Creating an effective task list is one of the keys to boosting your everyday productivity. Enumerating the tasks that you need to accomplish within the day according to the order that they need to be done can help you focus, prioritise, as well as set your mind back to work mode. It’s a habit that many successful professionals have practised over the years, and it’s also something that many work-from-home employees have found to be helpful while they’re away from their colleagues.
Tools to Use for Creating a Personal List of Tasks
But how do you come up with a task list that truly works? Do you just list down what you need to do on your phone or a piece of paper and use it as a reference as you go about your day?
Generally speaking, that’s a good place to start. Making a habit of listing things down at the start of your shift can lead to improvements in your productivity level and focus. At the same time, a simple list is not the be-all and end-all of creating a task list. It’s possible to refine this process even further and find a strategy that works better than a simple list of goals for you.
In fact, there’s a wide range of applications and services that you can use as a platform for creating an interactive task list. These include Microsoft Teams, Google, and a long list of online platforms. You can check out the productivity program that your company uses and explore if it has a task list function that you can customise according to your particular needs. You can also check if it can sync with the personal calendar of your choice.
In case you want to get to know these programs better, you can take courses that will help you become proficient in Microsoft Teams, for example.
A Task List to Share with Your Team Members
Creating a task list for yourself is one thing, but it’s an entirely different challenge to come up with a task list that the rest of your team will use as a reference to get their jobs done. This can take a lot of work, but it can also simplify your processes and help your team turn into a well-oiled machine in terms of getting work done.
If you’re using Microsoft Teams, it’s a simple process to start a task. Just follow these instructions:
· Open Microsoft Teams
· Select the Chat where you want to create a task list
· Select Add a Tab (+) at the top of the Chat window
· Select Tasks
· Name your new task list by entering the details in the Tab Name field
· Select Save
· Add new tasks to the list by entering the task details in the New Task field
· Select Create and repeat the process for each additional new task
· After adding all the tasks, select the Chat tab to see the task list at the top of the chat
· View each task by clicking on the item
The task list you saved on the chat can be viewed by anyone who is a member of that particular conversation, and an alert will also be sent to their Activity Feed. The next time they log in, they’ll be able to see what your team is expected to accomplish in the near future. After you’ve saved a task list, it’s still possible to add, edit, and delete tasks or mark them as completed.
Among the things you need to think about while creating a task list, aside from creating the tasks themselves, is whom to assign each task to, the level of priority that each task requires, and the deadline for completing each task in question. Once another person has started working on a particular task, they can change the task’s Progress to indicate that they’re assuming responsibility for the completion of a particular event, activity, or project.
Integrating the Task List in Your Team’s Everyday Work
Things can change in a snap in the workplace, and it’s important to note these changes in your task list as soon as you’ve confirmed the next directions that you need to take. This will help keep everyone in your team aware of each other’s progress and the challenges that they may face while they’re also completing their own tasks.
When possible, it’s also a good idea to sync your team task list with the calendar that you use to mark activities. This way, you’re likely more capable to keep track of the important dates in your regular production processes.
At the same time, making an effort to update your digital or shared task list gets your team members into the habit of using the task list as soon as something important comes up. Developing this habit will help you make sure that none of your team members will forget to track the progress of their respective activities.
If you want to know more about Microsoft Teams and Time Management for your team, you can check out our courses or talk to Priority Management.