Company | Don Johnston

Don Johnston, Inc. empowers educators with supplemental instruction and intervention solutions to help struggling learners build core literacy skills.

Foresight | Why We Chose @task

We didn’t have a project management solution before @task. We used Excel spreadsheets and magnet boards. When I started at Don Johnston, management was starting a process improvement initiative with documents called “work packages.” Basically, it was a document that contained related tasks and information about the tasks, duration, person responsible, etc. I thought that gathering this data was important, but kept asking, “How are we going to manage our process using paper documents?” They had no idea, so I started looking for a solution to help us manage our work packages electronically.

First, we wanted a solution that could track all the information provided in our work packages; second, we wanted to set task dependencies; and third, I wanted it to be centralized with all team members participating. I tried Copper, Basecamp, and Project Insight. I remember Copper and Basecamp had fewer features; Basecamp was more of calibration software and Copper was pretty bare bones. Project Insight was a lot more expensive.

Hindsight | Why @task was the Right Choice

The end-users really like @task because they have clear priorities and are no longer being constantly overbooked. Our timelines have started to become realistic because of the data provided by @task, which makes everyone happy. We also have fewer meetings, increased productivity, decreased middle management, and complete projects on time! Plus, it’s allowed us to really understand development cost and proactively identify risks. We’re moving away from reactionary project management!

@task really allows you to work smarter, not harder. I don’t know how myself, or other project managers on my team, could handle the workload without @task guiding the way—especially with cookie cutter projects. It takes me less than an hour to plan my next project, and I’m 99% confident of my due date. To have this confidence using Excel or a calendar would be impossible for me. Also, the amount of data you can obtain and reference allows you to make really educated decisions around timelines. Finally, because @task is a collaboration tool, we are no longer paying management to do data entry!