Project tracking
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@JasGot Since we use Microsoft 365, they include a very basic (but in my opinion, good for our needs) project management tool called "Planner." It's basic, so if you are looking for something very detailed with Gannt charts, etc, this probably would not work well for you. But for basic project tracking, its good IMO.
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I've used Jira the past 5 or 6 years at all the places I've worked
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I did basic tracking with LibreOffice Sheets, one tab for each project. Takes a while to get the layout needed but workes pretty well for simple tacking.
I would also suggest looking at Gantt chart packages if you need something more complex. There are a ot of OpenSource ones out to get you started. Some have cloud options if you need to share.
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@JasGot said in Project tracking:
What do you use for tracking all of your active projects? I know there is software; but I was just about to order a big 'ol whiteboard, and then decided to ask here first.
Asana and/or Zoho Connect.
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@IRJ said in Project tracking:
I've used Jira the past 5 or 6 years at all the places I've worked
I've used it a lot, but I don't like it
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I’ve used Asana and liked that.
Currently using FreshService. That’s perfectly functional but I find it a bit more fiddly than Asana.Also Asana has a lot of integrations with other things like Teams and Slack.
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@scottalanmiller said in Project tracking:
@IRJ said in Project tracking:
I've used Jira the past 5 or 6 years at all the places I've worked
I've used it a lot, but I don't like it
I do. It's super easy to use from a user side. I've not done the admin side on it, but it's a great user experience.
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We have Jira, but are playing with Linear.
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@stacksofplates said in Project tracking:
We have Jira, but are playing with Linear.
Haven't used that one. Impressions?
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Jira for me over the last 5 or 6 years across a few different companies. I'm not the biggest fan, but it seems to work well I suppose.
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@JasGot said in Project tracking:
What do you use for tracking all of your active projects? I know there is software; but I was just about to order a big 'ol whiteboard, and then decided to ask here first.
Sometimes lo tech is the best tech.
That said, I think you need different tools for different type of projects.
For example, do you have hundreds of bugs and requests you need to keep track of or do you have complex time critical projects with lot of external vendors that needs to be planned?
If you know what kind of projects you want to track it's easier to know what software can get the job done. Trying to shoehorn your projects into the wrong tool is just a waste of time.
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I have been using KanbanFlow, Trello or Jira.
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@scottalanmiller said in Project tracking:
@stacksofplates said in Project tracking:
We have Jira, but are playing with Linear.
Haven't used that one. Impressions?
We are pretty much using it strictly for kanban and it’s great for that. Everything has keyboard shortcuts/command searching.
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@Pete-S said in Project tracking:
@JasGot said in Project tracking:
What do you use for tracking all of your active projects? I know there is software; but I was just about to order a big 'ol whiteboard, and then decided to ask here first.
Sometimes lo tech is the best tech.
That said, I think you need different tools for different type of projects.
For example, do you have hundreds of bugs and requests you need to keep track of or do you have complex time critical projects with lot of external vendors that needs to be planned?
If you know what kind of projects you want to track it's easier to know what software can get the job done. Trying to shoehorn your projects into the wrong tool is just a waste of time.
I want to keep track of sales deliveries, and installs; mostly.
For example, I want to have a nice way to track the progress of replacing a domain controller.
Power up; Windows Updates; AD Setup; DNS Setup; DHCP setup and shutdown, Group Policy, Printers, User Accounts, Redirected folders; data migration, server side applications install, etcI guess it's more of a singular project checklist, than anything else. But we may have 50 of these going at one time. So missing a step is possible, yet preventable with the right tool.
Sometimes we have one-off unique projects that may take months; during planning, we outline everything that needs to be done, and currently, try to remember to do it all!
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@JasGot said in Project tracking:
@Pete-S said in Project tracking:
@JasGot said in Project tracking:
What do you use for tracking all of your active projects? I know there is software; but I was just about to order a big 'ol whiteboard, and then decided to ask here first.
Sometimes lo tech is the best tech.
That said, I think you need different tools for different type of projects.
For example, do you have hundreds of bugs and requests you need to keep track of or do you have complex time critical projects with lot of external vendors that needs to be planned?
If you know what kind of projects you want to track it's easier to know what software can get the job done. Trying to shoehorn your projects into the wrong tool is just a waste of time.
I want to keep track of sales deliveries, and installs; mostly.
For example, I want to have a nice way to track the progress of replacing a domain controller.
Power up; Windows Updates; AD Setup; DNS Setup; DHCP setup and shutdown, Group Policy, Printers, User Accounts, Redirected folders; data migration, server side applications install, etcI guess it's more of a singular project checklist, than anything else. But we may have 50 of these going at one time. So missing a step is possible, yet preventable with the right tool.
Sometimes we have one-off unique projects that may take months; during planning, we outline everything that needs to be done, and currently, try to remember to do it all!
To me it sounds like a project management tool that is not directed towards agile would be the best fit. Most full featured project management tools will probably have more features than you'll need.
We're using Zoho Projects (as web and as mobile app) for similar things and I can tell you right of the bat that it would probably work beautifully for your use case. I'm sure there are other that that would work too but I would avoid agile tools that are better suited for other kind of projects.
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@JasGot said in Project tracking:
I guess it's more of a singular project checklist, than anything else. But we may have 50 of these going at one time. So missing a step is possible, yet preventable with the right tool.
Basically you set up project templates for different reccuring projects.
When you start a new project you will get all the tasks and milestones needed from the template. You can then make a plan and as you complete each task you can see exactly where you are, how much time you spent (for billing) and all tasks that remains to be done.
If you have a team you can obviously assign different tasks to different people and everyone has a clear view of what tasks they need to do across the projects they are involved in.
You'll also have a clear view of your 50 projects and their progress.
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@JasGot said in Project tracking:
Sometimes we have one-off unique projects that may take months; during planning, we outline everything that needs to be done, and currently, try to remember to do it all!
I honestly think a big whiteboard isn't going to cut it for you.
We have mostly projects that span months and seldom recurring projects that are more than an hour or two of work. Those are usually handled as support tickets with a few subtasks.
I think you could actually use something simplier for the recurring projects than a full-featured project management tool, but you'll benefit from it for longer projects so it makes sense to use that for both types of projects.
If you have a team that is doing both projects and support I think it is wise to be very clear about what is what. So we use the project management tools to plan and execute our projects and then ticketing/helpdesk software to keep track off and handle everything that happens down the line after the project has been "delivered". So for something to be a project for us it has pass a certain criterias.
BTW, if you are going to look at Zoho Project specifically you should look at the Enterprise plan. It has more customization and some features that are essential IMHO. As the other end you have the free plan but it's completely worthless for almost everything.
In the end it will be a major project itself to implement a project management tool into your workflow - especially if you don't use anything today.
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@Pete-S Thanks for all the thought you have put into your support. I'll have a look at ZoHo Ent. I did take a look at Monday.Com, I haven't decided if it will work yet.
Sadly, I am the biggest problem with our ticketing system, I almost never use it on a daily basis. I wish I had someone following me around for the sole purpose of keeping my tasks updated in our ticketing system!
Honestly, for MY tasks, a Word doc that I print in the morning is perfect.
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@JasGot For my personal task list, todoist.com is the best for me. But for tracking projects that involves more than one person, I do not find it good.
Asana, Freedcamp and monday.com were good from my experience.
Monday.com is somewhat unusual, but more flexible for different stuff. Asana and Freedcamp are "classic" project tracking apps and I find them good.But I never managed to find "ideal" or "best" app for project tracking
