The main difference between average and successful is the ability to manage tasks efficiently.  This difference can be eliminated by the use of good task management software.

Read on to learn about recommended task management tools that will increase your productivity, and seven tips to facilitate the creation and completion of tasks.

Recommended Tools for Task Management

1. Paper.  This humble option has a proven track record among Project Managers and other successful leaders.  It remains a popular planning and task management tool.  However, using a paper planning system does have its drawbacks.  Once the paper version of the task management list is complete for the day, it must be entered manually into any other system being used.

2. Task Management Software.  There are many stand-alone task management systems and programs.  There is also a wide variety of programs that incorporate task management with other communication features, such as email.

These programs can be installed on a desktop computer, or an online solution could be utilized.  Either way, it is important that all data and updates are shared among the stakeholders in a quick and efficient manner.

Many online solutions are a full suite of project management programs, including task management software.  They organize and optimize all tasks, messages, due dates and milestones for every stage of a project. Task management is an especially important tool during the project planning phase, but it retains its significance all the way through to the project’s successful conclusion.

7 Task Tips

1. Pick the time of day that is best for you and set time aside for your task management process.  In the morning, start the day with reviewing your task list for incomplete actions, scheduled meetings, and the long-range tasks and goals.  Alternatively, at the end of the work day, refer to your task list to see the accomplishments of the day and any tasks still pending action.  Prioritize your tasks for the next work day.

2. Task Identification: Periodically brainstorm a list of all the tasks waiting for completion, in no particular order.  When you have noted every task you can recall, then you can start categorizing them by date or priority.

3. Limit tasks to a single action item.  Break down any large or complicated projects in to single action tasks that can be completed in a short amount of time.

4. Prioritize all your tasks.  They will not all get done in a single day, and some tasks are dependent on the completion of another task.

5. Assign due dates.  After tasks have been prioritized, give each a due date; this will assist in helping you track a project’s status against its milestones.

6. Categorize tasks.  Establish a set of categories that correspond to the project time line and assign certain tasks to the appropriate category.

7. Celebrate Important Project Milestones.  Achieving important project milestones is a great excuse to celebrate the progress you are making on the overall project.

Effective task management covers all aspects of a task, including its status, priority, time, human and financial resources assignments, recurrences, notifications and so on. These can be lumped together broadly into the basic activities of task management.

Managing multiple individual or team tasks may require special task management software.  Some are available on the Web, and other versions can be purchased for desktop use.  Specific software dimensions support common task management activities. These dimensions exist across software products and services and fit different task management initiatives in numerous ways. Task management could serve as a foundation for project management activities.

Task management may form part of project management and process management and can serve as the foundation for efficient workflow in an organization. Project managers adhering to task-oriented management are known for having a detailed and up-to-date project schedule, and are usually good at directing team members and moving the project forward.

Task management software tools abound in the marketplace. Some are free; others exist for enterprise-wide deployment purposes. Some boast enterprise-wide task creation, visualization and notifications capabilities – among others – scalable to small, medium and Fortune 100 size companies, from individual projects to ongoing corporate task management.

Project management and calendaring software also often provide task management software with advanced support for task management activities and corresponding software environment dimensions, reciprocating the myriad project and performance activities built into most good enterprise-level task management software products.

Software dimensions crossing nearly all lines of task management products include task creation, task visualization, notifications, assignment of resources, compatibility, configurability, scalability, and reporting.

• Task creation encompasses collaborative capabilities for turning ideas into actions (tasks). Includes activities involved before setting tasks, particularly patterns of collaboration involving planning
• Task visualization encompasses presentation of tasks, most often through time and list forms. Priority visualization encompasses classification such as budget, time, and stakeholder; and mechanisms like color code or text. Calendaring covers scheduling for availability, meetings, appointments and other potential conflicts and notifications as well.
• Notifications encompass configurable settings for informing past, present and pending deadlines.
• Assigning resources encompasses the ability to delegate tasks and tools to single or multiple people.
• Compatibility encompasses the ability of a task management environment to connect to other systems, software and environments.
• Configurability encompasses ability to add, remove and manage functionality and usability in task management environments.
• Scalability encompasses ability to perform a task properly when a change in the quantity of users is done to meet the specific task requirements.
• Reporting encompasses presentation of information by displaying either in tabular or graphical display.

Choosing the right task software to manage this important aspect of project process can seem a daunting task.  But with research of available software for task management, the software that is decided upon will be the best possible match for any existing project management processes, or it can form the foundation of management software by finding the right programs to accompany it.

The function of scoping, planning, controlling, managing risks, and more, is all about figuring out what tasks are to be done and making sure they get done (at the right time and in the right order). But without the execution of those tasks, any upstream job function, such as the planning and so forth, are a waste of time. Getting the tasks done is what it is all about and Task software can help ensure that the tasks are done on time and in the right order.

Managing Tasks in a Department

Keeping a department going on a day to day basis is a good example why using Task Software makes task management a breeze. It involves being both reactive, as processes are monitored and adjustments are needed, and it involves being proactive, as projects are undertaken to improve and advance the processes that exist within the department. Being good at managing change is being a good planner; but sound task management, at the end of the day, is where all the action that matters takes place. If the task does not require action, then there really is no need for management.

Managing Tasks in an Organization

Action in an organization is a collection of executable tasks within the organization. Making that action take place where it counts the most is the job of upper management. Understanding how to get things done, as well as what, why, when, where, and who, is what leadership is all about. All executives must be good at task management in order to perform effectively.

The Knowledge Economy and Task Management

The knowledge economy has a close relationship with task management; but, unfortunately, people often lose sight of the relationship. In the distant past, it used to be that an individual would be responsible for many tasks, and that is still true in many small businesses. For example, even today, a small proprietor of an auto body shop is usually intimately familiar with every detail of operations, from estimating and business development, to repairing auto bodies, to administration and finance. Much of the high-level-knowledge management work, because it is in one head, is simply executed.

In larger organizations, by contrast, a great deal of collective effort might be put into the process of just turning a bolt. For example, on a manufacturing production line, a worker may need to place a panel and connect it using a couple of bolts. The action of performing this task ends up being a small fraction of the total cost of completion. Behind the task, we will likely find work studies, statistical analysis, much planning and coordination, product design scenarios, and more – all culminating in someone tightening a couple of bolts. Without the tightening of those bolts by hand, all of the upstream work is for naught. Everyone working in “knowledge management” needs to recognize the ultimate goal of their efforts — maintain perspective on the main objective.

Understanding why using Task Software makes task management a breeze is the first step to developing a more efficient and user-friendly method for initiating, producing, and closing tasks.