Chances are you work on one or more teams. Chances are you exchange 10-100 emails a week with people on those teams to get the tasks done that need to happen that week. Maybe you’ve looked into project management applications but they are either too bulky, too pricy or too confusing to learn. Orchestra is a fantastically simple collaboration app that is lightweight, free and simple to learn.

I’m currently using Wunderlist (which I’ve written about here) to share lists with teams. Where Orchestra separates itself from Wunderlist is that you can chat with your team within each task (ex. Task “Create connect cards for this weekend’s service”. Within that task someone could ask “Is that on card stock or regular paper?”. You wouldn’t believe how fast the chat is either (from both the web app and the iPhone app).

Orchestra can help your team in the following ways:

1. Increase efficiency: creating, delegating and checking progress on projects is time consuming. Orchestra streamlines this process so you spend more time doing tasks and less time organizing tasks.
2. Keep everyone in the loop: I’ve worked lead on many projects where I’m wondering if the tasks I delegated are getting done. I’ve also been in many supporting roles where my job hinges on someone doing theirs. Orchestra keeps the entire project team in the loop to track progress. Plus, you won’t have to be sending out probe emails wondering where things are at.
3. Less likely to drop the ball: With team collaboration you have accountability. When you are delegated a task and your entire team knows it, you’re more likely to complete that task well and on time.

If your team isn’t utilizing a project management application than I would suggest starting with Orchestra. It’s a great place to start learning to collaborate online…and it’s free! App Storm does a great review here.

Question: How does your team manage projects/tasks?