Task management methodology has come about due to people wanting to stay organised, increase productivity and work faster.
All projects however big or small are made up of a bunch of tasks to reach your defined goal.
Projects start with planning, the ability to track steps, test that you are achieving what you want, monitor how things are progressing, and reporting how successful the project has been and identify improvements. Task management can help with all these stages, so you complete a project in the most efficient way.
What is Task Management?
Task management is an essential component of any project management breaking down sections into individual tasks and then sequential tasks. Think of tasks is individual units of work.
Task management is a pretty simple but effective way of breaking complex projects into smaller simple, and more manageable tasks. Helping teams work more productively and helps coordinate tasks and increase accountability and performance.
Focus on one task at a time rather than dip in and out of many tasks and look at our task management checklist.
Task management started out with a simple pen and paper and the creation of a basic method of a to do list. Most of us still jot down tasks on post-it notes to remind us of something, just like our grocery shopping list. The sole purpose is to remind us what we want to accomplish and not forget something important.
Task Management Methodology
There is various task management methodology that helps keep track of what you need to do and help time management.
Here are some of the ways you can manage tasks and you can identify what methods would suit your work style.
- Spreadsheets: Spreadsheets can be a simple way to track team’s tasks and a powerful tool for task management. Create different sheets for each different task and share them across the team.
Negative is you don’t always know where each person is within their set tasks. - Checklists:Plan and manage tasks in a better way with a guided checklist. Checklist prevent failure and mistakes.
- Kanban: Kanban is a Japanese lean methodology which is used to manage and improve workflow directly using Kanban boards. These boards give you visual process management system.
This method can be used simply with post-it notes, or a simple whiteboard to organise tasks by order and as tasks progress, move them along.
Kanban is commonly used in productivity apps you’ll definitely recognise, like Trello, and in software development such as Scrum. - Getting Things Done (GTD): Getting Things Done. (GTD) move tasks out of your mind by documenting them externally to free up mind space.
- Agile: Planning and guidance in the project processes. An iterative approach using short cycles called “sprints” to focus on continuous improvement.
Scrum is a subset of Agile.
All can help you increase productivity and help you get more done.
Effective Task Management Software
Task management focuses on how tasks are organised, prioritising them by importance, setting deadlines, and delegating tasks to the best person.
- Scheduling: Focus on the priority tasks. Deadline reminders and notifications.
- Prioritising: Not all tasks on the to-do list require the same level of attention
- Allocation: Delegating to the best person for the task.
- Communication: Effective Communication channels know where everyone is at any one time within the process.
Checkify task management software lets you work with your teams and keep track of progress. Documenting your processes and having a detailed task tracking system. Offering a step by step guide to how the best way you can complete the given task.
Collaborate with your team members and invite new people to join, including customers and clients. Allocate tasks, assign priorities, set clear deadlines, and ensure all your processes are running well and on the right track.
We underestimate the value of better task management on productivity and the reduction of mistakes and errors.