Anyone involved in project management knows the value of having the right app for the job. But did you know you can take things one step further by releasing yourself from the desk with mobile task management software?
Yes, just one smartphone app allows you to stay on top of your tasks from start to finish — all from the palm of your hand. No more sitting in the same spot all day. You can work while travelling, on the way to meet clients, or with a mid-morning coffee in hand.
In this article, we’ll go into detail on the latest features that the best mobile task managers offer, and contextualize how they can improve your business. But it’s not just about your bottom line. As we’ll see, you can leverage mobile task management to reduce stress in and out of the office. With a single tech upgrade, you can create a streamlined working environment that benefits everybody.
The main purpose of task management software is to create tasks, so that’s where we’ll start our list. Even a few years ago, anyone who had tried to run a project from a phone would have told you not to bother — it’s more trouble than it’s worth.
But on modern mobile task management systems, you can set up projects to the same level as you would on a desktop version. As more and more people are using smartphones as their primary device, technology is catching up with demand. This has got us to the point that you simply don’t need your computer to create tasks, monitor their progress, and respond to messages and notifications.
With minimal practice, these intuitive apps emulate your desktop project management software and open up a new world of flexibility. Drag-and-drop functionalites make mapping out a project as easy as a flick of a thumb, and you can zoom into the fine detail or zoom out for the bigger picture.
The best mobile task managers are now as powerful as their desktop counterparts, so whether your laptop battery dies, you’re on the morning commute, or you just want a change of scenery, you’ll suffer no drop in productivity.
As mobile technology improves, the way we use it is changing drastically. If you remember, there was a time that cell phones used to be for calls only!
But now it’s all about keeping things convenient. Mobile task management software is a great example of how we’ve got into habits of convenience as tech has developed. Even managers who still feel more comfortable using a desktop view for their project overviews will go mobile for their to-do lists.
And why wouldn’t you? It’s far easier than opening your laptop, logging in, and launching a browser, and much harder to lose than a scrap of paper.
The best mobile task manager system will give you a range of options for your to-do list tool. Of course, you want to have extensive details, instructions, and deadlines on your main dashboard, but your reminders should be something quite different.
If you’re one of those who loves that feeling of marking your tasks as “done”, checklists are the ultimate option. Simple in design and usability, you can keep your priorities at the front of your mind throughout the day to stay on track. Then you can head home with the satisfaction that only a productive day can bring.
So far, we've dealt with actions you can take to manage individual tasks. But team work makes the dream work, and quick, clear communication is an essential part of that.
When the best mobile task managers arrived on the scene, they solved two separate, but closely related issues. Firstly, they allowed managers to clear out their email inboxes by transferring all task-related communication to the relevant task card. This solved the stress-inducing problem of having to first work out what the email is about, then decipher what the update is trying to say. When you manage tasks on mobile, you can make quick changes to deadlines without a long-winded email and update instructions in the context of a task card.
But where mobile task management really came into its own was with real-time notifications. Every update made on a task comes straight to your phone, immediately showing you what you need to act on.
It’s like an infallible personal assistant, and you can even choose the kind of notifications you get. For example, when your’re task tracking, you might not need to see every message between your team, but you certainly want to know when you’ve received a mention — that’s probably a shout for help or a completed task.
Yeah, you’ll have heard it before. “Flexible working conditions” is a favorite of marketing departments all over the world, but what does it really mean?
In the wrong hands, flexibility can mean micromanagement at all times, stifling teams and causing resentment. But with the right boundaries put in place, mobile task management can give freedom to your team without being overbearing.
Take the morning commute. Allowing your staff to arrive 30 minutes late, as long as they are managing tasks on mobile as they make their way to work, is a great way of skipping the rush hour without losing hours from the day. It gives your team time to plan out their daily tasks in a calendar and arrive at the office ready to go.
This flexibility spreads to the office itself too. Nobody can really sit still in a chair for up to eight hours a day and give 100%. Humans simply aren’t made to do that. But a quick walk outside, or even just to the office kitchen can be all you need to inject a bit of inspiration into your day.
As a manager, task tracking is ideal when done with a bit of fresh air around you. Instead of being glued to a screen, you can get outside, whip out your phone, and monitor the progress of your project in a more tranquil environment.
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Top managers know that the mobile management route is a great opportunity to improve their efficiency. In layman’s terms, we mean cutting down on repetitive, time-consuming tasks and concentrating more on strategic planning and customer-focused interactions.
When choosing the right task management software for you, be sure to check out the automations on offer. You can seriously speed up sales teams by automatically assigning new leads to your team without intervening manually. Two efficient ways are to send different types of contact to the relevant specialist, but you can also assign them one-by-one for an equal spread across the team.
But these automations go beyond simply assigning tasks. With a bit of wisdom and forward planning, you can create entire workflows that are cemented together with automatons. This is where dependencies come into play. Tie two tasks together so that when one is completed, the next is immediately assigned so your team can keep the momentum. In the meantime, you as the manager will get a familiar vibration in your pocket telling you to review the work when you've got a moment.
With smart use of automations, you can keep everyone on task and cut out dead time waiting for others. And with mobile task management, rather than forcing everyone into the office at all times, all your assignments and updates will fly out to your team without any intervention on your part.
When you're under the pump with your projects and need to act fast, you need to be familiar with the tools you use. Now that most people use their smartphone as an extension of their body, you can speed up your tasks beyond firing notifications straight into someone’s pocket.
People always perform best in environments they feel comfortable in, and nowhere is that more true than with smartphones. Even in schools now, many teachers have stopped fighting a losing battle against cell phone use in class and have begun using them as a learning tool.
The same logic can easily be converted to professional teams. As people use their phones as part of their daily life, they know their way around it and can react quickly when they need to. Let’s take switching between apps as an example. On an unfamiliar computer, closing a Kanban board and opening up a video call can be a laborious process — not to mention getting the video settings right. But on a personal smartphone where people do that kind of thing every day, it’s an instantaneous task.
Over the course of a project, allowing your team to call upon mobile task management whenever they need it will shave off a surprising amount of time.
When you're running projects that need a lot of different contributors, the last thing you want is to waste time trying to get everybody to download the same program onto their laptop. Someone won't have an updated operating system, another will lack permission to install any software, and you'll watch one deadline after another pass you by while you sort out the absolute basics.
If you've ever been held back by technical issues, you'll know how frustrating it can be. But by switching to mobile connection, you sidestep all that and jump straight to what matters.
As long as the tools you use are available for iOS and Android, you can start working with colleagues and collaborators in an instant. Simply ask your team to download it in your initial meeting and 30 seconds later, you’re all online together.
Sure, giving your clients full permission to make edits as they please is a problem at the other end of the spectrum. But with customizable access for each task, you can set privileges depending on the need. For example, you can give editing access to your team of creatives, suggesting mode for clients and experts, and viewing mode for anyone who needs to give a final OK.
There you have it! Seven tangible ways that mobile task management software can improve your business and your company culture.
We all know time is money, and if our calculations are correct, that means wasted time is wasted money. So if you’ve ever found yourself mindlessly flicking through a magazine in a dentist’s office or sitting on a train wishing you could make the most of your dead time, you might be interested in Bitrix24.
Bitrix24 contains all the mobile task management features we’ve covered in this article and so much more. As an all-in-one business platform, it allows you to run projects, host video meetings, work on documents, analyze your performance, and much more — all from one mobile and desktop app.
Most tools only focus on one service and it’s understandable if this sounds too good to be true. So, we invite you to sign up for Bitrix24 for free today and revolutionize your business with smart solutions to all your business needs
The main advantages of mobile task management are:
Flexibility of location.
Having a to-do list tool in your pocket at all times.
Allowing contributors to work on the device they feel comfortable with.
Keeping an entire team on the same platform.
More efficient team workflows.