What is the most effective way to manage tasks?

What is the most effective way to manage tasks? 10 Points to Keep in Mind When Managing Tasks
It’s time to read.

This blog is for everyone, regardless of your position in the organization’s structure or your personal accomplishments, so please read on. In this section, you will find a list of task management suggestions that you can put into practice right now to ensure that you meet your goals without becoming overwhelmed by them.

In order to reach our objectives and SMART goals, our everyday lives revolve around a specific amount of tasks that we identify along the road in our daily lives. In our quest to be at the top of our game while also maintaining our competitive edge, we often bite off more than we can chew, and the results are disastrous.

Despite the fact that everything appears to be of the utmost importance, something appears to be wrong in this dash to get things done while maintaining your composure. Some of us make a large to-do list of things we want to get done — before a given time period or when we reach a certain age. Others spend so much time polishing a particular task that by the time it shines, it is no longer useful or relevant.

The ability to balance a workload and manage one’s time is not exclusively linked with project managers and bosses, though. In fact, these abilities must be cultivated at every level, especially while working in a group setting. If this is not done, it might have disastrous effects for the enterprise as a whole.

According to a survey conducted by Cornerstone, employees who believe they do not have enough hours in the day to finish their jobs experience a 68 percent loss in productivity. So, what are the most important task management techniques that we all need in order to be both productive and efficient at the same time?

Top 10 Task Management Strategies That Work

1. Create to-do lists for each task.

To-do lists are a classic, yet they are more powerful and effective today than they have ever been. People used to keep handwritten notes for ideas and tasks that needed to be completed back in the day. They are similar to your regular necessities and can be used in conjunction with your successful task management strategies.

People now have smart to-do list apps that send out notifications and reminders prior to the task’s due date to keep them on track. Making notes in the form of photos, voice notes, text, and other media has never been easier than it is right now, thanks to technology.

Shivani Siroya is the founder and CEO of Tala, a microloan firm based in Bangalore, India. “I’ve found out how to make all of these digital methods work for me, but I have to admit that, at the end of the day, a list on paper is still the most beneficial,” Siroya says.

Make it a habit to prepare a list of tasks to do on a daily basis. Use the numerous free and paid to-use to-do list apps available to assist you in accomplishing your goals.

2. Establish a list of priorities

Recognize that there are some things that do not need to get done immediately on your to-do list. Yes, there are some excellent suggestions that can assist you in raising the level of your performance. However, it is critical to determine what is most significant at a given time in a certain situation.

Michael Mankins is a partner at Bain & Company and the co-author of “Time, Talent, and Energy,” which was named the CMI Management Book of the Year in 2008. According to Mankins, “liberating time necessitates the elimination of low-value activities entirely, rather than simply recording them on a list,” as he emphasizes.

Make use of the BCG matrix to better understand the strengths and weaknesses of your projects, as well as the opportunities and dangers they are facing at any given time. Once you have a clear understanding of what is important at the time, you can better describe the priority of the tasks.

3. Establish a timetable

Scheduling tasks is an excellent task management skill because it keeps the team focused on the task at hand and prevents them from becoming distracted by worries about other chores. Keeping on track, on the other hand, is a huge challenge in and of itself.

Was it ever brought to your attention that the average person wastes approximately 21.8 hours every week? Professionals are more or less impacted by distractions that appear to be innocuous at the time but ultimately cause severe setbacks in their careers. Distractions such as phone use and casual conversation are examples of this.

According to a research conducted by Udemy, more than a third of millennials and Generation Z (36 percent) admit to checking their smartphones for two hours or more throughout the workday on average.

After that, create a timetable and assign start and due dates to each task. When we attach a deadline to a work, we are more likely to be conscious of the cost that it will incur, both financially and in terms of time.

One of the most effective approaches is to use Agile methodologies. Make a backlog and assign it to a sprint to make it more manageable. This also provides a more accurate picture of the amount of time required to complete each task.

4. Be willing to change your mind.

Maintaining your position is a terrific characteristic to have if you want to meet your goals and meet your deadlines on time. However, there are some cases and situations in which it is necessary to reconsider previously made decisions. Being adaptable is number four on our list of the best task management strategies.

Because of a rapid shift in market trends, a shift in client motivation, or because one activity appears to be taking precedence over others, this can occur.

If any of these elements are not recognized and addressed promptly, they might deprive a team of its potential for success and growth. It is critical to be on the lookout for potential loopholes, especially if another opportunity appears to be slipping through our fingers. When it comes to deadlines, be as accommodating as possible.

Osman Khan, CEO and co-founder of online auction firm Paddle8, remarked in a Forbes interview that “flexibility may result in significant productivity gains when used in the right roles with the right people.”

It allows workers the opportunity to process correctly while also getting them out of the office and away from the daily grind of administrative tasks. As a result, there is more thought leadership brought to the table, and it is at this point that your creativity and innovation come into play.”

5. Adapt to and Manage Change

Opening oneself up to change is crucial, but knowing the how-to of change is just as important. The majority of the time, we are unable to effect the necessary changes for a specific project or in our overall approach.

However, when combined with good change management, this talent can enhance the likelihood that your project will reach its objectives by six times compared to when combined with poor change management.

Through the use of the Scrum approach and the daily Scrum meetings, you may be more open to change and more effectively manage it. The daily scrum provides you with an opportunity to not only gain an overview of the activities being completed, but also to identify any bottlenecks that may be encountered along the way. In this approach, you can adapt backlogs to better meet the needs of the changing environment.

6. Appoint a delegate

Being overburdened is a real problem, and if it is not treated properly, it can have a negative impact on productivity. At the end of the day, we are nothing more than humans who are collaborating with other humans. Everyone has their own set of characteristics when it comes to patience, perseverance, working under time constraints, and finishing a task in the shortest amount of time.

The inability to delegate, according to Eli Broad, philanthropist and creator of two Fortune 500 businesses, “is one of the most serious difficulties I observe among managers at all levels.” As a result, it is absolutely critical to be aware of not only your own personal strengths and limitations, but also those of your team as a whole.

When you remain watchful, you will be able to more accurately determine who can best assist you at a particular stage. One of the most effective task management strategies is to understand how to delegate jobs to the appropriate person.

This creates opportunities for the other person to try and grow as well, which ultimately results in progress for the entire team.

7. Take an Active Role

After assisting the team in prioritizing their activities and distributing essential responsibilities, leaving the arena is strictly prohibited. Setting up a team and a timetable is essential for success, but it must also be followed through on on a constant basis.

In the case of a project that necessitates a daily scrum meeting, growing workload or approaching deadlines may cause teams to put it on the back burner. This may frequently lead to management remaining aloof in the assumption that the team will be sufficient on its own. In actuality, this is a better moment than ever to get more involved than you have in the past.

Was it ever brought to your attention that, according to research by the University of Ottawa, 33 percent of project failures are caused by a lack of involvement from senior management?

Instead of micromanaging, try to be present and approachable in case the team requires your assistance. In order to get the most out of your planning, prioritization, and scheduling, make sure that everyone on the team follows through with each step. This covers stakeholders as well as customers.

8. Have Patience

It is possible that things will not go as planned, prompting us to suffer enormous setbacks. According to a research conducted by Wellington, only 37 percent of teams in the United Kingdom reported that they completed projects on time more often than they did not. At such situations, it is only natural to feel overwhelmed and to experience a decrease in one’s self-confidence.

It is possible to go thru challenging situations and assist your team in getting back on their feet faster if you learn to master the art of patience. According to Jack Ma, entrepreneur and founder of Alibaba, “patience is the most valuable quality you can have.”

9. Communicate with others

Throughout the years, the value of communication has been emphasized on a number of platforms and at various levels of sophistication. Statistics, on the other hand, demonstrate that this is an area in which professionals, including managers, lack expertise.

The paradox in this situation is that, despite the obvious importance of this talent, which has been demonstrated time and again, experts opt to turn a blind eye when it comes to communication. It is rare for people to express their opinions, whether it is about their own personal task management or project milestones that must be completed as a team. This is where team collaboration software may make a significant difference in terms of maintaining smooth communication between the many parties involved.

The fear of appearing inept, a lack of availability on the part of managers, and the desire to play the blame game are just a few of the common reasons why the most vital information is overlooked. This can result in significant setbacks, both in the long and near term.

Several surveys of 400 organizations with 100,000 employees each revealed an average loss of $62.4 million per year (per company) as a result of insufficient communication among employees, according to David Grossman’s “The Cost of Poor Communications.”

Use Task Management Software

Having the appropriate ammunition can help you win battles on the battlefield. The same is true when it comes to task management and time tracking in the workplace. Many businesses have gone on to become market giants as a result of technological advancements, and millionaires have been created as a result.

The use of the correct tool at the right moment can make a significant difference in both your personal and professional lives. Although our personal characteristics and attributes have a great deal to do with our task and project management abilities, using the correct task management tool can increase our chances of success by orders of magnitude.

Make certain that you investigate and select the most appropriate task management tools for you and your team. A few of the free project management tools available today include nTask, Asana, Trello, Wrike, and other similar services. To be realistic, choose tools that are feasible rather than merely those that are popular in the market, taking into consideration financial constraints, learning curves, and team requirements as well.

You can begin with free task management and productivity tools and then upgrade if your needs change over time. Which task management strategies have you found to be most effective in managing your workload? Please share your experience and offer us some advice in the comments section below.