Managing tasks with cards is an effective way to boost your productivity. When tasks are visualized, they become easier to discuss, and splitting work among the team is more straightforward. It also allows for better project planning and keeping every member of the team up-to-date about where things stand. All these features come at a low cost since most project management tools offer free plans to get started, and they include Kanban boards in their trial packages. 

Kanban tools will give an overview of agile development strategies. They enable easier project tracking by including reports and team management options. Managers and team leaders can assign tasks and track the project status faster, thanks to the visuals of such tools.

While most Kanban tools are not geared toward freelancers, there are free plans that support limited project boards for personal and small-scale project scheduling. Paid packages allow the management of unlimited projects, while enterprise options come in full with advanced features such as reporting, file-sharing, and time-tracking. Enterprise users also enjoy the capability to host the software on-site for better customization. Oftentimes, It also supports the integration of reports,documentation-sharing, mobile applications, and many other features.

5 Reasons You Should Be Using A Project Management Tool

In theory, it is pretty easy to manage a project without a tool, but in practice, it can be cumbersome and inefficient. Using a project management tool has many benefits over managing projects on your own. Here are reasons why you should use a tool:

1. Collaboration

One key feature of most project management tools is the ability to collaborate with other users on the same work item or task. Multiple users can access and share information very quickly among team members and tasks can get done even if people aren't always available (i.e., they're working from home). Collaboration features make it easy to track project progress and implement adjustments on the fly.

2. Easy Communication

When you use a project management tool, you can send instant notifications to other users on your team when something changes in your project or task list. This is an excellent way to keep people up-to-date with what's going on. It also makes it easy for you to communicate with stakeholders involved in the work that's being done. 

Robust project management tools offer many different ways to communicate like calendars, forum boards, chat features, and more. All these add up to an efficient broadcasting system for information related to projects and tasks. This kind of feature might seem trivial until you have tried communicating without any mediums besides email during a busy workday. You’ll find that it quickly becomes a problem that needs to be solved and you wish you had a more efficient tool for communication and collaboration.

3. Up-to-Date Project Information

One of the best features of a good project management tool is the ability to keep everyone up-to-date and informed about projects and tasks. When people can access current information 24/7, there are fewer questions asked, saving everyone’s time in answering emails or phone calls. 

Collaborating with team members on shared work items gives everyone an opportunity to ask questions early on so that they don't have any confusion later on down the road. Using tools also makes it easy for managers to track progress by either following daily updates, getting email alerts, or checking web portals regularly. All of these methods accomplish the same goal, which is to make sure everyone is on the same page when it comes to project milestones. 

4. Project Tasks and Checklists

Most project management tools allow you to add tasks and checklists to your project workflow. These tools can also help you break up tasks into smaller subtasks which you can post with due dates and assignees. They also allow you to easily see the progress of a task or project. All of the information is presented in easy-to-read formats so that you can adjust the course if necessary. This is especially helpful when working with large projects such as software development, where there's a lot of moving parts and things that need to be done before the entire work package can be finished and deployed.

5. Manage and Track Resources and Expenses

One of the most important functions of a project management tool is resource management. It helps track internal and external resource allocation and makes it easier to count the hours spent on each task. 

It's also good for tracking expenses in your projects. You'll see which areas are costing you more than expected or where you can get by with cheaper alternatives. 

Worried about budget tracking? The best project management software should allow you to set budgets for multiple projects so that everyone knows exactly how much each section is going to cost from start to finish. This way there won't be any surprises when it comes time to close up shop at the end of a project or during a milestone check-in. This is an invaluable feature that should be at the top of your list when looking for a project management tool.