Task Tracking Software

Task tracking is essential to keeping critical business initiatives. One missed element can be the difference between successful delivery to shareholders or delays that impair the project. Small and large organizations rely on task tracking software to track work in progress from the start of a project until its completion. Nutrient Workflow functions as a tool to track tasks and help automate and streamline business workflows.

What is Task Tracking Software?

Regardless of the size of a project, project managers must remain aware of tasks associated with a project, the person responsible for getting them completed, and whether the work is on track for completion. Task tracking tools make it easier for managers and team members to stay on top of tasks.

Instead of relying on paper notes and emails, task tracking software allows project teams to communicate. Remote workers can remain on the same page as their counterparts who physically work in an office. The best task management software also makes it possible for workers to share resources and collaborate on tasks.

Managers also gain real-time visibility into what’s happening with a project schedule. Task management software provides a centralized location for all project work, helping team members keep up with colleagues’ work. Other colleagues have an easier time looking up information, tracking time spent on each task, and spotting potential issues early before they threaten the entire project.

How Does Task Tracking Differ from Project Management?

Project management focuses on the big picture as managers drive projects through planning, execution, and delivery phases. You must keep up with varying relationships between other components.

Task management is about overseeing individual activities to ensure they get closed. While project management involves hitting specific start and finish dates, tasks may not have a particular deadline. It’s a subset of project management, because you can’t successfully deliver a project without completing work items.

Workers may be responsible for tasks that are independent of a project. For example, a developer may meet with another colleague to map out the best approach to building out a new web interface. An analyst might need to make calls and follow up on emails.

Tasks can be managed by one person, while projects usually involve multiple people. Each of those individuals receives independent tasks tied to a project. One person can finish an activity, while a project isn’t considered finished until everyone completes all assigned work.

What Should Companies Look for in Task Management Software?

It’s easy to get overwhelmed when searching for a tool to track tasks. Below are some features to look for when researching options for task tracking software.

Work Assignment

The most essential feature of a task tracking tool is assigning responsibility for a task. If someone doesn’t own the work, it likely won’t get finished. You also don’t want untracked jobs hanging around and impeding other project items. It should be easy to look at a project, see who’s assigned to specific tasks, and track team members’ current progress.

Task Prioritization

The best task management software makes it easy to prioritize tasks. That way, managers can clarify what tasks need to be worked on immediately and what items can wait. It’s a helpful feature, especially if you’re currently working on multiple projects or are dealing with clients with individual requirements. Your task tracking tool should make it easy to set up new tasks and group them by priority.

Task History Tracking

Look for task tracking tools that allow you to maintain a complete history of the work done to move a task to completed status. That feedback archive is often essential to showing stakeholders how you arrived at certain decisions, and the direction received. You can establish the communication that happened between yourself and other company resources.

Status Assignment

Your task tracking tool should allow you to show how much progress a team member made in completing a task workflow. In addition, project managers should have the ability to see the time spent on an activity and the date of the last update. That way, they can step in if they see there might be a problem that could impact the entire project. 

Benefits of Task Tracking Software

Task management software improves the ability of project managers and team members to stay on top of project work. Let’s look at why your organization might look to invest in or upgrade its current task tracking tools.

Centralization

Online task tracking software pulls all elements of a project together in one place. That optimizes the ability of team members to work efficiently, which boosts productivity and enable fruitful collaboration efforts, regardless of everyone’s location. 

Instead of dealing with post-it notes, project teams can use task management software to set up internal to-do lists, keep meeting notes, and even set up task portfolios. Project managers have an easier time working through the planning stage of a project by setting up an overview of workflow tasks for each team member.

Information Control

Using a tool to track tasks reduces the risk of losing essential information often lost through manual paper processes. Project managers can use the software to pass critical data to team members and store information in one place for future reference.

Automation of Manual Tasks

Instead of sending emails, you can use task tracking automation to set up automatic notifications around tasks. For example, you may have team members dependent on others to finish work before proceeding with their activities. You can automatically set your task tracking software to send a message, letting those individuals know that moving with forward their piece is ok. 

Automate Task Tracking With Nutrient Workflow

Establish workflows that automate the tracking of work items associated with organizational projects. Learn more on how you can leverage Nutrient Workflow’s low-code automation solution by consulting with one of our experts today.