written by Stephen Gallivan
Our crew at Carney relies heavily on Trello to manage day-to-day tasks and overall project scope. There are many things Trello is capable of both within the free version and with paid power-ups. It’s pretty dang easy to pick up too with a simple interface, helpful tutorials, and organizational elements.
However, in some instances, Trello fell short. We thought, wouldn’t it be nice to visualize all parts of each project as it’s worked on by any team member? Alas, a handy Chrome extension, Elegantt, can be paired with Trello and answered our project management desires.
How it works
If you’re like us, you juggle projects day in and day out. It’s important to be honest about what you may need from someone else to get your job done. And what someone may need from you to get their job done. Elegantt calls these relationships “task dependencies.”
Imagine going to Taco Bell and ordering a dish that your typical marketer would like to eat; say Doritos Locos Tacos. The individuals involved in this entire process of enjoying your Doritos Locos Tacos include you, the server, and the cook.
- You depend on the server to take the order.
- The server depends on the cook to prepare the Doritos Locos Tacos.
- The cook depends on the server to deliver the Doritos Locos Tacos.
- The server depends on you to pay the bill. But not before you wash it down with a Coca-Cola. Because that’s where marketers also seem to spend their money.
These are all dependencies. Instead of servers and cooks, it’s designers, developers, SEM strategists, etc., and it’s all a process of getting the finished product to the client’s plate. Elegantt makes these task dependencies easy to recognize with a linear timeline and deadlines that you can easily set. This feature will help you stay organized and let you know when you’re up to bat during the course of each project. This is our favorite part of this extension and the one we’ve benefited from most.
Its benefits
And since Elegantt syncs with your Trello boards, every card you add will be reflected in Elegantt after you refresh the page. It’s a seamless way to take what you’re already doing on Trello and further organize what you’ve laid out within projects. Some other useful features include:
- Sync to your Google Calendar, iCal, and Outlook so that you can see your Elegantt card displayed on your preferred application
- Export your Gantt charts to easily share snapshots and include timeline visuals in presentations
- Filter down to only the sections that are pertinent to you
- Send automated reminder emails to team members as deadlines approach
If you’re a Trello user, we highly recommend this simple plug-in to make your day-to-day easier to grasp. If you’re not a Trello user, you should give it a chance. At the very minimum, it could be that to-do list that you’ve always been searching for.
Already using a different project management application that you love? Then no need to reinvent the wheel, but we encourage you to look into Gantt chart plugins and add-ons available for your current stack so that all your projects might flow a bit smoother too.
