Mobile devices are becoming a necessary component of daily life. Ninety-six percent of Americans own cell phones today, while over half use their smartphone as their main internet access source.
Cell phones are becoming an indispensable tool for businesses today. Employees require an efficient and flexible method to log into work when not at the office; workforces around the globe have become more open to working remotely than ever. Mobile project management apps enable you to access your software anytime, anywhere on any device - but not every mobile app is created equal.
Mobile Applications: Redefining Project Management On The Go
Cell phones have revolutionized how we operate, particularly in project management. Project management-specific apps on mobile phones have become essential tools in today's fast-paced work environments.
Flexible Options At Your Fingertips
- Anytime and Anywhere Access: Professionals may access project information, updates, and tasks from anywhere at any time with the help of mobile project management apps, offering unparalleled adaptability. Rather than being an extra luxury, this feature is now required.
- Decision-Making on the Go: Owing to mobile apps that provide real-time access to project data, project managers can make decisions quickly and effectively in today's hectic project environments. This flexibility in decision-making while on the fly has become crucial in today's complex work environments.
Real-Time Collaboration
By eliminating barriers to communication and enhancing teamwork, mobile apps give team members instantaneous communication capabilities. The teammates now converse quickly and effectively instead of taking ages to respond.
Must-Have Features In Project Management Apps
- Task and Progress Tracking: When teams have access to dependable tools for organizing assignments and tracking progress, they can efficiently manage projects while staying on schedule.
- Adaptable Work Lists: Make work lists based on the requirements of certain projects for a flexible approach to job planning.
- Task Dependencies: Permit dependencies between activities to guarantee a smooth process free from obstacles and delays.
- Prioritization: Decide which tasks should be prioritized in terms of importance and urgency so that teams can focus on the most crucial elements first.
- Collaboration and Data Communication: These functionalities simplify workflow procedures by facilitating collaboration on project documents through mobile apps.
What Features Should A Mobile App For Project Management Software Have?
As you evaluate mobile applications for project management software, three things should be kept in mind when making comparisons:
- Integration
- Usability
- Safety
Integration
Firstly, make sure the mobile application will run on all phones owned by your staff; for instance, if they have iPhones from their employer, then selecting an iOS application might be beneficial.
Alternatively, if your staff will use both iOS and Android phones or are using both at once, selecting a project management tool with both apps would be ideal.
Age and model of devices are also an important consideration, for instance, whether or not an app must only support mobile phones or be compatible with tablets.
Your mobile software must also be compatible with the phone models owned by your team. Otherwise, if all three or five years have gone by and later models no longer support earlier software versions, then using its app could prove impossible.
Also Read: Streamline Your Business with Project Management ERP: A Comprehensive Overview
Usability
Not every mobile project management app offers the same functionalities as its desktop or computer-based equivalent, making it essential to specify your team's desired functionalities before searching for an app to meet them.
Following are some features you might like to see in a mobile application:
- Locating and accessing projects, folders, and tasks
- Leveraging the mobile app to view project dashboards and widgets
- Running reports
- Submitting request forms
- Generating fresh assignments
- Attaching files and making remarks related to assignments.
- Change of task statuses, dates, assignees, titles, etc.
Keep yourself aware of any variations in device compatibility. Consider any possible effects, such as permitting team members to view project Gantt chart views on Android but not iOS devices.
User interface design of mobile applications should also be taken into consideration. Even when an app provides all the features you require, it may still prove challenging and annoying when trying to complete tasks with it.
Opt for a mobile app with a user experience that is both user-friendly and quick. Ideally, this will provide more insight into the tasks your team is performing, such as:
- Being aware that your inbox now displays recently updated work that is still in process
- Being able to go towards particular jobs utilizing email or push notifications quickly
- Starred tasks that alert you to critical tasks or activities that you should assess or handle
- Quick actions that let you locate and do routine jobs quickly, like forwarding one.
- You may search more quickly and with less writing when you use autocomplete suggestions that show up as you write.
While traveling, you might not always have dependable or secure internet connectivity, so look for apps that allow you to use them offline. When there is no Internet connectivity, an offline mode should allow access to tasks and project data. Look for features that let you drag and drop tasks between lists, edit tags and assignees, create tasks, subtasks, and comments, as well as view cached content.
When you reconnect to the internet, the changes you make offline should instantly synchronize throughout the app and update your project management software, guaranteeing that all of your team members can see and readily access your modifications as soon as they are back online. With this option enabled, team members may instantly see what each other has completed because all changes performed offline are automatically saved and restored when back online.
Safety
Securing project management software should always be of top priority, and any mobile application must include security features to mitigate possible security threats.
- Database Encryption: Any time your project management mobile app stores data, it should automatically encrypt and protect it both during transmission and at rest. Top-tier suppliers usually allow users to turn off data storage on smartphones.
- Security Certificate Management: Your software provider should have in place measures and processes designed to prevent third-party applications from using your login details for illicit activities, like sending them off to unknown third-parties.
- 2-factor Authentication: Your mobile device should include two-factor authentication options such as pin codes, fingerprint scans, and face recognition to ensure no one can gain entry if it becomes lost or stolen. These tools will ensure no unauthorized users gain entry.
How To Choose The Best Project Management Mobile App?
As part of your project selection criteria and evaluation, when choosing an ideal mobile app, you should take several criteria and aspects into consideration when making a selection decision. These may include your project scope, budget, user and expert reviews, as well as trialing multiple mobile apps until one meets your specific requirements and goals.
When defining its features and functionalities needed by defining project size, complexity, goals or features desired, consider investing as much money as necessary; compare potential advantages/disadvantages by considering multiple options; gather ratings/feedback from other users/experts that provide insights into experiences/recommendations you need before testing/evaluating different versions until one works best suits both yourself and team.
Conclusion
App development can be complex, difficult, and even dangerous at times; to reduce these factors for your app project, you can employ effective project management techniques. With the appropriate project management tool, you can work together with your team anywhere that provides internet and mobile device access while managing projects from wherever.