Teams and organizations without a digital task management solution often face significant challenges. Among the most common issues are communication problems. Without a unified platform, information is fragmented across messages, Google Docs, documents on individual laptops, and even verbal agreements.
This significantly complicates project coordination. Without a clear overview, there’s a higher risk of misallocating tasks, using outdated data, or missing deadlines altogether.
The absence of a unified online platform impacts team productivity. This results in constant clarifications, misunderstandings of deadlines, and often isolated stages and processes that should work together seamlessly.
However, the good news is that a good task manager, CRM, or similar project management solution can handle all these issues. In short, a unified workspace. Today, we’ll talk about it.
Let’s start with the basics: why do you need such a platform? Implementing new technology just to stay trendy is not the best strategy. However, digitalization generally helps simplify life and task execution both personally and at the company level.
Using applications that serve as online hubs for teams solves a host of problems, such as:
A unified workspace helps to structure information effectively and make it easily accessible, which is the foundation of efficient work.
Teams working in an office also need online tools. While an office is inherently a unified workspace—with meeting rooms, smoking areas, coffee lounges, flip charts, etc.—every individual still retains some personal workspace in their mind.
A digital platform aims to integrate everything online as much as possible. This is the best way not to lose important fragments from conversations, correspondence, and brainstorming sessions. Such programs allow storing information in the form of cards, notes, or other convenient formats.
To understand why it’s important to have a task and project management tool, let’s consider the consequences of not having one.
These and similar problems often prompt the search for a digital solution.
Of course, it’s possible to work without a unified virtual space. However, something has led you to search for information about new tools, indicating there are issues.
The typical “before” scenario involves storing information on paper, fragmented, or locally. Simply put, data fragments, statuses, and updates are hidden in personal communication, notes, emails with others in copy, different file versions on personal computers, or at best, in a shared Google Drive folder. Even the latter doesn’t guarantee 100% relevance.
For tracking and visualization, one of the simplest (or rather, most familiar) options is Google Sheets. Here, you can add multiple sheets and use each for different functions, though they have many limitations.
A shared chat, email threads, a task calendar, notes in various forms—each tool covers part of the needs for planning and task management. A fully-fledged unified workspace can only be a platform specifically designed for these needs.
In other words, the alternative is careful use of many office programs. As for the options, there are plenty—from the familiar Trello to complex multifunctional systems like ClickUp and Jira.
If the necessity is clear, choosing might be more challenging due to the variety of solutions. Be prepared for the search to take some time. Here’s what to focus on.
If you started looking for detailed information, you already have at least one problem hindering effective work. List a few more issues your team faces.
This might include inefficient communication, confusion over file versions, delays at certain stages, or something else. Create a detailed list of such problems. If there are many, group them by topic: communication, task distribution, etc. Then prioritize them.
This analysis will help in the next step. Knowing what needs to be solved makes the search easier.
With a specific request in hand, start searching for and familiarizing yourself with platforms for managing work processes. Choose a few options to begin your research.
At this stage, the reason for adding a platform to your list doesn’t matter—whether it’s frequent mentions or a visually appealing website. Don’t make the list endless. Choose five to ten options and learn more about them.
Key factors to consider:
Most software products offer a free basic plan or at least a week-long trial. If you can’t decide which option suits your team best, test a few in real working conditions.
If there’s no trial period, consider a one-month subscription. It’s best to involve several team members to test different functionalities and share feedback.
This step isn’t mandatory. You might find the perfect solution without multiple rounds of testing.
Set time limits for decision-making. The deeper you dive into research, the harder it is to choose something. Allocate a week or two for selecting and test-driving one or several systems. Limit the number of options for testing—e.g., three. Deadlines and restrictions help focus on the most important aspects.
Tracy is an application builder for managing work processes, allowing you to organize a unified workspace tailored to your team’s needs.
Tracy offers many ready-made templates easily adaptable for various teams—sales departments, HR teams, office managers, etc. The platform suits IT project management, production management, field service, non-profit work, and more.
Our app builder aims to simplify daily tasks and large project management through:
Learn more about Tracy’s features in the “How It Works” section. Install the app on your smartphone, laptop, or open it in a browser and start testing a unified workspace for your team. The basic version for three users is free.