Project management communication: These tools help

Project management tools have become an indispensable part of the everyday life of many teams. No wonder: they are useful, provide transparency and accelerate the workflow. Communication between project participants is particularly important. In this article, you will learn which tools have which communication functions. You can download an overview.

Manage successfully with project management tools

Many processes and workflows in companies today are designed and approached as projects. These projects can have different sizes. Regardless of whether it is the development of a new product, the implementation of a new CMS (-> see comparison CMS integrators) or simply the creation of a new text for the website (-> see comparison content agencies), it is basically always about the same thing: to make the cooperation of several people as efficient as possible. This presents companies with major challenges, especially when projects are to be implemented across departments or with external service providers. Working from different locations or from the home office also poses a challenge. Those involved in the project quickly lose track of who has to do what and when in order to keep the project moving forward. This increases the risk of the project getting out of hand in terms of costs and time or not being completed at all. Project management tools are ideal helpers that bring together all project participants on one platform and transparently show the processes and responsibilities. There is now a whole range of providers offering this software and supporting companies with numerous functions in their project management (-> here is the link to our market overview of project management tools).

Communication is central to project success

The central success factor for projects is not only time management, but above all communication with and between the project participants. This avoids bottlenecks and unintentional project blockades. Project participants, who otherwise communicate little with each other, can exchange information directly without detours and explanations of what is at stake.

We have compared the communication possibilities of 19 different project management tools.

We focused on the following communication options:

Chat function 1:1

Video chat 1:1

Team chat

Video chat with the project team

Comment function

Notification by email

Assignment of tasks

Absence/vacation management

Newsfeed

User profile

Only half ft he tools have a chat function

Basic communication within the project is possible in every tool. In each tool, the project participants can be notified by mail and comment on individual tasks. Also the creation of a user profile, in ft heo give the other – possibly so far unknown – project participants information about themselves. Also the possibility of assigning tasks to individual persons is given with nearly all project management tools. What is surprising, however, ft he fact that a text chat between two people is only possible in about half ft he tools, and a 1:1 video chat in only two ft he 19 tools compared. A 1:1 exchange may work against the transparency of a project to a small extent, but precisely because a short exchange can contribute so much to efficiency, it is a bit surprising that so few providers enable this. Especially in light ft he fact that project management tools really come into their own in work situations where project participants are not sitting together in one place: in different countries, in different companies, or in a home office. Here, a video chat function or at least a text chat would contribute positively to project success. But perhaps the providers are also relying on the project participants agreeing on a communication channel outside ft he tool. But this is not what the inventor had in mind, is it?

Project management communication: The tools have these functions on board