5 Keys to Task Management

Layoffs came to our small business with the economic downturn. The management team ticked through our project management roster assessing each team member on their performance and each manager on their effectiveness. Their key consideration became how the PM managed their time and teams.

Counter-intuitively, the PM who was let go was one of our most hard working. She was one of the first in the door and the last to leave each day. No one could claim they saw her surfing the web instead of working or even conducting in idle chatter. Her problem was she worked on the wrong things. She prioritized her tasks incorrectly and as a result, her effectiveness as a project manager was lacking. So her teams and projects suffered.

The key to being a productive project manager is ensuring we are working on the correct tasks for ourselves, our teams, and our clients. Here are 5 steps to help ensure PMs are working on the right things.

1. Make a list

A good project manager uses some sort of organizational tool. Most of these tools have a built in task list. Chances are you already have your to-do list made. Use this list as a starting point. Then build or edit your list to items that exclusively need to be completed today.

2. Triage your tasks

When you go to the emergency room, the guy with a broken toe is not treated first. Life threatening injuries are treated before all others. For PMs, we need to look at the list with a critical eye and ask ourselves which tasks are urgent and important to our projects. Extending my hyperbolic metaphor, we must identify the tasks that are threatening the life of our project. Some questions to ask yourself:

• Will this task negatively impact the project if it is not completed today?
• Are other team members waiting on this task in order to complete their work?
• Does this task impact the client?

If you have answered “Yes” to any of those questions, you’ve found a good candidate for your top tasks to complete.

3. Apply the SMART rule

Like project objectives, tasks should be Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, and Time-Sensitive. My self-imposed task of learning Spanish is not high-priority task for 99% of my days. It’s a time consuming effort and it’s unrealistic for me to devote much time and effort to it over the course of a day. Reviewing the latest contract verbiage for leadership, however, is both important and urgent for the project. What’s needed to complete the task is well-defined. I can do it today and it won’t take the entire day. In addition, I know it will impact the work of others.

4. Delegate

There is a natural tendency in many corporate cultures to keep tasks to ourselves for fear of seeming ineffective or even lazy. On the contrary, delegating tasks allows our team members to provide value and lessens our workload. Offloading a task to a team member can help ensure its timely and proper completion.

5. Apply the ”Leftovers Rule”

Eventually, there will be tasks that keep getting deferred to tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow. Tasks more than a week old should be thrown out every Friday like the leftovers from the break room fridge. Chances are these tasks are neither important or urgent. Simply delete them from your list and move on. If you are concerned about them getting completed, delegate the completion to someone else.

Tasks are the tactical execution of our project plans. Make your list, identify which items are urgent, important, and can be achieved today. Delegate what you can. Don’t be afraid to discard the tasks which never seem to get done.

Please let me know what works for you in prioritizing your tasks for the day. I’d love to hear your ideas.