Top 10 Simple Project Management Software Options

By focusing on simple project management software options, you increase the productivity of everyone involved with your project and you reduce the amount of time you spend planning the project. If you focus on easy to use project management programs, then all team members can be empowered, and you can save training time. If you put a little effort into finding a program that is intuitive for not only yourself but your team members, your rewards will be exponential. Simple project management software allows users to take control of their experience. If you don't want to worry about the details of a Gantt Chart, or if you don't need resource leveling features, then you can skip purchasing the program that's all inclusive.

When looking for project management software that's easy to use, it is vital that you focus on making a list of the features that you and your team need and will use. This way, rather than being tempted to purchase an overly-complex program that does way more than you need it to, or an overly simple program that doesn't do enough, you can find the program that's a perfect fit. In order to help you, here is a list of the top 10 programs that are easy to learn and use.

 Central Desktop is an outstanding and simple project management software program. If your teams are remote, or if a lot of collaboration is necessary in your projects, you'll want to check out Central Desktop. This program allows users to collaborate on documents, plan out projects and milestones, track issues, keep a record of what tasks have been completed, and more. Central Desktop is On-Demand software, meaning that the program is delivered to users through a subscription. Pricing at the time of the publishing of this article was:

• Basic - Free for up to 5 users, 1GB of storage, and 2 workspaces
• Workgroup - $99/month for up to 20 users, 50GB of storage, and 10 workspaces
• Enterprise - $299+/month for 20 or more users, 100GB+ of storage, and unlimited workspaces.

Central Desktop could be just what you're looking for, but before investing in the program, you'll want to take advantage of the 30-day free trial.

Pros: Easy to use, customizable dashboard, outstanding collaboration features, integration with Outlook, online meeting space.

Cons: Expensive, no Gantt Chart, the daily email status updates can become annoying.

Screenshot courtesy of Ronda Levine.

 Projecturf 2.1 is an incredibly simple, but useful project management program. Projecturf 2.1 allows you to track not only one project but multiple projects, You can have an at-a-glance view of all projects you have undertaken. The program newly features Gantt Chart capabilities. While many subscription-based programs charge you per user, with Projecturf, you can add as many resources as you need. You also will find that Projecturf 2.1 allows users to customize the program and the documents produced by the program in terms of both color and company logo. You select only the features you wish to use for the particular project you are working on. Projecturf 2.1's pricing structure is based upon the number of projects you will be using it with, and offers the advantage of unlimited users and unlimited storage space. For example:

• 1 project is $9.99/month
• 5 projects are $19.99/month
• 100 projects are $119.00/month
• Unlimited projects are $199.00/month.

Projecturf 2.1 allows you to use a trial version of the software free for 14 days.

Pros: Easy to use, customizable with colors and company logos, simple multiple project management features, unlimited users and storage (meaning that should you have a large company but only a few projects; you can save a lot of money when compared to other programs).

Cons: Web-based, so if the Internet is down, or you don't have access to the Internet, you might not be able to access your project information.

Continue reading on page 2 of this article for more simple project management software options for your needs.

Screenshot courtesy of Ronda Levine