Agile principles put you ahead of the competition. It keeps you focused, and result-oriented. The difference between a traditional project manager and an agile project manager is because of the agile principles employed. If you want to cut through the clutter and get the job done, you’ve to employ agile tactics.

There are several project management tools online which startups looking for ways and means to give a boost to their business can use. According to The Access Group, “66% of project managers identified level of support as a key factor for deciding whether to invest in a new software or not.”

Many startups find themselves with small teams around them who work on different things. These project management tools are healthy especially when you go for the right tool and also those within the right budget.

Online is floored with many project management tools. Some are free with limited features and with advanced copy having more functions. Some are paid with a few days of trial period. Making a choice on which tool to use can be quite challenging and also engaging.

How best can a startup owner identify the right project management tool for his team? In order to identify which agile project management tool works for you as a startup, you need to have a checklist.

When looking for the right project management tools to use, use the checklist below to understand your organizational needs or objective.

You’ve to understand that every tool is not created equal. It’s advisable that you use the right ones that will increase your team’s productivity and boost your bottom line.

User and Team management

The first point to look out for is whether a project management is whether it allows for team management, where the project owner can add several team members.

This is good so that you bring your team to one platform which for easy communication and project management.

Report function

Another point to check in any agile project management tool for startups is how its reporting function works. Can it allow you to generate various reports?

Which kind of reports can it generate, how many reports can be downloaded and even shared.

Communication

This is another key aspect which must be looked into. When picking an agile project management tool, you want to ensure that it has good channels and means of communication between various users to facilitate information sharing.

Here you expect to see common wall for all team members where any team member can post a comment, question or a reaction.

There should be instant messaging function where members of a project can chat with one another.

An email function should also be there where you can use to email members who are offline about an issue. You can also invite more members to the project management platform as well as use for sending newsletters.

Assigning duties

This is another area where tools outsmart one another. Senior managers of an organization are usually trained to coordinate projects, to avoid project failure. A recent statistics by University of Ottawa revealed that, “33% of projects fail because of a lack of involvement from senior management.”

You need to look at several agile project management tools and see which one allow assigning duties and how do they work. In project management setup, there are many players or team members.

For startups, there are a lot of activities which are outsourced from different individual contractors.

These calls for a good project management tool, which allow you to define tasks, add notes, attach files and even where necessary share from third party applications like Google Drive or Dropbox.

Marketing

As a startup, you need a tool which will help you send the message. Some project management tools have some features which allow branding and more of marketing either through newsletter or normal email.

Others have special pages for branded pages for clients. You can use those branded pages for your own marketing.

So those agile project management tools have different aspect of marketing. As startup, you should look out for every opportunity to market.

Pricing

This is another sensitive component which you need to address well. As a startup, you want a price which you can meet freely and without any form of difficulty.

Don’t go for a tool that requires monthly payment of $499 when you cannot manage that and still be able to meet other needs.

Control

This is a very important checklist item, you need to know what kind of information do all users have access to and how can you limit information between users.

This requires that users be assigned various roles. A project management tool should help you define controls so that each user gets access to information that concerns them.

Conclusion

There you’ve it - the seven checklists for choosing the best agile project management tools out there. The more skilled you’re at using any of these tools, the more your performance at work would improve, and ultimately your revenue.

What other checklist is necessary when choosing an agile project management tool?