Bringing your project to life often requires managing a large number of moving parts. Of course, rarely is there just one project that you’re managing, but many projects on the go at any given time.
Depending on what you’re currently using to keep your teams organized, you may be on the hunt for a new solution with more specific features. Most project management apps allow you to collaborate internally on your projects—perfect for medium to large teams. And some allow for client log-in access to show a preview of your work and deliver final files to your clients—perfect for creative agency teams of any size.
In this article
- Project Management Apps for Each Step of the Creative Process
- Asana
- Monday.com
- Meister Task
- Ziflow
- Teamwork
- ClickUp
- Final Thoughts on Choosing Project Management Software
In a perfect world, we would only need one solution for all our project management needs, but oftentimes there is more than one at play. Check out the following apps and how they can help you in all areas or specific steps of your production process. Finding the perfect fit for your business can help streamline your creative process and deliver on your projects more quickly—something we all can benefit from!
Project Management Apps for Each Step of the Creative Process
Here are six project management apps that are assisting teams with their project management processes. These apps allow for collaboration, communication, and file sharing for various creative endeavors.
When comparing project management apps, consider how you can use them to best fit your company’s unique needs.
Asana
Asana is an excellent project management tool for mapping out a project so that the team can focus on priorities to reach goals and deadlines.
Sony Music was able to quadruple its production capacity using Asana. They increased their production time by 75% once responsibilities became more clear. With a centralized and standardized onboarding process, their onboarding time also became 80% faster.
- Best for: General project management, design, production, creative scheduling, design feedback
- Companies that use it: Voxmedia, Deloitte, NASA, NBCUniversal, Disney, Voices
- Monthly cost per person: Basic = $0, Premium = $10.99, Business = $24.99, Enterprise = contact for pricing
Monday.com
Monday.com is a great centralized project management platform. You can upload and centralize files from any format and even use it directly from your creative tools like Photoshop or Acrobat DC.
The streaming service Deezer reports using Monday.com to reach a 142% increase in the weekly number of campaigns launched, reach 25% more customers, and increase their customer engagement by 483%.
- Best for: General project management, editorial calendars, product launches, creative production, content management, social media
- Companies that use it: BBC Studios, Universal Music Group, Adobe, Coca-Cola, L’Oreal Paris
- Monthly cost per person: Individual = $0, Basic = $8, Standard = $10, Pro = $16, Enterprise = contact for pricing
Meister Task
Meister Task is an excellent tool for task collaboration, allowing you to track a project from conception to completion. A digital workflow helps everyone see what role they play in the project and provides quick-glance project progress.
Meister Task’s brainstorming feature is perfect for team members who need to collaborate or map storylines. Henna Brodkin of Ohio State University’s College of Nursing says she uses mind maps to help students collaborate on projects, including a collaborative Capstone project.
- Best for: Collaborating on tasks, real-time communication, brainstorming, story mapping, design mockups, time tracking, final approval
- Companies that use it: Dropbox, Under Armour, Sap, Virgin, IBM
- Monthly cost per person: Basic = $0, Pro = $8.25, Business = $20.75
Ziflow
Ziflow helps manage creative projects by fostering collaborative discussion, providing markup tools, and allowing version comparisons. Workflow is easy to start, approvals are easy to get, and you can also easily track what’s happening with each project.
Ziflow has allowed MMR Global team members to track approvals and versions without confusion about responsibilities and missing deadlines. They report that Ziflow is especially helpful for them when someone is working remotely or needs to jump into a project mid-stream.
- Best for: Project intake and assignment, communication, collaboration, review and revision, approval sign-offs, version comparisons, client delivery
- Companies that use it: Showtime, Specialized, Overstock, Dupont, Toyota
- Monthly cost per person: Basic = $9, Starter = $18, Business = $45, Enterprise = contact for pricing
Teamwork
Teamwork is a creative project manager that helps define outcomes and break projects down into tasks. This project management software takes the team through the entire lifecycle of a project from initiation to planning, execution, and sign-off.
The Pravda Media Group reports using Teamwork to increase their productivity by 40%. It allows more real-time collaboration and gives them a single repository of documentation. Both clients and team members have benefited from improved organization.
- Best for: Communication, creating project milestones, project planning, tracking workflow, real-time collaboration, client review, creative sign-off
- Companies that use it: Spotify, Disney, Netflix, PayPal, HP, Panasonic
- Monthly cost per person: Free forever = $0, Deliver = $10, Grow = $18, Scale = contact for pricing
ClickUp
ClickUp allows companies to plan projects and monitor team progress. It’s completely customizable with apps you can turn on or off according to your needs. A custom dashboard helps track everything. It’s also possible to import info into ClickUp from other productivity apps.
Mindshare Digital uses ClickUp to track content creation, podcast completions, webinar setups, and social media ad campaigns. They report that ClickUp helps with productivity through project management and task tracking. Plus, they’ve been able to provide better customer experiences.
- Best for: Project planning, scheduling tasks, managing resources, tracking, collaborating, delegating tasks, keeping notes
- Companies that use it: Google, Webflow, Booking.com, IBM, Padres
- Monthly cost per person: Free forever = $0, Unlimited = $5, Business = $9, Business Plan = $19, Enterprise = contact for pricing
Final Thoughts on Choosing Project Management Software
Sometimes, an app that looks good on paper won’t work for the way you do business. That’s why it’s a good idea to test-drive free apps or take advantage of free individual plans to determine the best project management app for you.
Most of the time, you’ll know right away if an app works well for you, but testing it out for at least a week can help you better discover any shortcomings and overcome the learning curve to get a sense of “Is it because I’m still learning, or is it because it’s not quite right?”
It’s a good idea to choose a small team to test out the app, including people who would be using the app most to ensure optimum usefulness.
You will also find that many project management companies have representatives who are happy to set up a conference call to highlight what their software can and can’t do for your team.
In some cases, the companies that build project management apps can customize the software to your company’s specific needs. So, even if you don’t see exactly what you need, one of these apps might still be a possibility after a chat with an app representative.
Have you used any of these? Have another favorite? Let us know in the comments below.
Voices offers many project management features within our own platform that help to simplify and streamline the hiring process of voice actors and audio freelancers for your projects, too. What to know more? Sign up for a Voices account today and explore the platform!
Leave a Reply