Definition: What is task management?
Task management is the way organizations systematically plan work, set priorities and monitor task progress. Tasks are often assigned to fixed processes or projects. The aim is to prioritize them effectively, delegate them and complete them on time.
The challenge is to have an adequate overview and use resources as optimally as possible. This means both teams and individuals can work productively, in an organized manner, with clear responsibilities and realistic schedules.
How does personal task management manifest itself?
There are many different preferences, methods and tools for organizing, prioritizing and completing tasks in a timely manner. Tools may include calendars, digital boards, Kanban views, to-do lists or whiteboards. Various approaches, like timeboxing, are employed to organize tasks and stay organized.
It is always important that the approach works individually and that it also favors teamwork on the other. A brief example: A team member may plan his tasks using a digital task board. This gives him a good overview and creates transparency for his colleagues.
Task management vs. project management
Tasks may or may not belong to projects. To ensure that projects are implemented successfully and do not experience unnecessary delays, those responsible must spend time planning all of the tasks and their implementation. Project management software can support this effort.
“Task management is fundamental for both standard processes and project management.”
Tasks, workflows and processes
At work, many things build on each other: tasks are related to one another. This drives workflows and processes. As such, task management interacts strongly with workflow management and process management.
Here is a brief overview:
- Tasks: They form the smallest unit and represent defined activities to be completed and assigned to a specific goal. There is usually a responsible person and a deadline attached to the task.
- Workflows: These consist of a sequence of tasks that are completed according to a specific pattern. Workflows outline how tasks are related to each other and how they are carried out. Good workflows promote collaboration and goal-oriented interdependencies between different tasks.
- Processes: Processes are made up of several workflows. They are a recurring and holistic sequence of work steps that aim to achieve a specific result. Rules, standards or activities such as process automation help here.
Examples of good and bad task management
The key word when it comes to successfully handling tasks is “management”. Targeted management makes a decisive difference in the efficiency of a team.
Example: Hardware for onboarding
The following example contrasts poor task management with efficient and optimized management. The results in the onboarding experience are clear.
Poor task management in onboarding
An IT employee is informed by email that they need to procure the necessary hardware for a new employee. However, the task was created so far in advance that it was lost in the employee’s inbox. It was not marked as “Important” or “Urgent” and no separate discussion took place about it.
To make matters worse, the assignment of the task made little sense. The IT employee had little experience in this area and was already very busy with other tasks. The employee was frustrated. The task should have been assigned to an experienced and less busy colleague.
Now, it’s time for the onboarding and all the required items are not available. The newly hired person has to begin onboarding without the tools required for his work.
How to make onboarding better with task management
Task management thrives on structure and planning – and the IT employee’s team takes this into account. Before he was assigned the task, a team meeting was held. All members briefly went through their current tasks, including their importance, urgency and prioritization.
Based on this, he was assigned the task with a generous lead time. He added the task to his personal task board, which he keeps a constant eye on. The task description contained all the important details. The task had deadlines for all subtasks and contacts in case anything is unclear or help is needed.
The IT employee was able to prepare the onboarding in a structured, calm and conscientious manner. There were no “nasty surprises” to fear. The new colleague arrived to find the hardware ready and available on their first day.
Important components of a task
Individual tasks are more than just a bullet point on a list that needs to be ticked off. The details make all the difference: they vary depending on the complexity and depth of the planning. They provide structure and organizational clarity.
“If a task has all the important components and sufficient information, it tends to be completed more quickly and with the desired result.”
Information is – at a higher level – the main component of a task. In this sense, the requirements of task management overlap strongly with those of information management. The task details can ultimately be broken down and categorized in a meaningful way, as shown below.
Title and description
The title should be as meaningful as possible. It should indicate the context and not raise any questions for the person responsible. In addition, the description must be as clear and concise as possible and contain the desired goal.
Responsibilities
The task must first be clearly assigned to a person with primary responsibility. This may also be several team members at once. Stakeholders should also be informed about the status of the task in question. In addition, there are often dependencies, so that communication with those responsible for other tasks is necessary.
Priority (importance)
Task priority is a simple clear classification of how important the respective task is. It helps those responsible with planning and deciding how much concentration to devote to the task. A traffic light system or gradations from priority 1 to 5 are therefore possible.
Current processing status
Having task progress defined is an important step. However, it is even more effective and time-saving if the processing status is displayed directly.
These assignments, for example, make sense:
- “Planned”
- “In progress”
- “Under review”
- “Revision”
- “Completed”
Time period and effort
For most tasks, the end date – often called the deadline or due date – plays an important role. Less attention is usually paid to the start date of a task, but it is more important in terms of duration.
Those who focus exclusively on the end date have to estimate for themselves how much effort the task requires. It makes it hard to consider room for disruptive factors and are more likely to miss the deadline. If both the start and end date are specified, there is clarity on how and when to tackle it.
Attachments / resources
Successfully completed tasks don’t just happen. Attachments with documents containing further information, samples, examples or descriptions of contexts are often required. These help the person responsible fully understands a task and can complete it with the desired result.
Such attachments can also contain working materials or exemplary solutions of comparable tasks. Attachments work best when they are part of a knowledge base, providing access to relevant knowledge in a structured and clear way.
Hierarchy and subtasks
Most tasks are related to other tasks. There are often higher-level tasks that are broken down into subtasks. This structure defines the procedure more precisely and monitors progress more granularly.
Task management methods
There are various approaches to task management. All can be effective depending on the type of task, the collaboration model and individual preferences.
Here is an overview of a few methods as examples.
1. To-do list
The simple To-do list is the basis of task management. It is a simple but effective method for organizing tasks. It is advisable to prioritize the respective tasks or to create a ranking according to importance.
For example, the six most important tasks can be placed on a to-do list each day. The list is ranked in order of importance or urgency.
2. Kanban
A Kanban board can be digital with drag ‘n drop tasks or physical with sticky notes. Tasks are visualized in columns such as “to do”, “in progress”, “under review” and “completed”. The organization in columns can be designed in a variety of ways. For example, the Kanban view in OTRS is suitable for continuous improvements and progress reports.
3. Timeboxing
Timeboxing works as a time management method. Instead of using a list, a worker enters tasks – with a specific timebox – in a calendar. Such a box sets a fixed time for the task’s completion.
Timeboxing can be combined with the Pomodoro technique. This is a system in which one works with focus for 25 minutes and then takes a break for 5 minutes.
4. Not-to-do list
This method reverses the idea of the typical to-do list – and can also be used alongside one. Workers write down the tasks that they can skip, postpone or delegate. It helps them to reduce stress and focus on important tasks.
This approach can help enormously with prioritization. It’s a means for questioning apparent to-dos and making way for really important tasks.
5. Agile task management (Scrum)
This method is aimed at teamwork. It has spread from agile software development and provides clearly defined processes for working together while handling tasks on one’s own.
Scrum is particularly suitable for teams that complete their tasks in sprints (e.g. in 2-week cycles). These teams coordinate regularly in meetings, such as short stand-ups. A scrum team typically consists of a product owner, a scrum master and developers.
6. Getting things done (GTD)
This method is about breaking tasks down into specific steps and organizing them. It reduces mental burden while the task is in progress. Users record all their pending tasks in a system. This allows them to prioritize tasks without being disturbed and without the risk of forgetting something important.
How can software help with task management?
Modern task management solutions provide an excellent overview of tasks, improve organization, put tasks in relation to each other, remind you of due dates, offer time-saving automation and much more.
Here are the most important advantages of task management tools in a nutshell:
- Users have a good overview by having tasks centrally collected in one place. Everyone knows what is assigned. Structure is added by categorization. And information, like deadlines and reminders, is stored with the task.
- Visualizations help to identify progress and dependencies between tasks and to react accordingly.
- In order to collaborate and coordinate better, teams can share tasks with each other, communicate clearly and task-specifically in real time.
- Teams save a lot of time by having a tool automatically send notifications about tasks.
- Software can create reports that show project progress, identify bottlenecks and measure success.
- With cloud-based software, task management can be synchronized to all desired devices. This makes tasks accessible at any time and from anywhere.
Task management with a ticket system
A ticket system can be used flexibly, including for task management. This type of task management system is particularly popular in IT and support. It records tasks quickly and processes them in an organized manner.
For other areas, too, the main advantages are that tasks can be tracked easily and all those involved are informed. Workflow automation saves a lot of time and all information is available in an organized manner in a ticket.
This is an example of a team process:
- Record the task: Those involved record the pending tasks in tickets. The tickets are assigned to the responsible persons and include descriptions, attachments, prioritization (according to importance and urgency) and, if necessary, categories.
- Set the task status: The tickets are each assigned a status – such as “open”, “in progress” and “closed”. Anyone working on a task documents the progress directly in the ticket.
- Discuss the task as needed: Comment functions allow queries and discussions to be made directly in the ticket. Notifications keep everyone involved up to date.
- Escalate if needed: As ticket systems support automated workflows, a ticket can be automatically forwarded to the line manager as part of escalation management.
- Close the ticket: Once the task in question has been completed, the ticket is closed. It can be archived for later analysis or documentation.
- Analyze overall task management: The collected data provides the team with insights into which measures were successful. They can evaluate how work can be improved in the future.
Conclusion: task management – a crucial process
Virtually all operational, value-added creative work can be expressed in tasks. As a model, the more information and details tasks contain, the more accurate and valid they are. Task management is not just about organization and simple processing. It is also about dependencies between tasks, the connection with workflows and improving processes to achieve overarching goals.
In short, the more thorough and focused task management is, the more likely teams are to make progress, achieve tangible results, find work enjoyable and continue to develop. Investing time in task management pays off.
Teams and individuals are faced with the challenge of choosing a suitable and target-oriented method for task management. The right software support often makes the decisive difference. It offers an overview when there are many tasks. It helps teams act more effectively, stay more focused, work more successfully.
Find out how OTRS can support you with task management.
