In our previous post, we discussed the advantages of choosing the right project management software or platform for your business. If your business depends on completing client projects on time, within budget, and in a manner that meets or exceeds your client’s expectations, you simply can’t leave your projects up to chance or through your own micromanagement. Even if you have a proven track record of managing your own projects, or if you have a trusted employee who does this for you, you can’t rely on yourself or this employee to always be available and, in the case of your employee, always remain employed at your company. By choosing the right project management software or platform, you can implement a system that not only delivers consistent results for your clients, but will also remain independent and viable regardless of absences or staffing changes.
Does Your Team Communicate Effectively?
While project management software and platforms offer mostly complete suites of tools and features, they often do not include team communication tools, and if they do, they may not be as fully-featured or reliable as other third-party solutions. Does the software or platform you’ve chosen to implement include the communication tools your team will need to properly communicate during the process of completing the project, and will that communication be documented? Almost all of us utilize email, texting, and other messaging apps, but we all know that cluttered email inboxes and the non-permanent nature of texts and instant messages can lead to lost instructions, duplicate work, and missed deadlines. Luckily, effective team communication tools exist that can ensure that your team remains in contact and fully informed from the beginning to end of each project.
Slack: The Leader In Team Communication
It’s possible you may already be familiar with the most popular team communication service on the market today. From glowing reviews and profiles in tech-oriented sites, business sites, and other publications to flashy animated advertisements, Slack has positioned itself as the first choice in team communication, and with good reason. Available on both desktops and mobile devices, Slack provides companies and organizations with a robust communication platform and, potentially more importantly, a highly-effective search function to locate archived message logs. However, Slack may not be the ideal solution for companies and organizations on a tight budget, as their free tier begins deleting message logs after 10,000 messages.
Skype For Business: A Robust Solution At A Reasonable Price
Microsoft’s Skype for Business, which is included in the Office 365 business application suite, also provides a robust and versatile communication solution for businesses of all sizes. Two primary advantages that Skype for Business offers over their competitors is the built-in integration with other Microsoft applications and services and the maturity of the platform, which was first released in 2003. Finally, Skype for Business is one of the most affordable services on the market, with plans starting at just $2.00 per user, per month and is included in Office 365 plans.
Wrike: Our Choice For Team Communication
As we mentioned in our previous blog post, we utilize the team communication tools built into our project management platform of choice, Wrike. Through the tasks and activity stream, Wrike makes it easy to quickly send a message to another team member, allowing us to sometimes immediately confer and collaborate on a pressing issue within a project. As a complete project management platform, Wrike is easy to setup and customize, but businesses and organizations on a budget may find the free tier too limiting.