Managers all over the world wish they had a secret pill that would let them face any project and instantly know how to take on every aspect like a champ.
Unfortunately, that's just not the way life works. Every project comes with its own requirements and nasty little surprises that you’ll need to prepare for and adapt to. However, there are some general guidelines that can be applied to most projects out there.
Most of these guidelines answer some basic questions: How do you make sure everything is delivered on time? How can you track team and individual progress? What communication tools should you use?
As one of the best project management software platforms for small teams, Bitrix24 gives you the tools to implement your guidelines and put you in the best position to manage your team’s tasks seamlessly.
When starting your projects, it is hard to beat an in-person (or video) meeting for the whole group so you can all get on the same page. Create a presentation in a shared document that your team can refer back to at a later date. Your meeting should include the overall aim and key objectives that define your project, as well as a Q&A session to clarify any questions before you get to work.
Now your project is underway, you may never again need to arrange a project-wide meeting on the scale of your initial presentation. A 10-minute morning stand-up in the office or online is enough for everyone to share their progress and announcements. However, if you can find the time, it’s never a bad thing to give an update and praise where it is due in a longer-than-normal stand-up meeting.
During the project, your Bitrix24 team task management software should be your first port of call for any communication. Set up tasks with detailed instructions, deadlines, check boxes, links to any key documents, and add a responsible person, participants, and observers.
All of this serves to answer another key question: how to manage team tasks. By keeping the right people in the loop on every job, your team will know who to go to for help, and there will be full transparency throughout your department or workgroup. Every decision made and question asked can go through the task card itself, saving loose messages scattered across instant messenger, emails, phone calls, and in-person chats. Just think of all that time saved!
Now we’re on the subject of time, let’s get into the finer details. Good team task management needs timings that work to avoid burnout and maintain engagement, so it’s important to be realistic and fair about your expectations.
Bitrix24’s time tracking software gives you a good idea of how long individual tasks take. You can then apply your findings when it comes to assigning tasks to your team and keep that morale nice and high.
For an easier way of making schedules, take advantage of Gantt charts. These fantastic graphics are a way of visualizing each team member’s daily tasks in terms of time — imagine a calendar with blocks whose length corresponds to the amount of time a task will take.
A final way of managing your team’s time is to set clear deadlines as you assign jobs. You can set automations that will alert you when tasks are approaching deadlines, and if you find recurring issues, you can set up a meeting to get to the root of the issue.
When it comes to your projects, being able to both see the big picture and drill down into the details is no easy feat. Luckily, Bitrix24 gives you an array of tools to make it as easy as possible.
One such tool is a Kanban board. You may have used them before, either online or on paper, and they’re a great visual aid for projects. Split all your tasks into columns with your backlog on the far left, “to-do” to the right of that, “in-progress” to the right of that, and “completed” on the far right.
As opposed to feeling isolated and that their work “doesn’t really count”, you’ll be able to point out exactly how everybody fits into the overall project.
Unusually for free team management software, Bitrix24 comes with an array of automations that take a lot of the slog out of your work. Built into your Gantt chart are dependencies — conditions that, when met, another task is assigned.
For example, you could have consecutive tasks. When task A is marked as complete, assign task B. However, you can go into even more granular detail by leaving a delay between stages. This gives you time to check over a piece of work before the next step is taken up by a colleague.
Another way of focusing your efforts on productivity is to mark certain tasks as priorities. Anyone who is following the task will receive a notification about the change in status and will put it to the top of their to-do list.
Of course, you don’t want to be a tyrannical manager who puts the pressure on at every opportunity. Check your overall team task management platform to see what is really urgent, and when it comes to prioritizing tasks, leave a message explaining why it is so important to motivate your team.
By analysing your all-round team task management performance periodically, you can spot areas for improvement while keeping your eyes open for new opportunities to innovate.
With Bitrix24, you can quickly generate performance assessment reports that highlight weak areas. Try to schedule a meeting to address any issues that could be causing the block, or reassign tasks to different people based on their strengths.
Aside from your reports, another great way of seeing what needs to be improved is by hearing from your staff. Set aside an afternoon every week for people to suggest new methods or point out where resources are lacking. Encouraging an open dialogue is the best way of nipping issues in the bud before they lead to the downfall of your project.
It’s highly unlikely you will set up the world’s greatest project on your first go. It’s even less likely that a plan that works will last forever. In the world of business, there are constantly changes, innovations, and changes in best practices that you need to stay on top of for your task management to remain an asset.
However, with your tasks assigning themselves and your team working at a high level, you’ve freed up time to revisit your processes anew and see where you can make improvements. As they say, hindsight is 20/20, so expect to find some gaps that need to be filled, and some pointless tasks that can be chopped.
Next time your boss is asking “how do you delegate tasks to your team?”, or “what tools do you use for your projects?”, you can say you’ve got the best team management software out there. Bitrix24 wins on both quality and quantity of uses, going far beyond what we have outlined here.
Once you’ve signed up, take a look around at the full list of features. Whether its HR management, communications tools, website building, or a CRM, Bitrix24 has got you covered.