Task management
Task management is the process of creating, assigning, prioritizing, tracking and completing individual pieces of work, so that every task has an owner, a deadline and a visible status until it is done.
Also known as: task tracking · task assignment · work management
Task management is how a team makes sure work gets done: each task is captured, given an owner, prioritized, tracked and closed. The core questions are always the same. What needs doing? Who is doing it? By when? Is it done, and how do we know?
Example
A front-office manager at a resort starts the morning with five open items from the night: a broken pool light, a VIP arrival setup, two guest requests and a lost-property return. In a task management system, each item has an assignee, a deadline and a status. By 10:00 three are done and timestamped, one is in progress, and the pool light is overdue, so a supervisor is alerted.
Operational vs project task management
Most task software was designed for office projects, with long timelines and dependencies. Operational task management is different:
| Project task management | Operational task management | |
|---|---|---|
| Where work happens | At a desk | On the floor, in rooms, on site |
| Typical task length | Days or weeks | Minutes or hours |
| Where tasks come from | Planned by the team | Requests, inspections, schedules, incidents |
| What matters most | Milestones, dependencies | Response time, completion, proof |
How it relates to neighbouring terms
A work order is a task in a maintenance context. Escalation is the safety net when a task runs late. Frontline workers are the people operational task management serves, and shift handover is where tasks are most often lost. Chat groups often stand in for task management, but messages scroll away and have no owner or status.
Where TaskLoop fits
TaskLoop is a task management system for operations teams in buildings and hotels. Tasks are created from requests or by reception, assigned to staff or departments with a priority, deadline and instructions, completed on the mobile app with optional photo proof, and escalated when overdue. See task management system.