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When you’re a consultant in top project management consulting firms, having a lot of projects can be very taxing. Keeping up with deadlines, meeting customer desires, and working with colleagues can make it seem like you’re lost in an ocean of checklists and spreadsheets.
This is where project management software for consultants can help – the right program can simplify your processes, enhance your interaction with your team and customers, and result in superior outcomes.
We’ve done the legwork and gathered a compilation of the top project management consulting firms
Our ideas, whether it’s for a single consultant or a larger team, will help to organize your work process and increase your output, meaning you can concentrate on what you specialize in: delivering outstanding consulting services for your customers.
Best Project Management Software For Consultants
- Monday.com – Best Project Management Software for Consultants Overall
- ClickUp – Best for Agile Development Teams
- Asana – Best for Collaboration
- Wrike – Best for Custom Work Views
- Zoho Projects – Best for Small and Growing Teams
- Trello – Best for Cross-Platform Management
- Teamwork – Best For Client-Facing Service Providers
- Microsoft Project – Best for Integration
We aimed to provide an impartial and in-depth assessment of the features, usability, customisation, integrations, customer service, and reviews of the best project management software for consultants.
To do this, we researched and tested multiple solutions to identify their particular strengths and weaknesses.
Our intention is to facilitate the discovery of the ideal project management tool that meets your individual requirements and fits into your financial plan.
Monday.com – Best Project Management Software For Consultants Overall
Fees: Starting at $8 per month
Star rating: 4.9/5
Monday.com is a cloud-based project management software for consultants that provides them with a variety of tools to help their teams become more efficient and effective.
The project management software for consultants’ user-friendly design and customizable features for managing projects include options for resource and project management, time tracking, collaboration, and reporting.
Workflows can be created to cover each stage of the consultancy journey, from sales to internal processes and timelines that clients can see. This can serve as a kind of hub for your business.
Pros:
- Free trials to test advanced features
- Mobile app version
- Abundant templates
- Lots of integrations
- Attractive, easily customizable interface
- Free version available
- Gantt and Kanban charts
- New features constantly added
- Collaboration across organizations and external teams
Cons:
- Limited reporting options
- Cluttered boards for in-depth or complex projects
- Frequent glitches with new features
- Steep learning curve with advanced features
- Limited reporting options
How To Plan A Project Or Consultant Schedule With Monday.com?
Monday.com initiates a project with a task list, referred to as Boards in the program. After specifying start and end dates and assigning tasks, a view can be developed to display the assignments.
The consulting project management software platform offers various types of Views, such as Kanban and Gantt.
How To Keep Clients Up To Date With Project Progress On Monday.com?
A potential option is to add Clients as Guests to your main board, but item labels would need to be concealed if you do not want them to be public. This can be tedious.
The simplest option is to establish a separate board for clients, where they can look at a timeline of the workflow and make approvals and comments.
Clients are able to gain access to the board whenever it suits them and utilize different perspectives to view their tasks in the form of Gantt charts or timelines.
Nevertheless, if you’re dealing with numerous projects, this could become overbearing and overloaded.
Plans & Pricing
- Individual: Free for upto two seats
- Basic: $8/user/month (billed annually), best for small teams
- Standard: $10/user/month (billed annually), best for managing work
- Pro: $16/user/month (billed annually), best for companies to connect with teams
- Enterprise: Best for organizations to run and scale workflow, Contact Monday.com for pricing
ClickUp – Best Consulting Project Management Software For Agile Development Teams
Fee: Starting at $5 per month
Star rating: 4.6/5
If you require a comprehensive consulting project management software solution which encompasses sales, project management, and delivery, then ClickUp could be an ideal choice.
It’s a dependable all-in-one project management software for consultants.
With ClickUp, users get a centralized workspace for managing and finishing all their team’s projects.
The project management software for consultants provides the capability to plan projects, set up tasks, manage resources and additionally, give team members and guests the ability to communicate and work together.
Pros:
- Robust features
- Over 1,000 integrations
- Advanced task management
- Pre-built templates
- Many views available
- Easily manage complex projects
- Free forever plan for individuals
- Lots of automation options
Cons:
- Mobile app isn’t overly intuitive
- Time tracking can be glitchy
- Can be overwhelming for new users
- Top tiers can get pricey for small businesses
How To Plan A Project Or Consultant Schedule With ClickUp?
Creating a timetable in this project management software for consultants is quite easy to do. This is how it’s done:
- Input the objectives for your project and separate them into achievable steps. This can be utilized in ClickUp to assist you in monitoring your progress and guaranteeing that goal are met
- Dividing the project into milestones (which ClickUp can add to the Gantt chart) is a great way to start
- Then, break those milestones down into individual tasks. You can use task templates, assign tags and priorities, add due dates, and assign tasks to your team.
- Create a connection between tasks
- Determine the amount of time for each assignment
- Switch to the Timeline perspective or utilize the integrated Gantt chart
How To Keep Clients Up To Date With Project Progress In ClickUp?
For read-only versions of tasks, docs, and timelines, this consulting project management software offers a public sharing feature.
To get clients more actively involved, however, you need to make your Space or project private and then manually add your team members and clients to the system, assigning specific permissions to each one.
Options for granting permission include:
- Users have the capability to share items but cannot delete them
- They have complete control over their content
- One should not do anything else, just view
- Client permission settings are only available in ClickUp’s paid plans
- An opinion is expressed
Plans & Pricing
- Free Forever: Free seat for personal use
- Unlimited: $5/user/month (billed annually), best for small teams
- Business: $12/user/month (billed annually), best for mid-sized companies
- Business Plus: $19/user/month (billed annually), best for multiple teams
- Enterprise: Best for many large teams, contact ClickUp for pricing
Asana – Best Consulting Project Management Software For Collaboration
Fee: Starting at $10.99 per month
Star rating: 4.3/5
No doubt, you’re aware of Asana – a strong consulting project management software for mid-to-large-sized businesses. It automates the most frequently used tasks to allow big teams to manage intricate tasks without having to do them manually.
The project management software for consultants app allows you to make to-do and reminder lists, with the capability to assign due dates, involve other colleagues, add instructions to tasks, and leave comments.
Additionally, you can transfer images from other applications, like Google Drive, directly to the platform.
Pros:
- Simple to navigate interface
- Effective teamwork tools
- Competence in a wide range of project management techniques
- Variable workflows
Cons:
- Limited reporting capabilities
- Steep learning curve
- Limited customization options
- Overwhelming notifications
How To Plan A Project Or Consultant Schedule With Asana?
This consulting project management software lets you begin with task lists and progresses them into timelines. To create a plan in Asana, here’s the procedure.
- Develop a schedule for the project by listing out what needs to be done
- Schedule when you’ll begin and finish every activity
- Set up a chain of events to complete your objectives
- Don’t just throw work at the group; give it to the people who can do it
- Plan your work with a Gantt chart
How To Keep Clients Up To Date With Project Progress In Asana?
Managing clients inside this project management software for consultants can be done in a variety of ways. A straightforward technique is to ask clients to join your projects as ‘guests’, allowing them to have a look at your projects.
This can be taken one step further by allowing those guest accounts to take part in approving tasks and adding tasks.
The Asana community forum states that it’s possible to create customized client-focused teams, boards, and timelines to meet specific requirements.
Plans & Pricing
- Basic: Free for individual use or small teams
- Premium: $10.99/user/month (billed annually), best for teams to create project plans
- Business: $24.99/user/month (billed annually), best for companies to manage
Wrike – Best Consulting Project Management Software For Custom Work Views
Fee: Starting at $9.80 per month
Star rating: 4/5
Wrike is a well-regarded consulting project management software program designed for teams with a minimum of five members. Its configurability allows users to customize the workflows, dashboards, reports, and request forms.
This project management software for consultants is compatible with more than 400 software tools, so users don’t need to switch between platforms.
This project management software for consultants is especially useful for large consulting teams, as it provides time tracking, tailored analytics, and a variety of project visualization options such as Gantt and Kanban.
Pros:
- Simple in operation
- A variety of specialized accounts for advertising agencies, design studios, and corporate businesses
- Capable of handling both one-off tasks and regular duties
- Modified clever parts red alert projects that are in danger of falling behind
Cons:
- The learning curve is steeper and takes more time
- Expensive in comparison to other methods of construction
- Many useful features require a paid upgrade or additional plan to access
How To Plan A Project Or Consultant Schedule With Wrike?
The Gantt chart view in this project management software for consultants is the central focus of project planning. Here you’re able to incorporate project phases, timelines, and tasks into the timeline.
Plus, through the interactive feature, it’s possible to drag and drop tasks in order to adjust the project plan.
How To Keep Clients Up To Date With Project Progress In Wrike?
This project management software for consultants’ proofing and document control capabilities lets consulting teams bring customers into the workspace to directly approve documents and have all conversations in one location.
It also has a pre-set communication plan framework, allowing you to set up regular check-ins and assign approvals to customers in advance.
As a result, everyone is aware of their responsibilities and comprehends task dependencies.
Plans & Pricing
- Free: $0 for teams getting started
- Team: $9.8/user/month (billed annually), best for growing teams
- Business: $24.8/user/month (billed annually), best for all teams across on organization
- Enterprise: Best for large teams, contact Wrike for pricing
- Pinnacle: Best for teams with complex work, contact Wrike for pricing
Zoho Projects – Best Consulting Project Management Software For Small And Growing Teams
Fee: Starting from $4 per month
Star rating: 3.9/5
Zoho, a project management software for consultants, is a web-based CRM suite, provides an array of tools to help with lead, purchase, and pipeline management.
This includes automating account, lead, and prospect tracking, as well as other sales tasks.
Furthermore, the consulting project management software platform enables users to set up both public and private chat rooms and allows them to track the time spent on projects.
This consulting project management software, with its multiple consulting processes integrated into a single platform, is beneficial to certain top project management consulting firms
Among its notable characteristics are
- Checklists for Projects
- Conferencing on Current Projects (internally and with clients)
- Billing and timesheets
- Track your progress on the fly with this handy mobile app
Pros:
- Budget-friendly membership options
- Powerful quality
- Existing Zoho users will be comfortable with the UI and will like the bundles
- Free for up to five people
- The ability to sync with popular productivity suites like Zoho and Google Drive
- Keeping track of time for hourly billing
Cons:
- It’s difficult to work with Gantt charts
- When dealing with a large team, reporting tools tend to fail
- Impossibility to export certain types of files
- A few reporting options are missing
- Disappears to be incompatible with Quickbooks
How To Plan A Project Or Consultant Schedule With Zoho?
Projects can be easily planned on Zoho through the use of its Gantt chart feature, which is simple and straightforward even for those with no experience in project management software for consultants.
You have the choice of using a template or making your own Gantt chart to plan a project from the beginning.
Milestones, tasks, dependencies, and assignments can then be set and allocated to the relevant team members.
How To Keep Clients Up To Date With Project Progress In Zoho?
Managing user permissions for clients in Zoho can be a cumbersome task.
Many users have found it difficult to bring clients and subcontractors into their work environment, which can be intimidating for those who are not conversant with project management software for consultant tools.
Plans & Pricing
- Free: $0 for up to three users
- Premium: $4/user/month (billed annually), with a free 10-day trial
- Enterprise: $9/user/month (billed annually), with a free 10-day trial
Trello – Best Consulting Project Management Software For Cross-Platform Management
Fee: Starting from $5 per month
Star rating: 3.6/5
Solo consultants who are responsible for a variety of projects may find Trello Kanban boards extremely useful for gaining a quick overview of all their tasks.
But, for larger teams who are not accustomed to Agile methodologies, it might be difficult to classify projects and switch between broad and granular perspectives.
Apart from Kanban boards and other project perspectives, the project management software for consultants provides task automation and a variety of add-ons referred to as power-ups.
Pros:
- Can get suggestions for automated intelligence software based on the routine tasks you perform most often
- Several “Powerups” that expand your board’s capabilities are available, and it’s compatible with a wide variety of devices
- Cloud-based
- Collective effort
Cons:
- Inadequate precise accounting
- Reviews from customers complain about having difficulty getting in touch with service
- Without having time tracking capabilities built in
- Well suited for simple tasks, but not difficult ones
How To Plan A Project Or Consultant Schedule With Trello?
If your team is accustomed to Agile project management and using Kanban, they will likely appreciate the project management software for consultants.
This consulting project management software tool is Kanban-focused and requires you to create a separate Board for each project.
Inside the board, lists can be created with each card symbolizing a task. Progress can be shown by simply dragging the cards across the board.
The project management software for consultants isn’t limited to the Kanban style of representation; you can also visualize your project in a timeline, map, calendar, dashboard, or spreadsheet format.
How To Keep Clients Up To Date With Project Progress In Trello?
This project management software for consultants offers a simple way to grant access to clients of your boards and cards. Paid plans allow you to establish the level of permission for each, giving them the ability to observe and add to the tasks at hand.
Plans & Pricing
- Free: $0 for your whole team
- Standard: $5/user/month (billed annually), best for small teams
- Premium: $10/user/month (billed annually), best for teams to track multiple projects
- Enterprise: $17.5/user/month (billed annually), best for organizations to connect work across teams
Teamwork – Best Consulting Project Management Software For Client-Facing Service Providers
Fee: Starting from $9.99 per month
Star rating: 3.3/5
Designed to fit in with various tools, Teamwork Projects is a consulting project management software that is both user-friendly and efficient. It enables users to build projects, assign tasks and set milestones with ease.
Project management software for consultants benefits from teamwork, as it can assist with managing various projects, setting team timetables, monitoring billable hours, and interacting with clients.
This method works best for top project management consulting firms that have their systems organized yet need to restrain scope creep and be aware of all project expenses.
Pros:
- Paid subscriptions allow for an unlimited number of contributors
- Versions with no cost to the user are present
- All plans include a free 30-day trial
- Infinite number of customers
- Unlimited space for premium users
- Keeping tabs on the spending plan
- Functionalities for managing clients, such as billing, are included
Cons:
- The number of mergers is low
- Free version has few features
- Far more expensive than the majority of similar products
- Lower tiers have fewer security features
How To Plan A Project Or Consultant Schedule With Teamwork?
A Gantt chart view, with the ability to drag and drop tasks to adjust to timeline changes, is available in project management software for consultants to make project visualization easier.
How To Keep Clients Up To Date With Project Progress In Teamwork?
Consultants benefit greatly from using Teamwork, as they can add clients to their projects without an additional cost.
The permission settings are quite easy to use, allowing users to set up the level of visibility for their clients.
This top project management consulting firm also centralizes client communication, allowing all necessary approvals, discussions, and visualizations to take place in one single place.
Plans & Pricing
- Free Forever: $0 for up to 5 users
- Deliver: $9.99/user/month (billed annually), best for basic project management
- Grow: $17.99/user/month (billed annually), best for complex projects
- Scale: Best for a customized plan, contact Teamwork for pricing
Microsoft Project: Best Consulting Project Management Software For Ease Of Use
Fee: Starts at $10/user/month
Star rating: 3.0/5
For those just starting out in their consulting project management software role, Microsoft Project is the best project management software for consultants choice.
It’s incredibly user-friendly and makes it easy to visualize and map out projects, thanks to its mapping features.
The project management software for consultants is designed to handle the entire project life cycle, with automated workflows that illustrate each process step.
As we mentioned in our comparison of this consulting project management software, you can efficiently manage your clients’ projects from start to finish.
The auto-scheduling component of the project management software for consultants provides a timeline to plan out tasks. All the members of the consulting team can edit tasks together.
Additionally, the business intelligence and report management component ensures everyone is kept in the loop about work-related issues.
Pros:
- Compatible with preexisting Office 365 accounts Prioritization tool for drivers to rank strategy and goals
- It gives specific instructions for each activity
- Descriptions of useful project templates for use as examples
- Creates a Gantt chart from a spreadsheet
Cons:
- Expensive compared to the market average
- Limitations in personalization choices
- Constraints of online meeting platforms
- Extremely challenging to use for first-timers
- An extremely steep learning curve
How To Plan A Project Or Consultant Schedule With Microsoft Project?
It’s essential to begin by outlining the objectives and producing a checklist of assignments that require completion.
Afterward, you can assign individuals, establish due dates, and devise a timeline through the Gantt chart view. Additionally, you can observe progress and adjust the schedule as necessary.
It’s necessary to update the plan consistently to ensure the project is on course and within the allocated budget.
Utilizing this project management software for consultants is easy to team up with team members and relay the project updates to stakeholders.
By following these steps, you can effectively plan and manage your project or consultant schedule with one of the top project management consulting firms, which is Microsoft Project.
How To Keep Clients Up To Date With Project Progress In Microsoft Project?
Project managers need to make sure they keep their clients informed of the progression of the project, and this consulting project management software provides an easy way to do this.
Clients can be informed by routinely exporting the timeline of the project and delivering it to them through email or another medium from consulting project management software.
Furthermore, they can be given access to the project file by utilizing the collaboration capabilities of the consulting project management software.
This will enable them to observe the project plan and the advances made in real-time.
Plans & Pricing
- Project Plan 1: $10 per user/month (billed annually)
- Project Plan 3: $30 per user/month (billed annually)
- Project Plan 5: $55 per user/month (billed annually)
Ranking Methodology For The Best Project Management Software For Consultants
Evaluating and ranking project management software for consultants can be complicated due to the many variables that must be taken into account.
Here’s a comprehensive methodology we employed to rate and rank these tools:
- Features: The first factor to consider is the project management software for consultant’s features. Does it have all the necessary features for managing projects, such as task management, resource management, budget tracking, and reporting? Is the software customizable to meet the unique needs of consultants? The more comprehensive and customizable the features, the higher the software will rank.
- Ease of Use: The consulting project management software’s ease of use is also a crucial factor to consider. Is the software easy to learn and navigate, or does it require extensive training to use? Is the interface intuitive and user-friendly? The easier the software is to use, the higher the software will rank.
- Integrations: Another important factor is the software’s integrations. Does it integrate with other tools commonly used by consultants, such as Microsoft Office, Google Suite, or QuickBooks? The more integrations, the higher the software will rank.
- Pricing: The consulting project management software’s pricing is also a crucial factor to consider. Is the software affordable for consultants, or is it only accessible to larger organizations? Is the pricing structure transparent and easy to understand? The more affordable and transparent the pricing, the higher the software will rank.
- Customer Support: The level of customer support provided by the project management software for consultants, and vendors is also important to consider. Are there multiple support channels available, such as phone, email, and live chat? Are there online resources, such as a knowledge base or community forum? The higher the level of customer support, the higher the software will rank.
- User Reviews: Finally, user reviews can provide valuable insights into the consulting project management software’s performance and usability. Are users generally satisfied with the consulting project management software? What are the common complaints or issues users have experienced? The higher the overall user satisfaction, the higher the software will rank.
Best Project Management Software For Consultants – Buyer’s Guide
What Is Project Management Software For Consultants?
Consultants may find digital project management for consultants to be invaluable in keeping track of their client’s projects.
This consulting project management software comes with several features, such as dashboards, workflows, task managing, time tracking, automation, and integrations.
Such project management software for consultants may come as either on-premises programs or cloud-based solutions.
What Should Consulting Firms Look For In Project Management Software?
Top management software consulting firms need to choose consulting project management software that is capable, adaptive, and expandable.
The following are some key elements that these project should contemplate when deciding on a consulting project management software program:
- Customizability: Top project management consulting firms have unique needs and requirements that may not be met by out-of-the-box solutions. Therefore, the consulting project management software must be customizable to fit the firm’s specific needs. The ability to customize project workflows, reports, and templates is essential.
- Collaboration: Top project management consulting firms often work in teams and need to collaborate effectively. Therefore, the software should have robust collaboration features, such as real-time chat, document sharing, and task assignment. The project management software for consultants should also provide visibility into project progress for all team members.
- Resource Management: Top project management consulting firms need to manage resources effectively to ensure that projects are completed on time and within budget. Therefore, the software should have resource management features, such as capacity planning, workload management, and time tracking.
- Reporting and Analytics: Top project management consulting firms need to track project progress and performance to make informed decisions. Therefore, the software should have robust reporting and analytics features that provide real-time insights into project status, resource utilization, and budget performance.
- Integration: Top project management consulting firms often use multiple tools and platforms to manage their work. Therefore, the software should have integrations with other tools commonly used by consultants, such as Microsoft Office, and Google Suite, and accounting software like QuickBooks.
- Security: Top project management consulting firms deal with sensitive client data and must ensure that the software they use is secure. Therefore, the software should have robust security features, such as data encryption, multi-factor authentication, and regular backups.
When taking into account all of the relevant factors, consulting businesses can select a consulting project management software program that is tailored to their distinct requirements and assists them to manage their projects more efficiently and productively.
>> Try Out Monday.com Today >>
What Can You Do With A Project Management Software For Consultants?
Consultants can benefit from a consulting project management software app that can handle all components of their projects, from organization to implementation and more.
Here are some of the advantages that this project management software for consultants can provide:
- Plan and organize projects: You can use a project management software for consultants app to create and organize project plans, including tasks, deadlines, and milestones. You can assign tasks to team members, set priorities, and track progress.
- Collaborate with team members: A project management app allows you to collaborate with team members in real-time. You can share files, communicate through chat or video calls, and provide feedback on tasks and deliverables.
- Manage project resources: You can use a project management app to manage project resources, including people, equipment, and budgets. You can track time spent on tasks, monitor resource availability, and manage project expenses.
- Monitor project progress: With a project management app, you can track project progress in real-time. You can view dashboards and reports that provide insights into project status, resource utilization, and budget performance.
- Communicate with clients: A project management app allows you to communicate with clients and stakeholders easily. You can share project updates, send messages, and schedule meetings.
- Access data from anywhere: A project management software for consultants app can be accessed from anywhere, as long as you have an internet connection. This allows you to work from home, the office, or on-the-go, and collaborate with team members regardless of their location.
Best Project Management Software For Consultants – Frequently Asked Questions
For consulting companies, the most suitable consulting project management software can encourage consultants such as yourself to efficiently oversee client projects.
Uncover the responses to inquiries that are frequently asked regarding consulting project management software.
Do Consultants Do Project Management?
A project management consultant acts as a strategist, mentor, and supervisor of the project management staff to come up with and put into practice solutions that are associated with quality or process improvements.
Why Is Project Management Software Important For Consulting Firms?
In order to remain competitive within the U.S. consulting market, which was valued at $132 billion in 2020, top project management consulting firms depend on project management software to keep their client projects organized and concluded.
This project management software for consultants is a necessity for teams to work together and complete both collective and individual tasks.
Furthermore, the project management software for consultants provides a simple way to update clients on the project’s progress and results.
How Can I Choose The Right Project Management Software For Consultants?
When selecting project management software for consultant firms, take into account the budget, needs, and plan rates.
Choose the consulting project management software platform that best fits the type and complexity of the client projects associated.
What Is PMO In Consulting?
The role of a Project Management Office (PMO) is to set out and sustain project management guidelines throughout an establishment.
PMOs are in charge of upholding the most effective practices and compiling project positioning and strategy in a single source.
>> Check Out Monday.com Today >>
Bottom Line On The Best Project Management Software For Consultants
Our comparative review was created to assist top project management consulting firms in finding the perfect consulting project management software for their needs.
We examined five top project management consulting firms, and we believe Monday.com stands out due to its exceptional features, user-friendly interface, powerful integrations, and competitive pricing.
We hope our evaluation has been useful in helping you make the right decision for your organization.
