Project management can be challenging – juggling multiple employees, subcontractors and deadlines while making sure all the variables are moving in the same direction. 

Thankfully, these days there are a range of clever, affordable tools to help you bring your project in on time and on budget. Here are five of our favourites.

Basecamp

Basecamp's genius is in its flexibility: it is equally at ease project managing everything from big marketing campaigns to home video projects. The other great thing about Basecamp is its user-friendly layout. Every feature, including discussions and notes, can be viewed in a single page.

This means it's easier to track the details of a project and nothing slips between the cracks. Basecamp offers a 60 day free trial and thereafter pricing starts at $30 per month.

Asana

Asana is a free, beautifully designed app made for individuals and teams. Asana lets you assign each team member a daily task, receive notifications when tasks are completed and updates in real time.

And Asana is not just for the office. The app lets you customise your projects between personal, play and work.

Do

From the creators of Salesforce comes Do, an iOS and Android app that allows users to run their business and project manage via an intuitive, elegant interface.

Do is jammed-packed with features including sharing task lists, reminders, tracking contacts, conversations, activity feeds and calendar synch. Everything (and possibly more) than you'll every need to bring your project over the line.

DeskAway

DeskAway is a web-based software solution that lets SMEs collaborate on projects. As a bonus DeskAway is web-based so you don't need to download anything and can get started right away.

Aside from the standard features, additional functionality like recurring tasks and integration with Google Apps and Docs make DeskAway an attractive alternative. It's also free for one project involving up to three people.

Trello

Designed for SMEs, Trello visually organises your project into boards – think of it as a super-charged whiteboard. This means at a glance you can see the overall health and status of your project – who's working on what and how efficiently tasks are progressing.

With full mobile integration and a clean design, you may never need to email your team again. 

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