Overview
The following 10 tools will help you, as a Project Manager, get your job done effectively and on time. Most of these tools facilitate communication in one way or another, whether that communication is between people or software applications. Let us know at solutions@anant.us if you feel like we missed any big tools you use all the time!
Skitch
Skitch is a great free screenshot capture and annotation tool for Mac (sorry Windows users – I suggest you try Greenshot instead). Snagit is also one of the best available options out there for this purpose.
Workflowy
Workflowy is a very simple straightforward application, with the main purpose of creating easily shareable nested lists.
Screenmailer
Great for taking videos of your screen with the option of also recording audio simulatenously. There’s a free version that lets you store up to 1 hour of videos on the cloud. You’re able to delete videos and free up space so as to not go over your 1 hour limit. Here’s a Screenmailer video I recorded on how to use Workflowy.
Rambox
If you have many different Slack channels, or email inboxes you need to stay on top of, this free open-source messaging platform is phenomenal. Here’s a screenshot of my Rambox set up.
Trello
The go-to simple project management tool that lives on the cloud ⛅. If you’re looking for a very simple project management system and want to get started using something that has a very “minimal viable product” feel to it Trello is the way to go. Check out our blog post on the 20 Best Trello Links for the Modern Enterprise.
Airtable
Combines the best parts of a forms engine, Trello, and a lightweight database. Check out our blog post on Airtable – Modern Enterprise: Why Airtable? The Top 20 Links Worth Your Time
Slack
There’s no easier way to do messaging for work. You can create multiple channels for your different company departments or teams, set up useful integrations with products like Trello, JIRA, Zendesk, GitHub, and many more.
Check out our blog post that does an overview of all three of Trello, Slack and Airtable.
Slack-jitsu
These are some little tips you can use to make the information you communicate on Slack more readable (and thus better communicated!)
Use `your text here` for code blocks
Use *your text here* for bold
Use _your text here_ for italic
Use > before your message for one line blockquote
Use >>> before your message for multi-line blockquote
Slack Integrations
You can use Paperbot to collect all the links your team shares on Slack and distribute them via e-mail.
An easy way to post message into Slack from external sources.
If you’re using JIRA for project management there’s a suite of integrations you can use with Slack such as being notified in the appropriate client channel when a new task is created in the JIRA project of said client.
IFTTT
Free simple automations. You can use IFTTT for a host of different integrations between commonly used applications such as Google Calendar, Microsoft Outlook, Salesforce and more.
Zapier
Zapier has more complex and elaborate integrations than IFTTT does. Here you can you use more elaborate workflows and triggers when creating integrations between applications.
OneTab
Do you often find yourself with a million different tabs open and need to bring some order to things? Try OneTab, it stores all your tabs in different groupings that you can then edit, delete, share with others.
PS: Bluetooth headphones are the best, get yourself some for those long conference calls. I recommend these – Jaybird X3.
If you’re interested in learning more about what is possible to do with some of these tools or if you have any questions don’t hesitate to drop us a line here – solutions@anant.us.
Photo by Serge Kutuzov on Unsplash
