5 Of The Best Tools To Ensure Your Project Never Misses Deadlines

Ask any project manager about his/her biggest fear and “missed deadlines” are two words that you are likely to hear more often than not. Indeed, being productive in times of remote work and hybrid work is another challenge, but projects missing deadlines takes the hot seat here.

Let’s get it straight. Missed project deadlines do more damage to your organization’s reputation than you can imagine. Missed deadlines can lead to a loss of trust between you and your clients, and there’s a strong possibility of the project going over budget besides delaying others in the pipeline.

Why Do So Many Projects Miss Deadlines?

There are many factors that lead to project delays. Some common reasons are listed below.

• Poor project planning
• Inaccurate estimate of time and resources
• Unfamiliar technology
• Scope Creep
• Lack of involvement by senior management
• Collaboration breakdown
• Over-assignment of tasks
• Unrealistic deadlines

Even a single factor from those listed above can derail your project. You can imagine the possible outcome when these factors combine to ensure your project is never completed within set deadlines.

What Are Some Notable Pitfalls Of Missing Project Deadlines?

Missing project deadlines brings with it a whole set of problems for any organization. If your projects are missing deadlines with alarming consistency then you should waste no time in taking corrective action.

Some serious results of missed project deadlines are as follows:

• Your organization stands the risk of losing some of its reputation among clients and stakeholders
• Losing both loyal and new customers
• Hampered business growth prospects
• Incurring overtime
• Exhausted, stressed-out employees
• Low productivity, low morale from burnt-out employees

We can say that missing a project deadline is akin to a bad omen for the organization. I agreed that exceptions are always there and accomplishing 100% successful project completion and delivery is far from being easy. That said, the key to your organization’s success is how many times you were able to meet deadlines.

There are challenges; some of them are formidable, some not too complex. It’s better to find a solution sooner than later. We have listed five of the best tools that can help you minimize, or even eliminate, the possibility of missed project deadlines.

What is the name of these tools? What features do they have to offer? What’s their pricing?

Read on to find all the answers to your questions.

Five Of The Best Tools To Ensure Timely Project Completion And Delivery

1. ProofHub

Image Source: ProofHub

ProofHub is counted amongst the leading project management and team collaboration software available today.

Packed with a wide range of features in a centralized location, ProofHub enables project managers and team members to share a common platform and collaborate seamlessly irrespective of where they are located.

Using ProofHub, you can create and assign tasks to individuals or groups, and track their progress through Kanban boards and Gantt charts.

Easy to learn and use, ProofHub’s intuitive interface offers a straightforward usage experience and enables project managers to have greater control over teams and projects.

Main Features:

• Online Proofing
• Table View
• Custom Fields
• Timesheets
• Discussions
• Group Chat
• Gantt Chart
• Kanban Board
• Scheduling Calendar
• Stickies and Bookmarks

Pricing: The Ultimate Control plan is priced at $89 per month, billed annually.

2. Hive

Image Source: Hive

Hive is a reliable project management and team collaboration platform. Labelled as the world’s first community built software, Hive is built for users entirely of customer requests.

You can stay on top of your actions and projects as you are updated on upcoming deadlines and tasks. For project managers managing multiple projects, Hive’s Portfolio View allows you to see them all in one place.

Hive can be used by both small and large teams to streamline workflow in a single platform through flexible project views, unlimited projects, and thousands of integrations.

Hive’s useful features like time tracking and analytics allow for a clear understanding of other team members’ work and upcoming projects.
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Main Features:

• Project Management
• Automation
• Time Management
• Team Collaboration
• Portfolio and Summary views
• Focus Mode

Pricing: The Paid plan starts from $12/user/month when billed annually.

3. Wrike

Image Source: Wrike

Wrike is a robust and versatile project management software that empowers your teams to be at their productive best with 360 degree visibility, powerful automation, and true cross-departmental collaboration.

You can customize Wrike to suit your organization. The intuitive interface allows users to switch between interactive drag-and-drop Kanban boards, Kanban boards, and traditional workload views.

Wrike also offers a range of specific solutions as per your team or organizational requirements. You have a single source of information and communication that enables project managers to stay in the loop.
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Main Features:

• Fully customizable
• Visual proofing
• Automated approval
• Purpose-built templates
• Custom request forms
• Digital publishing
• Shared team calendars
• Project portfolio management

Pricing: The Paid plan starts from $9.80/user/month.

4. Basecamp

Image Source: Basecamp

Basecamp labels itself as an all-in-one toolkit for working remotely. Managing projects with remote teams can be a challenging task. Long email threads, spreadsheets, meetings, chat, file services, etc., can be all over the place.

With Basecamp, you can organize everything in one place and put the right information in the right place. You  can easily access all your stuff and know exactly where to put the next thing.

You and your team members can access Basecamp through Android, ios, and on the web, from anywhere, on any device connected to the internet.
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Main Features:

• To-do lists
• Real-time communication
• Custom Reports
• Hill Charts
• Search and Bookmarking
• Reports and Notifications
• Clientside and Email forward
• Automatic check-in questions
• Documents and File Storage

Pricing: A single fixed pricing plan is priced at $99 per month.

5. MeisterTask

Image Source: Meister Task

MeisterTask is an efficient collaboration and task management tool on the web. The tool unites widely dispersed team members through Kanban style project boards to digitize workflows and have a clear view of task progress. MeisterTask’s Gantt-like Timeline feature keeps teams aligned and drives efficiency.

Calendar view enables you to identify bottlenecks easily and ensure deadlines are met. A flexible project management application, MeisterTask can easily scale from personal project tracking to an out-and-out project management software for both small and large teams. You can customize the tool based on your project or company.

Main Features:

• Secure Task Management
• Gantt-style Timeline
• Reports
• EU-GDPR compliant
• Time Tracking
• Multiple Checklists
• Custom Fields
• Tags
• Attachments

Pricing: The Paid plan starts from $4.19 per month when billed annually.
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Conclusion

Whether it’s a business, project manager, or client, no one likes missed deadlines. However, even the best of plans can go haywire if not executed properly. Using efficient tools can help you to check your project progress to ensure it makes steady progress.

The five tools mentioned above offer a range of powerful features that empower you to have ultimate control over your projects. Choose the one that matches your organization’s requirements and you can be sure that your projects are finished on time, every time.