Is Notion really a project management software?
Is Notion really a project management software?
In the world of project management, finding the right software that aligns with your team's needs can be a challenging task.
Notion, a versatile productivity tool, has gained popularity as a potential solution. It has already been adopted by many solo entrepreneurs and teams to keep track of their work, organize projects, plan tasks, and centralize information.
But using Notion for project management can be tricky. Its flexibility can become a weakness when trying to efficiently organize teamwork.
We have been there and faced some difficulties. In this article, we will explore Notion's capabilities, with a focus on its project management features, to help you find out if Notion is the right tool for you and your team.
Understanding Notion
Notion is an online tool that caters to individuals, teams, small businesses, and enterprises.
It prides itself on being versatile, accommodating various use cases beyond project management. Students, freelancers, and businesses alike can leverage Notion for note-taking, task management, communication, and sharing updates. The tool offers cross-device synchronization, ensuring consistent access to information across web browsers, desktop apps, and mobile devices.
Its free plan has contributed to its success, supported by a huge community of fans and influencers who publicly share how they use Notion.
Notion's Project Management Capabilities
Notion does offer several features that can support project management efforts.
It provides a robust wiki functionality, enabling users to create and organize various project-related content in a centralized location.
Additionally, the tool facilitates project and task management through customizable workflows, real-time collaboration, and a range of task views.
Let’s have a glimpse on project management features provided by Notion.
📃 Collaborative Documentation and Knowledge Sharing
Notion excels in facilitating collaborative documentation and knowledge sharing. The tool enables teams to create and maintain an extensive knowledge base, centralizing project-related information, guidelines, and best practices. This feature promotes transparency, fosters knowledge transfer, and enhances team alignment, ultimately contributing to smoother project execution.
✅ Task Management
Notion offers a range of task management capabilities, allowing teams to track and prioritize their work effectively.
With features like checklists, due dates, reminders, and kanban boards, users can visualize their tasks, set deadlines, and stay organized.
Moreover, the tool supports task dependencies and provides flexible views to accommodate different project management methodologies, such as Agile or Waterfall.
Custom views allow users to organize projects and tasks according to their needs, helping them focus on what really matters.
🎯 Customizability and Personalization
A significant advantage of Notion lies in its customizability and personalization options.
Users have the freedom to design their project management workspace according to their unique requirements and preferences. They can create templates, define workflows, and tailor the tool to align with their specific project management processes. This flexibility allows teams to adapt Notion to their existing workflows, promoting a sense of ownership and efficiency.
🔄 Various Integrations
Notion's integration capabilities contribute to its appeal as a project management tool.
It supports integrations with popular apps and services like Google Drive, Slack, Figma and GitHub, allowing users to consolidate their project-related information.
However, most of these integrations have limitations. For instance, Figma's integration with Notion only permits you to preview a Figma project within Notion. It does not incorporate the entire creation workflow, such as versions and comments.
🆕 Notion Projects : a new way to manage projects as a team?
Notion has recently taken a big step in its project management positioning by launching Notion Projects.
Notion Projects is not really a new product or features : it’s a way to use Notion for project management, that leverages AI to automate some tasks. Notion Projects offers new templates for project management or sprint planning, and setup flows to accelerate onboarding. New features have also be deployed, such as unique IDs for tasks, page level notifications, subtasks and dependancies, etc.
You can see a presentation of Notion Projects in the video below.
If you are familiar with Notion, you will understand that Notion Projects is not revolutionary.
Notion Projects is still Notion, with its pros... and cons.
Notion’s limitations for managing projects efficiently
So, what is wrong with Notion’s vision of project management?
If you have tried to setup a serious project management tool in Notion, with multiples user roles and various project types and phases, you might recognize yourself in the following situations.
We have inserted some quotes, extracted from a survey that we conducted about project management tools. They speak for themselves.
The flexibility dilemma
One of the main criticisms of Notion as a project management software lies in its extensive flexibility.
While versatility can be an advantage, it can also lead to challenges. Notion's open and unstructured nature can make it difficult for teams to initiate and organize their project management space effectively. Unlike dedicated project management tools, Notion requires users to invest time and effort in customizing and configuring the tool according to their specific needs.
It's easy to get lost with all the things you can do with Notion (a full-stack developer)
Most of the project management tools aren't clear enough, they're too flexible or not flexible enough. Notion, for example, has a tree structure that's too customizable (a project manager)
Notion is sometimes complex for simple tasks (a webdesigner)
Potential for workflow breakage
Another drawback of Notion's flexibility is the risk of breaking databases and workflow.
The tool's lack of restrictions can lead to accidental modifications or unintended consequences. In contrast to more structured project management tools, Notion's open environment may not provide the necessary guardrails to prevent user errors and maintain data integrity.
What I don't like about Notion is that the blocks are easily editable. You can easily "break" a page by changing the type of a block (a developer)
Information organization challenges
Notion's approach to data management, where diverse information types coexist within a single page, can be overwhelming for project management purposes.
The absence of strict categorization and structured templates can hinder efficient organization and hinder the creation of clear hierarchies and relationships between project elements. This lack of structure may lead to difficulties in locating and managing project-related data effectively.
Notion is great, but it's easy to end up with infernally long and unstructured pages. (a QA engineer)
The project management pages are not very intuitive, and it quickly becomes complicated to streamline tracking efficiently (a COO)
Limitations in communication and user management.
Effective collaboration and communication are crucial for successful project management.
Unfortunately, Notion falls short in terms of user permission management and notification settings. All team members can comment on and edit the same pages, and notifications cannot be finely tuned. Unlike other management tools, Notion does not have an inbox where you can easily find all the information that you may have missed.
The tool's limited capabilities in this regard may impede efficient team coordination, especially for larger projects or organizations with complex workflows.
Data visualization and reporting
Data visualization, charts, and reports play a vital role in monitoring project progress and deriving actionable insights.
Regrettably, Notion lacks built-in features for generating comprehensive data visualizations and reports. This limitation may hinder the ability to analyze project performance, make informed decisions, and communicate progress to stakeholders effectively.
Since Notion is not basically a project management tool, certain things like metrics generation are missing. (a Tech lead)
Lack of specific features for project management
Even though Notion recently added new features like subtasks and project dependencies, it is obvious that Notion was not meant to manage tasks and projects in the first place. This is the weakness of generic tools: they do many things well, but they cannot beat specialized software.
Notion users (including us) often report some lacks in Notion features for project management:
It is impossible to set up a multi-project view, unless you use a single database for all projects (which is rarely possible)
You can not duplicate a task from one board to another
Notion does not include native time tracking
To get simple stats, you need to create complex formulas
etc.
Finally, can you manage projets with Notion?
Yes. And No.
So, whether Notion is the right project management tool for you depends on what your team needs and likes.
It's pretty flexible, with cool collaborative documentation and task management features.
But, it's not so good when it comes to organizing data, managing user permissions, or visualizing data.
If your team is into customization, collaboration, and integration, then Notion could be a really useful addition to your project management toolbox. But, if you're looking for more structured project management features and advanced reporting, then maybe a dedicated project management software would be a better choice.
But… which one ?
Clickup? Monday? They may be even messier that Notion, and more difficult to setup.
Jira? Well… let’s face it, the UX is horrible.
Trello? Asana? Boring.
At least, that’s what we experienced.
Meet Figgle, the future of project management
So we ended up by creating our own project management tool, and it’s called Figgle.
The beta version will soon be available. It’s been made for people like you and us, who manage projects and build great products. It provides a simple, flexible yet structured place for keeping track of work as a team. Additionally, it integrates seamlessly with Figma and GitHub, allowing you to follow everything that happens on your project such as comments, updates or pull requests without leaving your task list.
Sounds pretty, right? Sign Up!
In the world of project management, finding the right software that aligns with your team's needs can be a challenging task.
Notion, a versatile productivity tool, has gained popularity as a potential solution. It has already been adopted by many solo entrepreneurs and teams to keep track of their work, organize projects, plan tasks, and centralize information.
But using Notion for project management can be tricky. Its flexibility can become a weakness when trying to efficiently organize teamwork.
We have been there and faced some difficulties. In this article, we will explore Notion's capabilities, with a focus on its project management features, to help you find out if Notion is the right tool for you and your team.
Understanding Notion
Notion is an online tool that caters to individuals, teams, small businesses, and enterprises.
It prides itself on being versatile, accommodating various use cases beyond project management. Students, freelancers, and businesses alike can leverage Notion for note-taking, task management, communication, and sharing updates. The tool offers cross-device synchronization, ensuring consistent access to information across web browsers, desktop apps, and mobile devices.
Its free plan has contributed to its success, supported by a huge community of fans and influencers who publicly share how they use Notion.
Notion's Project Management Capabilities
Notion does offer several features that can support project management efforts.
It provides a robust wiki functionality, enabling users to create and organize various project-related content in a centralized location.
Additionally, the tool facilitates project and task management through customizable workflows, real-time collaboration, and a range of task views.
Let’s have a glimpse on project management features provided by Notion.
📃 Collaborative Documentation and Knowledge Sharing
Notion excels in facilitating collaborative documentation and knowledge sharing. The tool enables teams to create and maintain an extensive knowledge base, centralizing project-related information, guidelines, and best practices. This feature promotes transparency, fosters knowledge transfer, and enhances team alignment, ultimately contributing to smoother project execution.
✅ Task Management
Notion offers a range of task management capabilities, allowing teams to track and prioritize their work effectively.
With features like checklists, due dates, reminders, and kanban boards, users can visualize their tasks, set deadlines, and stay organized.
Moreover, the tool supports task dependencies and provides flexible views to accommodate different project management methodologies, such as Agile or Waterfall.
Custom views allow users to organize projects and tasks according to their needs, helping them focus on what really matters.
🎯 Customizability and Personalization
A significant advantage of Notion lies in its customizability and personalization options.
Users have the freedom to design their project management workspace according to their unique requirements and preferences. They can create templates, define workflows, and tailor the tool to align with their specific project management processes. This flexibility allows teams to adapt Notion to their existing workflows, promoting a sense of ownership and efficiency.
🔄 Various Integrations
Notion's integration capabilities contribute to its appeal as a project management tool.
It supports integrations with popular apps and services like Google Drive, Slack, Figma and GitHub, allowing users to consolidate their project-related information.
However, most of these integrations have limitations. For instance, Figma's integration with Notion only permits you to preview a Figma project within Notion. It does not incorporate the entire creation workflow, such as versions and comments.
🆕 Notion Projects : a new way to manage projects as a team?
Notion has recently taken a big step in its project management positioning by launching Notion Projects.
Notion Projects is not really a new product or features : it’s a way to use Notion for project management, that leverages AI to automate some tasks. Notion Projects offers new templates for project management or sprint planning, and setup flows to accelerate onboarding. New features have also be deployed, such as unique IDs for tasks, page level notifications, subtasks and dependancies, etc.
You can see a presentation of Notion Projects in the video below.
If you are familiar with Notion, you will understand that Notion Projects is not revolutionary.
Notion Projects is still Notion, with its pros... and cons.
Notion’s limitations for managing projects efficiently
So, what is wrong with Notion’s vision of project management?
If you have tried to setup a serious project management tool in Notion, with multiples user roles and various project types and phases, you might recognize yourself in the following situations.
We have inserted some quotes, extracted from a survey that we conducted about project management tools. They speak for themselves.
The flexibility dilemma
One of the main criticisms of Notion as a project management software lies in its extensive flexibility.
While versatility can be an advantage, it can also lead to challenges. Notion's open and unstructured nature can make it difficult for teams to initiate and organize their project management space effectively. Unlike dedicated project management tools, Notion requires users to invest time and effort in customizing and configuring the tool according to their specific needs.
It's easy to get lost with all the things you can do with Notion (a full-stack developer)
Most of the project management tools aren't clear enough, they're too flexible or not flexible enough. Notion, for example, has a tree structure that's too customizable (a project manager)
Notion is sometimes complex for simple tasks (a webdesigner)
Potential for workflow breakage
Another drawback of Notion's flexibility is the risk of breaking databases and workflow.
The tool's lack of restrictions can lead to accidental modifications or unintended consequences. In contrast to more structured project management tools, Notion's open environment may not provide the necessary guardrails to prevent user errors and maintain data integrity.
What I don't like about Notion is that the blocks are easily editable. You can easily "break" a page by changing the type of a block (a developer)
Information organization challenges
Notion's approach to data management, where diverse information types coexist within a single page, can be overwhelming for project management purposes.
The absence of strict categorization and structured templates can hinder efficient organization and hinder the creation of clear hierarchies and relationships between project elements. This lack of structure may lead to difficulties in locating and managing project-related data effectively.
Notion is great, but it's easy to end up with infernally long and unstructured pages. (a QA engineer)
The project management pages are not very intuitive, and it quickly becomes complicated to streamline tracking efficiently (a COO)
Limitations in communication and user management.
Effective collaboration and communication are crucial for successful project management.
Unfortunately, Notion falls short in terms of user permission management and notification settings. All team members can comment on and edit the same pages, and notifications cannot be finely tuned. Unlike other management tools, Notion does not have an inbox where you can easily find all the information that you may have missed.
The tool's limited capabilities in this regard may impede efficient team coordination, especially for larger projects or organizations with complex workflows.
Data visualization and reporting
Data visualization, charts, and reports play a vital role in monitoring project progress and deriving actionable insights.
Regrettably, Notion lacks built-in features for generating comprehensive data visualizations and reports. This limitation may hinder the ability to analyze project performance, make informed decisions, and communicate progress to stakeholders effectively.
Since Notion is not basically a project management tool, certain things like metrics generation are missing. (a Tech lead)
Lack of specific features for project management
Even though Notion recently added new features like subtasks and project dependencies, it is obvious that Notion was not meant to manage tasks and projects in the first place. This is the weakness of generic tools: they do many things well, but they cannot beat specialized software.
Notion users (including us) often report some lacks in Notion features for project management:
It is impossible to set up a multi-project view, unless you use a single database for all projects (which is rarely possible)
You can not duplicate a task from one board to another
Notion does not include native time tracking
To get simple stats, you need to create complex formulas
etc.
Finally, can you manage projets with Notion?
Yes. And No.
So, whether Notion is the right project management tool for you depends on what your team needs and likes.
It's pretty flexible, with cool collaborative documentation and task management features.
But, it's not so good when it comes to organizing data, managing user permissions, or visualizing data.
If your team is into customization, collaboration, and integration, then Notion could be a really useful addition to your project management toolbox. But, if you're looking for more structured project management features and advanced reporting, then maybe a dedicated project management software would be a better choice.
But… which one ?
Clickup? Monday? They may be even messier that Notion, and more difficult to setup.
Jira? Well… let’s face it, the UX is horrible.
Trello? Asana? Boring.
At least, that’s what we experienced.
Meet Figgle, the future of project management
So we ended up by creating our own project management tool, and it’s called Figgle.
The beta version will soon be available. It’s been made for people like you and us, who manage projects and build great products. It provides a simple, flexible yet structured place for keeping track of work as a team. Additionally, it integrates seamlessly with Figma and GitHub, allowing you to follow everything that happens on your project such as comments, updates or pull requests without leaving your task list.
Sounds pretty, right? Sign Up!
By Figgle
By Figgle
April 12, 2024
April 12, 2024
