Project Management remains in it's own category of systems and if you're looking for any type of tracking employee activity, client requests, tasks, etc., a project management system really needs to be used from the start.

When it comes to functionality for nearly anything that is considered "project management", it needs to be built into the core system and built solid. Everything important the site's functionality revolves around it being reliable and secure. Trying to force a content management system to accomplish the same goals, while it can be done, is really forcing a lacking system in this area to perform beyond what it was built for.

Strong project management systems include a significant number of features including scheduling tasks, creating ticket items for completion, reminder emails, assigning people or team members to various aspects, are all sought after items for projects.

Ease of use, summary statistics, and efficiency are focal points. The system should be configured to give you a general idea of what work is left at a quick glance, be easy to traverse, and reduce the amount of work and inter-office emails. Localizing all notes and points to one place should require less double checking between many people through dozens of emails, calls, and conversations. Knowing just what's ahead of you and not having to backtrack constantly will improve productivity. This is a system chosen to make life easier and work more efficient.

ActiveCollab is a project management system from the ground up and although it's a licensed product, they provide full source code making it easier to customize. There are some limitations to styling, but largely unnoticable after the features in the system start to show their true value. Planning, configuration, and playing, yes playing, with this system are requried in order to really make it work for you.