Make managing projects easier with the right technology
No matter what type of business you run, or how big or small it is, there is going to be an aspect of project management that is important to your business. The ability to manage and track projects, whether they be a 2 hour mini-project or a year long mega-project, will greatly enhance what you can get done for your business and the efficiency in which it can be done. For all of my projects, I use the free version of Asana project management software – read about how Asana helps me in my day-to-day.
What is Asana
Asana is project and task management software that allows your to build out tasks associated with big or small projects, assign tasks to certain teammates, set timelines and schedules, and so much more.
And the best part is they offer a FREE personal plan for up to 10 users – so if you are a small business just getting started, this is an excellent option – and what I’ve been able to use for all of my project planning.
What type of features does the Personal (free) Plan have
According to the Project Management Institute, a project is any temporary endeavor undertaken to create a unique product, service or result. No matter what the size of the endeavor, breaking down the task, setting goals and dates, and tracking progress is essential to keep your business running smoothly and efficiently. Here are some of the features that Asana provides in it’s Personal Plan.
An unlimited number of tasks and projects
Asana allows you to create different projects, and lay out the different tasks associated with those project in different sections to track their progress. Never underestimate how helpful it is to break up a task into smaller bite-sized chunks, both in business and your day-to-day life.
Basic views
The basic views in the Personal Plan allows you to view all of your project tasks in one spot in different ways. The main views that I use are the list view and the card view. This allows you to see details and status of your tasks from one dashboard.
Assignees, due dates, filters and status updates
These features are the ones that make tracking your projects so much easier. For each task associated with your project you can
- Assign it to someone (or multiple people) in your organization so you know who is working on what
- Give the task due dates – know when you want to have certain items done so that the rest of your project can stay on schedule
- Filter tasks by certain data – view all of your tasks that, for example, are past their scheduled due date, and follow up on them
- Assign tasks priority, and completed statuses so you know what has been completed, and what is left, and how important that task is
Mobile project management apps
Asana provides free mobile apps for iOS and Android, so you can keep sync and track all of your projects on the go. If you are onsite somewhere, you can load up your Asana project from your phone, see what you have to do, and update the status as necessary.
In my experience, project management processes have to be as easy as possible to do or people won’t follow them. Having access to your project management tasks from your phone wherever you are helps make tracking your project as easy as possible.
How can it help me as a small business
Now that we’ve gone over the basics of what Asana can provide you as part of their free Personal Plan, let’s talk about why you want to use this as a small or new business owner.
Projects and tasks can pile up
As any business owner knows, projects and tasks can start to pile up in your day-to-day. As you are working on one thing, an idea comes to mind for a different thing that you are working on, and you need to record this thought. Being able to quickly switch to the new idea, jot it down as a task, and move back to what you were previously working on is key to help with context switching.
Assigning priority and deadlines can help with your ever-growing list of tasks and keep you from losing focus on the bigger picture.
Everything you do is a project
Even the smallest tasks that you do have a beginning and an end as well as deadlines or schedules associated with them. When you treat everything like a project, it allows you to break down goals into smaller tasks and manage what, at times, can seem daunting. By using project management software for everything, it can keep everything in prospective and not let you get overwhelmed.
Prioritize and Staying Productive
Taking everything one step at a time is so important to those getting started in the business world. Asana helps you stay productive by keeping you on task and not letting the small things slip by the wayside. Asana allows you to organize all the thoughts in your head relative to your business and goals, and lay it out in simple steps with priorities and schedules.
Get your projects organized!
I used to manage all of my project tasks through a variety of different spreadsheets that had different layouts and were found in different places on my computer. By switching to using project management software, I was able to keep track of all of my on-going projects in one spot, and manage them better then I ever could than when I used Excel. Being able to get an overall view of your project helps me keep on track be seeing what has been completed, what is in progress, and what steps I need to plan for.