As a project manager, all the tasks you must accomplish everyday may be overwhelming as you have to deal with your own workload, plus your team’s needs. So it’s no surprise if technology has to become your best friend. It can provide you with tools and services ready to Improve your management skills. They can make you more productive, automate tasks, and support your communication with your team.

Why Use a Project Management System

To keep everything organized and in one place, from your goals to workflow, you should adopt a project management system. They are easy to use, straightforward, and won’t compromise your budget. And Basecamp is one of the most robust solutions available, a favorite of project managers worldwide. Basecamp creates a secure online space where you can create and manage tasks, add deadlines, to-do lists, and files, discuss the topics in question, and follow the progress of your team. And all this is in real time. Other reliable alternatives are Smartsheet, Mavenlink, and Wrike.

Promote Collaboration

If your project requires that your team work on the same task together, you should use tech solutions to increase collaboration. Wikis, for instance, are an excellent way to create the necessary environment for it, along with Google Apps for Work. PB Works also creates a secure platform for sensitive files and documents and let people collaborate no matter where they are in the world. Your files will be reachable across platforms and on any device, and they can be easily shared. You’ll also receive push notifications about any update that is made to the collaborative files.

Make Sharing Files Easy

Sharing a high number of files can be very time-consuming, especially if they are large. But adopting tools such as Google Drive or Dropbox will make it much easier for you. All you need to do is upload what you want and share the link with your team. Then they can visualize, edit  or download it, accordingly to the level of permission you give.

Get Feedback from Customers and Employees

To ensure that you’re on the right track, you will need to get feedback from your customers and employees. And the best way to do this is by using one of the online solutions available to collect opinions and reviews, such as Hively, OpinionLab, and Promoter.io. They will provide you with real-time information and also insights regarding the best way to take action.

Learn Anywhere

You and your team can acquire and update any skills in no time by using technology, and that doesn’t mean googling your doubts. There’re several online learning platforms ready to teach you anything you need for free or for an inexpensive price. You will find an extensive list of options on Lynda, Udemy, Future Learn, or Coursera, for example, but you should try providers specialized in certain skills – Udacity is considered as a top-class online platform for IT courses, for instance.

Hire New Employees and Freelancers Online

The internet is also the best place to find and hire new talents. You can just post your job on Monster, Indeed, Simply Hired, or any other job search platform. Or you can use LinkedIn to filter candidates by skills and education to save you time. And if all you need is a one-time support, you can also hire a high-skilled freelancer on Upwork or Guru.

Automate Tasks

You really should automate any task you can. It doesn’t require much of a brain to get it done, be rest-assured that you’ll find a tech solution to do it. What you need is a time tracker, for instance – forget about your watch – and move to Toggl. Have too many tickets to track? Lighthouse can help. Need to do a survey, try Survey Monkey. And if you have to update your project status on social media regularly, test Hootsuite features. These are just a few examples that you can use to automate online.

Improve Internal Communication

Several tools help you leave emails in the past and improve your internal communication and your team’s motivation as a result. They will allow you to chat with your team in private and in real time, just as if you were using Whatsapp or Facebook Messenger – but with much more privacy and security. One of the options available is Slack, a messenger app that allows you to chat with your team anytime you want. You can also create channels to discuss different topics, to keep the conversation better organized. Private channels are also made possible on Slack, and invite only the team members you want there. It’s also possible to send direct messages and to share files: integrate it with Google Drive, Box, or Dropbox.

Keep your Finances in Order

To keep you on track, use an accounting software to manage your finances, such as Less Accounting. It is much simpler than Quick Books and other competitors, but it still can generate all the reports you need, for example, payables and receivables, wages, and expenses tracker. It also integrates with Basecamp software. A perfect way to make things easier for you.

The Bottom Line

As you can see, technology can help you to improve many project management tasks. It is your virtual management tool if you chose to use a software like Basecamp. Or it can allow you to automate tasks, Improve Internal Communication, hire employees and contractors, and much more. And all you need to do is test the options and decide which one meet your needs and expectations. Thankfully, many of them come with a free trial or used for free with limited features. This way, you can check what really works for your project and your team before buying an app or a subscription.

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