Task Managers for Small Businesses
What is a task manager, and how can you use it in your business?
As small businesses grow, especially in virtual office environments, one of the most significant issues that come up is task management. When multiple people are working on a project, it is essential to have project information, tasks, digital assets, and other important information in a centralized place. By implementing a cloud-based solution that is accessible by the entire team, your small business, as well as your projects, can run more efficiently.
Rather than using a full-scale project management system, many small business owners opt for task managers like Hive, Todoist, Asana, Trello, and Airtable, to name a few. Due to their flexibility, task management software provides users with the structure, customization, time tracking, and collaboration tools they need to easily manage their projects.
Which tool is right for your team? Only you and your team can decide, but here is a breakdown of the most popular task managers to help you on your quest to find the perfect tool for your business.
Asana: one of the most popular tasks managers, Asana is used by larger teams to manage sub-tasks and tasks within their projects. This popular app is known for its clean, user-friendly interface and seamless communications. It offers many features, including:
- Team Collaboration and Conversation
- Task Tracking and Management
- Drag and Drop Interface
- Document Management
- List, Kanban, Gantt, and Calendar Views
- Shared/Private Access
- Subtask Checklists
- Data Export
- Task Analytics and Forms
- Mobile App
- Third-Party Integrations
Pros: Can integrate with tools you’re already using, utilizes Industry-specific templates, able to enter data offline that syncs when you’re back online.
Cons: More advanced project management requires third-party applications, features are price dependent, team conversations can get cluttered.
Airtable: a low-cost task manager that is customizable and scalable to fit the needs of growing companies. Used to manage projects for various industries, this software excels at managing multimedia projects where revision histories can be essential.
Some features of Airtable are:
- Industry-Specific Project Templates
- Functional, Mix and Match Blocks
- 3D Model Explorer
- Map and Geocode Integrations
- Page Design
- SMS Integration
- 50 Airtable Apps (Gantt charts, URL preview, etc.)
- 150 Open-Source Apps
- Task Calendar, Kanban, Grid, and Gallery Views
- Form Builder and Forms
- Task Tracker
- Access/Permission Control
- Data Import/Export
- API and Third-Party Integrations
- Social Media and Email Integrations
- Mobile App
Pros: Easy to get started, integrates with existing tools, highly customizable.
Cons: Cost per user can be prohibitive, and advanced features cost more—large learning curve.
Trello: a Kanban based visual task manager used by small teams. For those unfamiliar, Kanban is an agile methodology that uses visual boards or cards to help visualize your work. More information about this methodology can be found here. In Trello’s case, you create tasks on cards that can be viewed via calendar or as a card that can be moved around.
Some features include:
- Task Management
- Scheduled Commands
- Kanban Boards and Calendar View
- Board Collections
- Task Triggers
- File Uploading
- Custom Board Backgrounds
- Templates
- Pre-Made Industry Specific Team Playbooks
- Private/Shared Access Administration
- Third-party Integrations
- Bulk Data Export
- Mobile App
Pros: Easy to use, excellent for visual learners or agile software development teams.
Cons: Overwhelming for larger projects with many tasks.
Todoist: user-friendly task manager that uses lists and gamification to manage projects. Unlike other tools mentioned, Todoist is easy to use and offers many features even in their free version, including:
- Tasklist and Task Management
- Project Management
- Visual Progress Tracking
- Milestones Tracking
- File Sharing
- Access Permissions
- Customizable Templates
- Gamification: Productivity Karma Points
- Activity Log
- Commenting and Notifications
- Remote Access
- Mobile App
- Automatic Data Backup and Encryption
- Third-Party Integrations
Pros: Affordable, easy to use.
Cons: Lacks support for agile methodologies. Does not support live chat.
Hive: an all-encompassing tool that combines task management and collaboration features to help various size teams manage their projects more efficiently. Some features Hive offers include:
- Create and assign tasks from meeting notes
- Create and assign tasks from emails
- Assign tasks to internal and external users
- Display tasks in 6 different project layouts: Kanban, Gantt, portfolio, calendar, database and summary
- Time-tracking and resourcing
- Upload, organize, and attach files to tasks
- Create repeatable tasks with templates
- Communicate on tasks with comments and tags
Pros: Versatile layouts, streamlined communication, built-in time-tracking, and resourcing.
Cons: Many features cost extra. The price per user can be expensive.
These are just a few tools available to manage your daily tasks. We hope you find this information helpful in choosing the right task management tool for you and your team. Want to know what we think is the best tool? The one that gets used because you can implement the best, most flexible tool in the world, but if you don’t use it, then it is a waste of time and money.
https://hive.com/blog/task-management-software/
https://www.atlassian.com/agile/kanban
Did you find this article useful? Sign up for our newsletter for monthly tips and more.
