Teams all around the world use management software to optimize their work. Why is this, you wonder?
With the right management software, you can divide complex projects into small ones. That’s just step one. This kind of tool will help you track and manage progress, analyze your team’s work, and keep track of everything your business sells and buys.
On top of it all, management software facilitates communication within a business, and we all know how important this is. 
The right tool can increase your business efficiency tremendously, which is why many businesses and teams now use such software. Regardless of the industry or the size, such tools eliminate the need for manual planning and management. 
This in return, saves a tremendous amount of time and money, not to mention eliminates many of those costly mistakes you’ve been making before. 
Because of it, more and more teams and businesses opt for management software. The market is already enormous and projected to grow by over 10% per year for the next 5 years, at least. 
But, how do you choose a management software that fits your business and project? There are too many of them out there, and the differences are enormous. 
To help you with this task, we’ve created this short guide on selecting the right software. 

Define your needs first

Whenever you are looking to invest in something as important as this, you need to define your needs. This is essential to choosing the right software. If not, you might choose a quality solution, but it will not necessarily be a good fit for your project. 
Let’s, for example, say that you work in construction and want to keep track of employees across different job sites. For this, you need proper construction scheduling software, one that will help you do the following:
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Naturally, these are just a few of the things a construction business might need. If you want to make sure to cover it all, you need a tool with many features such as Agendrix. Tailored specifically to facilitate communication, track time, and automate many of your tasks, this tool is perfect for businesses of different sizes.

Identify the challenges you’re currently facing

There are many amazing management tools at your disposal, but they don’t all solve the same problems. You can invest in a trending tool that doesn’t serve any purpose to your business even though it was amazing for someone else. 
Don’t make the mistake of picking software based on testimonials or recommendations only. Your decision should be based on your business’ needs and the problems you are trying to solve. 
Some software solutions have tremendous sets of features that allow you to tackle most of the problems with projects. Others are more focused on keeping the workflow organized by tracking time and employees, or focused on communication with customers. 
That being said, make a list of every challenge or constraint you are facing that could be fixed with this type of tool. Be very specific because you’ll need this data while you search for a solution. 
For example, you might want to consider the following:
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Focus on what your team needs

Your goal when choosing management tools is to match your current plans and workflows to scale with the software. To do this, you need the help of your team. 
You can start by evaluating the current state of your team. Let’s consider some questions that can give you important information here:
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Naturally, finding the answers to such questions will not be easy. You can’t do it alone - you need to clarify things with your employees. For example, you can only know if the employees find your business’ tools useful if you ask them about it. You can learn why the project failed if they tell you what went wrong. 
Essentially, you’ll find what the problem of your business is and what you need to look for in a software management tool. If your team is spending too much time on things of higher priority, you’ll need a tool that helps them prioritize and manage tasks. If they are not productive or often fail to do their job, you need a tool that tracks their work. 

Identify the level of management software you need

Here is a rather scary statistic for you - there are 1380 project management software solutions available on the market as of April of 2022. That’s the number of tools you can choose from, which is pretty much when you are trying to make a decision!
To help you with your choice, we’ve separated them into tiers. Once you decide the tier you need, you can eliminate at least half of these options, if not most of them. 

Level 1: Task management

If you are looking for something light on features, simple to use, and very affordable, this is the level you need. At this level, you can find readily available tools, often with freemium pricing models. These tools solve the need of a small team only, or an individual. They focus mostly on design and aesthetics. 
If you need reports and other, more advanced features, this is not the tier for you. Such tools lack inter-departmental and all-project views. 
Startups often opt for such solutions because of their affordability and the features that currently meet their team’s needs. Soon after and when they need more features, they upgrade to something more. 

Level 2: More advanced solution

Now you are considering products with a balance of more features and usability. They don’t have it all, but they have a variety of features and integrations that might just be the right fit for your business. 
Solutions in this tier are designed for small to medium-sized businesses. They are focused on functionality, as well as aesthetics and design. They offer some level of customization and can solve the needs of departments and teams while managing more projects simultaneously.
You can detect these tools when you see robust reporting features, to-do lists, project oversight, and comprehensive views, often in the form of Gantt charts. You can also use features like dependencies, milestones, and lead and lag. 
Lastly, tools in this tier have plenty of add-ons that can come at an extra cost and include time tracking, API integrations, and expense tracking. Agendrix falls into this tier.

Level 3: Solutions for big enterprises

Last but not least are immense project management softwares with most features and functionalities. These are often used by big brands and have a steep learning curve. Not to mention, they also cost significantly more than the other solutions on the market. 
Basically, the level 3 software solutions will offer similar features to those in level 2, but you’ll be able to work across many departments and enjoy more features in addition to the ones discussed above. 
Keep in mind that tier 3 solutions typically require onsite onboarding and setup to start working, and they allow for advanced customization of most features. The pricing of these tools often goes up to $20,000 per year or more depending on the size of the business.

How does this information help you?

It’s very simple, really. If you are working on your own or with a small team that doesn’t need many features, you can instantly eliminate those in tiers 2 and 3. If you need something more advanced, opt for tier 2. If you have an enormous company with tons of employees and projects, you need tier 3. 

Get ready to do some brainstorming

At this point, you have an idea of what type of features you need from the software, and which are your options. It is now time to do some brainstorming. Eliminate the tools that you cannot afford or do not offer the features you need. 
Try to make the list smaller and then start by testing your favorites one by one. The quality products often have free trial versions. If not, you can reach out and ask for one. If a company doesn’t provide at least a short trial of their full package, it’s a big red flag and a sign that you should move on. 

Ready to do your search?

If you follow these steps, picking a management solution can take some time, but it will provide you with the best option on the market. Remember, your task isn’t to choose the most used software or the one that has the best rating - it is to choose one that is of high quality and offers the right features that your project needs!

WRITTEN BY

Sophie H.