Having the right task management tools in place is more relevant for businesses than ever before. Employees often work remotely and they may be across the world when they’re doing so.
Working remotely and the flexible work environment offered by many employers has its advantages, such as reduced overhead costs. It also has challenges, however.
One such challenge is task management. Task management software and technology can help keep teams and employees organized, and track progress no matter what the work environment might be.
Software that allows you to assign tasks can track those tasks throughout the entirety of their lifecycle. It can start in the planning phase and then move all the way through the individual milestones to completion.
The following are some general things to know about task management software, and also how to choose the right platform for your organizational needs.
The Basics of Task Management Software
Task management software and tools can range quite a bit in their features and functionalities. They can help manage basic to-do lists, they can promote collaboration, or they can go beyond that for complex scheduling and management needs.
General objectives of most task management platforms are typically to allow for the creation and assignment of tasks, the prioritization and scheduling of tasks, and general collaboration and communication between people working on the tasks and key stakeholders.
Task management helps ensure that projects stay on schedule, and also that they’re executed in an effective, efficient way.
Other benefits of task management software include:
- It allows for reorganization of approach if goals or objectives change or resources change
- It helpsto make sure that team members’ aren’t contradicting each other in their work
- It helps ensure that targets are realistic and feasible
- Tasks can be not only assigned but also prioritized from one centralized dashboard
- Large projects can be broken down into more manageable tasks
- Improves productivity
Why Do You Need a New Solution?
Once you have an understanding of the basics of project management software, it’s worthwhile to spend some time thinking about why you need a new solution. Where does your current project management platform or strategy fail?
This will help you define the most significant priorities in terms of the features you must have.
For example, maybe collaboration and smooth communication is your biggest problem. Maybe what you’re currently using doesn’t offer any way for different teams or team members to communicate with one another. Maybe your problem is more complex, and your organization has trouble managing resources.
Some of the other main reasons you might be looking for a new task management solution include:
- The needs of the organization have outgrown what your current solution is capable of
- You don’t feel like there’s enough visibility with what you’re using
- When there are issues or red flags, they’re not seen quickly enough to be proactively dealt with,and it leads to much bigger issues
- Your current software is too complex so that rather than speeding things up it’s hindering productivity and efficiency
Along with current needs and gaps, what about possible future needs? Are you only going to be using the platform for scheduling and planning, or do you need more advanced features such as the ability to tailor levels of access?
How comfortable are your employees with technology and will they be likely to take advantage of the more advanced features of a new platform, or will they try to avoid them? How much training are your employees likely to require with a new platform?
Who’s Going to Be Using It?
When you’re choosing new project management software, you may be so focused on the needed features that you don’t necessarily think about the people who are going to be using it. Is it only going to be used internally or externally as well? Will external stakeholders need access, and how will security be dealt with in these cases?
Collaboration Features
It’s easy to overlook the importance of collaboration features when selecting task management software, but it’s almost always best to choose a platform that integrates collaboration with traditional project management capabilities.
There’s no point in going with a task management platform that isn’t going to provide ease of use for the entire team.
Monthly Subscription Model
Finally, the majority of task management platforms have a monthly subscription pricing model, which is a good thing to have. This makes it cost-effective because you’re only paying for what you need and you don’t need to make any changes in your IT department or install expensive hardware. A monthly subscription model also promotes scalability.