The past 90 days have flown by since I took on the CEO role at Workzone. Since then, I’ve had the unique opportunity to have over 50 meetings with our customers. Each meeting was a deep dive into the experiences and challenges faced by Marketing and Operations leaders across various sectors—from Higher Education to Healthcare and Agencies to Financial Services.  While the primary aim was to better understand our customers’ experience with Workzone, what emerged went far beyond feedback. The conversations elevated a wealth of insights into the current state and future of project management ..read more

To SharePoint or not to SharePoint? If you are a project manager, that is the question! It is likely you have debated it at some point. It is just one of those perennial questions which have been around ever since Microsoft SharePoint included a whole gamut of features including but not limited to website building, social sharing and content curation, thus diluting the impetus of its original objective: intuitive project management. Microsoft SharePoint is versatile; there is no denying the fact that it can extend the full range of features required of document sharing and collaboration tools ..read more

Excel is easily one of the most versatile and essential software in any business’s toolbox—it’s used to organize, manage, analyze, forecast and visualize data. But because Excel is mainly used on individual computers, it’s challenging for users to access their documents from anywhere or to collaborate with their team in real time. Emailing files back and forth can get confusing…and no one is sure which version is the right one. The good news? There are several Excel alternatives available if you’re looking to drop the Microsoft Office Suite. Most of these alternatives are free and cloud-based ..read more

There are many SharePoint alternatives proliferating the market these days. Some are free to use, others are open source with a dedicated community of developers coming up with new functionalities and plug-ins. Still others are extremely simple and focus only on storing and syncing data in the cloud. However in this cacophony of options, project managers are left pondering “Exactly which platform is the best fit if Microsoft SharePoint is not viable?” Workzone has a quick video and attendant article at /blog/why-consider-sharepoint-alternatives-a-project-managers-perspective/ which can solve t ..read more

Let’s be honest about your presentations. You need a PowerPoint alternative. Let’s be honest about how dreadful it is to see overcrowded slides. Honest about how people seem to think using PowerPoint is an excuse to be boring and vanilla. Honest about how it’s a crutch. Let’s be honest about how simply outdated it is. It’s so horrible that “Death by PowerPoint” is a certifiable cultural phenomenon. You need something different, a PowerPoint alternative to blast past your old ways. It’s time to spruce up the standard business presentation and these tools will help you do it. 1. Canva Eye-catchi ..read more

Is your board exploding in size? Do you dream about cards and you don’t even work for Hallmark? Getting frustrated with Trello? It’s time to stack up those boards and go play elsewhere. Maybe you need fresh start with a similar tool or maybe it’s time to move to a full-fledged project management solution. If you like the look and visuals of Trello, but wish it had a few more features—try some of these Trello alternatives. Trello Alternatives: Kanban Boards, Cards & Visual To-Do Lists All this talk of boards, pinning and cards, it’s like we all want bulletin boards to hang our posters on ag ..read more

If you’ve managed a team that’s more that “me, myself, and I” you’d have noticed that many of us, even the best of project managers, spend quite a bit of time hunting and pecking for files, trying to figure out the latest version for document, or making sure that we don’t have multiple team members working on multiple versions of the same file. All the file sharing and file management logistics can be quite painful. The conventional approach of uploading files to a local server (with no version control capability,) emailing documents back and forth, and tapping team members on the shoulder to ..read more

As of January 2022, there are over 450 project management software solutions on the market, according to Software Advice! The market is expected to grow by more than 10% per year, on average, for at least the next five years. That’s an overwhelming number of options to sift through! With so many choices available, you’re likely wondering which software is right for your team. We’ve compiled a list of the best project management software options, including the pros and cons of each, to help you find the perfect solution for your company.   What is Project Management? Project managemen ..read more

Slack is a wildly popular, award-winning messaging and collaboration app that serves teams as a modern alternative to email in the workplace. And you’ve probably already heard of it. Maybe you’ve even used it. Well, if it’s so great—you’re probably wondering—why bother looking for alternatives? It could be that Slack just isn’t in the budget for your team. Or it could be that Slack has a few functionality gaps that—because of the type of work you and your team do—you just can’t overlook. Or maybe you are looking for a project management solution because you heard Slack could do that too ..read more

It was a cold and joyless day when I saw Evernote’s new pricing policy. A part of me died. The days of conveniently syncing across my Mac, phone and iPad? Gone. Whether it’s the price increase, new tiered feature limitations, or something else entirely, all that’s left to do now is shop around to see what else is out there or cough up the dough. And to cry. Or to nod with understanding, deep down knowing that these business things do cost money. But also cry. Free/Freemium Evernote Alternatives–Just As Good (or Better!) If even its free version is a solid contender to Evernote, it’s listed her ..read more