Every business process begins with a single task. Any successful implementation of workflow management, project management, and even organizational management should start with how well we can manage the execution of tasks.
This is where task management comes in.
This guide will discuss the concepts in task management, required skills, task management methodologies, and the best task management software you can use.
Let us begin by discussing the initial concept of task management itself.
What Is Task Management?
Task management is, in a nutshell, how to manage your tasks.
A to-do list is the simplest and arguably the most common form of task management, but on more significant projects and organization-wide management, a to-do list won’t cut it.
Task management identifies, monitors, and executes the task that needs to be done to achieve a specific objective. It deals with:
- Who is required to do the task?
- How to execute the task and in what order?
- When to execute the task?
It’s important to understand that every task has its lifecycle in task management: a start and a finish. A task is assigned to someone, executed, finished, and verified, and in some cases can also be expired, terminated, paused, or failed altogether.
In the context of a project or business process, some tasks might also be dependent on other tasks to either start or finish.
Task Management VS Project Management
Simply put, tasks are units of work in a project: tasks need to be executed and completed as the project progresses to produce the deliverables required to finish the project.
Task management, therefore, focuses on organizing and managing tasks that might get spread across multiple different projects. By scheduling, prioritizing, setting deadlines, and delegating tasks, task management will also support project management, which typically involves a bigger scale.
For example, project management must also deal with budget allocation, resource management, and dependency management, among other things, while task management is solely focused on managing and executing the tasks.
Why Is Task Management Necessary?
Since tasks are already the smallest unit of a project, can’t employees simply manage their own tasks?
Most of us are bad at managing our individual tasks, which is the main reason why so many of us struggle with procrastination.
When proper task management isn’t implemented, the organization might need to deal with issues such as:
- Missed deadlines as the assigned people failed to finish the task on time
- Other team members can’t start their tasks that are dependent on the delayed task
- Confusion, miscommunications, and even internal distrust within the team
- Ultimately, the project isn’t finished in time
This is why having a platform that allows collaborative task management is now essential in any organization.
Different Methodologies of Task Management
Depending on the business model, we can use different approaches to implementing task management. Some task methodologies were developed more than half a century ago, and some are pretty recent. You can always combine some of them to get the best results according to your team and organization’s needs.
Here are some of the most popular task management methodologies available:
1. Kanban Methodology
Kanban is a popular task management and project methodology that was developed by Toyota in the 1940s. The word ‘Kanban’ means billboard in Japanese, referring to how this methodology uses a board (called the Kanban board) to visually depict tasks at various stages of a project/business process. Cards are placed on this Kanban board in different columns to depict the different stages of the tasks (i.e., “in progress,” “completed,” “to-do,” and so on).
Kanban is popular mainly because it’s simple to implement and is very effective in identifying inefficiencies. This is done by limiting the number of tasks currently being executed, and when the number of tasks exceeds this limit, then the process is inefficient.
If your objective is to deliver quicker, more efficient results, then the Kanban methodology can be useful for your task management purpose.
2. Waterfall Methodology
The waterfall methodology is the most straightforward task management methodology that is linear and sequential in nature. This is great for projects where one task must be finished before another can start, so it is more suited to static/rigid projects.
The waterfall methodology is straightforward to understand and execute, so there’s very little chance for knowledge loss. However, it is a pretty rigid methodology and is not suited for more flexible projects. Implementing changes in an ongoing waterfall methodology can be difficult and expensive, and it leaves very little room for error in project requirements.
3. Agile Methodology
The agile methodology was initially developed as an improvement over the rigid and sequential and emphasized responding to changes rather than following detailed planning and sequence.
The agile methodology breaks down the project into the smallest segments, allowing more room for changes at later stages, emphasizing, as the name suggests, agility. So, the agile method identifies and fixes problems faster with the fastest turnaround time.
Agile methodology is excellent for smaller businesses with fewer employees, but it also has its weaknesses. For instance, the agile methodology doesn’t emphasize the importance of documentation, so it can be difficult to onboard new team members to adopt the organization’s agile implementation, especially with the number of changes that are common in this methodology.
It is great if you emphasize adaptability and versatility, but not when the project requires a sequential, orderly approach.
Task Management Software
We can perform functional task management with just a pen and paper to create a simple to-do list. However, we can’t use this same method on an organizational scale. The bigger your organization, the more complex your projects, and the harder it will be to implement the task management.
This is where a task management software like Aproove can help in keeping track of tasks, monitoring progresses, and get plenty of benefits, including:
- Having a single dashboard where everyone’s tasks are placed in the same place. This ensures all team members know what others are working on.
- “Team tasks,” which can be self-assigned or assigned by a manager, is also an excellent feature for teams where anyone can pick up a task e.g., a legal team or a color retouching team.
- All tasks are organized in a single dashboard, so it’s easy to find information and collaborate with each other.
- You can access your tasks anywhere on any device (including a mobile device).
- You can easily keep track of tasks and deadlines and take action on those that need immediate attention.
- Generate analytics and reports to identify bottlenecks and issues.
