If your organization is having difficulty keeping projects on schedule using spreadsheets, emails, and files that disappear at crucial times, there is a wide range of project scheduling software available that can resolve your problems.
When it comes to software, there is no universal solution that can meet every need. In order to determine the best one for your specific requirements, you will have to conduct preliminary research considering factors including team size, budget, and the complexity of your projects.
It is a common expectation that a capable project scheduler will assist in the coordination of teams, improve the efficiency of the workflow, and ensure that everyone is informed about tasks, progress, and deadlines.
However, an excellent project scheduler takes it to the next level by prioritizing the welfare of the individuals in your organization, thus decreasing project exhaustion and guaranteeing that your team can effectively handle their daily tasks while remaining physically, mentally, and emotionally efficient.
Best Project Scheduling Software in 2023
Resource Guru – Best project scheduling software to manage people and workloads
Among the available project scheduling software options listed, Resource Guru is the only one capable of assisting in the management of projects based on the actual availability of team members.
Although most project scheduling tools excel at organizing work, they are inadequate when it comes to efficiently assigning human resources and avoiding excessive workloads.
In other tools, the difficulty lies in assessing the accumulation of workloads across various projects, which results in a higher chance of being double-booked. Nonetheless, Resource Guru offers a straightforward solution to handle workloads across multiple projects. This guarantees that you can meet every project’s deadline and prevent your team members from becoming overwhelmed.
With Resource Guru, individuals have the ability to establish their own limitations when it comes to projects, ensuring that they do not surpass their physical and mental capacity to handle additional tasks. By utilizing this platform, managers can conveniently identify the actual availability of personnel at any given moment and track their individual utilization rates. This way, individuals are not scheduled for work when they are overwhelmed or absent from the office.
When using Resource Guru, project plans can be adjusted to account for time off. This ensures that project managers are not taken by surprise when someone is away on vacation or maternity leave, among other reasons.
It is easier to maintain a healthy work-life balance because you can handle leave and vacation time along with billable and non-billable working hours with this tool, while many other tools do not offer the ability or visibility to manage time off in such a manner.
Teamwork – Best all-in-one project scheduling software
Initially, teamwork served as a simple tool for managing tasks. However, over time, it has evolved into a comprehensive solution for scheduling projects.
Due to its extensive feature list compared to other products on our list, Teamwork has a higher learning curve that should be considered. Unlike Trello and Resource Guru, which are more user-friendly tools, Teamwork may feel overwhelming for beginners in project scheduling or those with limited tech experience. Therefore, it is important to allocate ample time for your team to familiarize themselves with the platform and set everything up.
Once you have become familiar with the layout, you will have the ability to establish personalized dashboards, monitor the passage of time and billable hours, adjust the level of scrutiny on projects, and establish teams at the project level.
Because this platform offers a wide range of features, there is a convenient advanced search feature integrated into the system. This allows users to easily locate what they are searching for without the need to navigate through menus and dropdowns.
Teamwork provides comprehensive features such as invoicing, billing, and team chat capabilities. This implies that there is no need to incur additional expenses on separate tools like invoice software or Slack. However, it is not as efficient as other tools in terms of time-saving automations.
Monday – Best project scheduling software for collaboration
Monday is a project scheduling tool that is suitable for a wide range of organizations, from smaller teams to enterprise entities.
With the aim of simplifying team collaboration, it offers a diverse array of features such as Kanban boards, Gantt charts, time tracking, automations, integrations, centralized document storage, and numerous customization options.
Monday users appreciate the colorful dashboard views as they find them convenient for work. Additionally, the dashboard includes amusing animations that are triggered when the project complete button is clicked. Therefore, if you enjoy adding a hint of gamification to your projects, Monday offers you the opportunity to celebrate your successes with reindeer and snowballs.
Many users find it challenging to navigate and set up Monday’s dashboard for their specific needs due to a learning curve. The menus and dropdowns in the UI can make it difficult to locate certain features, and there is room for further simplification in various aspects of the dashboard.
After setting up your teams and projects, Monday helps you easily assign and monitor tasks and sub-tasks. The platform allows everyone in your team to simultaneously work on it and see each other’s tasks, ensuring complete transparency regarding project progress for all team members.
Hive – Best project scheduling software for small teams
If Monday seems excessive for what you require and you are specifically seeking a solution for a smaller team, Hive is a reliable choice to consider. Users have mentioned that it is particularly suitable for those who are unfamiliar with project scheduling tools.
Hive positions itself as a platform for democratic project management and continuously works on enhancing team collaboration by incorporating user feedback. As a Hive customer, you have the opportunity to propose and vote on improvements to make it even better.
Unlike Monday, Hive provides individuals with a customizable dashboard instead of a universal layout. This permits each team member to work according to their preferences, using various views such as Gantt, Kanban, table, calendar, team, or summary formats for their projects.
In addition to its standard project scheduling features, Hive smoothly combines with Gmail, Outlook, calendars, and Zoom. Additionally, it includes a chat function built-in, enabling teams to effortlessly handle their daily communications, tasks, and video meetings all in one central location.
Hive’s risk tracker can help address project issues, and team members can easily create and assign tasks. One of Hive’s major advantages compared to other project scheduling solutions is its integrations.
Hive integrates with more than 1,000 well-known applications, such as Slack, Salesforce, HubSpot, Dropbox, and FreshBooks. This means that instead of wasting time switching between various tools to locate the required information, your teams can conveniently access everything from a single central dashboard.
Ganttic – Best project scheduling software for efficiency
If you are someone who appreciates Gantt charts, then Ganttic is a project scheduler that you should consider investigating. As the name suggests, it is their specialty.
If you haven’t yet realized the benefits of using a Gantt chart for task and time management, let me tell you that it is an excellent tool to keep track of your projects and deadlines, ensuring that everything is progressing as planned.
Ganttic promises “maximum efficiency” for its users. It allows teams to get a view of all projects at a glance, and then zoom in to manage specific tasks in detail.
If you are not a fan of the Gantt layout, you have the option to change your perspective to Kanban boards, reports, charts, or lists on the dashboard. The convenient drag-and-drop function allows for easy task allocation between various projects and for adjustments to be made in case of conflicts.
If you are working on multiple projects simultaneously, Ganttic is an ideal tool for you. With Ganttic, you can schedule team members, tools, equipment, and facilities all at once, as well as generate performance reports to measure efficiency.
Trello – Best project scheduling software for managing simple projects
Trello is widely used for project management and scheduling software due to its user-friendly Kanban layout. It is extremely easy to get started with Trello, as you can quickly set up and share boards, lists, and cards, even if you lack technical expertise. Trello’s simplicity in terms of app learning curves is unparalleled.
This software is suitable for teams that have simple, repetitive tasks and want to improve their project management process. However, it is not as comprehensive as Teamwork or Hive and does not have all the features and reporting tools that assist project managers in monitoring effectiveness and performance.
In terms of point-of-view options, Trello is lacking compared to other project schedulers. Only the Kanban view is accessible to users who are on the free plan. Additionally, users are unable to obtain a comprehensive perspective on how task delays may impact other timelines and projects. Therefore, if your team requires more agile project management features, Trello may not be suitable.
One of the functions that users love about it is the automations it offers. Trello has an automation bot called “Butler” which helps increase efficiency and save time. It does this by configuring buttons and triggers for tasks such as notifications, due dates, card movement, and tagging people for next steps. Despite sounding complicated, using Butler is just as straightforward as using the other features of Trello.
Trello incorporates some fun elements into their product, such as customizable board backgrounds, emoji reactions, and stickers, to make work feel less like work, just like the project completion animations on Monday.
Asana – Best general project scheduling software
In terms of features, Asana is probably the most similar to Teamwork, making it one of the most popular project scheduling tools.
With its simple and well-designed dashboard, this solution offers a comprehensive approach to project planning, task assignment, tracking, and collaboration. It offers a wide array of features and settings for teams to explore, and users particularly appreciate the dashboard’s flexible setup and scheduling capabilities.
If you are new to this type of software, Asana is a great option because it excels in the fundamentals of project scheduling.
Your teams have the ability to see their workloads and projects using Kanban layouts, lists, or timeline views. They can also set up basic automations, and it is simple to rearrange tasks and bookings by dragging and dropping elements.
6 Top Tips for Choosing the Right Scheduling Software
In today’s fast-paced society, efficient scheduling is crucial for both businesses and individuals. Whether you are in charge of managing appointments for clients, employees, or personal events, having the appropriate scheduling software can greatly impact your productivity. If you are interested in learning about the definition of scheduling software, you can refer to our blog post “What is Employee Scheduling Software”. Alternatively, continue reading for further information on the 12 tips for selecting the perfect software.
1. Define Your Scheduling Needs and Objectives
To begin exploring scheduling software, it is important to first identify your specific requirements and goals. This involves considering the type and frequency of appointments, the number of users requiring access, the quantity of resources to be scheduled, the necessity of integrating with other tools, and the degree of customization desired. By thoroughly understanding your scheduling needs, you will be able to find the most appropriate solution.
2. Prioritize User-Friendliness
When selecting scheduling software, it is crucial to consider its ease of use. Having a user-friendly interface allows you and your team to easily adjust to the system without any major disruptions. It is advisable to seek software with an intuitive design, simple navigation, and a minimal learning curve. A well-crafted dashboard and logical workflows can improve your scheduling experience and decrease the chances of making errors.
3. Verify Compatibility and Integration
In an interconnected world, it is crucial to have seamless integration for effective scheduling. Make sure to verify that the software you select can smoothly integrate with other tools you regularly use, including calendars, customer relationship management (CRM) systems, or communication platforms. Integration helps avoid entering duplicate data and simplifies your workflow, which ultimately saves valuable time and effort.
4. Mobile Accessibility
Having scheduling software that can be accessed on mobile devices is essential as work becomes more mobile. Whether it’s through a dedicated mobile app or a web interface that adjusts to different screen sizes, being able to manage appointments on-the-go is vital for maintaining productivity no matter where you are. It is important to ensure that the mobile version of the software provides the same features and functionalities as the desktop version.
5. Emphasize Customization Options
Every business or individual has their own specific scheduling needs, so it is important to choose software that can be customized to meet those needs. Seek out software that provides a variety of options for customization, such as the ability to create multiple calendars for different purposes, set appointment durations, and apply specific booking rules. By customizing the scheduling process, you can align it with your unique requirements.
6. Automate Notifications and Reminders
To avoid disruption of schedules and missed opportunities, consider finding scheduling software that provides automated notifications and reminders for both yourself and your clients. Utilizing email or SMS reminders can greatly minimize no-show instances, enhancing overall efficiency and client satisfaction.
