10 top workload management tools for teams

Did you know that improper distribution of workload in your team can hamper the mental wellness of your team members?

A McKinsey report mentioned that employees feel exhausted and unwell due to unreasonable workloads, a lack of autonomy, social support, and unfair treatment.

Ensuring an even distribution of workload among your team members is essential. This is where you need effective tools to manage the workload of your team members. These tools ensure that your team members are not affected by excess workload and help you distribute workload with ease. 

In this article, you will find a comprehensive list of the top 10 tools to help you eliminate the problem of overburdening your team members.

What are the best workload management tools?

Workload management tools help you evenly distribute work among your team members. One of the reasons to implement these tools is to ensure that your team does not encounter stress or burnout.

To ensure your team isn’t overburdened with too much work, an effective workload management tool provides managers with multiple task list views and built-in collaboration functionalities, helping you effectively monitor and manage your team’s workload. 

How to choose the right workload management tool

There are many workload management tools available in the market. However, it is necessary to choose the right tool for your niche. This will ensure that you can use the tool effectively to its full potential. 

The key factors that influence the choice of the right workload management tool are:

Task and project management functionalities 

A workload management tool can provide you with a simple and wide view of the milestones, upcoming deadlines, and workflow. The overall purpose of these tools is to serve as a centralized dashboard for managing your entire team. 

Wide visibility 

When you have wide visibility, you can forecast resources with confidence. You can monitor the performance of your team members. Further, your team members will have a transparent view of the workflow and identify potential roadblocks early. This helps in effective deadline management. 

Powerful collaboration functionalities

Your workload management tool must provide you with built-in communication and collaboration functionalities. These functions allow team members to distribute workload among themselves, ensuring they reach their deadlines on time. Functions like discussions, note sharing, and chats ensure everyone stays on the same page.

Built-in time tracking 

The tools that are suitable to manage your team’s workload should provide you with a detailed report of the time spent by your team members on various tasks and project activities. This is necessary to ensure that none of your team members are being overworked. 

Advanced reporting 

Advanced reporting and insights provide you with a detailed review of the performance of your team members. With the right workload management tool, you will be able to identify the weak spots in the workflow. This allows you to rectify them in upcoming future projects. 

Pricing 

Although this comes as the last point, this is one of the most important factors in the selection process. If you compare tools based only on pricing, you might miss out on important features. Compare multiple tools, from the features they provide to their features and functionalities to one that fits your budget.

Top 10 tools for workload management 

This comprehensive list of the top 10 tools to manage the team’s workload will help you choose the right tool for your workplace.

1. Backlog

Backlog is a visually pleasing project management platform that empowers teams to prioritize tasks, monitor progress, and collaborate effortlessly. Additionally, its robust bug-tracking capabilities ensure that issues are identified, addressed, and resolved with precision. Featuring powerful tools such as Gantt charts, burndown charts, and Git version control, Backlog provides a comprehensive solution for streamlined project visibility and enhanced collaboration. Backlog is your go-to platform for efficient project management and meticulous bug tracking, ensuring your projects stay on track and deliver exceptional results.

Pricing:

• Free for small projects, up to 10 users
• Starter – $35/month for 30 users
• Standard – $100/month for 100 users, limited to 100 projects 
• Premium – $175/month for unlimited users and projects

2. ProofHub

ProofHub is an all-in-one project management and team collaboration tool that provides you with multiple task list views. These views help you get multiple perspectives of the workflow and assist you in effectively managing the team. Additionally, the built-in chat and collaboration functionalities keep your team members on the same page. With advanced reporting, a built-in time tracker, and an online proofing tool, ProofHub ensures that your team members work in a streamlined environment. 

Pricing: 

• Essential – $45 per month for unlimited users 
• Ultimate Control – $89 per month for unlimited users

3. Trello

Trello is an intuitive tool that is popular for its Kanban board-styled view. You can create task cards to set deadlines, add checklists and attachments, and track your progress visually in real time to assist you in effective resource management. This helps you in ensuring that your team members do not feel overburdened at the workplace. It’s perfect for small teams and projects, but may not be suitable for large teams working on complex projects.

Pricing:

• Free plan for individuals or small teams
• Standard – $5/user/month 
• Premium – $10/user/month
• Enterprise – $17.50/user/month

4. Asana

Asana is a specialized task management tool for small teams and individuals. Asana is flexible and can be customized according to your team’s individual needs. Although it may take some time to master all of its features, its advanced task management system helps you keep your workload under control.

Pricing: 

• Free plan for individuals or small teams 
• Starter – $10.99/user/month
• Advanced – $24.99/user/month

5. ClickUp

ClickUp is a widely popular platform that provides numerous templates and features for teams. With its premium plan, you can unlock advanced features that make project management and lead tracking even easier. However, the numerous features make it overwhelming for new users. This requires time and effort from your team, potentially causing a loss in productivity hours.

Pricing: 

• Free plan for individuals 
• Unlimited – $7/user/month
• Business – $12/user/month
• Enterprise – contact sales team for pricing details 

6. Wrike

Wrike is an intuitive tool that is suitable for both personal and professional tasks. The platform boasts a simple user-friendly interface, intuitive charts, and customizable workflows. You can save time using pre-defined customizable templates and collaborate effortlessly with colleagues and clients. However, learning its advanced features can be challenging and may take additional time and effort on your part.

Pricing: 

• Free plan for small teams 
• Team – $9.80/user/month
• Business – $24.80/user/month
• Enterprise and Pinnacle – contact sales team for plan pricing details 

7. Jira

Jira is a robust tool that excels in issue and bug tracking for software development teams. With Jira, you can manage issue and bug tracking, and organize project communications on the centralized platform. However, Jira can be complex for non-technical users, and may not be well suited for other business teams.

Pricing: 

• Standard – $7.50/user/month
• Premium – $15.25/user/month

8. Slack

Slack is a simple message-based tool that comes in handy for team communication, offering robust features. However, this is not a complete project management tool and you will have to integrate multiple apps. This poses a challenge, potentially increasing subscription costs. Nonetheless, Slack comes in as a centralized hub for streamlining your work and getting things done.

Pricing:

• Free plan offers only limited access to the message history of the most recent 90 days 
• Pro – $7.25/user/month
• Business+: $12.50/user/month
• Enterprise Grid – contact the sales team for pricing details

9. Monday.com

The one thing that stands out on Monday.com is the highly customizable and visually appealing interface. This platform serves as a centralized dashboard to organize all communication and collaboration among your team members. This ensures a transparent view of the task distribution and allocation to all the team members.

Pricing: 

• Free plan for up to 2 users
• Basic – $8/user/month
• Standard – $10/user/month
• Pro – $16/user/month
• Enterprise – contact the sales team for pricing details

10. Togglplan

With Togglplan you will be able to develop inter-departmental collaboration with ease. You can build custom workflows as per the typical requirements of your project. Further, the built-in time tracker helps you clearly understand the performance of your team members. The real-time notifications help your team members be notified of updates and task status in real-time. 

Pricing: 

• Team – $9/user/month
• Business – $15/user/month

Final thoughts

With assistance from workload management tools, you can build an effective roadmap that prevents overburdening your team members. From fostering seamless communication to providing robust task prioritization and tracking capabilities, these tools redefine efficiency and productivity.

These tools not only enhance project visibility but also contribute to the overall success of teams by optimizing workflows and minimizing bottlenecks. Whether it’s mastering task organization, project timelines, or bug tracking, an effective workload management tool is key.

Author bio

Vartika Kashyap is the Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) at ProofHub. She is a B2B SaaS marketer with 17+ years of experience and a prolific writer on productivity, team building, work culture, leadership, and entrepreneurship.