Tasks are the building blocks of any project, and make up a large part of your daily work routine. But creating a to-do list, prioritizing tasks accurately, and working through them methodically requires a combination of team collaboration and self-management skills. Even the best teams can benefit from improving their task management practices.
Here’s what team leaders need to know about managing tasks effectively, and how to use technology to streamline task and project management.
Why Does Task Management Matter?
Task management refers to a set of tools and practices for getting things done in a way that serves your overall project goals. While it can be tempting to go with the flow and complete tasks in the order they appear, managing tasks effectively ensures that you get the most important tasks done first and use your time efficiently.
Task management tools are especially important if you’re part of a team and there are multiple people involved in the project. Effective task management can keep you and your team members organized in the following ways.
Minimize Bottlenecks
Bottlenecks happen when individual tasks need to be completed in a specific order and you don’t yet have the information or approval you need to complete a task. This could be because someone else hasn’t fulfilled their responsibilities, or simply because you have a poorly designed workflow that doesn’t take the whole picture into account.
Task management tools like Kanban boards and Gantt charts enable you to take a bird’s-eye view of your team’s tasks and identify any dependencies.
Avoid Duplicate Work
Duplicate work happens when multiple team members perform the same task, or when an individual team member has to repeat their work at another stage of a workflow. This could be the result of a cross-functional team failing to define roles and responsibilities, or simply multiple team members volunteering to complete the same action item.
By using a task tracking tool with built-in collaboration features, you can see the task owner for each individual task and delegate tasks more efficiently.
Ensure Accountability
Using task tracking software and time management tools allows you to set deadlines and plan ahead so you don’t end up stressed out by unfinished tasks at the end of the workday. It also allows for more accurate time-tracking since you can see how long a specific task takes and log billable hours accordingly.
Plus, you can use a task management tool to develop teamwork and improve team accountability by planning sprints and tracking task progress in real-time.
4 Easy Methods for Managing Tasks Effectively
Everyone has their own way of getting things done, but when you’re part of a team, it’s important to have a shared system in place for assigning and scheduling tasks. These four task management methods can help you better manage your workload.
Kanban Boards
Kanban boards originated in Japan’s manufacturing industry in the 1940s, and form the basis of many popular task management apps like Asana and Trello. Kanban boards are also a key tool used in Agile project management frameworks.
Essentially, a Kanban board divides your task list into three columns: To-Do, Doing, and Done. You can use color-coded task cards to visualize which tasks are associated with a particular project or to distinguish them by task owner or priority level.
Time Blocking
If your day is filled with Slack notifications and back-to-back meetings, it can be easy to start multitasking and get overwhelmed at work. Time blocking is a way of planning out your day that assigns a designated list of tasks to a specific period of time.
For example, you can use time blocking as a personal time management strategy by setting aside an hour every morning to respond to emails. Or, use time blocking as a team by scheduling in a time for everyone to focus on the same set of tasks.
Pomodoro Method
The Pomodoro Technique is another productivity hack that involves focusing on a single task for 25 minutes, followed by a 5-minute break. You can use that 5-minute break to have a snack, stretch, or check in on your progress with your team members.
The downside to this method is that it won’t tell you which tasks you need to get done; you’ll need to use another strategy to ensure you’re working on the right tasks.
Getting Things Done (GTD) Method
The Getting Things Done (GTD) method is an approach to task management created by David Allen and described in his 2001 book “Getting Things Done.” This method revolves around capturing actionable items as soon as they arise, and then deciding whether to do it yourself, delegate it, or put it on your to-do list for later.
This customizable method is all about getting clarity on what’s important and making a plan, so you can spend less time thinking about it and more time actually doing it.
Task Management Tips and Best Practices
The amount of effort that goes into managing tasks will vary depending on the size of your team and the nature of your project. No matter which techniques you use, follow these best practices to improve your time and task management skills.
Identify Your Priorities
Not all tasks are equally important, and if you don’t prioritize urgent tasks, they can slip through the cracks. Priority management is the process of determining which tasks to focus on first by using a standardized set of criteria like the Eisenhower Matrix.
Use a task management tool that allows you to designate a priority level for each task, so you and your team members know where to focus your efforts.
Assign Due Dates
Break your project up into milestones made up of smaller tasks and subtasks early in the project planning phase. This will allow you to set realistic due dates for each task and distribute the workload evenly based on your project scope and timeline.
Due dates aren’t just a way to avoid procrastination; they also help you avoid delays and bottlenecks by scheduling tasks and subtasks in the most efficient order.
Use Task Management Software
While you can manage tasks with an Excel spreadsheet or even a physical whiteboard, use project management software to make use of the latest advances in technology. Modern task management tools like Anchor AI incorporate artificial intelligence and automation to take a lot of the guesswork out of managing tasks.
Anchor AI features integrations with Zoom and Microsoft Teams so that Max, your AI project manager, can sit in on meetings and delegate tasks for you. Afterwards, Max can write up a meeting summary with action items and send it out to stakeholders. You don’t even have to worry about adding assignees and due dates, because Max does that too.
Maintain Focus
Even with a clear task list in front of you, it can be hard to stay focused at work and avoid distractions. Help your team stay focused by limiting unnecessary meetings, turning off notifications outside of work hours, and promoting a healthy work-life balance. Keep your personal to-do list separate from your work-related tasks.
If you’re using Anchor AI as your daily task tracker, ask Max for input on what you should focus on next. Simply ask Max, “How did the meeting go?” or “Which tasks should we prioritize today?” to get real-time insight into your project.
Manage Tasks Automatically With Anchor AI
There’s no big secret to managing tasks in the workplace: It all comes down to choosing the best approach for your team. Task management software can help you keep track of what needs to get done, while task prioritization and delegation ensures that the right team members complete the right tasks in the right order.
AI task managers like Anchor AI help you streamline and simplify the process of task management. Anchor AI can help you identify action items during meetings, assign tasks to individual team members, and even send out a follow-up email after the meeting to remind everyone what needs to get done.
Sign up today to get started and manage tasks automatically with Anchor AI!