Finding the Right Tools for Project Management and Process Facilitation

Whenever one does work that is not contained into a singular work session, this work is part of a project.

Big or small, it ends up connecting with work from another similar session on a different day, or a different step in the pipeline, or work done by someone else on the team.

This work is part of a whole made of multiple other parts.

Managing the processes that lead to the individual creation and collective assembly of all these parts is what project management and process facilitation are all about.

They are done across work sessions, fields of work, and, when it comes to collaborative work, people.

As much as strategy, design, or development, project management and process facilitation form an intrinsic aspect of any production initiative.

And the number of offerings for tools aiming to address the multiplicity of the stakes they encompass grows by the day.

In our eyes, when you’re passionate about the initiatives you work on, it’s definitely worth considering and exploring such tools.

In this article we’ll discuss the use case of Oryzon Studio, regarding the processes we resort to, and the tools we use for them, providing both context and concrete examples.

We’ll then move to our practical recommendations for finding and selecting tools to manage projects and facilitate processes.

All to help you find the right ones to foster both the enjoyable performance of daily operations and the quality of results.

Use case: the types of processes we use at Oryzon Studio

So we’re on the same page regarding the kinds of processes we’re talking about, let’s start the discussion from the context of our own daily operations at Oryzon Studio.

So, when it comes to project management, the processes we resort to for daily operations include the following:

• email communication

• collaborative cloud storage

• audio and video calls

• internal messaging

• task and project tracking

• knowledge base management

• accounting

• content writing

• mind mapping

From a project and process management perspective, the goal is therefore to find tools to perform and streamline these different aspects of daily operation.

Tools that we can enjoy using independently, as well as articulate together.

Use case: our expectations with the tools we use

Generally speaking, when it comes to tools we use for work at Oryzon Studio, we have the following expectations:

• We like them to be simple and straightforward in their logic of use, features, and interface;

• Ideally, we like them to also offer some flexibility and modularity, so we can tailor them to our specific needs;

• We aim for tools that factor in data privacy and security;

• Finally, we go for tools that we find enjoyable to use: including visually, in their logic, their ergonomic design, and their production quality.

We’ve mentioned enjoyment several times up to this point. Indeed, it’s worth noting that, when it comes to work and creation, we prioritize enjoyment over a blind race for “productivity”.

Simply because there’s no productivity without a string of smaller day-to-day actions and management. And that making the whole perform adequately starts with making all these smaller parts as smooth and enjoyable as we can.

This is all the truer when you’re passionate about the project you work on: you want to keep the passion alive, and nurture it on a daily basis, so it can inspire your team’s best work.

In this regard, we see enjoyment as both an indicator and a factor of success for project and process management—as well as the mission at large.

Use case: the tools we currently use at Oryzon Studio

So here are the tools we currently use at Oryzon Studio, and the associated processes we use them for, along with how we feel about them, in a nutshell:

• Zoho Workplace for email, cloud storage, and audio/video calls: while we’re not convinced by every aspect of our Zoho experience, we appreciate that they offer a well-rounded suit of services, and can stand as a direct alternative to Google Workspace.

• Slack for internal messaging: while we don’t always find it intuitive to use, we appreciate the straightforward power of having multiple topical channels for both real-time and asynchronous messaging. We also recognize the potential for connectivity with other tools via integrations native to the Slack ecosystem.

• Notion for task and project tracking, knowledge base management, accounting, and content writing: the biggest draw of Notion for us are its relatively clean and minimalist interface and its versatility, thanks to its logic of pages and databases.

• Coggle for mind-mapping: a very straightforward tool to create mind maps, concept maps, and flow charts. It’s not evolved much during all the years we’ve used it, but it still does the job for us.

We did specify that we use these tools currently, as we always remain open to discovering new tools and adjusting processes as time and projects go by.

Indeed, the way we see it, project management and process facilitation are a creative discipline, meant to organically evolve alongside projects, teams, and goals, in order to continuously serve them best.

Our recommendations for finding tools to manage projects and facilitate processes

So far, we’ve talked about:

• the different processes in our day-to day operations at Oryzon Studio

• our expectations with the tools we use for these processes

• the various tools that we currently use, and how we feel about them.

Following what we’ve shared about all this context, our recommendations should be all the more evocative and impactful.

So, when it comes to the process of figuring out what tool to use for, well, other processes, here’s what we recommend:

• Identify drag zones: where in your daily workflow are you not finding enjoyment? Is it due to a tool or the nature of the process? Can either be adjusted? Can an alternative be found for either?

• Connect tools: connecting tools that you already use to each other allows to automate some processes, and facilitate the dissemination of data within your workflow and pipeline. Many tools offer integrations with other tools out of the box—we mentioned it for Slack. When it’s not the case, you can resort to no-code tools such as Zapier or Make, to create connections between two other tools and setup automated flows–you can even use tool APIs via Pipedream or direct coding, if you want.

• Try new tools: give a new tool a try when you run into a seemingly interesting new one, or simply feel like shaking things up. Trying a new tool as a replacement for another on a single project is something we do regularly—and it’s usually very enlightening, regarding both the tool and the processes. New tools often find their way to us organically, but we also like to resort to tools aggregators now and then, such as AlternativeTo or OpenAlternative.

• Try new features: many project management tools follow a Software as a Service model (SaaS). As such, they are constantly evolving and regularly offer new features. Trying new features on tools you already use can definitely yield some valuable results.

• Retry previous tools: With the SaaS model, and the regular evolution of tools, there can be value in retrying tools you have used before. Whether the tool itself has changed, or you have a fresh perspective, there can be hindsight to be gained.

• Study the pricing: it may go without saying, but we would be remiss not to mention it too. Considering the pricing modalities of a tool against your use case and budget is a definite selection factor.

• Test and see: as the various points above illustrate, trying is key. Not for a cultivation of unsatisfaction, but simply for gathering hindsight on the tools, the processes, and the needs—and subsequently identifying room for improvement. Such is the iterative nature of the process of finding tools for daily operations, because testing always means more experience, more hindsight, and more actionable data. Sometimes testing a tool for a specific process helps re-approach some other process, or update the pipeline as a whole by connecting processes, merging processes, automating processes, or deleting processes. But, please, don’t feel the need to over-engineer it either! One can always use more tools or automate more, but none of this is an end in itself. So when you’re happy with a tool, a process, a workflow, or a pipeline, then look no further, and just enjoy it.

• Don’t feel pressured for commitment: there are a lot of moving pieces when it comes to project and process management. Whether it be the constant evolution of tools following the SaaS model, or the iterative nature of the process of finding tools to help streamline daily operations. So we do find that commitment to a specific tool “no matter what” is not relevant. Indeed, counter-intuitive as this last statement may seem, the more responsive and adaptable you can be in what tools you use and how you use them, the more you’ll be able to keep process facilitation effective, and day-to-day operations running smoothly.

• Keep it fun: keep the very process of exploring tools enjoyable as well. As we’ve mentioned, from our perspective, project management and process facilitation are more about optimizing enjoyment than anything else, by helping things flow within and in-between daily processes. All the more reason to enjoy, not just the results of finding tools, but the process of exploring them as well.

In a nutshell

A lot can be said about project management and process facilitation, and all the offerings available to support them.

The topic is vast, and at the crossroads of multiple aspects of production and collaboration.

We could have talked about AI, as it gets progressively more prominent, and included as a new offering to more and more pre-existing tools.

We could also have gone on about the differences between proprietary and open source software.

But the aim of this article was to provide an actionable overview of our approach and recommendations to finding tools for project management and process facilitation.

Tools evolve, and so do our understanding and use of them, as well as our needs, and processes.

As mentioned, we definitely recommend not to over-engineer anything, but tackle needs as they arise, and simply aim to keep processes enjoyable.

With all that said, we hope you find the tools to help keep project management and process facilitation an enjoyable part of the missions you choose to support with them.

Note: Just to be clear, we currently don’t have any financial affiliation with any of the tools mentioned in this article. This helps us maintain clarity and alignment, and only consider them from the perspective of what we can get out of them creatively, for the sake of the projects we work on and the people we work with.