𝗣𝗠: 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗷𝗲𝗰𝘁 𝗠𝗮𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘆 𝗼𝗿 𝗣𝗮𝗶𝗻𝗳𝘂𝗹 𝗠𝗲𝘀𝘀? 𝘼 𝙣𝙤–𝘽𝙎 𝙜𝙪𝙞𝙙𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙟𝙚𝙘𝙩 𝙢𝙖𝙣𝙖𝙜𝙚𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝙩𝙤𝙤𝙡𝙨

I’ve led creative teams across agencies and in-house. Working with start-ups, scale-ups, and enterprises. Juggling everything from brand campaigns to product launches. 

Finding a PM tool that liberates designers, supports marketers/PMs, and connects with stakeholders/clients is like hunting a unicorn. After years of trial and error, here’s what I’ve learned and what I'm looking for. 

𝗧𝗼𝗼𝗹𝘀 𝗜’𝘃𝗲 𝗨𝘀𝗲𝗱 & 𝗠𝘆 𝗧𝗮𝗸𝗲:

 • 𝗝𝗶𝗿𝗮: Dev-friendly, but clunky for creative teams 🛠️

 • 𝗧𝗿𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗼: Basic Kanban for tiny teams (<10) on a $0 budget. Simple but limited. Doesn't scale 📋

 • 𝗔𝘀𝗮𝗻𝗮: The reliable workhorse. Scales effortlessly, intuitive, just works! 🌟

 • 𝗪𝗼𝗿𝗸𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗻𝘁 (𝗔𝗱𝗼𝗯𝗲): Enterprise beast + ProofHQ. A big gun, with a big price tag 🏢

 • 𝗠𝗼𝗻𝗱𝗮𝘆: works, and you can do more outside of just PM workflows, but it takes effort to get it to match Asana's PM functions 😕

 • 𝗕𝗮𝘀𝗲𝗰𝗮𝗺𝗽: the original

 • 𝗡𝗼𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻: Not strictly a PM tool, but a startup’s dream for flexibility...it is only as good as what you build 📝

𝗠𝘆 𝗗𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗺 𝗣𝗠 𝗣𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺 𝗠𝘂𝘀𝘁-𝗛𝗮𝘃𝗲’𝘀:

 • Story points + workload tracking

 • ProofHQ/Frame.io quality review system

 • DAM/brand portal integrations (for bonus points) Otherwise, Stockpress integration

 • AI automation

 • Strong form editor (or Google Form integration) for briefs → pretty snapshot docs

 • Billables/timesheets

 • Gantt, Kanban, calendar views

 • Sub/sub-sub-tasks + easy to link drag-drop dependencies

 • Seamless Slack/Teams/Google Chat integration, or a strong built-in chat system

𝗧𝗼𝗽 𝗣𝗠 𝗧𝗼𝗼𝗹𝘀 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗖𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟱:

 𝟭. Asana: Scales like a dream, intuitive, strong chat integrations. 🏆

 𝟮. ClickUp: Customizable, AI-powered, great proofing + Docs. 🚀

 𝟯. Wrike: Review king for visuals, enterprise-ready with Slack/Frame.io. 🎨

 𝟰. 𝗠𝗼𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻: the leader for AI-powered PM, designed for smaller super agile teams 🕒

 𝟱. Teamwork.com: Client-portal magic with branded briefs/assets, effortless Slack flows. 🤝

 𝟲. Productive: Agency all-in-one for resources/budgets, AI forecasting + DAM integrations. 💼

 𝟳. Paymo: Billables + time-tracking hero, simple Gantt for small creative shops. ⏱️

𝗦𝗽𝗲𝗰𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝗦𝗵𝗼𝘂𝘁𝗼𝘂𝘁: Plytix If DAM/brand portals are your jam (AI-tagged images/videos/PDFs + shares), this PIM powerhouse pairs perfectly with my top 7. It's PM-lite but an asset-hero 📸

Creative chaos doesn’t stand a chance with these! Trial Asana or ClickUp for a quick win, or Paymo if invoicing's your pain point.

Everyone's needs and tastes are a little different - 𝙬𝙝𝙖𝙩’𝙨 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙜𝙤–𝙩𝙤 𝙋𝙈 𝙩𝙤𝙤𝙡? 𝘿𝙧𝙤𝙥 𝙞𝙩 𝙗𝙚𝙡𝙤𝙬! 👇

hashtag#ProjectManagement hashtag#CreativeWorkflow hashtag#DesignAgency hashtag#MarketingTools hashtag#PMSoftware hashtag#Asana hashtag#ClickUp hashtag#Wrike hashtag#Teamwork hashtag#Productive hashtag#Paymo hashtag#Plytix