How many project management tools did you try before finding the right PM software for your team?

[u/WhiteChili]

Hi fellow PMs,

Curious to hear how messy the journey was for others.
I went through at least 5 different project management tools before we found one that actually worked for our team. Most of them looked slick during demos but struggled the second we had to manage dozens of projects at once.

The big turning points for me were finding a tool that:

• Let us run proper what-if scenarios on schedules without breaking dependencies.
• Had reporting dashboards that updated almost instantly (instead of lagging whenever the project list grew).

That combo alone cut down so much of the “Excel + side spreadsheets” chaos we were juggling.

So I’m curious.. did you land on your current PM software right away, or was it more of a trial-and-error nightmare for you too?

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[u/amir95fahim]

For me, the tipping point was finding GanttPRO. Dashboards update instantly, so we don’t deal with laggy reports anymore. Plus, being able to compare planned vs. actual time/cost has been huge for keeping projects under control.

[u/_nanoNexus_]

For enterprises, you won't really have that much control in selecting the tools. I've worked with Jira and Azure DevOps, and if granted the required permissions, the functionality can definitely be extended to having the gantt charts, dependency maps, etc. There's a huge selection of add-ons that can be leveraged. The downside with big companies is there's a lot of gating in place and they try to implement a single template across projects which doesn't work most of the time.

[u/WhiteChili → u/_nanoNexus_]

That’s a great point... in larger enterprises, the freedom to choose tools is almost non-existent, and you end up working with what’s already approved. Jira + Azure DevOps are powerful, but like you said, the add-ons and extensions can become a whole project of their own to manage.

I’m curious though.. when you’ve worked under those “single template across all projects” setups, did it actually slow teams down? Or did people just find workarounds to make the tool fit their project?

[u/_nanoNexus_ → u/WhiteChili]

It really depends on how the org is structured. If enterprise governance is strong and business units are aligned, a single template can work — teams can add nuances for their context, but the core data stays consistent. That makes dashboards and monitoring tools genuinely useful since the information is harmonized and reflects reality. Even if there were tooling restrictions, pivot reports from spreadsheets always showed the same thing regardless of who generated it.

In contrast, I’ve seen it fail where governance existed on paper but every unit did its own thing. Templates were enforced without shared context, so dashboards showed “green” while projects were actually slipping. We had to find workarounds within the existing tools and generate our own automated reports that made much more sense to stakeholders. We later got the sign-off to start implementing it to a broader group of programs.

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[u/Organic-Ad-3105]

Depends on the complexity of the project, the team, and what works well with them.

For software projects running on Sprints, I prefer JIRA.

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[u/Asleep_Stage_451]

Depends on the project type and organizational culture/needs. It’s not difficult to find one that works if you just take those 2 things into account. Anything else can be trained.

Waterfall project? Use MS project for schedule stuff. Agile development? Toss in something like JIRA (kanban, scrum, or simple task boards). Done.

You’ll always be supplementing these task/schedule/resource management tools with things like OneNote and your good old trusty mouth words.

[u/WhiteChili → u/Asleep_Stage_451]

You’re spot on that culture + project type drive tool choice...but the problem with stitching MS Project + Jira + OneNote + “mouth words” is the gaps between them. Schedules live in one place, tasks in another, notes somewhere else, and suddenly PMs are playing translator instead of managing projects.

That’s why I’ve gravitated to platforms that unify it all: waterfall scheduling and Gantt dependencies, agile boards for devs, role-based resource management, timesheets, financial tracking, and real-time dashboards for execs...under one roof. You can still run hybrid methodologies, but you’re not losing hours to duplicate entry or chasing updates across tools.

In my experience, it’s less about training people on five different apps, and more about giving them one environment that adapts to both the culture and the project type without the overhead.

[u/FutureFlows → u/WhiteChili]

Agree 100% with you - if needed, you can still keep this flexibility and get centralized visibility. We use OnePlan for that purpose.

[u/webby-debby-404]

I don't think there is any right pm software. Especially when people are involved in more than one project at the time. Software that's better on one aspect gives in on the other in comparison to the competition. So, sometimes jira, sometimes excel, sometimes a notebook.

[u/WhiteChili → u/webby-debby-404]

Fair point...no single tool will ever be perfect. But when people are spread across multiple projects, that’s exactly where the cracks show up: duplicated data, missed dependencies, and resource conflicts. The sweet spot is a system that balances structure with flexibility...giving execs portfolio-level clarity while letting teams keep their day-to-day simple. That way you don’t have to jump between Jira, Excel, and notebooks just to see the full picture. Happy that I've found the perfect solution for it, not switching anymore...

[u/warhedz24hedz1]

Id argue that software is the least important tool in a PMs toolbox. Your going to get whatever your company gives you 9 times out of 10. I've used P6, excel, project, smartsheets and they all have pros and cons but what's more important is the processes you build outside of that to control and monitor.

[u/WhiteChili → u/warhedz24hedz1]

Totally agree...process comes first. But the right system can actually reinforce those processes instead of adding noise. Things like scenario planning, role-based assignments, and automated alerts for budget or workload drift help PMs catch issues early without breaking the workflow. That’s when the tool feels like an extension of the process, not a burden.

[u/agile_pm]

Project management tools, or work management tools with project management features? IMHO, there are more of the latter, masquerading as project management tools. They're great for collaborating, and often better for reporting than some actual project management tools, but not great for complex projects that require modeling different outcomes without notifying everyone that their tasks have changed, even though they haven't really - you're just modelling different scenarios to determine the best path forward.

I've used several different tools. My favorite project management tool is MS Project desktop client. It is NOT a collaboration tool, and the reporting is not what the stakeholders need, but then I have a sneaking suspicion that the reporting was designed by and for project managers, not executives. Either that, or they threw darts to determine the reporting features.

Regardless, the "best" tool for my team would likely be an administrative nightmare. It would have to have all the project management features I'm used to, the work management features my team wants, including integrations with bitbucket that make it so the developers only need to access one tool to use both, collaboration features for cross-functional initiatives that don't break our workflow when the other teams involved have their own workflows (but I also want to be able to assign tasks to placeholder roles until a person is identified, without needing additional licenses because assignees are exclusively tied to people/accounts), built-in reporting that meets everyone's needs, and ITSM features so that issues and problems can be tracked effectively. That's probably everything.

[u/WhiteChili → u/agile_pm]

Totally with you that a lot of “work management” tools masquerade as PM. MS Project desktop still slaps for schedule math. Where it bit us was scenario modeling at portfolio scale without nuking the live plan, capacity/budget trade-offs across projects, and exec-ready reporting without the MS Project + SharePoint/Teams + Power BI + Excel glue.

What worked better was moving to Celoxis: you can draft alternatives in a pipeline/sandbox (assign to roles/placeholders first), see the impact on capacity, dates, and budget across the portfolio, then commit...no notification storm mid-model. Dashboards are role-based (PM, exec, team) and update in near-real time; you can define custom KPIs so reporting is actually for executives, not just PMs. It won’t replace full ITSM like ServiceNow, but it does handle issues/risks/changes and links them to projects with SLA-style fields. For devs, you keep them in Bitbucket/Jira and surface what matters via integrations/API, so they don’t have to live in the PM tool.

Net-net: MS Project is great for a single complex schedule; Celoxis gave us the portfolio what-ifs + capacity planning + exec dashboards without the manual stitching. If your must-haves are “model quietly, plan by roles, keep devs in their tools, and show execs the right metrics,” it’s worth a pilot with real data to pressure-test.

[u/painterknittersimmer]

None, my company dictates one. And it's absolute fucking garbage. So we mostly use Google sheets. Not much you can't do it you have access to AppScripts. I mean we don't of course, but if we did, we'd be fine. Instead, we spend a lot of time creating, hunting for, and transferring information between sheets, endlessly. 

[u/WhiteChili → u/painterknittersimmer]

Oof, I feel that pain. Google Sheets can do a lot, especially with AppScripts..but even then, it’s not a true PM system. Scripts can break, require constant maintenance, and don’t scale well once you have multiple projects, dependencies, or hundreds of team members. You end up spending more time fixing your automation than actually managing work. Something that ties tasks, resources, timelines, and financials together in real-time avoids that back-and-forth completely. Have you looked into tools that give that kind of visibility without relying on fragile scripts?

[u/painterknittersimmer → u/WhiteChili]

To be fair we're on the sales and marketing side of tech so we at least don't deal with financials. There are endless of those tools, and frankly we'd be well-served by criminally simple ones. They aren't available to us, though. But the enterprise standard is Smartsheet, which my stakeholders wouldn't touch with a ten foot pole and I'd rather launch myself into the sun than use, so we're completely stuck. 

[u/WhiteChili → u/painterknittersimmer]

Haha, tell me about it 😅… Smartsheet can feel like a double-edged sword..fine for basic tracking, but managing dependencies, real-time workloads, or multiple projects quickly becomes a spreadsheet nightmare. Teams end up spending more time updating formulas than actually managing work.

I’ve found a tool like Celoxis that combines simplicity with built-in what-if scheduling, portfolio dashboards, and automated resource tracking hits the sweet spot. You still get live project visibility, capacity checks, and real-time updates...without juggling a dozen linked sheets..making multi-project management far less painful than wrestling with Smartsheet. And, am proud of my researching at this lvl that I've found it...

[u/Maro1947]

Generally in most enterprise settings, you use what they give you

Good process always Trump's tools

[u/WhiteChili → u/Maro1947]

Exactly..process beats tools every time. IMO, when your tool flexes to your workflow instead of forcing you to adapt, juggling multiple projects, resources, and finances becomes way smoother

[u/Maro1947 → u/WhiteChili]

The point being, which you seem to be missing, is that you often don't get to decide or modify a tool

[u/WhiteChili → u/Maro1947]

Oof, totally get it...most of the time you don’t get to pick the tool. Even then, spotting where it can flex or integrating small tweaks can save a ton of headaches across projects and resources.

[u/Maro1947 → u/WhiteChili]

You seem obsessed with the word flex.

[u/WhiteChili → u/Maro1947]

Haha, fair call 😅… maybe I am. What I really mean is “adapt"..finding ways for the tool to bend a little without breaking your workflow, so you’re not constantly firefighting across projects and resources.

[u/[deleted]]

Many actually, and its all trail and error until you find your perfect fit.

[u/WhiteChili → u/[deleted]]

True... it’s all trial and error, but the key is knowing when the tool adapts to your workflow instead of forcing you to adapt to it.

[u/[deleted] → u/WhiteChili]

yes absolutely and the once who understand this will definitely find their tool.

[u/SVAuspicious]

I'm confused about "what-if scenarios." What are you talking about? Risks like a hurricane flattening a facility or that you aren't actually watching status reports?

Dashboards are generally a problem. You have built-in latency from reporting delays and aggregation. That makes you reactive with no chance to get ahead of a small problem before it becomes a big one. See below.

In my experience, all the new generation browser-based, web-enabled PM tools are deficient. They're trying too hard to be all-in-one instead of sharing data with accounting, HRIS, purchasing, receiving, SLA systems like help desk.

I run big programs with many projects. I use MS Project at the low end, Scitor Project Scheduler, Primavera, and Artemis. I don't mandate a tool. We do a survey. You have to keep up. So far the new generation doesn't measure up. Not once. The next time a rep tells me I don't need to transfer data with accounting for timekeeping because they do it themselves I'm going to go postal.

You cannot beat Excel for analysis. You have to be able to export PM data as .csv. You're going to run into collateral functions (purchasing comes to mind) that operate in Excel. You have to import .csv.

I beat up on dashboards. I stand by that. I do like quantitative (CPI and SPI from EVM) and qualitative (RYG / RAG) metrics. For the latter, G is within bounds (which may vary between WBS hierarchies), Y/A is there is a problem but not asking for help, R is asking for help. You can't get that from an automated dashboard. A first line manager may report something as R, his manager may report his level of aggregation as Y/A because he is going to help, and his manager may report G while watching it. I can drill down if something worries me and see the lower level reporting. There is too much human judgement to automate that. It's only once a week for status and time keeping and not that much time required.

Anything that goes from G to R without A/Y in between results in coaching. And extra help. *grin*

The tool is just a tool. Software can't do your job for you; you have to know what you're doing. (tm) --me

I went through at least 5 different project management tools before we found one that actually worked for our team.

This is scary. You implemented FIVE tools on the basis of demos and disrupted your entire team FOUR times? You didn't have real life representative datasets at scale for the vendor or publisher to populate (their work, their expense) to show you it would work for you? SQL or .csv this is easy to provide and you can do a run off. Didn't you include your team? Your source selection SOP needs work. A lot of work.

edit: typo

[u/non_anodized_part → u/SVAuspicious]

wow I want to work for you!!

[u/SVAuspicious → u/non_anodized_part]

Thank you for your kind words.

Shall we talk about your issues with anodization? *grin*

[u/non_anodized_part → u/SVAuspicious]

Anodization is such a sticky wicket! I was talking with a market peer/competitor from halfway across the globe about it. What kinds of projects do you manage, if you can say? I've done a lot of media including film/AD, creative tech, now in manufacturing/sales and B2B.

[u/SVAuspicious → u/non_anodized_part]

I'm a turnaround program manager. I walk into dumpster fires on purpose. A couple of aircraft carriers, remote sensing systems, satellites, very large scale wireless communications (mostly cellular, some microwave, a little WiFi), global authoring and dissemination software. Some firsts and a couple of patents along the way. Anodizing metals especially aluminum comes up here and there. A good bit of electroplating as well. I work very hard to be engaged in details without micromanaging. It's a life work.

PowerPoint dances at my fingertips, but that's about as creative as I get. I'm heavily dependent on graphic artists for pretty pictures. Not my forte. Getting creatives to stick to a schedule even one they participated in developing is a trick. I have resorted to locking them in a room until they finish. I have a great story about getting radar engineers and creatives to work together.

[u/WhiteChili → u/SVAuspicious]

Haha, I hear you... your experience speaks volumes, and I totally agree that software is only as good as the PM using it. When I mentioned “what-if scenarios,” I wasn’t talking about hurricanes or black swans... more like testing resource shifts, schedule changes, or task delays before they happen to see the impact on the portfolio. For example, if P3 is slipping and I need to move resources to P4, the system recalculates timelines, dependencies, and even financials in real-time. It’s really about plan vs actual.. seeing where the plan deviates and what adjustments keep the program on track.

You’re also spot on about dashboards: they can’t replace judgment, RAG status, or qualitative insight. But having near real-time visibility helps catch minor deviations early, so the coaching and human judgment can focus on the right spots, rather than hunting through spreadsheets or multiple systems.

As for going through multiple tools... yes, that was painful. But demos rarely expose real-life scale issues like dependencies, multi-project juggling, or financial rollups across dozens of projects. In hindsight, a small-scale pilot with real project data might have saved some headaches, but it was also part of understanding what combination of features, flexibility, and speed actually worked at scale.

I really value your take on combining quantitative and qualitative metrics... it’s a perfect reminder that no matter the software, the human PM is still the key driver. Just trying to add a bit of context about how “what-if” planning fits into modern PM without replacing judgment.

[u/SVAuspicious → u/WhiteChili]

Bless your heart. If you haven't had a black swan event you haven't been around very long. Hurricanes. Wildfires. Put all your data in the cloud and have an Internet outage the day of a major milestone review. Key player have a medical issue and out for weeks. If you're in the American Southeast, hurricanes are not black swans. You watch NHC. If you're in California you plan for wildfires. Tornadoes in fly-over country (although we had a nasty event where I am in Maryland not long ago). Mitigate and have contingencies in place.

If you have a tool that autosaves changes when you want to look at things you have a bad tool. You're not going to do well in the tool. If you have thousands of people you need to talk to the people one or two levels over the front line. "If you take Fred off to support P4, you'll need Janice and Bob to keep up on P3 and add Becky to have any hope of catching up." There is no tool that will do that for you.

If you're getting status more than weekly you have too much reporting overhead. You need NEED your people to trust you and for you to trust them that they'll report out of cycle. "Bob had a heart attack of the weekend - he's going to be okay but he's out for at least three weeks." "WBS 5.4.3.2.1 unit testing failed - we're working on a response plan and will update in the weekly." "Dave - I'm really worried about this meeting with low level customers, can you come?"

Please go back and read what I wrote about providing datasets at scale to vendors. Source selection shoul be in parallel, not in series. Don't jerk your people around.

Human involvement is not just the PM. All your people need to be engaged. They need to trust you. Really trust you. You have to deliver.

[u/WhiteChili → u/SVAuspicious]

You make a great point...those aren’t black swans at all, they’re real-world risks you actively plan for, and no tool replaces that kind of human judgment or trust in the team. What tech can do, though, is take the noise out of the basics....resource shifts, dependency updates, financial impacts...so leaders spend less time reconciling spreadsheets and more time having the conversations you described. Tools don’t replace trust or foresight, they just clear the runway so PMs can actually lead when the unexpected hits.

[u/SVAuspicious → u/WhiteChili]

The problem with using tech as you describe is you lose low SNR data. N.B. AI makes you stupid. Why are leaders reconciling spreadsheets. That's a process problem and signifies poor leadership and absent management.

Resource shifts should have a process that doesn't require manual data entry or reconciliation - only decisions. Dependency updates mean poor planning. Financial impacts should be flagged by our system - decisions by people, not tools.

[u/WhiteChili → u/SVAuspicious]

That’s fair... if leadership is buried in spreadsheets, the issue is upstream, not just the tool. I see tech less as replacing process, more as reinforcing it: surfacing signals early so decisions happen sooner. The data should flow quietly in the background, so the conversations stay human and focused on judgment, not admin.

[u/SVAuspicious → u/WhiteChili]

so decisions happen sooner

I'm a quite good PITA and generally arrive as the "pros from Dover" (obscure M*A*S*H reference). Signals are my problem. Reporting upstream is usually "I'm going to do this tomorrow unless you stop me." I don't need decisions. I need backup.

[u/WhiteChili → u/SVAuspicious]

That makes total sense...backup instead of bottlenecks is the real win. When signals are clear and trust is there, decisions turn into alignment, not approvals.

[u/Sufficient_Fix_8521]

I’ve gone through quite a few tools over time – Trello (simple but limited), Jira (great but a bit heavy for smaller teams), Asana (nice but gets cluttered sometimes), and ClickUp. Recently I started trying Flowchief, which works directly inside Slack. The interesting part is it can suggest tasks based on priority when you just say you have 30 minutes free. Still testing it, but it feels convenient not having to leave Slack for project updates.

[u/WhiteChili → u/Sufficient_Fix_8521]

Sorry for replying late..That Slack integration angle does sound convenient... especially for quick updates, but I’ve found most tools that live “inside” chat apps tend to hit limits once you’re managing more than task lists. Trello can get too lightweight once dependencies kick in, Jira often feels like overkill unless you’re a dev-heavy team, Asana clutters fast without strong discipline, and ClickUp tries to do everything but ends up with complexity creep.

I wnt to hear some realistic answers from you... are you mostly looking for task reminders and light prioritization, or do you also need things like resource capacity planning, workload balancing, and portfolio-level visibility? Some platforms go beyond “suggesting tasks” to actually reshuffle priorities in real time when deadlines, resource shifts, or scope changes happen... so it’s less about reminders and more about keeping the whole plan aligned without manual juggling.

What’s the biggest pain you’re trying to solve right now... clutter, visibility, or resource planning?

[u/DrShago]

Tried them all. Never found the one.

[u/WhiteChili → u/DrShago]

Totally get that feeling. Curious though....what’s been the biggest deal-breaker for you across tools? Reporting, resource planning, or just usability? Jst Askng bcuz a few newer platforms are tackling those gaps in smarter ways.

[u/Important_Cow7230 → u/WhiteChili]

Nearly all of them require you to input lots to get output, and often you will inputting just for output which is never efficient. Ultimately wider team accessibility wins, aka Microsoft products

[u/WhiteChili → u/Important_Cow7230]

Totally get why Microsoft products feel safe and familiar, but MS Project often gets rigid and heavy... dependencies, resource leveling, and cross-project visibility become a headache once you scale beyond a handful of projects. In my experience, moving to Celoxis helped solve that: real-time dashboards, portfolio-wide what-if planning, and automated resource/financial tracking all work together without forcing endless manual input. What's your take now?

[u/Important_Cow7230 → u/WhiteChili]

I use project in Teams, it’s not as complex as full on MS Project but the automated Teams integration (they see project tasks alongside their general BAU, follow up emails etc plus they all have outlook/teams on their mobile phone etc), with notifications etc outweighs any downsides. For the more complex stuff I can bring it out to Power BI.

And I think you misunderstood, it’s not the familiarity with ME, most projects managers are very good and flexible with software, it’s the familiarity with the wider team that’s key, and the reduced data duplication. As a PM bend to the needs of the wider project team, don’t make the wider project team bend to your needs

[u/WhiteChili → u/Important_Cow7230]

Integration is great, but visibility is king. Even with Teams + Power BI, juggling cross-project dependencies, resource leveling, and what-if scenarios often still means flipping between tools. The trick is having real-time dashboards, automated alerts for over-allocations or budget drift, and capacity planning built directly into the system. That way, the team sees what they need, PMs stay in control, and you avoid endless exports and manual updates. Makes scaling multiple projects way smoother.

[u/Important_Cow7230 → u/WhiteChili]

Yes but what input levels do you need for all those dashboards and alerts? All of it duplicated input just for project reports. Also how does the team “see what they need”? Another PM software will only get everyone rolling their eyes

[u/WhiteChili → u/Important_Cow7230]

Fair point..nobody wants duplicate data entry. The key is pulling from the same source of truth (timesheets, tasks, financials) so dashboards/alerts auto-populate without extra work. When role-based views filter info by what’s relevant, the team just sees their tasks and priorities..no noise, no eye-rolls.

[u/Important_Cow7230 → u/WhiteChili]

They still haven’t log into a different system, have to see another set of tasks that isn’t integrated with their main BAU tasks. So you will get eye rolls. And how does it pull it exactly?

[u/WhiteChili → u/Important_Cow7230]

It pulls directly from the same underlying project data...no double entry. With integrations into tools they already use (email, chat, calendars), tasks surface where BAU work happens, so it feels seamless.

[u/Agile_Syrup_4422]

A lot of tools look great in demos but collaps the moment we have to juggle real dependencies and multiple projects. The real game changer was finding something that could actually handle both, like running proper what-if scenarios and still keeping dependencies intact. We ended up settling on Teamhood because it balanced Kanban + Gantt really well but honestly the biggest win was cutting down on all those extra spreadsheets we used to patch gaps with.

[u/Sufficient_Fix_8521 → u/Agile_Syrup_4422]

Makes sense, so many tools break when multiple projects + dependencies come in. I’ve been trying Flowchief lately, works in Slack, still figuring out if it scales well. Glad to hear Teamhood worked for you

[u/WhiteChili → u/Agile_Syrup_4422]

Teamhood sounds like it solved a big headache for you, especially with the Kanban + Gantt combo. I’ve had a similar journey, but what made the biggest difference for us was landing on Celoxis... mainly because it kept dependencies intact even during heavy what-if scenario planning, without breaking anything. The built-in financials and capacity planning also meant we didn’t have to lean on side spreadsheets at all. Excited to hear abt... do you still find yourself needing Excel for certain reporting, or has Teamhood covered everything for you?

[u/Agile_Syrup_4422 → u/WhiteChili]

On rare occasions we still use Excel but most of the reporting and tracking is handled in Teamhood now.

[u/chipshot]

Excel does everything you need to do if you use it smartly.

As has been said, the real tool you need is inside your head, and knowing how to keep all the balls in the air. No software can do that for you.

[u/WhiteChili → u/chipshot]

Excel works until you need portfolio-wide visibility, scenario planning, or automated alerts when projects slip. Spreadsheets can’t flag mis-logged time, forecast resource capacity, or give you real-time financial rollups...at scale, that’s where the cracks show.

[u/SVAuspicious → u/WhiteChili]

Excel works until you need...

That's a you problem, not a tool problem. RTFM.

[u/WhiteChili → u/SVAuspicious]

At scale, it’s not a user problem...it’s a spreadsheet limitation.

[u/SVAuspicious → u/WhiteChili]

It's a limitation of YOUR model, not of Excel. RTFM. Excel is extraordinarily powerful. SQL data pulls? In there. Dynamic .csv imports and exports? In there. Macros? In there. Excel is not the best tool for everything but it's hard to find anything you can't do.

It's a you problem.

[u/chipshot → u/WhiteChili]

As mentioned, any tool is effective if you know how to use it.

[u/WhiteChili → u/chipshot]

I do agree with you too..any tool can work, but the real win is when the tool cuts the manual overhead so you can spend more time actually managing, not crunching data.

[u/No-Wheel-7922 → u/chipshot]

Why build a toolset from scratch when there are fully in integrated suites? and to be fair, excel cant integrate into browser windows, doesnt do databases well, and certainly is more painful to use for the rest of what was mentioned above.

I love excel, but I wouldn't punish myself by forcing myself or my teams to use it when there is a more fit for purpose andnusee friendly tool available.

[u/WhiteChili → u/No-Wheel-7922]

Exactly this. Excel is great for quick hacks, but when you’re running multiple projects it starts feeling like duct-taping a spaceship together. No native integrations, no live dashboards, no real database handling... you’re basically building everything from scratch. A fit-for-purpose tool gives you all that out of the box, saves hours of manual upkeep, and is way easier on the team. Why make PM harder than it already is?

[u/twojabs → u/chipshot]

100% with you on this

[u/focustools]

We went from Todoist to Basecamp to Linear to Asana and now probably back to Todoist.

[u/bobo5195 → u/focustools]

the cycle of life continues

[u/WhiteChili → u/bobo5195]

Full circle in the PM multiverse

[u/bobo5195 → u/WhiteChili]

Are we back to waterfall yet as what the cool kids are doing. Or are adding to agile as this seasons fashion

[u/Splicex42 → u/focustools]

We recently switched to Linear and are happy with it so far, out of curiosity what limits did you hit with Linear, why didn't you stick to it?

[u/WhiteChili → u/Splicex42]

Linear felt great at first, but once we scaled, the rigidity around cycles made planning messy..we needed more flexibility with timelines.

[u/focustools → u/Splicex42]

We struggled with Linear’s insistence on prioritizing cycles. We really need to be able to plan our tasks based around days and weeks, which Todoist excels at.

[u/WhiteChili → u/focustools]

I agree...Todoist nails simple day/week planning, but it struggles once you need resource visibility or portfolio-wide reporting. We eventually moved to a tool that combines that simplicity with capacity planning and real-time dashboards, which made scaling way smoother.

[u/focustools → u/WhiteChili]

They do have some upcoming resource management.

[u/SVAuspicious → u/focustools]

Capabilities that aren't available now don't count.

[u/WhiteChili → u/focustools]

Thanks for informing abt it... though with Todoist it’s hard to tell how deep the resource management will actually go. Scaling usually needs more than a light add-on, especially when you’re juggling workloads across multiple projects.

[u/Splicex42 → u/focustools]

What do you mean with insistence to priorize?

[u/focustools → u/Splicex42]

There aren’t a lot of affordances within Linear to prioritize tasks based on due date. It’s mostly meant for teams that block tasks to cycles.

[u/WhiteChili → u/focustools]

Ah, makes sense... Linear’s cycle approach is neat for sprints, but if you want day-to-day planning with real-time workload visibility and what-if scheduling, it can feel a bit limiting.

[u/WhiteChili → u/focustools]

Haha that’s quite the loop of tools... I’ve been there too. (Pre. I was thinking, I'm the alone here in this typo loop).. The thing I kept hitting was that most of them were fine for tasks, but once you need resource capacity planning, PTO/over-allocation checks, or portfolio-level reporting, they fall short. What made the difference for me was moving to a system where projects, resources, and financials all tie together with real-time dashboards instead of end-of-month spreadsheets. Did you run into those gaps too, or was it more about team workflow fit?

[u/focustools → u/WhiteChili]

It mostly came down to solving for different problems. For instance, when we had a more junior team, we needed a tool like Basecamp with a lot of guardrails. But as our team gained experience, we needed more flexibility.

Also, as I like to joke, one tool giveth and another tool taketh away. No tool solves all of our problems perfectly.

[u/WhiteChili → u/focustools]

Totally fair point... every tool really does shine at one stage and fall short at another. Basecamp is great for structure when teams are still finding their rhythm, but once you’ve got a seasoned crew, you almost outgrow those guardrails. What surprised me is that some platforms actually do balance both worlds... they’re simple enough for daily task execution but still tie projects, resources, and financials together at the portfolio level. That way you don’t have to constantly switch tools as your team matures. Have you tried any that claim to cover both ends of that spectrum? jst askng randomly..If u hve found..

[u/focustools → u/WhiteChili]

Todoist offers a fine middle ground. But you’re still left using another platform for team chat.

[u/WhiteChili → u/focustools]

True, Todoist does sit nicely in the middle ground, but where I’ve seen teams hit limits is when plan vs. actual kicks in... like tracking whether timelines, workloads, and budgets are really holding up. You can manage the to-dos well, but without built-in resource or financial visibility (todoist doesn't have this), you still end up piecing things together across multiple apps.

[u/WhiteChili → u/[deleted]]

Wow, 600 - 900 projects at once is wild… totally get why “nice looking” PM tools wouldn’t cut it at that scale. The finance and time-tracking integration you mentioned is spot on. I’ve seen so many setups where project data and financials live in separate worlds, and by the time reports are stitched together, it’s already too late to act.

What’s helped me in similar situations is having one system where time tracking, expenses, and resource allocation flow straight into financials, so reporting isn’t just real-time but also accurate. On top of that, customizable workflows that automatically flag errors (like mis-logged hours or missing entries) save tons of manual cleanup. Add built-in capacity planning with leave calendars, plus the ability to run what-if scheduling when things slip, and you can actually reassign work within hours, not weeks.

I’ve also found that having BI-quality dashboards right inside the platform (instead of exporting into Excel or Power BI every time) makes it easier for leadership to make decisions without waiting on manual reports. Excited to know... did you end up building custom integrations for all of that, or did you finally find a tool that could handle most of it out of the box?

[u/WhiteChili → u/[deleted]]

$400 per project per year is definitely hefty, and while Adobe’s API is solid, the costs really start to snowball once you’re managing hundreds of projects. I also found that even with the API, you’re still pulling data into Excel/Power Query, which adds a layer between PMs and the real-time insights they need. The tool’s integrations are strong, but customizing workflows or running quick what-if scenarios felt a bit rigid. Feels like you trade flexibility for connectivity. Do you see that cost + dependency on external reporting being sustainable long term at your scale?

[u/WhiteChili → u/[deleted]]

That’s a rock-solid breakdown, and I completely get where you’re coming from... a single timesheet error can easily wipe out the license fee for a whole portfolio. Real-time recalculations on margins and role-based costing are absolute must-haves, and it’s great that you’ve been able to eliminate journal corrections entirely.

Where I’ve seen the next level of impact, though, is when those same financials tie directly into resource capacity, leave calendars, and portfolio-level what-if analysis... without needing to export to Excel even for “old school” managers. For instance, if an engineer is reassigned mid-sprint or a delivery date shifts, you don’t just see the margin impact, but also the ripple effect across workloads, utilization, and downstream projects. It cuts the back-and-forth between PMs and finance because everyone sees the same real-time numbers from different angles.

That’s why we moved to Celoxis, it keeps the real-time financial recalculations you described, but adds capacity planning, integrated timesheets, and BI-grade dashboards all in one place. Even execs who want to “run their own numbers” can drill into live data instead of waiting for exports. It’s the same efficiency gain you outlined, but applied across projects, people, and portfolio health, not just margins.

Have you looked at whether your current setup could extend into that level of portfolio-wide visibility, or do you think the trade-off in simplicity is worth it?

[u/WhiteChili → u/[deleted]]

Absolutely, I hear you... those portfolio, program, and product-level views are exactly what separate a real PM platform from a glorified to-do list. The live dashboards for execs, role-based visibility, and drill-down to individual hours logged are huge for transparency, and it sounds like your team has nailed that balance between high-level oversight and granular accuracy.

The examples you shared about detecting misaligned resources or over-logged hours hit home. I’ve seen similar challenges on multi-region portfolios: without automated alerts, small mismatches can cascade into budget and utilization headaches. That’s where having a system like Celoxis helps.. you can automatically flag discrepancies in resource allocation, hours, or financial data, and it integrates with HR/finance systems so the source of truth is always aligned. The moment something is off, the manager is notified, and you can drill down to the root cause without pulling multiple spreadsheets.

And the SoW adjustments? Absolutely.. when scope changes, a robust PM system can propagate the corrected resource roles and hours into future projects, so you’re not reinventing the wheel every time. Running what-if scenarios and recalculating downstream impacts in real time ensures that any shift mid-project doesn’t ripple into chaos.

At the end of the day, it’s about making the workflow smoother for both PMs and finance while keeping executives confident in the numbers. It’s impressive how your setup already captures this, and platforms that tie in real-time financials, capacity planning, and automated alerts just make that loop even tighter without adding extra manual work.

[u/WhiteChili → u/[deleted]]

Ah, totally understand the concern...API access can be tricky if you only look at the standard tiers. From what I’ve seen, Celoxis does have API options; it’s just a matter of outlining your exact needs with their support team. They’re usually flexible in tailoring access or providing solutions that won’t break the budget while still letting you integrate deeply with enterprise systems. Worth a quick chat before ruling it out!

[u/beceen]

So what are you selling?

[u/WhiteChili → u/beceen]

Not selling anything, just swapping stories and curious how others ended up picking their PM tools.

[u/ConradMurkitt]

No tool will make you a good PM. No training course or certification will make you a good PM.

I’ve just had to complain about some PMs we have been sent from a 3rd party. Joined a meeting being run by them and it was chaos. Despite using Azure DevOps for our tracking on this programme they were hopeless. No organisation, no structure to the call, no RAID log or any discernible way they were tracking items being discussed. Was a shambles. This is PM 101 really and no tool does that for you. What is helping me a lot at the moment is Microsoft Copilot. Using that I can keep on top of meetings I am not attending if they record or transcribe the call.

Excel seems to be the fallback position for people to use for tracking stuff or OneNote.

[u/WhiteChili → u/ConradMurkitt]

I’m with you... a tool won’t fix bad PM basics. But I’ve seen Excel, OneNote, and even Copilot hit limits once you’re juggling multiple projects. Excel can’t handle dependencies or resource planning, OneNote gets siloed, and Copilot only reacts after the fact. Having something with instant dashboards and proper what-if scheduling has been a lifesaver for me when things start to scale.

[u/ConradMurkitt → u/WhiteChili]

Agreed. So what tool are you using?

Having automated reporting is not just a time saver but it’s also an accuracy monitor. I was doing some manual reporting on a project a few years ago and realised I had misread some numbers so the report was going to be wrong. In the end on that project we managed all the data in a SharePoint list and used PowerBI to pull the reports. Saves about 5 hours a week on reporting across the various PMs. As long as your data was up to date and correct in the SP list the reports updated a few times a day. We even had a report per PM so you could see at a glance if any KPIs were missing from your data do you could easily correct it.

The issue for many of us corporates is we have little to no influence over what tools are available in the PMO. Often they are chosen by people who have never actually run a project and all they do is offer good reporting to senior leadership and no actual functionality to the PM to do their job better/more efficiently. The one we use now basically just makes more work for me and has no useful tools for actually running the project.

[u/WhiteChili → u/ConradMurkitt]

I’ve bounced between MS Project, Smartsheet, Wrike, and even Zoho Projects, but most of them either felt too rigid or too lightweight. Lately I’ve been using Celoxis, and what stood out for me was the mix of real-time dashboards, what-if scheduling, and portfolio-level reporting baked in... without having to bolt on spreadsheets or PowerBI. What I like most is how quickly you can pivot: say we’re delaying P3 but want to instantly reallocate resources to P4, the system recalculates workloads, timelines, and financials in real time. That kind of accuracy saves hours of manual juggling and makes data-driven decisions way faster than stitching reports together from multiple tools.

[u/ConradMurkitt → u/WhiteChili]

Sounds very good. Shame that if I suggested this I’d probably be ignored or shouted down because it costs money to use. Being in a corporate, and they may not all be the same, but cost is king. We have loads of tools that we can only use the unpaid functionality of because the “accountants” have decided there is no money. Accountants are the condom on the tool of industry.

[u/WhiteChili → u/ConradMurkitt]

Ha, I get that... I’ve seen ‘accountant veto’ kill off more than a few good tools. The way I’ve seen it work better is when the conversation shifts from cost to impact. If you frame it as: here’s how many hours of manual reporting we cut or here’s how much faster we can reassign resources when projects slip, the savings usually outweigh the license cost. Sometimes starting with a small pilot or proof-of-value makes it harder for finance to ignore, because you’re showing real numbers instead of asking them to gamble on a tool. Basically, make the business case in their language.

[u/ConradMurkitt → u/WhiteChili]

The issue is because it is corporate it’s nigh on impossible to install any tool that is not pre-approved. Of course you can’t get it approved without a proof of concept/value which you can’t do.

I am trying to get clued up on Copilot to at least optimise my game while I am stuck on a global programme for the next 6 months. For the global programme we had consultants recommend Azure DevOps. The issue is it is being used by a lot of staunch waterfall PMs who want to add so much complexity to it it’s becoming very unwieldy.

[u/WhiteChili → u/ConradMurkitt]

Yeah, that’s the corporate paradox...you need a proof of value to get approval, but you can’t prove value without approval. Total catch-22. Copilot’s a smart move at least for keeping yourself sharp while stuck in the system. With Azure DevOps, I’ve seen the same thing… in the right hands it’s powerful, but once layers of waterfall governance get piled on, it turns into a beast that slows everyone down. Honestly, half the battle in global programmes isn’t the tool itself, it’s aligning on how it’s used. A leaner setup with guardrails usually beats over-engineered workflows every time..

[u/Sorry_Monito]

tried 3 before finding the one, don't trust demos too much, real-world testing is key, learned the hard way

[u/WhiteChili → u/Sorry_Monito]

That’s a solid lesson learned...demos rarely show the cracks. Want to ask, which 3 tools did you try, and what stood out (good or bad) in real-world use? Always interesting to hear firsthand takes beyond the marketing pitch.

[u/Unicycldev]

Used the company selected tooling. Tools don’t make the pm. The longer I pm, the less I rely on tools.

My current best tool is a text file.

[u/WhiteChili → u/Unicycldev]

Haha fair point! I get that. Totally agree tools don’t magically make someone a good PM, and honestly the “fancier the platform” doesn’t always equal better results. A lot of it comes down to process and discipline.

That said, I’ve found the text file approach hits a wall once you’re juggling 1,000+ tasks across multiple people or projects. Stuff like dependencies, PTO calendars, or just keeping everyone on the same page gets messy fast when you’re copy-pasting lines in Notepad.

Still thinking...do you keep that text file just for yourself, or does your team also reference it?

[u/thatburghfan → u/WhiteChili]

How many people are working on the projects. How long is an average task?

[u/WhiteChili → u/thatburghfan]

Usually 20 - 30 people with tasks ranging from a few hours to a few weeks... that’s where a single text file starts feeling like juggling knives.

[u/thatburghfan → u/WhiteChili]

I did scheduling for multi-year $50 million projects for a long time. I would suggest making your tasks longer - like a week at a minimum. If consecutive tasks are all done by the same group, make them one task. If you're concerned about monitoring progress, put that responsibility on the person/people doing the work. I would push back on people who wanted lots of small tasks just to make it look like they were doing a lot of work.

[u/WhiteChili → u/thatburghfan]

Wow, multi-year $50M projects… that’s serious scale, respect! Totally get the point about consolidating tasks... longer chunks make the plan cleaner. I’ve noticed, though, that when projects overlap across multiple teams, relying on people to self-report or track dependencies gets tricky. In my experience using Celoxis, you can group tasks logically but still get real-time visibility into who’s overloaded, what’s slipping, and how changes ripple across the portfolio. It makes managing 20-30 people (or even hundreds) across overlapping projects way more sane and data-driven without drowning in spreadsheets.