Web design, as you know, is a give-and-take proposition. Your client gives feedback and criticism and, well…you take it. But managing a web design project doesn’t have to be all pain and no gain – in fact, if you use the right tools, you’ll find that it can be a much smoother journey than you’ve experienced in the past.

Don’t believe us? Good, because we’ll use your skepticism as an opportunity to show you that there are better ways to handle web design projects, even if it seems like there are no solutions out there that can possibly make every project go off without a hitch. While these three tools don’t promise you that much, they do promise some great solutions for web design project management that you’ll find hard to resist:

Tool #1: Google Documents

One of the best ways to share documents for free (after all, who doesn’t have a Google account of some sort?), Google Documents is not only good for copywriters and other creators of words, but it can be great for web design projects as well. It’s a great way to collaborate with clients since many of them like the convenience of Google’s simple interaction system and one-click access – and as we know, anything that’s good for clients is generally good for project managers as well.

Keep in mind that the range of documents you share via Google Docs is wide-ranging. It’s not just Word Documents; don’t forget about spreadsheets, PowerPoints, and, well, just about anything else you can think to share as it relates to your web design project. When you pair Google Docs with everything else you might handle via Google (say, Gmail and Google+), you start to realize that there’s very little you can’t accomplish by using Google as a platform for sharing and interacting with employees and clients.

Tool #2: Plaxo

If you’re someone who works with a lot of freelance web designers, then it’s important that you keep your contacts well-organized in order to ensure your project goes off without a hitch. Plaxo is a great contacts list option available online, especially if you have a lot of web-based connections that you need to keep stored.

Tool #3: PHPCollab

While this tool might fit the bill more appropriately for web developers, it’s no secret that developers and designers often find themselves in the same boat when it comes to the problems they share. That’s why it’s important to have a tool ready to go in case you need to have some PHP code ready to go and interact between designers and developers in order to end up with a result that your client enjoys.

If your team works on a system in which web designers simply “feed” web developers their assignments, you’ll at least find that your web designers could still end up using this software to some extent. Besides, if you’re managing projects from beginning to end, you’re the one who needs to know PHPCollab, not your designers.

James Cofflin is a marketing strategist for an agile software development NYC software consulting professional at Arcisphere Technologies.