Behind every successful project, team, or person lies a well-structured approach to managing tasks. Task management is more than just keeping a running to-do list; it’s about prioritizing, planning, and executing tasks to maximize efficiency and minimize stress.
If your current approach to task management is better described as a mess than a process, you’re in the right place. This article explores the critical elements of task management, why it matters, and how to implement it effectively.
Ready to learn more about task management? Check out our “Meet the Experts” webinar series now.
What is task management?
Task management is tracking and organizing a task from ideation to completion. It involves managing all aspects of a specific task, including its status, priority, due date, human and financial resources, dependency, and notifications.
Key components of task management include:
- Planning: Rework large goals into smaller objectives, define tasks, and establish priorities.
- Scheduling: Allocate time and resources to tasks and setting deadlines.
- Tracking: Monitor the progress of tasks and update their status.
- Reporting: Analyze task performance and generate reports on progress and outcomes.
When done well, task management doesn’t just help you work more effectively. Other benefits of a well-executed time management process include:
- Enhanced team collaboration: Facilitates better communication and collaboration among team members, reducing misunderstandings and improving teamwork.
- Less stress: It provides a clear overview of what needs to be done, reducing the anxiety and stress associated with managing multiple tasks.
- Higher quality of work: Ensures tasks are completed thoroughly and to a high standard, reducing the likelihood of errors.
- Facilitates goal achievement: Task management helps you focus on long-term goals by breaking them into manageable tasks.
The difference between individual vs. team task management
Individual task management is more related to how you organize your day.
For example, do you open your email and start going through emails to find what you need to work on? Or do you have a process that helps you prioritize your work and tasks?
Team task management is a different beast. This type of task management relies on using approved processes and platforms to define projects, track progress, etc.
Using tools with co-editing features and integration options is more important.
While there may be slight differences in how you approach each type of task management, the tools and resources discussed can be used for both applications.
How to make task management plans
Staying organized at work is easier than you might think. It’s simply a matter of making task management a part of your everyday environment. Whether you’re working alone or as part of a larger team, the steps to better task management are the same. Here’s how to get started:
Rework big goals into smaller objectives
When facing a massive project or a long-term goal, it can be difficult to see the nuances. If your goal, for example, is to run a marathon, then you might think, “Oh, I should just run more!” And while that is a good place to start, starting with smaller objectives will keep you motivated and accountable.
Instead of using unmeasurable goals like “run more,” break it down into more specific goals, such as:
- Run five days a week
- Run three miles
- Run five miles
- Run 10 miles
Or, say you’re on the marketing team and aim to increase blog traffic by 50%. That’s a big, lofty goal — so how will you get there?
Here’s how breaking the goal into objectives might look:
- Publish five blog posts per month
- Update five blog posts per month
- Publish one e-book a month
Another benefit of this exercise is that it gives you time and space to brainstorm and generate new, fresh ideas.
Convert objectives into a series of tasks
You have a list of objectives; now what? Now, it’s time to turn those smaller goals into actual plans.
Using the marketing example from above, let’s see how that might look for just one of those objectives.
- Publish five blog posts per month
- Create outlines
- Assign to writers
- Edit
- Upload
- Publish
Breaking the goal into tasks makes seeing what needs to be done easier and guides you through the task’s lifecycle.
Take the time to think through the entire process. Do you need any approvals? Who will be involved in the process? Do you foresee any roadblocks?
Lean on your team to decide who should take on which tasks, how long tasks will take, and where things could go wrong.
Take advantage of visual task management tools
Visual task management tools make assigning tasks, creating dependencies, and tracking progress easier.
Creating an effective process without a visual task management tool is like trying to dig a ditch with a spoon. You can do it; it’s just going to take you longer.
Let’s consider the benefits. Visual task management tools help you:
- Prioritize tasks more effectively by highlighting the most pressing objectives.
- Make it easy to see what you’ve done — and what you still need to do.
- Highlight roadblocks or bottlenecks so you can plan around challenges.
Visual diagrams for task management
It’s easy to fall down the rabbit hole of task management tools. There are dozens of programs and platforms that all promise to help you work more efficiently.
However, in most cases, sticking to one visual diagram is more effective. These take less time to set up and don’t require a substantial financial investment.
To Do’s: Kanban and Scrum
Kanban is a visual workflow management method that uses a board with columns and cards to represent tasks and their stages of progress. This helps teams visualize work, limit work-in-progress, and maximize efficiency.
Scrum is a framework that divides projects into time-sensitive boxes called sprints. It allows teams to deliver incremental value through regular planning, review, and retrospective sessions.
Kanban and Scrum offer similar benefits, including:
- Visualized workflow makes it easier to track progress.
- Flexible, allowing your team to adapt to changing priorities.
- Encourages continuous delivery and improvement.
- Promotes regular communication and collaboration.
Learn how Kanban can help your team work faster and more efficiently.
Schedules: Gantt
A Gantt chart uses a horizontal bar chart to visualize a project schedule. It illustrates start and end dates, dependencies, and task progress over time.
It provides a clear overview of the project timeline, making it easier to plan, coordinate, and track tasks and milestones.
The benefits of using Gantt for task management include:
- Provides a visual representation of the project timeline.
- Clarifies task dependencies and sequences.
- Facilitates resource allocation and workload management.
- Enhances communication and collaboration among team members.
- Helps identify potential delays and allows for proactive adjustments.
Learn more about using Gantt charts.
Work Breakdown Structure
Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) breaks larger projects into smaller, more manageable components, including deliverables, tasks, and subtasks. Organizing and defining the total scope of the project helps ensure all aspects are covered.
The benefits of WBS include:
- More accurate planning: Detailed planning improves the estimation of resources, time, and costs.
- Enhanced clarity: Provides a clear framework that helps project stakeholders understand the scope and components of the project.
- Simplified task assignment: This method breaks the project into smaller tasks, making assigning responsibilities and managing workloads easier.
- Better communication: Provides a common understanding of the project structure and progress among team members and stakeholders.
- Reduced risk: By breaking down projects into their components, you can spot potential risks and address them earlier.
Learn more about Work Breakdown Structure.
Work smarter, not harder
Now that you understand the benefits of task management and the tools you can use to create a process, it’s time to start working smarter. MindManager allows you to create dynamic task management diagrams, assign tasks, attach documents, and share them with your entire team.
Sign up and see how MindManager can help you stay organized and on task.
