[Black Kerouac]

Does anyone know of any free or cheap project management software for Mac? i don't need anything too complicated, just an intuitive way to keep track of all the tasks that go into creating a marketing campaign for a client. Any help is greatly appreciated, thanks!

[turtle777]

What's cheap for you ?

While not exactly cheap, Omniplan looks good.

Their apps are generally well thought out and very functional.

-t

[besson3c]

Turtle: how does Omniplan share data with others? To me, using a Desktop app for something like this is a broken model. Project management and organization works best when it is collaborative. I think you'd be better off with Google docs than this if you needed collaboration features.

[Black Kerouac]

i just found something called iGTD that I like so far. I wanted something simple but powerful...you can create contexts, projects, and tasks, sync with ical, get notifications, all that good stuff. It's pretty cool. And it's free.

http://bargiel.home.pl/iGTD/

[besson3c]

Okay, maybe this is just a language issue... iGTD and Ominplan both look very cool, I didn't mean to sound so dismissive. However, they are personal organizers, not really project managers. To me project management = collaboration.

[Black Kerouac]

No, that makes sense...it just depends on what you're looking for. I am going to need something with collaboration in the very near future, but the people I work with won't be comfortable using anything complex like Omniplan. Google docs might be the right choice for that. For myself though, I want something simple, but powerful. I don't need charts or anything crazy like that.

[turtle777]

Originally Posted by besson3c 

To me project management = collaboration.

collaboration != collaboration

In project management, not everyone involved in the project needs to modify the project plan.
That's normally the task of the Project Manager.

If you need shared project management, you won't get around an industrial strength solution like Microsoft Project Server.

-t

[turtle777]

Oh come one, calling Google docs a "collaborative Project Management tool" is a bit of an overstatement

I think what you are talking about is not really project management in the stricter sense, but more a "joint task management".

-t

[besson3c]

You either delegate, use something that provides ACLs, or simply rely on something with version control (such as a wiki) to account for changes that are made and roll them back as needed.

A wiki is a great project management tool. I suggested GOogle Docs for people that don't have access to one, but if you do, that would be my recommendation.

[Dork.]

I think it all depends on whether you are talking about managing a project, or being a Project Manager. Something like iGTD may be adequate for the first, but not the second.

besson3c's response led be to go back and take a look at Google Docs, and while there are some neat templates there, there is nothing for Project Management. IMHO, "collaborative" project management still means one person is in charge of the tasks and schedule for the project, but that person listens to valid input (which basically means he or she is not an ass).

besson3c works in education, right? Maybe there are fewer asses in that field....

Edit: I just read besson's response above, and I think he and turtle are talking about different things entirely, and what the OP wants is something more in line with Turtle's thinking, only a bit lighter.

[turtle777]

It seems like some people confuse Project Management with delegation of tasks.

The latter is merely a subset of Project Management.

-t

[Black Kerouac]

^^^
Dork is right. My bad, I should have been more specific.

[besson3c]

I defer to you guys for the proper terminology to use here, I probably have these labels crossed up myself.

Perhaps it's best to simply state exactly what it is that you want to do rather than come up with the right label for it

[Dork.]

Actually, I think BK was right on the mark in that post with what he needs.

I'm learning a lot more about Project Management (with Capital P's and M's) lately. But in the past, I have been on the receiving end of Project Managers handing out tasks and schedules, which were generally unrealistic (and in some cases, total departures from reality). Hence, my contention that a key part of effective Project Management is to not be an ass.

[JKT]

No idea if it is any good (and it looks rather ugly), but if you want to generate Gantt charts at all* and you don't want to pay anything for it, try:

http://www.macupdate.com/info.php/id/16647/ganttproject

* That's for Project Management.

[besson3c]

Originally Posted by Dork. 

Actually, I think BK was right on the mark in that post with what he needs.

I'm learning a lot more about Project Management (with Capital P's and M's) lately. But in the past, I have been on the receiving end of Project Managers handing out tasks and schedules, which were generally unrealistic (and in some cases, total departures from reality). Hence, my contention that a key part of effective Project Management is to not be an ass.

You just better make sure that your project manger doesn't kill off the ointment dispenser.

[dguerr]

Hi - I just did a search for Mac project management software and came accross this forum. I learned something, but not what I need. My "project" is self directed and mostly going to be self-accomplished. There will be some outside help, but I will be telling them what I want done and it is up to them to do it.

What is the project? I have a home office that over the years has spread all over my house (no wife telling me to push it back where it should live). Now I am buried in stuff all over the place and, on top of that, three rooms were inundated with water and had to be repaired over the past six weeks (still going on).

Anyway, I want some type of program in which I can put down the steps I think I want to take to get everything in shape again. Using the computer will help, I feel, if I can add notes of HOW I am going to do a task, time alloted, resources needed, possible problems, and new ideas. Some easy, graphically oriented SW would be my choice and it needs to be flexible so I can move data around.

I've had enough experience with large project management SW tools to like the general ideas, but do not want to expend that much time, effort, and money on SW. Maybe up to $99 if there is something good. Worse comes to worse I will go for a Windows PC SW, but prefer MAC.

Any ideas now on this followup question to the thread? I would appreciate your help.

Don

[turtle777]

Originally Posted by dguerr 

Anyway, I want some type of program in which I can put down the steps I think I want to take to get everything in shape again. Using the computer will help, I feel, if I can add notes of HOW I am going to do a task, time alloted, resources needed, possible problems, and new ideas. Some easy, graphically oriented SW would be my choice and it needs to be flexible so I can move data around.

I think OmniFocus is what you are looking for.

It let's you create tasks, incl. time estimates, due dates etc.
I've been using OF for quite a while now, and I'm very happy with it.

It's not as fully featured as a real Project software, but it sounds like that would be overkill for you.

-t

[JKT]

Also, try GanttProject that I linked to above as well. It has all the basics of a project management software but is free. Ugly to look at, but if it works for a one-off project, who cares?

[Shades of Gray]

Not sure if these will help anyone, but offer some options (not free though):

In the ~$100 (US) range, try iTaskX

Or Valley Speak, $10/mo/user

COMINDWORK, $1/day Online (10 active projects, 10 GB storage)

Or Base Camp, $24/mo for small groups (unlimited users, 15 projects, 3 GB storage)