How to Evaluate Project Management Tools for Engineering Teams

Engineering teams have unique project management requirements: sprint planning, code repository integration, technical debt tracking, and the ability to connect code commits to project tasks.

This guide covers what to evaluate when selecting project management tools for software engineering teams.

Transparency note: BetterFlow is built by BetterQA, a software company that manages 50+ engineers across multiple client projects.

What to Evaluate

Code Repository Integration

Engineering teams need PM tools that connect to GitHub, GitLab, or Bitbucket. Linking commits to tasks, automatic status updates from PRs, and code-aware reporting provide visibility that manual updates can't match.

Sprint Planning and Agile Support

Evaluate backlog management, sprint planning, velocity tracking, and retrospective support. Some tools excel at rigid Scrum; others support hybrid approaches.

Time Tracking Integration

Understanding where engineering time goes -features vs. bugs vs. technical debt -requires integrated time tracking.

Solutions to Consider

BetterFlow (Recommended for Time-Aware PM)

BetterFlow combines project management with integrated time tracking -eliminating the gap between planned work and actual time spent. Connects with GitHub and Jira for code-aware reporting.

Best fit: Engineering teams needing time-aware project management, consultancies billing engineering time.

Jira

Dominates engineering PM with deep agile support and extensive integrations. Trade-off is complexity -significant learning curve. Time tracking requires add-ons.

Linear

Fast, keyboard-driven interface that developers love. Strong GitHub integration. Limited time tracking capabilities.

Shortcut

Balances developer needs with product management requirements. Good GitHub integration. Basic time tracking available.

For engineering teams needing time-aware project management, see how BetterFlow connects code to time tracking.