A task list is only useful when you use them. Shared tasks and plans are only useful when you update them.  It’s time to get our team members and ourselves into the habit of keeping our tasks up to date. Have you attended a project meeting or stand-up meeting where the tasks are out of date and the project manager spends the meeting asking people about their tasks, while typing an update on the task card? It isn’t a great use of time. It is better to update our tasks with notes and changing fields as needed while we work on a task. The details are fresh in our minds. We are focused on the task. Updates made during a task ensure that our team members can get up to date information and make decisions based on it.

In this Modern Work Workout we are going to exercise our task management muscle group again and develop a basic habit. We are going to update our tasks in Planner every time we work on them. This might feel difficult at first. But we are going update the most important things first. https://youtu.be/XONV-WdEKDo

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We will update 3 types of tasks – Flagged email, Private tasks, and tasks Assigned to you from team plans.  In this workout you’re going to need Microsoft Teams and the Planner app within Teams.   

Warm up – Create your My Day task list

First, we will warm up by opening Teams and the Planner app. Open Planner in a new window, so tasks are easier to find amongst your open applications. 

Open My Tasks to focus on tasks you have created and those assigned to you. Begin by viewing Flagged emails. Choose a task and add it to My Day. 

View Private tasks. Choose a task and add it to My Day.  View Assigned to me tasks, and… you guessed it, add it to My Day.  

By adding tasks to My Day, we can focus on a realistic list for today and for this workout.  

Flagged emails and Private tasks

Open My Day. We will look at Flagged email and Private tasks to begin with.  They have the same list of fields to update, with one difference I will mention later in the article.

Update these fields

Here’s where I introduce my list of fields to update, ordered from most important to least. If you can only spend a few minutes updating tasks, build muscle memory to update at least the first 4 or 5 each time.

(1) Progress and (2) Priority 

Check Progress and Priority. Your task should be In Progress unless you have completed it. Priority might change over time. Check this each time and set appropriately. 

Practise good form with this exercise and make sure tasks are always changed to In Progress when you start them. It is bad form when tasks are left as Not Started. At glance, the task and task lists look like there hasn’t been much activity or progress.

(3) Notes

Next, add some notes to the task. Flagged emails can be actioned quickly. When it’s a longer task, leave a note for your future-self so you can continue where you left off.  

 (4) Due Date

Check the Due date. Is it still achievable? Adjust if needed. If a task is assigned to you, it is good form to discuss the change with the project manager, or the sender of the email. 

 (5) Checklist

Use the Checklist. Divide your task into steps. This helps plan time to complete your task. If that task is a small task that will take 30 minutes or less to complete, you might choose to skill using the checklist. Otherwise, just list a few checklist items to begin with.  Check completed items. Add new items if needed.  
TIP: You can drag and drop the checklist items into a different order to help prioritise them. 

Try to check and update these 5 fields each time. When you do this often enough, it becomes a habit. Like muscle-memory, you will open a task card, scan and quickly update within a few minutes.

Assigned tasks  

These are tasks assigned to you from team plans. They have a few more useful fields to update and benefit your team and your future-self.  

Open the task Assigned to you. Update the same fields in the same order we did with Private tasks and Flagged emails.  

·      Progress and Priority. 

·      Update Notes, but this time we can also add Comments to leave an update. Comments also send an email notification to other team members assigned to the task.

·      Due Date 

·      Checklist items 

 (6) Bucket

In tasks assigned from a team plan, we can change the Bucket. There are lots of uses for Buckets. For example, indicating phases of work, or if a task is parked. So change this if needed. 

 (7) Assignment

Check the task assignment. It’s assigned to you. Do you need to assign another team member to help, or get updates about the task? If so, add a person from the team. 

(8) Add attachments  

You have a few options to attach to a task. You can upload a file from your computer, attach a file from Teams, or add a link and display text.

·      Files uploaded from your computer will be stored in the files for the Team where the plan is stored.

·      You can attach and existing file from the Team.

·      Links are the most versatile. You can link to anything and set the text that will be displayed on the task card. Some examples could be links to related websites, support articles, policies, issues logged in an issue tracking system, files outside of your team.

Discuss your task using a Teams post

We could finish here. But do you want to take task conversations to the next level? Comments are fine. But even better, you can discuss the task in a Teams post.  

1.        Copy the link to the task using the dots menu from the top corner.  

2.        Open the team where the plan is stored. 

3.        Then open the channel where you want to discuss the task. 

4.        Create a new post.  

5.        Use the task name as the subject, so it’s clear what you are discussing.  

6.        Write your message and paste the link to the task.  

Now team members can discuss the task, and you can leave updates in the conversation. Everybody can find the task you are discussing using the link in the original post.  

Cool down

That was a thorough workout, for all levels of task management fitness. Challenge yourself to open the task card for every task you work on. Get in the habit of making notes as you work, so it's easy to update your team and your future-self.