Work management software offers features for planning projects, collaborating in teams, staying on top of tasks, and more. We review the 6 best work management software platforms to help make your business more productive.
Work management software enables your business to be as productive as possible with the resources you have. It streamlines communication between employees and managers and offers tools to facilitate collaboration. The software also includes task management tools that enable you to share work evenly across employees.
In addition, work management platforms can help your business grow. Many systems offer features like chat apps for communicating with customers, planning for upcoming work, and more. They can also include HR tools such as training courses that help you retain your top employees and hire new talent.
In this guide, we’ll highlight the 6 best work management software for 2023 and explain how to choose the right one for your business.
If you don’t have the time to read through our research, jump down to our quick comparison table.
Our Top Picks
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Best all-in-one work management software
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Good for office software
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Good for enterprise resource planning
What to Look For in a Work Management Software
Work management platforms cover a wide range of features. Here are a few capabilities to look for:
- Scheduling: Assign your employees to shifts and ensure that work is measured out fairly to each employee. Look for drag-and-drop scheduling tools, like Connecteam offers, as well as the ability to repeat common shifts, create open shifts, and assign shifts by employee availability, preference, or qualifications.
- Automatic time tracking: Enable your employees to clock in and out of work from any device with just a touch. The best software will also allow workers to categorize each time entry by project, client, job, location, or other criteria.
- Task management: Assign specific tasks to employees and provide them with the notes and documents they need to work effectively.
- Location tracking: Use GPS to verify employees’ locations at clock-in and clock-out or throughout the day.
- Communication tools: Instant messaging, individual and group chats, and a company newsfeed help your team stay connected. For instance, Connecteam offers an announcement feed you can use to share company-wide news in real time.
- Document management system: Store all of your company documents securely in the cloud and make them easily searchable for employees who need them.
- Training: Create custom training courses to onboard new employees and keep your current employees working at their best.
The 6 Best Work Management Softwares of 2023
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Connecteam — Best all-in-one work management software
Connecteam is the best all-in-one work management system. It offers a variety of tools for streamlining operations, project management, communication, and growing your business.
Let’s take a closer look at some of Connecteam’s standout features.
Build schedules quickly with drag-and-drop tools
Connecteam offers a drag-and-drop scheduling app that makes it easy to build schedules for employees. You can create schedule templates and repeat schedules daily, weekly, or monthly. You can also see at a glance when employees are scheduled for overtime or when there’s a scheduling conflict you need to resolve.
Plus, you can create open shifts that any employee can claim. Or, you can schedule workers based on their availability, qualifications, or shift preferences.
Employees receive notifications about schedule changes and upcoming shifts so they never miss work. Connecteam also enables employees to swap shifts with one another with your approval.
Manage projects with tasks and checklists
Connecteam enables you to break large projects into more manageable tasks. You can assign tasks to employees and easily track all of your team’s open assignments. If a task falls behind schedule, you can send a reminder to your employees with just a click.
You can attach forms, checklists, photos, documents and more to each task. That way, employees have all of the information they need to work effectively from the moment they receive a new assignment.
You can also create recurring tasks for work that needs to be performed routinely.
Keep track of employees’ locations in real time
Verify your employees’ locations using Connecteam’s GPS tracking tools. You can see their live locations or view a “breadcrumb” trail of their recent locations. This helps ensure workers are where they need to be and helps keep lone workers safe.
It’s also helpful when you need to reassign employees to cover an urgent task. You can quickly see who’s closest and who’s not already busy on another task and deploy them elsewhere.
Connecteam will also alert you if an employee leaves your workplace or job site. Importantly, it never tracks workers’ locations after they’ve clocked out.
Enable employees to track time with a single touch
Connecteam’s app for iOS and Android enables employees to clock in and out system of work with a single touch of their device. You can also deploy Connecteam as a time kiosk. Workers can clock in and out on a shared device from a single location.
Connecteam’s time clock is GPS-enabled and accurate down to the second. Plus, employees can assign each time entry to a specific project, task, or client. This simplifies payroll if employees have different pay rates for different jobs. It also makes it easier to accurately bill clients for time spent on their projects.
In addition, you can also set up geofences around job sites that restrict employees from clocking in or out if they aren’t in the right location. Connecteam can also send a push reminder for workers to punch in and out as well.
Plus, Connecteam lets you set custom rules for breaks and overtime. It will automatically add this data to your team’s schedules so no one’s out of the loop and your business stays compliant with labor laws and regulations. Your workers can even request paid time off (PTO) and other kinds of leave directly from Connecteam’s app.
These time entries are automatically collected into error-free digital timesheets for your approval, simplifying the payroll process.
In-app chat and company newsfeed streamline communication
Connecteam includes a built-in chat app that facilitates real-time communication between you and your team. You can chat one-on-one or in groups and set up channels for specific projects or tasks. Connecteam also lets you send photos, videos, files, audio notes, and more in chat messages.
There’s also a company newsfeed that’s perfect for sharing important updates. You can schedule posts in advance, keep track of who has viewed your post, and turn to comment on or off. Announcements can be shared across your whole company or only with specific departments or teams.
Store documents securely in the cloud
Connecteam makes it easy to store documents in the cloud with its secure document management feature. Employees can search for documents by name or keywords they contain, making it easy for them to find what they need.
For HR managers, Connecteam offers alerts when documents like certifications are about to expire. This ensures that employee records are always up to date.
Give employees access to on-demand training and a knowledge base
You can create custom training courses with Connecteam’s employee training software using a combination of documents, photos, videos, checklists, and more. You can also add quizzes to each course to test employees’ knowledge of training material.
Plus, Connecteam lets you create a cloud-based knowledge center that employees can access from anywhere, at any time. Your team can quickly pull up your employee handbook, training materials, checklists, and other essential information about your company’s workflows.
Free for businesses with up to 10 employees
In addition to these features, Connecteam offers tools for event planning, time off management, employee rewards and recognition, and so much more.
Connecteam is completely free for businesses with 10 or fewer employees. For larger businesses, pricing starts at just $29 per month for up to 30 employees plus $0.50 per month for each additional employee.
Try out Connecteam free for 14 days to see how it can help your company manage work more efficiently.
Key Features
Tasks with attached notes, photos, documents, and more
GPS tracking to locate employees during the workday
Time management app with payroll integrations
In-app chat for seamless communication
Secure cloud-based document management system
Custom training courses with quizzes
Pros
Schedule employees for work in minutes
Communicate with employees about unfinished tasks
Accurately track employees’ work hours
Flexible to suit the needs of any size of business
Cons
Doesn’t offer video conferencing yet
Pricing
Free-for-life plan availablePremium plans start at $29/month for 30 users
14-day free trial, no credit card required
Start your free trial -
Zoho Workplace — Good for office software
Available on
- Web
- iOS
- Android
Zoho Workplace is a productivity suite that includes word processor, spreadsheet, and presentation software. It also has an email client. All of the apps included in this software are cloud-based, so users can access them from any device. Zoho Workplace also comes with 10 to 100GB of cloud storage per employee for storing documents, spreadsheets, emails, and more.
Additionally, Zoho Workplace includes a video conferencing app that lets users host meetings with up to 100 participants. Employees can schedule meetings ahead of time, share their screens, and record meetings.
Zoho Workplace has an internal social feed as well. However, it doesn’t enable managers to see who has viewed their posts or schedule posts in advance.
Learn more about Zoho WorkplaceKey Features
- Word processor, spreadsheet, and presentation software
- Video conferencing for up to 100 participants
- Up to 100GB of cloud storage per employee
- Email client
Pros
- Office software is available via mobile apps
- Easily control access to shared documents and folders
Cons
- No task management tool
- Social feed doesn’t enable scheduling posts in advance
Pricing
Starts at $2.97/user/month Trial: Yes Free Plan: Yes
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Odoo — Good for enterprise resource planning
Available on
- Web
- iOS
- Android
Odoo is an enterprise resource planning software that includes tools for sales, marketing, accounting, supply chain management, and work management. The range of modules may present too much complexity for small businesses but can be useful for enterprise-scale companies.
The work management module includes task management software so managers can break projects into tasks and assign them to individual employees and teams. Employees can view tasks on a calendar or a Kanban board. Managers can also create custom workflows to monitor each stage of task completion and attach notes or documents to any task.
Odoo also offers tools for employees to track the time they spend on tasks.
Learn more about OdooKey Features
- Modules for work management, sales, marketing, and more
- Kanban boards and calendars to view tasks
- Time tracking tools for employees
- Appointment scheduling
Pros
- Integrated tools for running a large business
- Customizable dashboards to analyze productivity
Cons
- May be too complex for small and medium-sized businesses
- Limited tools for communicating within teams
Pricing
Starts at $24.90/user/month Trial: Yes Free Plan: Yes
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Bitrix24 — Good for marketing teams
Available on
- Web
- iOS
- Android
- Windows
- Mac
Bitrix24 is a customer relationship management (CRM) platform designed for marketing teams. The software enables managers to set up automations so that each new lead or update on a deal generates a task for their sales employees. Employees can view their assigned tasks via Kanban boards or Gantt charts.
Tasks can be organized into projects. Bitrix24 enables employees to track the time they spend on each project. Bitrix24 also includes an office suite. This provides centralized cloud storage for businesses as well as tools for internal chat and video conferencing.
However, Bitrix24’s time clock features are limited. There’s also no GPS integration.
Learn more about Bitrix24Key Features
- CRM software with automated tasks
- Kanban boards and Gantt charts
- Time tracking
- Video conferencing for up to 48 people
Pros
- Automatically assign tasks to keep deals moving along
- Bundle office and CRM software
Cons
- Limited time tracking features with no GPS tracking
- No tools for building online training courses
Pricing
Starts at $49/month, for up to 5 users Trial: No Free Plan: Yes
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ClickUp — Good for team collaboration
Available on
- Web
- iOS
- Android
Clickup is a work management suite with tools for internal communication, collaboration, and task management. The platform enables employees to communicate using a chat app, although there’s no announcement feed for sharing information company-wide. However, employees can communicate through comments on documents and shared calendars.
Clickup includes a whiteboard feature. Employees can draw on a virtual whiteboard simultaneously and add comments to each other’s ideas. Ideas on the whiteboard can then be converted to tasks, which employees can visualize on task lists or Kanban boards.
Employees can use Clickup to track the time they spend on tasks. Managers can also add time estimates to each task to let employees know roughly how much time they should allocate. However, Clickup doesn’t enable managers to schedule employees to shifts.
Learn more about ClickUpKey Features
- Internal chat app
- Whiteboard for collaboration
- View tasks on a list or Kanban board
- Time tracking via web, desktop, or mobile
Pros
- Employees can work together on whiteboards in real time
- Compare time estimates against time spent on tasks
Cons
- No announcement feed
- Can’t schedule employees for shift work
Pricing
Starts at $7/member/month Trial: No Free Plan: Yes
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Monday.com — Good for customizable project views
Available on
- Web
- iOS
- Android
Monday offers a project management tool with templates to visualize different styles of work. Managers can create checklists, workflows, Kanban boards, Gantt charts, and more. For each project board, they can invite team members, assign them to tasks, and add due dates.
Managers can comment on tasks as well as add notes and files. Monday also offers dashboards for managers to monitor task progress and resource allocation.
Monday integrates with Slack, Microsoft Teams, Office 365, and Google Workspace. Companies can also integrate their business email to automatically create tasks based on incoming emails or calendar invites.
Unfortunately, Monday doesn’t offer a chat app.
Learn more about Monday.comKey Features
- Customizable project templates
- Automations to create tasks based on emails
- Invite clients to collaborate on project dashboards
- Commenting on tasks
Pros
- Integrates with popular communication and office software
- Color coding enhances task visualizations
Cons
- Doesn’t enable employees to track time
- No internal chat app
Pricing
Starts at $8/user/month Trial: Yes Free Plan: Yes
Compare the Best Work Management Softwares
| Topic |
Start for free
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reviews |
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| Pricing |
Starts at just $29/month for the first 30 users
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Starts at $2.97/user/month
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Starts at $24.90/user/month
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Starts at $49/month, for up to 5 users
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Starts at $7/member/month
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Starts at $8/user/month
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| Free Trial |
yes
14-day
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yes
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yes
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no
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no
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yes
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| Free Plan |
yes
Free Up to 10 users
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yes
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yes
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yes
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yes
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yes
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What is Work Management Software?
Work management software is any software that helps your business be more productive. It can include communication software, project management software, time tracking software, office software, and more.
The goal of a work management system is to help your business be as productive as possible. Employees can use this software to collaborate in teams and keep track of progress on projects. Managers can use a work management platform to proactively assign work to employees and keep projects moving along smoothly.
How Does Work Management Software Work?
Work management systems work by providing a range of tools from different software categories. Common features found in work management platforms include employee scheduling, time tracking, project and task management, and internal communication tools. Some systems also include office software, such as word processing and spreadsheet tools.
For employees, the software helps them share information quickly and work more efficiently. They can view their schedules and monitor the progress of tasks they’re working on. They can also collaborate with team members and communicate with the rest of their team in real time.
For managers, the software offers insight into what employees are working on and provides them with tools to schedule and assign work to employees. The software features are typically integrated to improve productivity. For example, a manager can attach a shared document to a task, then assign that task to an employee when creating a new schedule.
Overall, the software helps businesses streamline their work processes, improve collaboration, and enhance productivity.
The Benefits of Work Management Platforms
Work management systems can offer a number of benefits, including:
Increased productivity
The overall aim of using a work management system is to improve your business’s productivity. When the information employees need to do their work is just a click away, they can complete tasks more efficiently. You can also balance workloads across employees, ensuring that tasks are completed on time.
Having a more productive workforce means that your business can take on more work with the employees and resources you already have.
Improved collaboration
Work management features can improve collaboration among your employees. Employees can work together on shared documents, ask questions using an internal chat, or even plan out projects on a virtual whiteboard.
When employees work together, they can tackle large projects more quickly. They can also generate new approaches to challenging problems, potentially unlocking a competitive advantage for your business.
Reduced employee burnout
Employee burnout can erode your business’s productivity and ultimately lead to highly skilled employees leaving your company.
Work management systems help you reduce burnout by giving you the scheduling and project management tools you need to balance your employees’ workloads. You can quickly see everything that’s on an employee’s plate and whether they’re making progress on unfinished tasks. If an employee’s productivity begins to drop, you’ll know right away and can address the problem quickly.
How Much Do Work Management Systems Cost?
Work management systems are typically priced per user, per month. For example, Zoho Workplace starts at $3 per user, per month, while Clickup starts at $5 per user per month. Prices can vary depending on the range of tools on offer, how many projects your business needs to manage, and whether you need automation features.
Connecteam offers excellent value for money. Its Small Business Plan is completely free for life for teams of up to 10. Paid plans start at just $29 per month for up to 30 users, plus only $0.50 per month for each additional user.
FAQs
Do small businesses need a work management platform?
Small businesses can benefit greatly from using a work management system. These platforms can help your employees be more productive, enabling you to take on more work without hiring more employees. Connecteam is an all-in-one work management platform that’s completely free for small businesses with up to 10 employees.
What are the main features of a work management platform?
A work management platform can include features for managing projects and tasks, communicating with employees, and sharing files across an organization. They can also offer tools for managers to create employee schedules and plan for upcoming work.
What is the best work management software?
The right work management platform for your business is the one that offers the project management and collaboration tools that best fit your company’s needs. Connecteam is an excellent all-in-one solution that offers features for creating employee schedules, assigning and managing tasks, communicating with employees, and more.
The Bottom Line On Work Management Software
Work management software offers a wide range of tools such as task management and scheduling features to help your business be more productive. It enables you to break large projects into manageable tasks and divide work among employees. It also allows employees to collaborate and communicate seamlessly, ensuring that work is completed quickly and accurately.
Connecteam is the best work management platform for businesses of all sizes. Our all-in-one software offers drag-and-drop scheduling, task management features, a chat app, employee time tracking tools, and much more. Plus, Connecteam is completely free for businesses with up to 10 employees.
Try Connecteam free for 14 days to see how it can unlock your business’s potential.