7 Best Project Management Tools for Remote Work

The working landscape is changing. Once dominated by centralized office environments and rigid physical workplaces, modern business has been set free by remote tools and smart digital collaboration capabilities. But – and this is a big but – there's a caveat here. Remote work is only effective if you have the right tools and solutions in place to make it happen. We're big fans of the remote environment here at Kumospace, and we know you are too. This is why we've put together this guide to the best remote-focused project management tools.

Read on to learn more as we explore the seven best project management tools for remote work. We'll also examine the techniques and integrations you can use to get the most out of these tools. With this software on your side, a more flexible, adaptable, and agile set of working practices is your reward, but you first need to select the best solution for your needs.

If you're looking for something simple and straightforward, but effective, Trello might be the best project management tool for you. The solution has become famous for its neatly-presented boards that help you and your team stay on track in an intuitive fashion.

• Kanban boards are probably Trello's most famous feature. These boards help your teams to construct efficient workflows as you move towards ideal project outcomes.
• Trello enables quick and easy labeling and annotating, and updates are visible in real time.
• Trello is designed with integration in mind, connecting securely with hundreds of applications.

• Trello's intuitively designed board integrates with a wealth of other applications. These include Slack, Outlook, Salesforce, Jira, Invision, Gmail, and many more.
• Use keyboard shortcuts to instantly add Trello Labels to projects, streamlining the way you use the solution.
• Organize the board view to arrange projects by date created or date updated, or simply use the Watch function to keep an eye on the most relevant boards.

Like Trello, Asana is a popular project management tool. Unlike Trello, it is more feature-heavy, getting rid of the simplicity in favor of a more dynamic approach. It's still user-friendly, but it may take a little longer to come to grips with the full functionality of Asana.

• Add tasks to the Asana Tasklist, and break these down into sub-tasks to give your teams an incremental route to project completion.
• The Asana calendar helps your teams craft short, medium, and long-term workflows, putting key events and deadlines right where you can find them.
• Asana helps you visualize your progress with a dynamic project timeline. Build your timeline with a range of different project data points and keep everyone on track.

• Integration is high on the agenda with Asana, and the tool works with hundreds of different apps, such as Salesforce, Hubspot, Zendesk, Dropbox, and Jira.
• Using different views can help you get more from your projects in Asana, gaining different perspectives on tasks and progress.
• Build tasks into multiple projects, and use the @ function to link remote users to different parts of the workflow.

ClickUp positions itself as a best-of-both-worlds solution. The tool brings together popular project and workflow management features as it aims to create an experience that is both intuitive and comprehensive.

• View projects in multiple formats to gain additional insight.
• Use custom fields to enrich the data you provide and to craft project-specific workflows and task lists, and use the Pulse feature to gain a snapshot of current team performance and availability. This makes team management much easier.
• Assigned Comments and the use of real-time statuses keep projects moving toward defined goals.

• Using the automated features of ClickUp's Gantt charts helps you to get a different perspective on your project.
• Customize the ClickUp dashboard to meet specific user needs.
• Integrate ClickUp with Toggl, Slack, Zoom, HubSpot, Github, and many more solutions.

Basecamp is another tool that focuses on simplicity. The idea of the solution is to put tasks, sub-tasks, and other key project components in a unified digital location for easy access and tracking.

• To-do lists give users a streamlined and prioritized task list and workflow.
• Basecamp's message boards support effective real-time collaboration and communication.
• Dynamic scheduling supports efficient progress, as well as on-the-fly flexibility.

• Set your project priorities by identifying areas that are of particular importance to customers.
• Create project-specific areas within Basecamp, adding remote personnel to these areas when required.
• Basecamp integrates with more than 50 data sources, and also works alongside Retool, Zapier, and Timecamp, among other applications.

Wrike has won awards for its collaboration and project management features. It is particularly suitable for managing highly complex projects across large and diverse teams at an enterprise level.

• Gantt charts built into Wrike help with project visualization and analysis of progress.
• Wrike features built-in time tracking, offering analysis of project efficiency and goal attainment.
• Workload management features to assist in optimizing team and individual performance levels.

• Use the three-pane view to simultaneously monitor projects on a macro, medium, and micro-level.
• Share files in real-time to boost communication and collaboration across remote teams.
• Integrate Wrike with a range of different external solutions, like the Tableau business intelligence tool and the MediaValet digital asset management software.

Monday.com is a project management solution designed to reflect the complex nature of a remote team. The tool supports users from across your business structure, as well as third-party partners within project-specific areas of the software.

• Automated features make workflow creation efficient and intuitive.
• Project-specific dashboards make it easier to create effective collaborative teams, including third-party agents with limited access.
• Monday.com offers a wide range of integrations via the API, accessible from the built-in app marketplace.

• Collaborate and communicate in real-time across the dashboard, and even follow LinkedIn and Twitter feeds in-app.
• Build detailed reports and analyses with custom fields.
• Integrate with third-party solutions like Zapier and Google Drive, or add custom integrations through the API.

Zoho Projects is a comprehensive piece of project management software. Designed to meet the diverse needs of modern operational teams, the solution puts the focus very much on collaboration and remote communication.

• Task Management features make ongoing monitoring and analysis straightforward.
• Collaboration is a big part of the Zoho Projects' advantage, with real-time communication and sharing tools built in.
• Reports can be developed and tailored using custom fields that cover a whole host of different data points.

• Harness automation and recurring task setting to streamline workflows and reduce time.
• Analyze time forecasts against actual goal attainment timelines for further insight.
• Integrate Zoho Projects with a variety of other Zoho apps, as well as Google and Microsoft suites, and additional tools like Jira and Basecamp.

How do you select the right project management tool for your needs? Take a look at a few handy tips as you make your choice.

• Assess the size of your team and your specific needs – Some of the tools we've listed above are great for smaller teams, while others are designed for enterprise-level organizations. Bear this in mind as you choose.
• Consider your budget and scaling needs – Free project management tools are of course the cheapest, but it may be worth setting some of your budgets aside for improved functionality. You also need to think of what comes next for your business, selecting tools that will scale as your organization grows.

Think about usability and integration – You need tools that your team members are going to be able to use easily, and that will integrate with your existing software solutions. This will ease your transition to the new software, particularly when onboarding new team members.

From refreshingly simple and straightforward tools to more sophisticated, enterprise-focused software pieces, the solutions we've looked at today are as diverse as they are exciting. Take your time, weigh up your options, and make the right selection for your business.

To discover more about other digital solutions that help you harness the very best of the remote work landscape – like the Kumospace Virtual Office – reach out to our team today!

Project management tools are software solutions designed to help you keep your projects and your operations moving in the right direction. These solutions provide a centralized digital location, bringing together different aspects of your project for easy monitoring, management, and organization. By integrating with other pieces of software, project management tools help to form part of an overarching digital infrastructure that leaves your business ready for almost anything.

Jira, developed by Atlassian, is a form of project management tool. This solution is used to track the progress of tasks within the broader project framework, as well as manage workflows and support collaboration between distributed teams. Jira is designed with Agile development practices in mind.

Google does not have its own project management tool. In other words, you won't currently be able to download a tool from Google that ticks all of the boxes from our project management tool definition above. However, Google does have its own suite of office and productivity tools that can assist you and your teams as you work. Docs, Gmail, Calendar, and a range of other Google applications are provided within the Google Workspace suite.

Slack can be considered a project management tool, yes. You use this communication and collaboration solution to manage your teams while they are working on your projects, even across more remote environments. It won't provide all of the functionality you need from your project management set-up – it won't offer tracking capabilities or anything like that – but this is an important addition to your toolkit.

It might be difficult to find project management tools that provide everything you need. Rather than searching for the best single project management tool, seek to build your toolkit with interconnected and integrated solutions that help you bring your different project components into line.