Managing tasks are now simple with mobile apps

As the current situation with the COVID-19 outbreak is increasing its grip on the communities, there is one trend which seems to be catching up well too! The trend is working from home. The need for this arose because of the need for social distancing as the COVID-19 virus spread through contact! 

Needless to say, this impacted a lot of businesses too. While the ones which could manage, engaged in WFH task management through the usage of task management apps, others had to either shut shops or facilitate infrastructure transfer.

Multiple individuals had to face the brunt of the situation too. While they were all resourceful and prolific back at the office, setting up the entire environment at their homes became a challenge. If we come to think of it, it’s a real confront because most people who travel to work are already acquainted with routines that they are used to and working from home is a real routine breaker. However, none of it is something that cannot be managed.

With Slack, Asana, Evernote, Todoist and many more such task management apps, life can become easy once one gets accustomed to them. The COVID-19 situation has given most of the organisations ample time to pilot with the idea of WFH task management. It has gone down well with many of these organisations too, so much that some of them like TCS are thinking to shift to working from home for a lot of their workforce. 

Needless to say, the task management mobile app market is bound to grow immensely because of this. In this blog, we explore some aspects of that!

What Are Task Management Apps?

Task management apps are the typical mobile apps which help one systematize, plan, and make sure that the tasks get done on time. In short, they are the tools for productivity enhancement. So, they are like a supervisor who is friendly They help you in becoming more systematic with your approach and hence ensure that you keep on track thus reducing your stress too

According to reports by 2022 annual mobile app survey, mobile app downloads are estimated to reach 258 billion of which roughly 30% would be in the form of some or the other task management app or productivity solution. 

Task management apps have become a very important part of almost every industry division – education, banking, healthcare, leisure, production & manufacturing, etc. In the next section, let us explore some of the WFH task management options which have become especially popular among the masses 

Advantages of Task Management Apps

Task management apps are an organized and orchestrated method of identifying, monitoring & managing the various activities performed by different members of a team in an organization. They are a management apparatus to have a unified and seamless flow of information among various hierarchies and departments to ensure quality control and delivery on time.

Task Management apps also facilitate planning resources, project estimation, setting milestones, delegation, and distribution of functions, etc. Consequently, they help in quality control by comparing the actual performance with set standards and thus finding out deviations, if any. Another important aspect of the same is the flow of information among the employees of a particular team, providing for a pragmatic way of working through technology, despite being absent from an office setup.

Task Management apps have many advantages. Some of them have been mentioned below

Understanding Requirement and managing task

The primary objective of the task management app is to manage everything under a single umbrella by understanding the requirement of the project and thereby providing for a pragmatic framework for proper functioning and communication among various team members. A typical task management team allows the team members to access all necessary information, as and when required, that eases the way of working and decision-making. It provides for scalability and flexibility of creation and customization to meet business and market requirements.

Prioritizing task

Task Management apps help in setting precedence to various jobs and tasks, according to the need of the client, which results in the efficient delivery of projects to the clients. It helps in prioritizing and differentiating various job roles to be delegated among various team members to ensure increased productivity and proper functioning of the team.

Tracking Progress

As each task has a dedicated space in the task management app, tracking of performance and progress becomes easier. The performance can be compared against the predetermined standards of operations and any deviation from the same can be mitigated through the same. Each member of the team can go back to the previous chats or conversation to keep a track of oneself and the entire team.

Delegation of work

Delegation of work is an indispensable function to ensure the successful management of tasks in a short period. Task management apps assist the user to assign the right task to the right person and also facilitate in monitoring the performance of the same. This feature assists the user to use his/her team efficiently, instead of letting them sit idle, while others are overburdened.

Reduce Waste

Redundant information or unnecessary thought as to how to proceed further can be eliminated with the help of task management apps. Given that an average task management app allows for the room to brainstorm, a lot of futile ideas can be avoided in the very beginning. Notes for the same can then be adequately maintained in the form of a minutes-of-meeting section, created well within the app.

Since there is hardly any room for error, this software facilitates in reducing the time of reworking tasks, that were not completed correctly in the first place. 

Example of Task Management Apps

The primary aim of task management apps is to understand the requirement and management of a task within the team, to ensure the proper flow of information and increase in productivity of the team.

Some of the top-rated Task management apps are as under :

Clickup

One of the best Task Management apps, used by tech giants like Google, is Clickup. An easy to use interface and also features that help to shoot up productivity in various facets of business, make this application a coveted one. It is equipped with templates to save tasks for future projects and also provide for recurring tasks. It also helps to prioritize tasks with a ‘color coordinated system’.

Keeping a track of deliverable becomes easier with its powerful reminders by synchronizing it to various platforms like Email inbox, desktop, or mobile. It also has multiple view options such as Board View, List-view, Calendar View, etc.

Asana

No this isn’t about yoga. This is another type of task management app that helps in various business processes. The primary goal of this software is to help in meeting the task deadlines and determining their priority. With its simple and straightforward interface, it is very user-friendly. It provides for the integration of various time management solutions by sharing files, assigning tasks, and tracking the progress of various tasks. Here the various business units are segregated into smaller teams and Asana helps in monitoring individual components of wider projects assigned to these teams.

Slack

Slack is another popular task management app used by various business organizations. It is predominantly an internal team messaging application that ensures integration and proper flow of information among the various team members. It facilitates proper and easier collaboration with people, which ensure to uphold productivity in the system. The interface can also be used to go back to searchable history for cross-referencing. It requires the user to send an invite to various users who want to join the room and thus help in the free flow of information. Individuals can also directly message each other, whilst in a meeting with the rest. Slack can also be integrated with various other applications such as DropBox, Asana,  etc.

Todoist

Todoist is an easy hassle-free task management app that helps in controlling operations across individuals or teams. It has a simple, no-frills interface, built around a classic design that makes it very user friendly. It is intended to cater to the needs of small business houses and start-ups and a is a great option for individuals too. In Todoist, users get notification of recurring due dates, subtasks, prioritizing the tasks, automated backups, and email notifications.

Flow

Modern task managers are fond of this tool. Flow is a task-tracking app that facilitates quality control by tracing back to the prior functions performed. Most of the projects are color coordinated which helps people to quickly navigate between individuals tasks and projects in the workflow. It is a paid software and does not have any free version. It has a ‘drag and drop’ timeline feature, which facilitates navigation and also a list of tasks with card views.

Quire

This tool emphasizes one of the important features of task management, which is ‘task prioritizing ’. Quire breaks down the task management into its smallest possible portions and thus scans the tasks that require immediate attention i,e, prioritize. It helps you start the task and then add or break them into smaller tasks as it proceeds. It also provides progress reports and recurring tasks.  

Task Management Apps and Automation

There is no denying that in today’s day and age, technology and automation almost dictate the way of life to be conducted by humans. Be it Artificial Intelligence, Big Data, Data Analytics, Machine learning or anything, every new technology is being funded and innovated upon just so that it can automate the usual manual work. The same has touched the task management apps too. Though the impact isn’t much and a lot of innovation and integration needs to be done yet, yet the very basic reminders are a form of automation too.

If we talk of the future though, there is a possibility that with the help of AI and Big Data Analytics integration, an average task management app will be able to determine and tell the time taken per task too. Maybe these apps will also give suggestions about how the employees need to speed up or what part of interaction is futile and hence can be avoided later.

However, for now, all of this is fantasy but then, how long does it take for a fantasy to turn into reality in a world like that of today!

Management Adaptability for the Future

The changing dynamics of the current business scenario reiterates the Darwin Theory of “Survival of the Fittest”. The most pivotal characteristic to possess at this time of the hour for all the business houses is ‘adaptability’. Scalability and flexibility of operations given any situation is the key to the survival of most businesses. When the Great Depression hit in 1930, companies found themselves indebted and unable to run productive operations, which in turn led to significant layoffs. The current pandemic situation also resonates with the same scar in the world economy.

According to a survey conducted by Westmonroe.com, where they inquired 250 US business leaders, regarding their ability to foresee the ability of their organization to respond to change and volatility, it was found that they are aware of the importance of WFH task management as an option in preparing for the future, but as we have seen in the recent times already, it isn’t a cakewalk. 

Conclusion

We are still in the phase when the pandemic impact hasn’t subsided yet. Multiple jobs are being lost every day and many businesses are finding it hard to survive. The startup ecosystem is hit majorly because most of them were running on secured funding. However, the point is not that. The point is that to survive through this strenuous scenario, one will have to indulge in extensive cost-cutting. A major part of that cost-cutting would also be in the form of infrastructural cost-cutting. As many of the IT firms have claimed already, we feel that work from home is going to be the norm for some time now. Needless to say, work from home task management will be a major operational issue to handle and hence task management apps and solutions will see a major push in the sale.

The point is, which of the applications will do the best and why? Well, that is something only time will be able to tell!