How To Use monday.com For Project Management
Project management is a puzzle where a single missing piece can throw everything into disarray.
Coordinating tasks, timelines, and team members can be overwhelming. However, with the right tool, even the most complicated projects become manageable.
That’s where monday.com steps in.
It is a versatile Work OS that streamlines project collaboration. Its ranking among the best software project management tools speaks volumes about its reliability.
The catch, however, is learning about its full potential, which hinges on comprehending how to use monday.com.
This guide will give you all the insights needed to leverage this tool to optimize your team’s productivity.
Choose the Right Product
monday.com provides three types of products.
Although all have been constructed using the same foundational elements of monday.com Work OS, each brings something unique.
What remains consistent in all is their ability to empower individual and organizational processes.
However, to ensure you pick the right software for your project management, it is crucial to understand the differences.
- monday work management. This is the basic product designed for teams to oversee tasks, projects, and workflows. It allows organizations to build seamless workflows across departments. Consequently, they can boost their processes’ efficiency and quickly achieve shared goals.
- monday CRM. As the name implies, this product is tailored for sales and customer-facing teams. It provides a centralized platform to handle everything related to customer data and sales cycle.
- monday Dev. This is suitable for product and development teams. It offers various features, allowing them to plan, create, and introduce new products.
How to Use monday.com: Sign-Up Process
monday.com may seem intimidating at first glance. However, once you’re acquainted with its interface, things become pretty straightforward.
On a side note, we recommend giving the trial a shot to determine which tier you’d prefer before signing up for a paid plan. That said, here’s how to sign up.
- Create the account. Visit the official monday.com website and click Get Started at the top of the menu page. Next, type your email address and sign up.
- Enter the required information and accept TOS. Once you provide your email address, you’ll be directed to a page asking for your Full Name and Account Name. Remember to read and agree to the Terms of Service before continuing.
- Choose the purpose of using the service. monday.com will ask why you need to sign up. Is it for work or business-related purposes? Here, you need to choose your role and the number of team members. Once you do, you’ll be asked what you’d like to manage. Select Project Management and choose Continue.
- Add the team members. Finally, use the email addresses of your team members to add them. You have the right to provide admin privileges to a team member you’d want to. Kindly note that if you do not have any team members to add currently, you can select Remind me later and continue.
Setting Up monday.com Boards & Workspace
Once you sign up, it’s time to get a hang of the tool. For this purpose, you need to set up the basics. Here’s how to go about it.
- Set up your Board. The website will ask you to create your board during the sign-up process. You need to type the name of your board and choose next to continue.
- Select what you want to manage. Here, you can pick from several options, from projects to employees and items to leads. What do you want to manage? Think about your preferences and proceed accordingly. Choose the radio button and type the custom item you want to manage. Click next to proceed.
- List your projects. If you are to handle multiple projects, here’s the good news – monday.com lets you enter up to three projects once you sign up. Navigate the fields > type the project name and repeat as required. If, however, you don’t have several projects, you can click X to delete the fields. Then, proceed by clicking next.
- Create groups. Once you list the projects, you can create groups. monday.com lets you create two groups to monitor your processes and teams. You also have the option to name these groups. Again, if you do not require more than one group, click X to delete. Once done, press get started to continue.
- Create another board. Navigate the work management view if you want to add another board besides the set-up process. From here, choose +add and click new board to proceed.
Organizing monday.com Boards
Now that you’ve created your first project management workspace, it’s time to see how to organize and manage different projects using columns.
This will allow you to seamlessly track the tasks and observe the progress.
- Adding columns. Click the plus sign on the right side of the column and select the column you want to add. If you can’t see the desired column, click more columns from the menu.
- Check the column options. Dig deeper into the columns to track down helpful options. You’ll see time-tracking widgets for employees and those for projects and time zones. They’re built to monitor progress, enhance management, and optimize workflow.
- Organize columns. Organizing columns is, gladly, a breeze. Select the column you want to move and drag it to reposition. Make sure you hold it down while repositioning and let go once done.
- Remove columns. You can also delete the columns if you’d like. Simply click the three dots next to Progress and select Delete from the drop-down menu. This column will move to the recycle bin. You can restore it within 30 days. However, it’ll be deleted permanently once the given time frame passes.
Understanding monday.com Views
Although the primary table view is a great option for a quick overview, you have more options for a more seamless project management.
Below, we’ve enlisted the alternatives.
- Kanban View offers a user-friendly interface with color codes. The color coding lets you see where the project is headed. Overall, it’s an excellent option to help teams collaborate and display project-related tasks.
- Gantt View. This lets you check the task timelines and project deadlines.
- Calendar View. If you want to plan out and visualize the team’s workload on a monthly, quarterly, or annual basis, Calender View offers an effective way to do that.
- Timeline View. If you want a quick overview of specific projects and who is working on them, the timeline view can be your best bet.
- Chart View. It is a reliable option to review all the tasks and events related to a specific project.
Adding views is a walk in the park. Simply click the plus sign below your board’s title, and you’ll see a drop-down menu with several view options. Select the one that best fits your needs and continue.
Understanding monday.com Dashboard
monday.com dashboard lets you see different projects, boards, timelines, and tasks. This allows you to improve your management and workflow. Here’s how you can keep an eye on the progress of any project using the dashboard.
- Set up a dashboard view. Choose the plus icon next to the search box on the left side of the page. Click the plus sign and choose New Board from the drop-down menu. Next, give a name to your dashboard. You have the option to keep it private or share it with your team members.
- Use dashboard widgets. You can track projects and tasks by adding widgets to the main dashboard. Choose a widget of your preference to personalize your dashboard. Then, add widget from the top left side of the page. Now click the widget you want to use, and you’re all set.
- Organize widgets. You can drag and drop and resize the widgets per your preferences. If, for some reason, you want to remove a widget, simply click the three dots and choose delete from the drop down menu.
Emphasizing on the ease-of-use, monday.com has also introduced advanced accessibility ease in recent updates. Users can now interact with the dashboard using only keyboard inputs. Additionally, screen reader functionality is also available to help you effectively navigate the content on the platform through audio feedback.
Adding Team Members
Once you navigate the basics of monday.com, it’s time to learn how to add and manage team members. Follow the steps below to get started.
- To begin with, you need to click on your profile picture. Here, you’ll see all your team members.
- If you want to include more members, click on the plus sign and add.
- As a rule of thumb, consider adding a team photo. This will allow you to quickly spot who’s working on which project/task.
When you have a team, you can move them to boards instead of adding each member individually.
Communicating With the Updates Section
The Updates Section of monday.com allows you to tag your team members in the messages seamlessly. It makes up for efficient communication and ensures all conversations concerning a specific project remain in the same place.
To mention someone, simply select the ‘@Mention’ button. Alternatively, you can type ‘@’ symbol and select the person you want to mention from the menu.
What’s more, you can reply to the updates, upload files, and share GIFs and images in the messages.
How to Use monday.com Integrations
You can elevate your monday.com experience with integrations. However, note that access to different integrations varies based on your pricing tiers. Simply put, your current plan may limit access to certain features.
Overall, the platform offers several integrations, including Google Calendar, Slack, Outlook, and Gmail. In fact, you can also integrate CRM software. Here’s how to get started.
- Add integrations. Head over to the apps section on the left side of the menu to connect other services to your account. Choose the app icon, and a menu with several options will pop up.
- Select integrations. You can search a specific app from the app screen through the category list or type the name in the search bar to check manually.
- Activate. Once you choose the desired application, click on it to integrate it. Select the add to board button to connect and activate the application.
How to Use monday.com Automation
monday.com Automations streamline repetitive tasks by handling them automatically. For instance, they update your team members concerning the task progress or archive a project after you mark it complete.
These automation actions are indicated by pop-up notifications within the platform, providing users with real-time feedback on the status of automated processes.
- Create Automations. Click the automate button on the top right corner of the page to create an automation. This will automatically launch the automations center.
- Automations center usage. This is where you can view different templates. Most automations contain ready-made templates. So, you’ll easily find one for your needs unless you want to automate a complicated task.
- Activate Automations. Once you spot a suitable automation, click it. You’ll be reverted to a page where you can define the automation details. Here, you need to enter the name of the person you want to be notified for a specific status and when. Common options include Anything, Working on it, Stuck, and Done. Fill in the information per your preferences and choose create automation.
- Handle Automations. Thankfully, managing automations is a rather uncomplicated. You’ll see tab board automations from the automations center. Here, you can toggle the on/off switch to activate or deactivate the automations. You can also delete the automations by tapping the three dots and selecting delete automations from the drop-down menu.
Pros & Cons of monday.com
Like any other software tool, monday.com has its merits and demerits. Below, we’ll shed light on its pros and cons to give you a well-rounded understanding of how it functions for project management.
Strengths
- Versatility. monday.com is an invaluable tool, regardless of the task you plan to work on. It offers simplified budgeting and shared dashboards to cater to different industries. Besides, businesses can benefit from its task assignment options and streamlined communication. This lets them boost collaboration, planning, and implementation of business-related activities.
- Unified team hub. monday.com is a centralized platform that serves as a primary software for diverse purposes. It facilitates team coordination, progress tracking, and task assignment. Unlike navigating through an extensive tech stack with multiple open tabs, monday.com provides a unified destination for teams, which is a plus.
- Positive user feedback. monday.com consistently receives positive reviews from users. Overall, the feedback reflects the satisfaction of people using it for project management (more on this below).
Weaknesses
- Absence of time tracking features in standard plan. Effective project management requires real-time tracking features to ensure accuracy in invoices and progress reports. Unfortunately, the standard plan doesn’t offer built-in real time features. Although they provide employee time tracking with a premium plan, the added expense might not be suitable for small teams.
- Pricing plans. If you’re only dipping your toes in the business, the Pro plan of $19 per user per month might be a little hefty. Although the plan offers substantial features, including private boards, time tracking, enhanced integrations, and formula columns, it could potentially stretch your budget.
monday.com User Reviews
monday.com holds a positive reputation among users.
Customers commend its versatile features, intuitive interface, and robust project management capabilities.
Users have frequently highlighted its simplicity and efficiency. One user, for instance, mentions it makes “Repetitive and manual tasks more efficient.”
Per the user reviews on the Capterra website, monday.com boasts an impressive rating of 4.6.
Another Reddit user discusses the pros of monday.com, saying they’re “satisfied with monday’s service over the past year.”
It goes without saying that users will always have specific preferences and feature requests. However, overall, monday.com receives praise for its intuitive design and team management optimization.
Conclusion: Why monday.com?
monday.com is more than a platform – it’s a partner in your success story, a trusted ally who understands your workflow and related needs.
Its intuitive design, integrations, and automations let you manage your team without fuss.
Besides, the positive feedback from a global community demonstrates the platform’s credibility.
Overall, its free plan is good enough to tackle your needs. You can, however, upgrade to a paid one to access more features.
Our handy guide on how to use monday.com will help you dive in, explore, and make your journey smoother.
It’s time to say goodbye to project management worries; monday.com does it all for you.
FAQs
How Easy Is It to Use monday.com?
monday.com has a user-friendly and modern spreadsheet-like interface. Users can view and engage with their data in a familiar spreadsheet format that offers functionalities like column customization, filtering, sorting, and advanced calculations.
This design simplifies data management, making monday.com an accessible and easy-to-use collaborative workspace, suitable for both newbies and experienced users.
Can monday.com Be Used for Personal Use?
Yes, monday.com can be used for personal tasks and goals. The versatile platform offers several features to create, organize, and track your objectives.
Can I Add Gmail to monday.com?
Yes, you can add Gmail to monday.com. The platform offers a seamless Gmail Integration. This lets you ensure everyone on the team is connected and on the same page, which makes project management hassle-free.
How Many Companies Use monday.com?
Predicting the precise number of companies might be a bit challenging. However, monday.com claims to have a user base of over 186,000 customers across 200 countries.
I’m founder of BizStack at Cagri Sarigoz LLC and a passionate advocate for entrepreneurs.
With over 14 years in tech, marketing, and AI, including my role as Head of SEO at CitizenShipper and co-founder of TaleBot at Intale AI, I’m dedicated to sharing genuine, useful product insights and tips.
At BizStack, I aim to cut through the digital noise to provide clear, actionable advice.
And more than all else, I’m a father to a (always) little girl and a husband.
Contact me at [email protected] for assistance.
Ana is a content writer at BizStack and ensures our content meets and goes beyond our readers’ expectations.
