Free Project Management Software Features That A Professional B2B Tool Should Have

Tina is an English teacher who has been tasked to lead a big project , that of ascertaining the language adjustment of immigrant students from Europe who have just entered high school. Using free project management software has crossed her mind to organize the data she has gathered and she came forward with this question:

“Hi. I hope you can help me with my concern. A colleague has mentioned to me several times about using free project management software but I don’t know where to begin. Of course I like it because it will not require me to take out my credit card or even ask for a free trial so I can subscribe. Now, I think this software will be very helpful as I take on this new language project in school. I would like to know about the various features of this software and how to get started. I would also like to find out about the websites where I can make my comparison of free project management software so that I can choose from the many different options available. Thank you.” Tina, OR

Hello Tina. We agree. Free project management software is ideal for you if at first you want to be acquainted with how such a software works. You get the education you need without the pressure to commit to a monthly or yearly plan.

If you want to sign up to a  free project management software, do not expect a lot of top features. The good thing is that you should be able to get the basics of what you need; that is, create your project, monitor its status or any updates, and collaborate with individuals who are with you in the project.

In a nutshell, here are the basic functions that this kind of software can provide you:

1. Provide a more organized approach to your project with to-do lists that you can view from the dashboard, summary of tasks with their due dates, and upcoming milestones, to name just a few.
2. Track resources allocated across all areas  of the project as well as the time spent by team members on their assignments. Resource and time tracking ensures that the project will run smoothly as scheduled and any obstruction to the workflow will be identified. In the software, you can also add a functionality for expense tracking if you are in charge of handling the budget.
3. File management ensures that all documents and data related to the project can be accessed in one place. And because the files are on the cloud, they are generally more secure.
4. If the project involves a group of two or more team members, it shouldn’t be hard to find a software that provides for a tool to encourage collaboration. With this feature, you and your group can send messages to each other, enable live chat  or attach your comments to certain files.
5. An added asset to any software is its degree of flexibility which means that you have sufficient leeway to scale up or scale down, for example. Being flexible means you can create custom fields to the project data sheet, insert drop down lists or text boxes as necessary. If possible, it should also be able to integrate with other apps like Dropbox and Google Docs, among others.

Among the free apps available in the market are Ace Project, Basecamp, Zoho Projects and open source ones like Task Juggler. For best results, read a review of these free project management software found in various websites.

By Stephanie Seymour

Stephanie Seymour is a senior business analyst and one of the crucial members of the FinancesOnline research team. She is a leading expert in the field of business intelligence and data science. She specializes in visual data discovery, cloud-based BI solutions, and big data analytics. She’s fascinated by how companies dealing with big data are increasingly embracing cloud business intelligence. In her software reviews, she always focuses on the aspects that let users share analytics and enhance findings with context.