Definition of task management in project management. Dealing with messy tasks is one of the hardest things about running any project. You may have an idea of how things will end up and where you are now in the project process. But it can be said that even the best teams can get lost in this way.
Fortunately, there’s an easy tool that can guide your team: task management.
Tasks are clear step-by-step instructions rather than huge, vague, and unclear project goals. By breaking down each part of your project into a detailed task, you’ll get a better picture of how to get it done.
Task management is both a science and an art. But with the right methods and a proper task management system, you can run your projects smoothly from start to finish.
In this article, we’ll walk you through task management, right down to the right methods, the tools you need, and how to organize, prioritize, and delegate.
What is task management?
Task management is a fairly simple idea. But simple does not always mean easy.
In its most basic form, task management is the process of managing a task throughout its lifecycle: from planning, testing, and tracking, to reporting on the outcome.
Task management involves managing all aspects of a task, from its status and priority to the time, human and financial resources required.
When you work with a team, proper task management is the foundation of busy days. Task management tools and techniques give you a detailed view of all parts of a project. This helps everyone on your team stay in sync, efficiently, and on schedule.
Task management allows you and your team to see your progress. As Newton’s first law of motion says, when your team is moving, it’s easier for them to keep up.
Best practices for task management
Now that we understand why task management is so important to project execution, we need to examine what is the best way to do it.
The basics of task management are organizing and assigning everything that needs to be done to complete your project. The more details you can get from the start, the more people will know what needs to be done.
As with anything else when it comes to project management, the only important method is what works for your team. So while this guide will give you everything you need to get started managing tasks properly, be sure to experiment and see what your team likes and dislikes.
How to divide large projects into priority tasks
Every project, regardless of its size, consists of a series of small steps.
The first thing you need to do in task management is to collect all the steps together. Don’t worry about organizing them at this point. For now, all we care about is collecting all the steps.
The key to successful task management is defining each step. Otherwise, you may miss a step and be on the wrong path. By keeping all of your tasks in one centralized place (like project management software), you greatly reduce the strain on your brain and can focus more on what needs to be done now.
How to collect all your tasks in one place
The reason it’s so hard to organize tasks in projects is that most of the time you don’t really know what all the work needs to be done!
But there are some techniques that you can use to collect all the project steps:
- Start at the end and do a brain dump: Sometimes it’s easier to start at the end than from the beginning. Imagine your finished project. Now, what steps should happen to get there? It may also be easier to visualize tasks at this stage on a mind map. This is where you write down each step on a piece of paper or a whiteboard and then break it down into the smaller steps needed to get there.
- Engage your team to see what you’ve missed: Don’t try to tackle every task alone. Your team is the one working to accomplish these tasks, so if you miss something, they’ll probably know.
- Break multi-step tasks into single-step tasks: At this stage, you should also make sure you don’t have too many large tasks (or “mini-projects”). The goal here is to create tasks that are executable. If something feels too big, break it down.
- Group tasks into milestones: Some of your tasks make sense to be grouped together. Creating milestones is a great way to add more detail to each step and measure your progress along the way.
- Get help from an expert: If you’re starting a brand new project, it’s natural that you and your team may miss some important things that need to happen. If you can, bring in an expert who has been through the process before to let you know if your to-do list is a good one.
Conclusion
The tasks are minimal. But the returns they bring to you and your team are huge. Take the time to break tasks down into their smallest pieces, prioritize them, and find task management software that gives you visibility, flexibility, and awareness. That way, you’ll turn a huge, daunting project into a practical, step-by-step plan.
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