When it comes to overseeing a team during a task or project, keeping a record of all the moving pieces is integral to ensuring everything runs efficiently. That means knowing who is leading up to what job and how close they are to end, and relevant due dates should be simple and accessible to the project manager and all members.
Keeping track has never been simple when technology comes into play. There are a lot of popular project management tools that do help to keep everything in check. Two crowd favorites continue to be Trello and Slack. But which one is the best tool to handle the job at hand? Trello and Slack are two of the most popular software management tools used to manage projects, but they have a few dissimilarities. Depending on the nature of your task, either one or both of these platforms could help make things flow more smoothly.
Trello vs. Slack: which one is the best tool? To help you decide on which project management tool to use for your projects, TechNinjaPro laid out all the crucial information you need to know.
What is Trello?
Trello is a software-as-a-service application explicitly designed to offer a lightweight approach to organizing tasks. The makers of the Trello application describe the software as a collaboration tool. It allows you to know what is currently being worked on and who is working on it. The interface is pretty straightforward and consists of a large board with various cards and lists that allow you to see your project’s progress.
Trello’s primary use case is as a project management software, where it focuses its features. If you are searching for a clear approach to manage tasks and projects, Trello is a perfect choice to explore. This tool organizes tasks into cards, which you can categorize into different columns on a Kanban board. Trello comes with templates for different workflows such as podcast production, content writing, video production, scrum processes, sales pipelines, and even wedding planning.
What is Slack?
Slack is an instant-messaging tool for your organization that serves as a focal point for all your work-related messages. It comprises workspaces and channels that let you share files and talk to your team members, and vice versa. As group discussions, Slack can be used for private conversations with one or more specific users.
Both project management tools are valuable software for managing tasks or projects. Trello allows you to view the development of your projects at once glance, whereas Slack focuses on the communication between you and your team members. If you are looking for a quick way to track your job’s progress on their work, then Trello is your best choice. However, if you need to share significant updates and files with your colleagues and create a place for conversation, then use Slack as a better alternative.
Trello Primary Features
Trello is primarily used for project management, such as booking a group holiday or creating a new site. The default lists are “Things to Do, Doing, and Done,” but you can rename these names. Each list lets you add tasks in the form of cards and appoint certain members to undergo that task. For example, if you reserve a holiday and need to book flights, you can assign those tasks to a particular teammate. Once that teammate is in the process of completing the assignment, they can move the card to another list to show that they are working on it or have finished working on it.
You can add a due date to the card so your team members know when a task must be completed. This is extremely useful for time tracking and deadlines. The board can be viewed publicly by a specific member of your company or by all members. You can change your project board’s visibility settings at any time. If you need to add new members to your board, you will need to make your board public before inviting them.
Slack Primary Features
Slack is used as a software tool for communicating and sharing critical files with your organization. The primary use of this project management tool is essentially a chat room designed to be used instead of email. This is helpful as you can access all your project’s files and messages rather than having them spread across multiple platforms.
You can classify your communication into individual channels for specific members. Instead, you can have channels that are accessible to all members of your company. If you need to have a personal discussion with one or more of your colleagues, you can do so using the direct message feature.
Slack is not limited to text-based discussions. It also provides video calls for you to speak to your colleagues face-to-face. You can share your window screen during a video conference call when you need to explain essential information more directly and clearly. However, this function is available for users of Slack’s standard paid plan and above.
Even though you can use Slack as a great communication tool, it is not a project management tool. Slack does not have any features to track time or follow tasks for the project.
1. Communications
Trello can be used for communication purposes, but it is not as created as other messaging software. Its main focus is project management, so all communication happens around a specific topic or task. You cannot message another user privately, so you need to use email or another platform. Team members of your company can add relevant messages to cards, which can then be viewed by all members who have access to that board. As Trello is not the best used for communicating with your team, TechNinjaPro recommends using different software like Slack.
Slack allows you to communicate with your complete team or individual members. Channels serve as chat rooms for you to engage and speak to your team and vice versa. You can also form channels for specific team members that only have access to. If you prefer to talk to your team in person, there is a video call option. If you need a platform to engage with and talk to your team members, use Slack as a better choice. Overall, Slack can be a massive time saver for communication, especially in remote teams.
2. Ease of Use and User Interface
Trello is simple to use and does not take much time to set up. The product designers have put a lot of thought into the usability of this project management tool. You need your email, name, and password to create an account. Once you have entered this information, you are presented with your dashboard to create a new board or work on an existing one.
The user interface is easy to navigate task management software. It does not take too long to get grips with. Cards and lists can be added, moved, and edited with ease. In the upper right corner of the dashboard, you can access your settings, cards, activity, profile, keyboard shortcuts, and more. In addition, you can change the initials icon to a photo and tweak your notification settings. As an easy-to-use project management and collaboration tool, Trello really excels.
Slack is comparatively easy to set up and use. Again, it is another management tool with much love and care put into the user experience design. To join a workspace, all you want is to enter the workspace’s name you were invited to. After that, you have an approach to all of your team’s channels.
Building a workplace is also simple. You signup using your email address and then enter the verification code sent to your email. Next, you enter the name of your company and the project your team is working on. You can then add some of your project members to the channel using their email addresses. Once you have access to your workplace, you can create many channels for your team or use the premade ones. You can send personal messages to your team members by clicking on the + icon next to direct messages.
Clicking on your profile name at the top of the left side of the page opens up many choices, like your account & profile and preferences. You can change your name, photo, bio, and contact information in your profile & account. You can pin messages which place them at the top of the channel to make them visible to your team. This is helpful when you have an essential update for your team members. You can also look at the channel’s highlights, such as the most popular posts or latest file uploads.
3. Integrations
You can easily integrate Trello with other software tools to increase its efficiency and productivity. Some of the useful tools are Asana, Zapier, and Slack.
Slack can be integrated with tools including Giphy, Zapier, and Marker. Both Slack and Trello have free APIs for you to integrate your own custom application with the tool. Currently, Trello allows integrations with the application for members of their premium tiers. On the other hand, Slack provides ten integration with applications for users of their free plan. Paid plans have access to more than 100 application integrations.
Using Trello and Slack together is extremely helpful as they bring practical tools to your project and team. Trello can assist you in tracking and checking the progress of your task, while Slack can be used to communicate with your team members.
4. Platforms Available
5. Customer Support
Trello’s customer service work is perfect for helping your queries and concerns, but priority is given to users with premium plans. To speak to a support advisor, you need to fill in a form on the Customer Contact Support page. The form requests your email, name, topic, and the subject of your concern. You can write a short description of your concern and include any relevant files. There is an option to grant the customer advisor temporary access to your account.
If you need a fast reply to your issue, you can use the Community Forum. There you can post your question for other members of the community to help you with.
In contrast, Slack’s customer service is limited to advisors of the company. They do not have a community forum. To contact a Slack customer support agent, you need to fill in a form on their Contact Us page. You enter in the subject of your concern and the description, and any relevant files. Premium users of Slack get 24/7 customer support and quick response within 4 hours.
Trello has better customer service overall, as you can use the community support forum to get a quick response to your inquiry. However, with more advanced plans, you can expect a customer support executive’s response within 1 business day, which is slightly longer than Slack.
6. Pricing
Conclusion
Trello and Slack are two different types of project management tools. Trello is a project management tool that is used to manage project progress. On the other hand, Slack is a communication tool the organization uses to establish a communication medium. Trello vs. Slack is not the question you should be asking; both are helpful collaboration tools for managing your team and projects. Trello shines by helping you track your project progress, while Slack is better used for communication within your team.
Trello’s user interface is simple to navigate, so this might be ideal for you if you are not tech-savvy. Even though Slack is a bit more complicated to use, it should not take long to get grips with the tool. In terms of price, Trello and Slack both have free plans that work perfectly for small organizations. For big teams and projects, TechNinjaPro would recommend using one of the paid plans they offer. Trello is slightly cheaper but is a bit less reliable with its uptime.
Security-wise, there is not much difference between these two project management tools as they use advanced safety practices to protect you and your information. These two project management tools have a free API for custom apps and can be integrated with several tools for improved efficiency.
So, which tool do TechNinjaPro recommended for managing your team? In general, Slack is a better option as you communicate with all your team members and share important documents. While Trello is excellent for tracking your project’s progress, you need to use another tool for communication.
As Slack and Trello can be integrated with one another, TechNinjaPro would advise you to use both of the tools instead of substituting one over the other. Both project management tools work perfectly in union and enable you to speak to your team in one place and manage the progress of your projects.