Project Management Software

Effective program management requires structure, clarity and consistency across all phases—from planning and execution to monitoring and evaluation. Program management templates are essential tools that help teams organize complex workflows, align stakeholders and ensure projects stay on track and within scope. Whether you’re managing a single initiative or overseeing multiple interrelated projects, the right templates can streamline communication, improve efficiency and reduce the risk of errors. Download these free templates for program management and provide a practical foundation for building successful, scalable programs across industries. 1. Program Roadmap Templa…

Managing tasks efficiently is essential to staying organized, meeting deadlines and driving project success—whether you’re working solo or as part of a team. Task management templates provide a ready-to-use structure to help plan, prioritize, assign and track tasks across any workflow or project. In this roundup, we’ll explore a variety of task management templates designed to support different needs and industries, from daily to-do lists to complex project task trackers. Each template is built to streamline productivity, ensure accountability and keep the team aligned every step of the way. 1. Project Task Tracker Excel Template Download this free project task tracker …

Whether you’re running a small business, managing inventory or launching a new product line, a well-designed order form is essential for streamlining purchases and keeping operations organized. The right order form template not only helps capture customer information and item details efficiently but also reduces errors and speeds up the fulfillment process. In this roundup, we’ve selected various free order form templates from our site, which has over 100 free templates for Excel and Word that cover all aspects of managing projects across numerous industries. These ready-to-use formats save you time, boost professionalism and make collecting the information you need easy…

A proposal template is a versatile tool that streamlines the process of presenting, planning and initiating projects in any industry. Whether working in construction, IT, event planning, marketing, professional services or practically any business venture, a well-designed proposal template ensures that all critical components of a proposal are clearly outlined and professionally delivered. Why Use a Proposal Template? Across industries, a proposal template is a starting point for customizing proposals to suit specific needs. For example, in construction, the focus may be on deliverables, site plans and contractor timelines. In IT, the emphasis might be on system architec…

Meeting agenda templates are valuable tools that help teams stay organized, focused and productive. We’ve collected some free management templates on our site that relate to meetings. These meeting templates provide a clear structure for planning meetings by outlining topics, time allocations, discussion leaders and desired outcomes. Use this roundup of free meeting agenda templates for Word and Excel to make it easier to plan and execute efficient meetings. They can be used repeatedly to consistently improve collaboration, accountability and overall meeting effectiveness—without the extra time spent creating documents from scratch. 1. Meeting Agenda Template Download t…

Planning an event involves many moving parts, each generating costs that must be carefully tracked. Whether it’s venue rentals, equipment, catering or staffing, event planners need a structured approach to budgeting. Without a well-organized budget, costs can spiral out of control, leading to financial surprises. To simplify this process, an event budget template can help keep track of all expenses. Our Google Sheets event budget template provides an easy-to-use format for logging estimated and actual costs, ensuring your event stays within budget. Why Use an Event Budget Template for Google Sheets? Google Sheets is an excellent tool for creating an event budget because …

Whether a professional project manager or an accidental project manager who suddenly finds a project assigned to them, knowing how to manage a project is essential. You can never know enough for the journeymen and newbies should try to wing it. Let’s break down the process of how to manage a project step by step. Below are the 10 pieces that show how to manage a project successfully. While we recommend using project management software, for those not ready to upgrade, we end with free templates. 1. Define the Project Goals and Objectives Defining clear goals and objectives is the foundation of how to manage a project successfully. This step ensures all stakeholders have…

A Microsoft Project plan file, or an MPP file, is a file format that’s exclusive to Microsoft Project. This means users need to purchase Microsoft Project to open them. Otherwise, using and more importantly, sharing MS Project files, will cause problems. However, you can avoid those hurdles if you have a Microsoft Project viewer to view and edit MPP files. What Is a Microsoft Project Viewer? A Microsoft Project viewer, also known as an MS Project viewer or MPP viewer, is software that allows you to open MPP files without having to purchase a Microsoft Project license. MPP viewers were created as a workaround for users who need to open MPP files but don’t have Microsoft P…

The key to starting a project that will be delivered on time, on budget and meeting quality standards is simple: writing a project plan. How to write a project plan is not as simple. It involves smaller plans that all add up to a means of completing the project successfully. After defining what a project is, we’ll explain what should be included and the steps to writing a project plan. We’ll also include a free project plan template and a few others related to the planning process. What Is a Project Plan? A project plan is a structured document that outlines the objectives, scope, timeline, resources, risks and responsibilities needed to complete a project. It serves as…

Looking for free project management software? Here's our list of the top free tools to help you plan, organize, and execute projects in 2023. The post 10 Best Free Project Management Tools to Boost Team Efficiency in 2025 appeared first on project-management.com. View the full article

Explore content operations templates that support strategy, calendars, collaboration, and cross-team workflows—from Wrike and Google to ClickUp and Jira. The post Content Operations Project Management Templates to Keep Teams Aligned and Output Flowing appeared first on project-management.com. View the full article

You’re probably here because you’re looking for Microsoft Project for Mac. Unfortunately, Microsoft Project, also known as MS Project, wasn’t designed for Mac computers, so its desktop-based editions (Microsoft Project Standard and Microsoft Project Professional) won’t work on any Mac operating system (macOS). Is There a Microsoft Project for Mac? Microsoft Project for Mac doesn’t exist, but there are alternatives for those who want to work with Microsoft Project Plan (MPP) files on an Apple computer. The two most commonly used workarounds are trying one of the inferior, web-based versions of Microsoft Project or installing a virtual machine, a software that allows users…

When managing projects, users have many options. Microsoft Lists and Microsoft Planner are two of the most popular project management apps. But are they the one-stop solution project managers and their teams need to plan, manage and track work? There’s only one way to find out. We compared Microsoft Lists vs. Planner. Let’s see how they stack up. We’ll put Microsoft Lists vs. Planner through a series of tests. First, let’s define each to understand what they are and how they’re used, including key features. Then we’ll explore Microsoft vs. Planner in terms of the pros and cons of each and where one excels over the other. When comparing Microsoft project planning tools, …

If you’re looking to manage a project and facilitate better collaboration with your teams, chances are you’ve heard of and are thinking of trying Microsoft Project and Microsoft Planner. To help with that decision, we’ve set up a comparison with Microsoft Project vs. Microsoft Planner. May the best app win. The stats when comparing Microsoft Project vs. Microsoft Planner tell us that the former is a robust project management tool and the latter is more of a stripped-down version. MS Project integrates with MS products such as Office and has financial management tools and Gantt charts. However, it doesn’t have a mobile app and is expensive and complicated to use. Microso…

Explore SEO project management templates built for campaign tracking, team collaboration, and on-page/off-page optimization. The post 7 Must-Have SEO Project Management Templates to Launch Your Campaigns Right and Keep Them on Track appeared first on project-management.com. View the full article

Asana vs. Monday is a matchup made for project management professionals. Which one to choose? That’s why Monday vs. Asana is such an important battle. You can’t have both, so you want what’s best. We’ll help you pick between Asana vs. Monday. It’s difficult. Asana vs. Monday are both similar project management tools. They have features, such as project tracking, workflow automation and other standard project management software features. Let’s look at those features, pricing and other comparisons between Monday vs. Asana. Of course, you can have the best of both worlds, with more powerful features and at a price point that fits your budget. ProjectManager is award-winni…

Before comparing PRINCE2 vs. PMP, it’s important to understand that though they’re often mentioned in the same context within project management, they serve different purposes. PRINCE2 (Projects IN Controlled Environments) is a project management framework. That is, it’s a structured approach with defined principles, themes and processes. It focuses on governance, organization and clearly defined roles and responsibilities. While PMP (Project Management Professional) is a certification that validates a project manager’s experience. What Is the PMP Certification? PMP certification is a globally recognized credential awarded by the Project Management Institute (PMI). It v…

Asana is a popular work management software that helps teams collaborate on tasks and projects. Microsoft Project is a popular project management software that has the tools that project managers need to manage teams and projects. If you’re looking at Asana vs. Microsoft Project and trying to decide which is the right tool for you, we have the stats to help you make that decision. There are problems in the battle of Microsoft Project vs. Asana. For one, MS Project is notoriously difficult to use and expensive. Then there’s Asana, which is a great work management tool that calls itself a project management software solution, but in reality doesn’t live up to delivering th…

A Gantt chart is a project management tool used to view project tasks scheduled over a time period, and provides information on overall project progress. The post What Is a Gantt Chart? appeared first on project-management.com. View the full article

The Requirements Traceability Matrix (RTM) “traces ” the project’s deliverables by establishing a thread for each requirement—from the project’s initiation to the final implementation. The post What is a Requirements Traceability Matrix (RTM)? appeared first on project-management.com. View the full article

There are many projects, but not all are the right fit for an organization. Project appraisal is how one determines what is right for them. It’s like risk management or risk analysis to ensure that the approved project delivers benefits worth the investment. To better understand this process, let’s define the term and when a project appraisal should be done. Just as there’s more than one type of project, there are different types of project appraisals. We’ll explore those, including project appraisal techniques and more. What Is a Project Appraisal? A project proposal is a formal document that outlines a project’s objectives, scope, timeline, budget and overall plan. It…

Projects might have a roadmap, but when executed, they rarely go as planned. Internal and external factors can impact the project’s scope, budget, schedule and more. To address these issues before they even occur falls under project contingency. Let’s start by defining project contingency and what makes up a contingency plan. Then, we’ll show how to execute that plan to avoid scope creep, budget overruns and schedule delays. Finally, we’ll share a few free templates to help facilitate the process. What Is Project Contingency? Project contingency refers to a reserved amount of time, money or resources set aside to address unexpected events or uncertainties that may arise…

Successful projects aren’t had by holding one’s nose and jumping in. There must be preparation. In project management, once a project has been approved, it starts with a project outline. While a project outline might seem obvious, it’s worth spending a little time defining what the phase means. Once that’s clear, we’ll show when a project outline is made, what should be included and provide an example to show how it works in a real-life scenario. What Is a Project Outline? A project outline is a high-level overview that summarizes the key components of a project. It typically includes the project’s objectives, scope, timeline, key milestones, deliverables, stakeholders …

A project list is the starting point for any project management process. They’re a great way to take what seems an insurmountable amount of disparate tasks and organize them. A project list can be as simple as a to-do list or a corral for many projects. Using a project list is so important it’s worth taking a moment to explore what it is, how to create one and how it fits into managing your project with project management software tools. What Is a Project List? The most straightforward answer is that a project list is a to-do list for a project. You could use a project list as you would any to-do list, creating a list of tasks you need to do today, this week or over the…

Keeping your employees engaged and on task is, well, no easy task. They say one bad apple can spoil the whole bunch—and it’s true. A bad hire can cost your business valuable workplace productivity, not to mention nearly 20 percent of their salary on average. And those are just a couple of reasons why workforce management is so important. Whether you’re in IT, construction or retail, mastering the basics of workforce management can benefit you immensely. What Is a Workforce, Exactly? A workforce is the total number of people employed or available for work within a specific context, such as a company, organization, industry or geographic region. Think of it as the human c…