Task Software – Simlifying Task Management

Task management is the process of managing a task through its life cycle, including planning, testing, tracking and reporting. Task management can help either individuals achieve goals, or groups of individuals collaborate and share knowledge for the accomplishment of collective goals.  Tasks also differentiate by complexity, from low to high.

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.