Effective solutions are needed at every step of the project management process, from initial conception through final handoff. Project management software is crucial for keeping track of and coordinating all of a project’s moving pieces over its entire cycle.
Every member of the team needs to put in effort if they want to finish the job quickly and well. Project managers and leaders put in a lot of work to ensure everything runs well. A single misunderstanding or mistake can have a devastating effect on the productivity, efficiency, and morale of the entire team, not to mention the reputation and standing of the firm as a whole.
If you use a project management tool, you can reduce the likelihood of these problems occurring and increase the likelihood that your project will be completed efficiently and on time. Let’s talk about what these are and how you could put them to use.
What is Project Management Software?
Software designed specifically for managing projects can help with tasks like creating timelines and budgets as well as keeping everyone on the same page. Budget and cost management, documentation, quality management, and administrative tasks can also be handled by project managers, users, and stakeholders.
A project management is a tool designed to help your team work more effectively and successfully finish projects on schedule and with the highest possible quality. The following are common elements of project management software:
- Contemplation before beginning a project
- Setting a schedule for housework
- Allocation of assets
- Checking in on development
- Methodologies for mapping out future steps
- Maintaining a watchful eye on bugs
- Budgeting
- Maintaining privacy and secrecy of information
- Discharge planning
- Analysis and reporting of statistics
Why do you need project management software?
Many teams working on numerous projects at once can slow down the progress of even the most efficient companies. You have many tasks that need to be completed successfully, from brainstorming to implementing a strategy to delivering the final product. Each step must be completed successfully if you want to keep your customers happy and expand your business.
The investment of time, money, and effort into anything that must be done by hand is enormous. Missing deadlines or lowering quality standards are other risks that might arise from inefficient project management.
Software designed specifically for managing projects allows for faster, more efficient project completion. Through its optimization features, projects can be completed on time without compromising on quality. It helps you retain a positive reputation in the eyes of your clients and win their loyalty. Some benefits of using a tool for project management include the following:
Simplifies workflow
Using a project management tool can help you improve efficiency all the way through a project’s lifecycle. You won’t have to keep doing the same boring, time-consuming, and labor-intensive manual tasks. Instead, the technology can streamline a variety of processes.
You may delegate tasks with ease, plan out your time effectively, keep tabs on how things are progressing, use features from other tools you already use, and take advantage of any new ones that come your way to complete projects faster and better than ever before.
Centralizes all information in the tool
Disinformation and poor management are both possible once actual work on a project begins. As a result, staff members may experience feelings of being buried under a mountain of paperwork, and the project’s goals may seem insurmountably far off.
However, if the team uses an efficient project management solution with a unified dashboard, everyone can easily share information and work together. As a result, your staff is able to get their task done without distractions, ambiguity, or burnout.
Supports smooth communication flow
Inefficiency on a project could be the result of poor communication. In the midst of their work, nobody wants to deal with confusion or conflict (or at any time either). Email is inconvenient since it slows down communication and can prevent you from getting instant responses when time is of the essence.
A project management tool promotes open dialogue between team members by allowing for real-time comments, debates, and feedback on the project’s progress without compromising security.
Enhances team transparency
Keeping everyone on your team in the loop builds trust and sets the path for better communication and cooperation. There will be more inquiries and costs involved with tracking procedures at each step if tasks, processes, and progress are not clearly evident to all.
You may be more open and honest with everyone involved in the project when you use a project management application to keep track of its progress and communicate its protocols to everyone involved. It will help them plan their next steps and understand the bigger picture.
Improves value-efficiency
Performing tasks manually not only takes more time, but also requires more money and more people to get the job done. You may save both time and money by using a unified platform for planning and managing tasks, communicating with stakeholders, and making strategic decisions based on aggregated data.
Benefits of Self-hosted Project Management Software
In the event that you decide to look for the best project management software, you will find a wide variety of programs to select from. Make a list of potential programs, taking into account your team’s size, funding, and other requirements. Here, you have the option of using either a self-hosted system or a software as a service platform to handle your projects.
The former has the benefit of being more adaptable because you have more freedom to change and redistribute the source code. Code manipulation to improve software by adding features, fixing problems, etc. is made possible by free and open-source project management tools.
11 Best Open Source Project Management Software [Self-hosted]
Read on for a rundown of some project management tools that don’t cost a dime but nonetheless deliver impressive results.
1. OpenProject
OpenProject is a free and open-source project management tool that combines the best of both traditional project management with the latest in flexible, mobile development. To protect your privacy and personal information, they offer the highest industry standards. After it is installed in your system, you will have full access to and control over all of your data.
If you use the software, you’ll get complete control over where and how your data is kept. Your workers will be able to work in a more pleasant, straightforward, and productive manner as a result. In addition, your team will be able to monitor their progress toward a common goal, create a streamlined workflow for all tasks, and delegate responsibility as needed.
OpenProject consolidates your tools into one central hub, allowing for more efficient collaboration. Take use of team members’ ability to contribute ideas and knowledge while visualising and developing project plans by having them use a collaborative timeline.
Examine the scope of the project in order to formulate a plan of action and share this plan with all involved parties along with an estimated completion date. Agile teams will also use metrics, feedback, and practice to get better over time and produce higher-quality results more quickly.
Tools for agile product development methodologies like Kanban and Scrum are available in OpenProject. It’s a sizable group of programmers, open-source advocates, business owners, and the like who can help each other find the best balance between fixed and adaptable hosting.
Self-hosted OpenProject receives enterprise-level, on-premises support and protections. Your pricing should reflect the anticipated volume of customers. Prices start at $405 per year for five users, depending on the chosen support plan and subscription length.
2. Focalboard
Focalboard, a self-hosted and open-source project management program, is another option on the list. Teams may better coordinate their efforts, keep tabs on progress, and define their roles with the use of Kanban boards. Both the first and second editions are available.
Focalboard Personal Desktop is a program for the computer that helps you organize your own tasks and projects. Software designed for use by a single organization, installed and executed exclusively on a single server. The Focalboard Personal Server is a self-hosted server that improves team communication and productivity.
If you want to select a premade template for your project’s tasks, click the “add new boards” button. You can adjust the default values for the created date, priority, sort parameters, filter settings. The group property can also be changed by dragging cards from one column to another. You can also make changes to the cards whenever you want to see the complete set of attributes, the detailed content, and the comment threads.
Cards can be seen in a table view, and when the mouse is hovered over a card’s title, it will open in a new tab. Each board also comes with blank card and board templates so you can design your own according to your group’s needs. You can get a Desktop Environment on Mac OS X and Windows, and a Server Environment on Ubuntu.
3. Restya
In the same vein as Trello, Restya is a kanban board that provides its users with a wide variety of customisation options. MyRestyaboards has developed an app for the iPad and iOS. It keeps track of many Restya Boards, and you can even import boards from Asana, another software for managing projects and tasks.
Kantree is a flexible management application that can be imported into this cloud-based project management system to aid in the organization, collaboration, management, and planning of projects. Pipefy, Taiga, Taskwarrior, Trello, and Wekan boards may all be easily imported into Restya Board.
There is a separate board for each project, and it’s possible to make and use many boards to oversee multiple projects at once. Use preexisting templates to get going quickly, and clone a single board several times with different names. You can also do things like remove and add people, open cards, vote, etc., with the help of shortcut keys.
Develop a single online repository for documenting and classifying projects. You will be able to add and remove members, manage permissions, sort, and delete content with ease on this digital platform because to its intuitive interface and granular customisation options.
You can look at basic boards or a filtered list of boards, where you can choose which ones to make public or private. The cards can also be seen in a grid or list view. Restya offers a color-coded calendar layout for easier event identification and stress.
There is a Gantt view, a report view, an invitation view, a member list view, an editable visible mode, a backdrop change, a backdrop texture and pattern editor, an automatic subscription feature, and productivity beats.
4. ERPNext
The open-source ERPNext software will streamline your processes and help you meet deadlines more effectively. You can use it to coordinate with your team to streamline processes like task management, scheduling, planning, and analysis. ERPNext’s streamlined overview makes it easy to keep tabs on project due dates. By taking a task-based approach, projects may be streamlined and managed in one central location.
Assigning specific responsibilities to individual team members is made easier with ERPNext. Priorities, a detailed scope, milestones, and projected dates will give you insight into the project’s efficiency and development. ERPNext also supports the transfer and sharing of all types of media files, including images, documents, and even movies. If you set up auto-replies for receiving emails, you can theoretically make it so that nobody has any trouble communicating with anyone else.
Get up-to-the-minute details whenever you need them to stay on top of expenditures and budgets, plan more effectively for each project, and see where the money has been allocated. Additionally, it facilitates the creation of open-source software.
5. Taskcafe
Taskcafe is a free and open-source project management program that lets you organize your work with a Kanban board, complete with labels, checklists, and due dates. When you go to your “My Tasks” tab, you’ll see a list of everything you have to do.
In addition, you can select options like work on your own projects, make comments on work, do work related activities, etc. Taskcafe is a workflow-optimized solution that makes it easy to manage any kind of project, making it a viable alternative to popular project management tools like NextCloud and Trello. It’s in the early stages of development, but already has a lot to offer and sets itself apart from the competition.
6. Orangescrum
Manage your teams’ agile and simple projects with Orangescrum, an open-source platform that is both scalable and safe. It allows you and your team to efficiently complete a project by providing a framework within which to develop strategies, plan the project in detail, put those strategies into action, and stay on schedule.
Using Orangescrum, you can arrange your tasks in a way that maximizes efficiency and produces the best possible outcomes for your efforts. You may do more than just make plans for your projects; you can also easily keep tabs on their progress and get them delivered. By assigning responsibilities, you can boost your team’s ability to work together in the moment and make better use of its resources.
Using visual project planning and your current process, Orangescrum maximizes productivity. Real-time data can be seen via dashboards to get insight into portfolio performance and operations. In addition, by monitoring the costs of resources used in a project, you can control financial activities and budgets to boost your earnings.
Protect your information with role-based access control (RBAC) and a single sign-on. You may use Orangescrum on the go by downloading it on your Android or iOS device. You should also consolidate your project documentation so that it can be accessed from anywhere.
The beginning plan is $9 per month for ten people and includes limitless tasks, projects, Gantt charts, status updates, task reminders, five guest users, and five gigabytes of storage space.
7. Taiga
Taiga is a feature-rich, user-friendly project management solution designed for cross-functional agile teams. It helps you to collaborate with your team in order to define deliverables and leverage their knowledge.
Start prioritising tasks and coordinating schedules so that everything gets done on time. Because sharing information is essential to the success of any management approach, Taiga makes it easy to keep everyone in the loop on your progress at the office. In addition, allow your teammates to view the ongoing activities and review the tasks that have been accomplished.
Taiga can help you and your team be more transparent about where things stand with your project, how resources are being allocated, and how much work still ahead. The straightforward UI makes it easy to get things done.
There is no need for sophisticated configuration in the midst of a project to make changes to workflows or introduce new features. You may rely on Taiga since it provides not only dependability but also autonomy, adaptability, flexibility, security, performance, and stability, allowing you to complete remarkable tasks.
By signing up, you can get 300MB of free space to store your files, limitless space for public projects, and support for up to 5 private projects. The $5/month/user option is for those who desire access to additional features.
8. Twake
Twake is a user-friendly digital office that boosts productivity in the workplace. Helps with group chats, adding new members, sharing files, working on projects together, and setting up video conferencing. Using Twake, you may monitor the status of every task, set due dates for team members’ assignments, and manage the entire project. Easy access to local and cloud-based files is made possible via its drag-and-drop file manager.
As well as being able to edit your files, you can also conveniently manage labels and versions. Make new team events as needed, add video links for teleconferences, coordinate alerts, upload relevant files, and set deadlines. In addition, Twake makes it easy to install whatever software you require for your specific process. Separate from shared calendars, documents, and conversations, each app operates independently. Google Docs, Libre Office, Microsoft Office, etc., can all be used to make changes to the same document.
Twake’s database is encrypted, therefore your data is safe there. In addition, you may control who can view the documents. Your data and records are kept in a safe location in France. It allows for encrypted transfers over HTTPS/SSL and complies with the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation.
This project management application has a free tier that allows you to get started with fewer features and an option to upgrade for more.
9. Wekan
In addition to the previously mentioned free and open-source options, we also recommend trying out Wekan, a kanban board-style project management tool. With a Kanban board, you can easily keep track of your tasks, collaborate with your team, plan for holidays, and assess the present state of your projects.
Through the use of Wekan, time is freed up so that you may focus on what matters most. A simple click is all it takes to set it up on your desktop or server. Wekan is widely adopted across the globe and is translated into 63 languages.
The full administration it allows is made possible by its real-time user interface. It’s also compatible with a number of different systems. You’ll need a computer that meets the minimum specifications to use Wekan.
A 64-bit Linux Snap or Sandstorm/Windows/Mac installation, MongoDB and Node.js-compatible CPUs, 1 GB of available RAM for Wekan, 4 GB of RAM for the system server, and enough storage space would all be helpful.
10. ProjectLibre
If you need a program to handle your administrative duties, go no further than ProjectLibre. It is an open-source, cross-platform alternative to Microsoft Project that can open MS Project files. It also provides options for teams to handle many projects at once.
You can use the drop-down to toggle between ProjectLibre’s 29 supported languages. It offers useful tools including Gantt charts, PERT diagrams, network maps, RBC/WBC diagrams, earned value costing, and resource histograms.
11. Leantime
As its name implies, Leantime offers the kind of “lean” project management that pioneering businesspeople value. From starting a project to finishing it, everything is meant to run smoothly. This free program is based on PHP, Java Script, and the MySQL database.
Lean Canvas boards for research, calendar views, Gantt charts for project management, and Kanban boards for task management are just some of the capabilities it offers. It also includes timesheet tracking, project dashboards, retrospectives, reports, two-factor authentication, and permissions for different types of users.
Tasks, milestones, and timesheets may be exported to CSV, and Leantime can be synced with Slack, Zulip, and Mattermost. This tool supports storing files in either your local file system or AWS S3, and it can be accessed in four different languages (English, Russian, Spanish, and Dutch).
Conclusion
Project management software is useful because it increases efficiency, facilitates collaboration, and reduces waste. You may get these advantages and successfully finish each project with the help of the open-source and free tools for project management that I’ve outlined above.
If you are not ready for self-hosted deployment, you may want to look into another project management software.