Introduction

Trello is good. But let's get real, sometimes Trello just doesn't cut it for organizing more complex projects. If you've ever felt like Trello was failing you when juggling multiple team projects, read on.

That's why I'm bringing you the tea on 5 other project management tools that can take your workflow to the next level:

1. Asana
2. Wrike
3. Teamwork
4. Smartsheet
5. Airtable

Overview of Trello and Its Shortcomings

Let's start with a lil' Trello recap. Trello lets you make boards, lists, and cards to organize projects. It's super easy to use - just drag and drop your cards in each list to plan your workflow.

But...

• No reporting or analytics
• No Gannt charts📈
• No calendar
• Can't manage multiple projects🗂
• No time tracking⏱️
• Gets disorganized with big projects

Asana - A More Powerful Project Management Tool

Alright, first up on the Trello alternatives is Asana!

Asana has some seriously awesome features that blow Trello out of the water when it comes to complex project management. Here's a quick rundown:

• Projects - Like boards, but way more organized
• Tasks - Break down projects into individual tasks
• Subtasks - Even more granular tasks
• Custom fields - Tailor tasks to your workflow
• Tags - Categorize and filter tasks
• Start dates - Plan it out from the beginning
• Due dates - Don't miss deadlines!
• Calendar - See all your tasks on a calendar 🗓️
• Timelines - Visualize schedules and milestones
• Workloads - Manage how much is on everyone's plate

And that's just the basics! Asana also has:

• Goal tracking - Make sure work aligns to objectives
• Dashboards - Birds-eye view of projects
• Reporting - Charts, graphs, all the analytics 📈
• Project templates - Repeat projects with ease
• Project status - Know what's on track or needs help
• Search/filters - Find anything in seconds
• Workload management - No one gets overloaded
• Milestones - Key project dates and deliverables

Asana crushes it on features to streamline team workflows and keep everyone aligned. You can plan sprints, releases, and more with ease.

It also integrates with a ton of other apps your team might use:

• Google Drive 💾
• Dropbox
• Salesforce
• Slack
• Adobe Creative Cloud

No more switching between 100 tabs!

And with stellar mobile apps, you can manage projects on the go:

Asana Mobile Features
Tasks with subtasks	✅
Calendar view	✅
Notifications	✅
Comments / conversations	✅
Search	✅

Hate wasting time copying info between platforms? Asana's got you covered. It's like a central hub for all your work.

Look, Trello keeps it simple and that's great. But if you're managing lots of detailed projects across a team, Asana is a must-try.

The powerful functionality paired with an intuitive interface makes project management much easier.

What do you think? Could Asana help wrangle your team's wild workflow? Let me know!

 

Wrike - Project Management With Advanced Analytics

If crunching numbers and visualizing data gets you pumped, listen up!  Wrike takes project management to the next level with robust analytics and reporting.

Let's quickly cover Wrike's key features:

• Projects to organize your work
• Folders to group projects
• Tasks to break down work
• Gantt Charts to view schedules visually 📅
• Dashboards to customize progress views 📉

But where Wrike really shines is its smart interactive features:

• Real-time performance analytics - Know project health at a glance
• Burndown charts - Track completion progress
• Workload view - Manage team capacity
• Evaluation reports - Quantify work achievements

Hella useful, right? With Wrike, you aren't flying blind. You'll know the real status of projects based on hard data.

Some key benefits for your workflow:

• Track multiple projects at the same time
• Share reports and visuals organization-wide
• Set task dependencies so work flows smoothly
• Invoice clients and track project budgets
• Integrates with tons of tools like Salesforce, G Suite, and more

Let's compare how Wrike goes above and beyond Trello:

Trello	Wrike
Basic task boards	Advanced interactive charts
No reporting	Robust real-time reports
Manual card sorting	Workload management and capacity planning
No resource allocation	Budgeting and cost tracking
Light on details	Custom fields for task details

Wrike even offers cool features like creating time-lapse videos of your team's work on projects. How cool is that?

With Wrike, you don't just feel organized - you have the data to prove it! If your team wants to quantify progress and make data-driven decisions, Wrike is a stellar choice.

The analytics help ensure projects deliver maximum value efficiently. You'll stay on track and catch any issues early.

So if you're a numbers person, give Wrike a spin! Get a bird's eye view of your team's work and take the guesswork out of project management.

Let me know if you give it a try! I'd love to hear if the analytics improve your workflow. Wrike could be a total game changer!

 

Got a million projects going at once? Listen up - Teamwork is designed for organizations running a ton of projects simultaneously.

Here's a quick overview:

• Projects keep everything neatly separated
• Message boards for collaboration
• Tasks to break down work
• Mobile apps for on-the-go access

But where Teamwork really excels is compartmentalizing different projects. You can manage hundreds of projects from one account without getting overwhelmed!

Some key benefits:

• Templates make starting new projects a breeze
• Everything stays neatly organized in workspaces
• Built-in Gantt charts for scheduling tasks
• Timesheets & expenses to track budgets
• Custom fields & forms to match your workflow
• File versioning so you never lose work

Teamwork has all the features you need to juggle multiple projects gracefully:

• To-do lists
• Milestones
• Activity logs
• Subtasks
• Dependencies
• Timesheets
• Invoicing
• Reports
• And more!

Smartsheet - Robust Spreadsheet-Based Project Management

If you're all about that spreadsheet life, check out Smartsheet for project management.

It takes the flexibility of spreadsheets and combines it with powerful PM features. Here's an overview:

• Spreadsheet style grid
• Cells for tasks, notes, discussions
• Formulas, functions, and more
• Charts and reports
• Gantt charts for schedules
• Calendar view 🗓️

Some key benefits:

• Familiar for Excel users
• Collaborative like Google Sheets
• Attach files, conversations
• Visualize data in dashboards
• Automate repetitive work
• Integrates with MS Project
• Align projects to company goals

Instead of rigid templates, Smartsheet allows tons of customization for your workflows:

• Custom forms and fields
• Views and hierarchies
• Automations and reminders
• Conditional formatting
• Charts and schedules

You can build some robust project plans in Smartsheet:

• Work breakdown structures
• Resource management
• Project roadmaps
• Quality checklists
• Risk analysis
• Cost estimating
• So much more!

And with its enterprise-ready security and permissions, Smartsheet easily scales from individuals up to huge organizations.

Let's compare Smartsheet to old school Trello:

Trello	Smartsheet
Basic kanban board	Robust spreadsheet features
Manual updates	Automatic progress tracking
No analysis	Charts, reports, analytics
Inflexible	Customizable fields and forms
Light security	Enterprise-level security

If you need powerful project management but enjoy spreadsheets more than rigid templates, give Smartsheet a spin! It brings together the best of both worlds in an intuitive interface.

Let me know if you try it out! I'd love to hear if you think Smartsheet could upgrade your PM game.

 

Airtable - Best for Dynamic Databases

If you find rigid project management tools limiting, let me put Airtable on your radar.

Airtable takes a totally flexible, database-driven approach to project management. You can use it for way more than boring old Kanban boards.

Here's a quick rundown:

• Database foundation
• Customizable fields and views
• Calendar, Kanban, gallery, timeline, map
• iOS and Android apps

With Airtable, you can track pretty much anything in a customizable database:

• Tasks and to-dos
• Project schedules
• Event calendars
• Sales pipelines
• Resource planning
• Audits and checks
• Equipment tracking
• Recruiting pipelines
• And so much more!

The possibilities are endless. Airtable can adapt to tons of uses cases beyond basic project management.

Some killer features:

• Flexible data modeling for any need
• Link tables together for deeper insights
• Intuitive drag and drop interface
• Role-based permissions for collaborating
• Calculated fields like formulas
• Supercharged with automations
• Mobile apps to manage anywhere

You can analyze your data using different views like:

• Calendar
• Kanban
• Gallery
• Gantt
• Timeline
• Maps
• Forms
• and more!

Don't get stuck using Airtable just for tasks and to-dos. Unleash its full power as a customizable database for all your needs!

 

Find the Project Management Platform For You

Whew, that was a lot of info! Let's recap.

We covered 5 solid Trello alternatives:

• Asana for powerful features
• Wrike for robust analytics
• Teamwork for multiple projects
• Smartsheet for spreadsheet lovers
• Airtable for maximum flexibility

There's no definitively "best" platform - each has tradeoffs.

Evaluate your team's needs in terms of:

• Project complexity
• Data visualization needs
• Customizability vs structure
• Integrations required
• Security and permissions
• Learning curve

I suggest trying the free versions before committing.

At the end of the day, pick the tool that empowers your team and fits your workflow. Don't force a rigid system that slows you down.

Trello is great for basic workflows but can't scale. Hopefully exploring these alternatives opened your eyes to what's possible!

Let me know if you have any other questions. I'm always happy to chat more about project management!