What is Task Management?

Task management is, as the name suggests, monitoring the progress of the tasks that are assigned to you in an organized and effective way. That is it.

So, it is obvious that this is a very simple explanation. Yet it covers a lot when it comes to getting better at managing your daily work. This explanation helps us capture the very essence of the task management philosophy. You should be organized and effective at doing it. You cannot be sloppy and just be like “Oh, I will do that tomorrow. I will send these emails to my client today and track their interactions.”

No. Sorry but this does not work that way. The first thing you should do actually is to get organized. You should set realistic targets that you expect to happen as a result of the designated task. Then, you should set certain milestones to reach those goals or those targets. And you should set due dates for reaching certain milestones. By doing so, you will make your life easier. Basically you will be getting rid of all the mess when tracking the progress. We all know some things can change due to unexpected circumstances. So you may basically want to change your success criteria on the way. But even in that case, you should have a strong basis for reaching goals.

The second element of task management is that it should be done in an effective and efficient manner. You may rely on simple to-do lists or you may use advanced software to keep track of your processes. Whichever way you choose to take, you should do that in an effective manner.

• • Action: A task needs to contain a clear action. Activities without action are not tasks. For example, reading a book is an activity. For an event to become a task, it must be assigned from one person to another. For example, a teacher said, "Read The Metamorphosis from Kafka during the semester break" can be given as an example of a task. In the example, the person giving the task is the teacher, and the task owner is the student.
  • A certain time frame: Many people have many roles such as employees, managers, company partners or owners. That’s why tasks should include deadlines and time periods that would guide the task owner.

  The system in which we can see to what extent the tasks are completed as a whole is called task management. Task management is really powerful from a systematic perspective. The activities that take place in the companies are the result of the tasks. For this reason, in order for companies to achieve their goals, all employees must complete their responsibilities in a timely and effective manner. But every employee carries out hundreds, maybe thousands of tasks. Therefore, if the processes are managed more effectively, it will be easier for the company to reach its goals. 

  Task management processes start with planning. First, the answer to the question "Which task should be assigned to whom?" is sought. Let's look at the example of moving a house. Some tasks are:

  • Buying parcel boxes,
  • The arrival of the the boxes to house, 
  • Putting the fragile items into the boxes,
  • Selecting an appropriate house removal service,
  • Cleaning of the new house to be moved.

  As stated above, one of the most important components of tasks is the people who will fulfill those tasks. An effective task management cannot take place if it is unclear who is responsible for the task. For example, there is an item on the to-do list of cleaning the new house, but it is not clear who will do it. In case of such an uncertainty, the task cannot be fulfilled and a loss occurs. However, if the person who will do the task is determined in advance, the person who undertakes the task can also have a clearer perspective on performing his duties.

  Another issue with tasks is tracking and monitoring. While doing this, it is important to keep in mind that some tasks can be linked to each other. For example, a person may not want items in the existing home to be moved before the new house is cleaned. Therefore, house cleaning can create a bottleneck. When moving from one place to another, a transport vehicle is absolutely necessary. If there is no transport vehicle, the moving process cannot take place. The means of transport becomes a binding condition at this point. 

  Some roles may also be interdependent in companies. For example, suppose there is a recruitment process: a new staff member will be hired. This scenario has interdependent tasks such as not sharing files without signing a confidentiality agreement. Files cannot be shared without signing that contract, even if the file cannot be shared, the duties within the company cannot be known. 

  Looking at the companies, there are hundreds, thousands or even hundreds of thousands of tasks in it. If tasks are not properly managed, losses will occur. Therefore, task management processes have been developed. These systems are sometimes referred to as job tracking software. Job tracking software designed in this way makes it easier to organize tasks and follow processes. Task management is a set of systems that ensure that the work to be done is assigned to the right people, deadlines are given and the task is done on time.

In a company, there are many tasks employees must fulfill. If these tasks are not collected in a single platform and managed systematically, some may be forgotten or overlooked. In this case, concerns may arise regarding the performance of the tasks. Therefore, seeing which tasks are undertaken by whom, how many tasks are available in total; what tasks are in progress, and how many completed and how many missed the deadline in a single system helps companies. Task management software is used for this.

Visibility is extremely important in large companies. It is necessary to use business tracking systems software to see if a task has been performed. If the software is not used, constant communication is required and whether the task has been completed remains uncertain. Even when employees think they have completed a task, other subtasks may arise related to that. This leads to inefficient results and a waste of time. The existence of a system for tracking all activities is a great advantage, especially in terms of visibility. 

It provides clarity to employees and business owners when tasks are in a publicly visible system. An employee may be wondering "What are the tasks assigned to me?" In that case, she can learn the answer to her question from the task management system. Since the tasks have deadlines on the system, prioritization can be done easily. It helps employees get rid of questions like "Is there any job left that I missed?" 

• The list of tasks can be accessed from anywhere and at any time, as task management systems are carried out online. 
• Jobs that need to be prioritized can be seen clearly in a single system. In task management software, concepts such as task tracking, deadline, urgency, and time left can be followed.
• In general, interaction and communication within employees increases.
• It can be clearly seen who does what task and how much. In this context, it will be very helpful to look at the task management system while making reports. "Who has the most or least jobs?", "Who was the one that completed his job in the longest time?" Individual performance reports can be created on such questions. 
• Task management software makes a great contribution to individual performance systems in the human resources management department. The HRM department can make various rewards based on the performance of the employees from the software.
• The workload can be seen in detail.

The installation of task management software in the company is related to how the tasks are assigned. Therefore, you should first understand how tasks are assigned to employees and departments. In the light of this information, it would be correct to start with the most important and macro-impact tasks. At this point, reports provided by the system are very important. 

First of all, task lists can be created, say, on a department basis. When the most important tasks are listed, it can be revealed how long the tasks will take place. Many tasks can be repeatable, or it can be done on the same day each week. In this case, structures like "Mission X must be done every Friday." can be established. 

When setting up task management systems, one should not go too far down to the micromanagement level. Instead, the task management system should be established at the macro-management level. More micro-tasks may be added to the system in the future, but the focus should be on macro tasks first. 

As Prosoftly, we think that very detailed job descriptions do not make any sense. It is at the company's own discretion to drill down into the task. If the managers want, they can go down to very detailed points or stay on larger-scale tasks. Change management should also be carried out due to this change of task management.

In the past, tasks were given through direct interaction or e-mail, but nowadays task management is carried out in a more systematic way. Therefore, it may not be easy to adapt to task management software. There may still be middle managers who say, "I have already assigned their duties to my subordinates." Therefore, when installing task management software, change management should also be involved. At this point, delegation appears as a very important concept. Because task management means delegating the work to others. While setting up the task management system, it is necessary to be patient and be involved.

A cultural change occurs with task management software. In order to be successful in the culture change process, a good change management should be done. Change should be seen as a project and what is required should be implemented accordingly.

When a company operates with a small group of employees, there is no need to use any software. But in bigger companies, a need for task management software appears. 

Especially if more than one person is managing a process to achieve a certain goal, task management software will provide an advantage to these people. Task management systems can be used by: 

• Heavyweight or lightweight teams,

• Project-based teams,

• All businesses with a certain number of employees 

There are many tasks that we constantly repeat in our daily life. For example; There are many repetitive jobs, such as weekly shopping and helping children with homework. Task management software is also of great benefit for repetitive systems. Project management companies have repetitive tasks. It can be very useful to be assigned to one of the tasks, to have a certain time, and to see all these from a single system. In short, task management systems should be used by all businesses.

Project and task management concepts are very intertwined. Tasks can be thought of as the smallest steps of the project. In addition, they can be part of a large project or separate from any.  

Moving to a different house is a project and it doesn’t always happen. It is a process that will take months of preparation. Steps such as arranging the transport, purchasing cardboard boxes, placing the broken items in the boxes, preparing other items, and cleaning the house to be moved are all small tasks. Sub-steps of the relocation project can be considered as tasks. Some of the tasks are interdependent. 

On the other hand, there are also milestones in project management. It may not be possible to move on to another task before a task is completed. Tasks are the smallest building block of projects and the project consists of the sum of the tasks. Not every task management has to be part of a project. Weekly home shopping is not a project because it is regularly done. Rather it is a task. 

For example, suppose you are going to have a picnic. Picnic shopping is a project because it is not always possible to go to a picnic. This shopping, which includes questions such as, "What will be done?" and "How much will be taken from which product?" is a project.

Task and activity concepts can also be confused with each other. There are managers who delegate duties to others. However, this is not the case for activities. At worst, a person assigns tasks to himself. This is not the case for an activity. The activity may not be limited to the due date. It is free to do or not. The task is mandatory and has a time limit. For example, listening to music is an activity. Taking an umbrella as a precaution while having a picnic can also be counted as an activity. In companies, the job is assigned to the person, but the activity is an extra job.

Task management software is kind of a business management tool that gives you the edge to manage your tasks in an organized and effective way. Those softwares may include very straightforward checklists that you can easily apply to your daily or business lives. You can simply acquire one of them on the internet. There are many task management tools for free. And they will significantly contribute to your productivity and help you get organized. They will save a lot of effort and energy for you.

On the other hand, there are some task management softwares that are advanced, and work in integration with some other modules. Those may help you coordinate your tasks even better because they are automatically associated with some other tools that your company is already using.

Systems where tasks can be systematically managed in digital environments are called task management software. Task management software is a utility to manage your tasks, assist with scheduling, tracking resources and milestones, and making decisions about required changes.

There are many different types of task management software, ranging from managing simple to-do lists to helping teams work and collaborate better. Understanding what the needs are is essential to make sure you really have a tool that will increase productivity. 

1. A good task management software should provide a good planning environment for transferring tasks to people. Cards, images, kanbans or lists can help with this. 
2. Tasks must be assigned to someone. Therefore, the feature called task assignment must be there. 
3. It must have the feature of prioritization. There should be an area that can be classified and filtered.
4. Apart from the list view, there should also be a kanban view. In addition, there should be a dashboard where you can see which tasks are in the planning phase, which tasks are in progress, and which have been performed. Such a dashboard is very convenient. Completed tasks can be archived as they can be seen clearly. Various reports can be created with extra filtering. 
5. The status of the income should be visible. It looks like a kanban but needs to have a slightly more detailed status filter. There should be filtering in order to see the tasks on specific people. Past tasks on a person should be visible. Many different filtering should be possible. For example, those who work the most can be seen from these systems and rewards can be made.
6. There should be various notifications, such as email, SMS, and phone calls related to the tasks. The software must be live all the time. When any problem is encountered, the system should give automatic notification. Software developers can fix the system immediately, thanks to the immediate notifications. 
7. Documents must be manageable in the task management system. Tasks may include various documents and files, and they need to be managed. 
8. Tasks should be interconnected and convertible into projects. Various activities should also be linked to the tasks.

Task management software with all of the above features can seriously meet the needs of businesses. 

Prosoftly

Prosoftly has all the features a task management should have. It has a great potential to satisfy all your demands.

Trello

Trello is a collaboration tool that organizes your projects into boards. Trello tells you what's being worked on, who's working on what, and where a process is.

Asana

Asana includes ways to manage even the largest and most complex projects. It provides a platform where various teams can come together and collaborate in one area.

Jira

Jira is a flexible issue tracking tool that helps teams plan, manage and report their work. There are also different versions of Jira depending on usage needs.