Free. It’s a beautiful four-letter word, no? There are dozens of free apps out there that claim to help you improve your performance, but you'll still be investing time (if not your money) to test which ones work for you. For your increased efficiency and organization, we've collected five vetted management software tools that offer useful, enjoyable user experiences in their free form—before asking users to commit to a subscription or purchase.
Dropbox
Sharing files between employees and external vendors can quickly become a headache of accessibility issues, corruption charges, and the infamous “Sorry, that email got sent to the junk folder!” excuse. Dropbox makes sharing and storing files in a cloud-accessible location quick and easy. Videos, photos, presentations, design documents, and rough drafts—all can be stored in this online database, with shared folders allowing access to everyone who needs to see the document without relying on the school's servers.
Dropbox’s free application is powerful enough, but should you want to up your usage, consider purchasing a “Dropbox for Business” plan. At $15 a month per user (minimum of five users), Dropbox gives you unlimited storage capacity, enhanced security settings to protect sensitive documents like health care forms, and tools to facilitate collaboration. (There’s an individual plan, too, at $10/month, which offers increased security and a remote-wipe option.)
RescueTime
RescueTime is billed as the top tool in your management toolbox, according to PC Magazine. The program runs continuously in the background of your computer, monitoring where you spend your time on your computer and mobile devices. The free “lite” version then sends you weekly email reports, breaking down how you spent your week and identifying particularly severe time wasters. From there, you can use the information to better allocate your most precious resource: Your time.
The app’s enhanced features come relatively cheap at $9/month ($72/year) for the Premium package. In addition to the reports, RescueTime Premium can send you alerts when you’ve spent too much time on particular websites and even block them altogether if necessary; track time away from your computer and spent in meetings; and catalog all your time reports. (The freemium version only keeps three months’ worth of time reports.)
Trello
It’s the digital sticky note database you never knew you needed! Its main dashboard resembles an online “corkboard” for project lists and to-dos. You’re able to assign tasks to multiple teammates, and keep everyone on track with assigned duties. Documents and deadlines can be attached to the notes and then shared with those who need them. Trello also comes in mobile app and desktop forms, allowing you to take your organized electronic sticky-reminders anywhere you need them.
The free version allows you to have unlimited boards and checklists for your team, no matter how many people you add to the mix, but the “Business Class” tier (about $8.33 per month, per user) allows you to make your boards private and increases the integration with a wider variety of apps—including Dropbox, Google Drive, Evernote, and Mailchimp.
Evernote
Evernote: the ubiquitous, versatile electronic notebook. It’s become the popular app to use when jotting down an idea to save for later or composing a rough draft during the morning commute. An especially handy feature for Business Managers is Evernote’s ability to transfer notes from one form to another through integrated third-party apps. In this way, you can take notes from one section and turn them into a presentation or report later. (You’ll probably still need to translate your quickly typed notes into reasonable sentences, though!)
The notes-to-presentation feature is only available on the Premium version of the app, priced at $49.99 a year, with additional features of clipping relevant emails and scanned PDFs to appropriate notes and digitizing business cards. If you’re not ready to commit to the full enchilada just yet, Evernote’s Basic plan is still powerful as a note-taking tool, and the Plus plan ($24.99/year) allows you to clip emails and web links to notes.
Asana
It’s a workflow, project management calendar app on steroids. Projects and deadlines can be created, shared, and updated by team members. All those connected with a project will receive an email when the status changes or a milestone has been reached. The entire system syncs between users’ tablets, cellphones, and computers, making your project management scheme accessible from anywhere with an Internet connection.
The system is free for up to 15 users, after which access to the Premium version of the software—along with the ability to export data and create private teams and projects—is billed on a monthly basis. For example, as of October 2015, 20 users will cost about $125/month when billed annually.
Additional ISM resources:
The Source for Business Managers Vol. 10 No. 1 Five Online Management Tools
The Source for Risk Managers Vol. 5 No. 7 Our Favorite New Health Apps: Some Old, Some New
The Source for Division Heads Vol. 12 No. 5 20 Free Online Resources for School Administrators
Additional ISM resources for Gold Consortium members:
I&P Vol. 36 No. 14 Generational Differences: The New Management Paradigm
