Small Business Briefcase +
PACK ED WITH TIPS AN D TOOLS TO BEN EFIT YOUR BUSINESS
PROJECT MANAGEMENT MATTERS Local small business leaders share practical advice and tested techniques for your business Today’s project management apps can help you streamline your processes and boost your bottom line. Try out one of these inexpensive (or free!) cloud-based project management applications.
EXPERT PICKS FROM CHAMBER MEMBERS BASECAMP
VS
Basecamp is a great tool for
Trello is a very visual tool.
big and small projects. And
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it’s the perfect tool for special events and group projects. It allows for collaboration and accountability
More than
– all together. You simply
60%
set up a project, determine
of Chamber
who will participate in the project, assign a to-do list for the project, schedule
TRELLO
Jennifer Atkins, Vice President of The Waters
deadlines and communicate in one central location.
and Broker for New Waters Realty
member companies have
10
OR FEWER employees, meaning many
It uses boards to track the status of a project. It allows the project cards to be moved with a click and drag. You can attach files, checklists and create conversations. A nice Trello feature is its easy-to-use phone app that allows you and your team to view it in real time as status updates
Clay McInnis, Owner of Commerce Consulting and Executive Director for Angel Investor
are made.
Management Group
members are outsourcing
TOP THREE REASONS WE LIKE IT:
HR duties,
No text message reminders: The app’s “To Do List” allows you to assign specific task “to dos” to individ-
IT services, graphic design, marketing and
uals with due dates included. This takes the place of
more or handling
sticky notes and reminder text messages.
it within their organizations
No lost emails: The “Team” function allows you to group people together (through their email addresses)
as part-time functions. MBJ
for fast and easy communication. Messages are sent
wants to help, so
to the team and any replies are kept in the message
we’ve asked a
thread, so you don’t have to search your inbox for email responses.
No need for Dropbox: The “Files and Documents” section serves as cloud storage for important documents related to specific projects. This prevents the need for Dropbox and other such applications. Everything is in one place in Basecamp.
few small business successes for their tips and wisdom, and in future issues, we’ll pass it on to you.
62 MONTGOMERY BUSINESS JOURNAL
FOUR REASONS TO GIVE TRELLO A TRY: Manage multiple projects: Emails have become a distraction to me, and this separates useful information and non-useful information.
Delegate: You can add your team on the Trello board and delegate tasks so that everyone doesn’t have to be included on everything, just the information that pertains to them.
Family fun: You can also plan grocery lists, family vacations, family reunions or just about anything on Trello. I promise it will make your activities more efficient and executable.
Get it done: I feel accomplished when moving tasks to the done column, just like striking something off my to do list.