How do you organize and keep track of multiple (many) projects

Question

As a contractor, out-sourcer and shareware author,I have about 5-10 projects going on at any one time. Each project has a todo list, requirements need to be communicated to other outsources and employees, status needs to be given to clients, and developer's questions need to be answered.

Sometimes it is too much... but then I realize that I'm not very organized and there has to be a better way.

What is your better way?

How do you keep track of requirements for multiple projects, assign work to multiple developers, obtain and give status for multiple projects to multiple clients?

What tools do you use? What processes?

Solution 1

You should have a look at No Kahuna Easy to use; Free and Pay versions; active, responsive development team.

Solution 2

This may sound really old-tech, but a different set of notepads for each project. Now, hear me out.

I know that notepads aren't searchable, and they aren't indexed, etc. But they will have meeting dates and times (if you've been taking notes during meetings, even on the phone), they have the ability of never crashing, and they're future proof in the event of wondering what you did a few years back but can't remember if the old project files made it to your new hard drive.

But the biggest reason is CYA-- logbooks and notepads can be used in the event of someone suing you as legal documents, especially if you've been diligent about dates. It might also work during patent discussions as well, showing a clear date and time of ideas being made. During another life, I worked in biology labs, and electronic record keeping, because it's so fickle, wasn't allowed for the legal reasons of being able to show that the work you did was your own. That attitude has permeated my own project notetaking, and helping to keep track of everything I need to get done.

Solution 3

tools are not the answer, unless you already have the knowledge, organization, and self-discipline to use them well. i highly recommend Getting Things Done

Solution 4

If you are into Agile methods (or even if not) you could try some of the Agile tools out there. Look in http://www.agile-tools.net/ for some comparisons. I use xplanner at work where we coordinate requirements and work over iterations among several teams. It has its quirks but it generaly gets the work done and allows for some useful agile structure. I am sure some other will have preferences for more mature tools.

Trac (as Mark Roddy mentioned) is also nice, because it integrates a wiki, task and defect management, so it can be an interesting tool if you have none of those already in place.

Solution 5

We have been using FogBugz for managing several projects (10+) and clients (20+) for more than 4 years.

We have a project for each product and another project for each client. In this way I can control the requirements for each product and the pending activities related to each client.

View more solutions

Comments

[Jason]

I've read it, and it is priceless... it has helped me tremendously, but it doesn't scale to 10+ projects.

[Steven A. Lowe]

@Jason: really? i wonder why, the method should scale to infinity. Email me to discuss if you like maybe i'm overlooking something...

[bukzor]

It took me a good while to realize that you're talking about a literal notebook: a bunch of paper bound to a cover with glue.

[Fil]

The site returns: "Service is no longer available" :/ It seams after 10th february 2014. That's the risk to rely upon web services :P That's how it was the home page before the service went out: web.archive.org/web/20140210135137/http://nokahuna.com