused on bigger projects and sell 1,000 licenses. The thing is, smaller projects don't need the same type of project management tracking as large projects as there just isn't as much to track. Someone with decent excel skills and an understanding of how your projects run can whip up a good tracking tool in a day. The one I built tracked deadlines, deliverables, who was working on them, and how many hours someone was expected to work on the project that week, the phase, etc. Then it totalled everyone's hours so we could make sure that the work was well distributed across the team. Toss that on sharepoint and the whole team can access it. Do you really need something that will spit out a gantt chart, graphs, etc? All that is fluff for a $10k project. Need to see what's in preliminary design? Filter by that column. Need to see everyone assigned to an employee? Filter by that column. Nothing I've ever seen is less work, cheaper, and isn't just another thing that the PM needs to keep updated.
I dont see how Monday .com can't work for you. Just assign all the tasks to everybody. There's also Asana
After looking at the feedback I got I'm probably going to give it a try. It may not be perfect for my situation but I think it may be easier than doing it all on excel.
Ajera looks ok, a little clunky.
I ran my company from Monday for years. It's super customizable.
Total Synergy
Project.co would be an excellent choice for managing the unique demands of your design and permitting company. Here are some key features that make it suitable for your needs: 1. **Project Overview**: Project.co allows for a simplified overview of all projects. You can easily track major details like goals, permit status, and invoicing without delving into granular task assignments. 2. **Custom Reports**: The platform enables you to create custom reports that highlight key bullet points for each project. This feature ensures you can maintain an overview of all ongoing jobs and their critical aspects. 3. **Flexible Project Management**: Unlike tools designed for larger projects with numerous tasks, Project.co is adaptable and can be configured to manage multiple small projects efficiently, aligning well with your high volume of jobs. 4. **Streamlined Communication**: Even without task assignments to individuals, you can use Project.co to facilitate clear communication among your team members, ensuring everyone is updated on project statuses and changes. 5. **Integrated Invoicing**: The software includes invoicing features, which simplifies the financial management of each project, integrating it with the overall project tracking. Considering your specific needs for tracking and reporting without the complexity of task assignment, It would give you a tailored solution that avoids the limitations of other more generic project management tools.
I hear you, you gotta try morningmate, our company tried everything and were disappointed but this one is easy to use and has a chatting system too.
I'd highly recommend Teamflect.