When thinking about project management, what often comes to mind?
Jokes. Yep, jokes. There’s a popular one that goes something like this:
How many project managers does it take to change a light bulb? None… they’re all still discussing the best way to do it.
No doubt, we love the project managers in our lives. They lay the critical groundwork necessary for teams to get things done. But there’s truth to that joke.
Whichever project management methodology a team follows (agile, lean, or waterfall), chances are the process, or software, that suits a project manager in one industry may not work as well for a project manager in another.
For instance, there are great software tools for assisting with workflow (Asana, Trello, Airtable), milestone creation (Zoho), task management (Basecamp, JIRA, or almost any tool), and invoicing (Stampli, Bill.com). Yet there hasn’t been a project management tool specific to data collection.
That is, until now.
We’re excited to formally introduce Jotform Tables. Now you can easily transform your form and survey data into an effective project management tool. Assign tasks, track your efforts over time, collaborate with your team, and — through an integration with Jotform’s Report Builder — visualize your project data in a meeting-ready report that keeps everyone on the same page.
Use cases for project management software
Strictly speaking, project management software enables organizations to efficiently perform the tasks necessary to produce a deliverable. The software is a vehicle for collaboration between stakeholders, and in addition to charting progress, housing documentation, facilitating schedules, managing budget, and ensuring quality, it aids planning at both the individual and team level.
For data collection using forms/surveys, a project management tool can provide just what you need to organize, track, and act on the information you receive. Here are just a few of the ways successful companies use project management software for data collection.
| Data Collection Project | Tasks |
|---|---|
| Marketing management | Event planning, case studies & testimonials, internal content requests |
| Financial management | Accounts receivable, accounts payable, payment integration |
| Qualitative/quantitative research initiatives | External/internal customer surveys, company performance tracking |
| Recruitment and hiring | Applicant tracking, task collaboration, team input & feedback |
| Registrations and appointment management | Office visits, office hours for students, webinar registrations |
The need for data collection is ubiquitous, and it reaches across industry, role, and job function. To manage these initiatives effectively, managers need software tools that are flexible, responsive, and innovative enough to facilitate the tasks at hand.
How Jotform Tables aids project management
For years, Jotform’s full-featured online form builder has been the go-to choice for data collection, offering multifaceted forms, surveys, and offline mobile capabilities.
Jotform Tables continues that tradition. Jotform Tables makes managing the data you collect easier, first by automatically converting your form or survey information into a table. You can then manage and share collected data, collaborate on tasks, and create customized views that enhance your productivity. You’ll be able to chart the progress of submitted data through a Calendar view that gives you high-level information on progress, and a Cards view that provides nitty-gritty details.
With Jotform Tables, you won’t have to cobble together separate software tools to manage your collected data. You can search for and group submissions, apply formulas, and run complex filters on submitted data. And with the project management power of Jotform Tables, you can now handle most of your tasks within the same interface.
Take a look at the ways Jotform Tables can assist in the planning and collaboration necessary to manage your projects.
Project planning features
Progressive forms/surveys
Jotform’s data-collection templates are progressive, so when a user updates a previously submitted form later on with additional information, that new information populates on the administrator’s end.
Jotform Tables will capture any new data submitted in real time: Your data will always reflect the most recent collected information so you can pull reports and assign follow-up tasks with confidence.
Applications: Qualitative/quantitative research initiatives, marketing management, registrations and appointment management
Data flexibility
In Jotform Tables, you can select the right column type for the responses you receive. You can collect information that’s beyond the scope of alphanumerics in a snap. And Jotform Tables helps you reference all of the associated details for a given entry in one place.
For example, columns in Jotform Tables can handle checkboxes, file and video uploads, and signatures — all with the most popular functions and logic.
Applications: Marketing management, financial management, recruitment and hiring, registrations and appointment management
Filters
Filter your submission data in Jotform Tables to easily identify trends and organize tasks for streamlined management.
Create as many filters as you like. Jotform Tables offers the flexibility you need to manage your submitted data like a pro.
Applications: Marketing management, financial management, qualitative/quantitative research initiatives, recruitment and hiring, registrations and appointment management
Formulas
Use formulas in Jotform Tables to automate your workflow and transform your data into a powerful and insightful reporting engine.
For instance, create a new column where you want your formula result to appear, and choose a formula for your selection. You can select the columns you want to factor into your formula and choose from basic operative, text, array, numeric, and more functions.
Applications: Marketing management, financial management, qualitative/quantitative research initiatives, recruitment and hiring, registrations and appointment management
Collaboration features
Access settings
Boost your team’s workflow by granting access to all stakeholders and assigning task ownership in Jotform Tables. Stakeholder access is flexible; you can customize it to suit your team’s needs.
You can use Jotform Tables when you’re interviewing a candidate, and team members have individual responsibilities in the interview process, or when multiple tasks need to be assigned to teammates in the lead-up to an event. These are only a couple of the uses for Jotform Tables.
Applications: Marketing management, financial management, qualitative/quantitative research initiatives, recruitment and hiring, registrations and appointment management
Single, Cards, and Calendar views
Need to drill down into specific details for a particular entry instead of searching and filtering the entire table? Highlight a project entry row, click on the blue View button, and get a holistic Single view of all the entry details in snapshot format.
Cards view takes the Single view to a new level, giving you granular detail on each entry within your table. With the entries side by side, you can see the information you need to determine how tasks are progressing.
Calendar view offers daily, weekly, and monthly snapshots of the dates associated with your entries and tasks — handy when referencing those upcoming deliverables and due dates.
Applications: Marketing management, financial management, qualitative/quantitative research initiatives, recruitment and hiring, registrations and appointment management
Invoicing/time tracking
Manage the payments you collect more efficiently by viewing form submission data in a table. Monthly rollups become a breeze.
Track the time your team, employees, or other organization members spend on projects with multiple views and reports that effectively show trends over time.
Applications: Marketing management, financial management, registrations and appointment management
Connect feature
Connect multiple tables. Link relevant data in one table to another so you can jump quickly into details across projects or tasks. With Jotform Tables, you can also connect your table to data from other tabs of the table in which you’re working.
While in the table/tab to which you’d like to add data, click Add to create a new column, then click Connect. Name your column, and specify the table, tab, and column that you want to retrieve data from.
In your newly setup column, you can click into the cells to select the data you’ve connected (i.e., the names assigned to row entries of project tasks or other data you’d like to import for context).
Applications: Marketing management, financial management, qualitative/quantitative research initiatives, registrations and appointment management
Jotform solutions
Finally, you can turn the data you’re collecting into high-powered visual insights by leveraging Jotform’s Report Builder without leaving Jotform Tables. Sharing the progress and next steps of your project has never been easier with the interchangeability of the Jotform suite of tools.
By using Jotform for data collection, Jotform Tables for categorization, and Report Builder for auto-generated data visualization, you have a one-stop shop to handle your project with just a few clicks.
Applications: Marketing management, financial management, qualitative/quantitative research initiatives, recruitment and hiring, registrations and appointment management
How Jotform Tables is supercharging project management
Already, more than 20,000 professionals are using Jotform Tables to effectively manage their projects. Our free project management templates help users organize and manage all their projects in one place. You can customize templates by adding columns, labels, tabs, and more to suit your needs.
If you’re unsure where to begin, we’ve put together some templates to help you get started with Jotform Tables. Plus, with Jotform Mobile Forms, you can populate your project management template without internet access — providing the flexibility you need.
Here’s a closer look at how Jotform Tables is being used to manage three different projects
Project 1: Healthcare Practice
Who are they?
A wellness center serving a county in the southeast needs to collect member information and track visits to the center.
How are they using Jotform Tables?
Currently using Jotform Tables as a real-time date & time tracker for their program to double-check their entries and ensure accuracy.
Their top Jotform Tables benefits
- The ability to export and manipulate data for reports
- The ability to see user entries immediately
- The ability to edit user information on the fly
Project 2: Retail company
Who are they?
A 30-year-old health and comfort footwear distributor needs a management solution that collects orders and integrates with other tools.
How are they using Jotform Tables?
Currently using Jotform Tables to aggregate and manage order data in addition to handling gift cards and vouchers. They also update submissions regularly when vouchers are redeemed.
Their top Jotform Tables benefits
- The ability to view collected data in different ways
- The sort and filter options
- Integrations with other apps
Project 3: Religious institution
Who are they?
A synagogue in the northeast needs to collect RSVPs for events and take online payments.
How are they using Jotform Tables?
Currently using Jotform Tables to keep track of payments, facilitate customer support, and manage their event information.
Their top Jotform Tables benefits
- Ease of use — they don’t have to create a new Excel file when they can find and control all information in the same place
- The ability to move/add columns
- The ability to add up totals
Use Jotform Tables to manage your next data-collection project!
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