Overcoming complexity: 11 Digital tools for managing workflows

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Ever felt the need to have multiple tools for managing your workflow?

This is the basic hint that your workflows have become complex and you need to scale up quickly.

With rapidly growing technology, projects are getting complicated. This eventually leads to large team sizes and changes in workflow overnight!

Project managers are always on the lookout for methods and techniques to lower the complexity of projects. This is essential for delivering quality projects and keeping your team members motivated.

Trust me, you need efficient digital tools for managing workflows. And that is what we are going to discuss in this article. We have prepared a list of the top 11 digital tools that will help you in overcoming complexity.

How do digital tools help you to overcome complexity?

Workflow management tools are digital tools that help you streamline the flow of tasks. These tools enhance productivity and performance. When you define a workflow, the overall productivity of your team members is enhanced.

We have listed out the pointers to showcase the need for a workflow:

• Managing day-to-day tasks and their progression
• Define and create custom workflows
• Quickly adapt to changing environment
• Create and categorize tasks into different stages
• Automate repetitive tasks
• Manage the workload of your team members

11 digital tools for managing workflow

Let us now get into the list of the top 11 most widely used tools for solving complexities.

1. Zentao.pm - Best open source to create a simple workflow

Being an open-source project management tool, Zentao.pm provides team members with multiple workflow options. You can manage both projects and tasks. From waterfall to scrum and kanban, you can effectively choose a specific tool as per your requirement.

Further, with an open license, you can add dual licensing and other integrations to create a seamless workflow. Bug tracking helps you in solving issues from detection to solution. You also get the functionality to detect issues automatically and test changes.

Pricing:

• Community Edition - Free
• ZenTao Biz - $39.9/user for ONE-YEAR LICENSE
• ZenTao Max - $59.9/user for ONE-YEAR LICENSE
  
  

2. ProofHub - Best all-in-one project management and team collaboration tool

ProofHub provides you with a single platform for managing workflow all the way, right from start to end. With a centralized dashboard, you can plan, schedule, delegate, and monitor tasks with ease. The custom field reports provide you with insights into the overall performance of individual employees.

With the built-in chat and collaboration functionalities, you can ensure that all your team members are on the same page. Additionally, the built-in time tracker helps you to track the exact time spent by team members on their tasks. The flat pricing is the cherry on the cake, as you can add as many users as you want.

Pricing:

• Essential - $45/month for unlimited users
• Ultimate control - $89/month for unlimited users
  
  

3. ProcessMaker - Best for creating automated workflow intelligently

With ProcessMaker you get an open-source and intelligent automated workflow automation software. This helps you streamline the progression of tasks, details, and other important information. The flexible dashboard and the document editing history help in evaluating the overall productivity of the team members.

Further, the drag-and-drop feature for creating workflow simplifies the process and provides business analysts with the ability to monitor the performance and productivity of the overall team.

Pricing:

• Platform plan - $1475/month (unlimited users)
• Pro plan - Contact sales for pricing
  
  

4. ProWorkflow - Best known for wide visibility workflows

If you are primarily looking for a tool that provides you with wide visibility and control, ProWorkflow is the tool that will suit your specific requirements. With timelines and Gantt charts, you can effectively forecast resources with precision and confidence.

Further, this tool is an open-source API with the ability to connect with several third parties for a seamless flow of projects. The platform is available on multiple platforms making it possible for your team members to work remotely.

Pricing:

• Professional - $18/user/month
• Advanced - $27/user/month
  
  

5. ProProfs Project - Best for planning and forecasting workflow

ProProfs Project provides you with multiple task list views - Kanban board and Gantt chart for forecasting resources with confidence. The wide visibility helps you identify potential roadblocks early and take corrective measures early. This minimizes the chances for delay and assists in efficient deadline management.

Also, you can set milestones and create task dependencies to create a smooth workflow. With advanced reporting, you have in-depth insights into tracking the overall performance of your employees and plan accordingly for future projects.

Pricing:

• Monthly plan - $49.9/month
  
  

6. Zoho People - Best for building an environment for retaining top talent

When it comes to solving complexities and creating an efficient workflow, you need to have a system for identifying top talent and keeping them motivated. This is where Zoho people play its part. By incorporating this tool with the HR department, you can efficiently monitor the performance of your team members.

Zoho People tends to create an environment of building high-performance employees for successfully scaling up your business. Further, you are not only managing performance but you can also look out for weak areas and work on improving them as well.

Pricing:

• Professional - $1.66/user/month
• Premium - $2.5/user/month
• Enterprise - $4.6/user/month
  
  

7. Hive - Best for custom workflow for hybrid/remote teams

Creating a thriving workflow for remote and hybrid teams is necessary for eliminating complexities in any project. This is where Hive plays a key role because you can break down tasks into simple sub-tasks. This makes it easy for team members to understand their roles with ease.

Although this tool is relatively new in the management arena, it shows promising potential with functionalities of automation, tracking, and reporting. Further, you can integrate this tool with several other productivity tools to create a seamless workflow.

Pricing:

• Teams Plan - $12/user/month
• Enterprise plan - Contact the sales team for price details
  
  

8. nTask - Best known as a robust platform for delivering high-quality projects

nTask is a simple workflow management tool that helps simplify complex procedures. This is possible by building a workflow to streamline and visualize workflow across departments. nTask also provides you with the functionality of issue tracking as well.

Additionally, the tool provides you with valuable scalability that supports the growth of the company. With multiple integration, you can effectively manage projects from start to finish on the centralized dashboard.

Pricing:

• Premium plan - $3/user/month
• Business plan - $8/user/month
  
  

9. Monday.com - Best known for its simple user interface

If you are looking for an efficient workflow management tool with a simple user interface, Monday.com is the best option. The tool provides you with a highly customizable dashboard for creating a workflow as per the requirements of your project.

Additionally, the built-in collaboration functionalities play a key role. This helps in quick communication and keeping all team members on the same page. With the timeline view, you can forecast resources with confidence.

Pricing:

• Basic - $8/user/month
• Standard - $10/user/month
• Pro - $16/user/month
  
  

10. Gravity Flow - Best for eliminating complex functionalities on websites

This is a workflow automation software that comes as a WordPress plugin too. This tool works in collecting data from forms and processing them. This tool works on your website, collects data, processes them into information, and provides you with insights. So you are able to understand the visitor flow on your website with ease.

Additionally, this tool eliminates the need for manual compilation and micromanaging. You can easily compile large data within a short period of time. This helps you to focus on critical tasks and plan marketing activities accordingly.

Pricing:

• Core License - $99/year for 1 site
• Ultimate license - $447/year for 50 sites
  
  

11. Integrify - Best no-code workflow automation tool

Integrify is a business workflow automation tool, that lets you build team-specific workflow. This tool is specifically suited for small and medium businesses because of its lower cost and efficiency.

Additionally, the drag-and-drop functionality makes it possible to design custom workflows with ease. With custom reports, you can even identify potential bottlenecks early and solve them before they become a major issue.

Pricing:

• Integrify automation - $875/month
  
  

How to select the best workflow management tool?

When it comes to choosing the right workflow management tool, you need to create a roadmap before selecting any particular tool. This is because different tools provide you with different functionalities.

We have listed out the primary and basic factors that you must consider before finalizing any particular tool.

1. Pricing

Simplifying complex workflow with tools is essential, but that does not mean you end up spending a fortune. Compare various tools that provide the necessary features you are looking for. And then select the tools that fall within your budget.

2. The nature of your project

Certain tools are industry-specific. It is necessary to select a tool that matches your requirements. Do not buy a tool and then force it to suit your requirements.

3. Usability for your team members

Workflow management tools have a moderate learning curve. Look for tools that are relatively easy to use and assist in quick onboarding. With a simple tool, your team members will be able to work with increased productivity.

The choice of tool only influences the workflow, project managers are the ones who are responsible for solving the real issues. They are the ones who play a critical role in bringing about transformations in the work environment .

Bottom line

It is natural for your projects to become complex and the team size to increase over a period of time. However, at the same time, project managers need to create a strategy and plan out an actionable method to stay on top.

Digital tools for workflow management help in easing out this complexity. They also provide a seamless workflow that helps you deliver quality projects on time.