Staff Management / Task Lists
Discussion
I manage (badly) quite a few junior staff who are always forgetting to carry out tasks I’ve asked them to do and get distracted for days on end with something that may not be a priority.
Can anyone suggest collaborative tools accessible buy some/all team members that can assist? Nice interface and mobile app would help. We have Office 365
Can anyone suggest collaborative tools accessible buy some/all team members that can assist? Nice interface and mobile app would help. We have Office 365
todoist is very good...
we use it across a range of platforms - plus, (big bonus for us), it has an api, so we have code in our web systems that allow you to add / delete / edit tasks and the changes are reflected around all the other parts of the ecosystem - tweak it on the web, and it updates on the app on your phone...
it also means (my preference) that I can have a 'all projects to view at once' type dashboard on my website and it works with everything else
free and paid options
we use it across a range of platforms - plus, (big bonus for us), it has an api, so we have code in our web systems that allow you to add / delete / edit tasks and the changes are reflected around all the other parts of the ecosystem - tweak it on the web, and it updates on the app on your phone...
it also means (my preference) that I can have a 'all projects to view at once' type dashboard on my website and it works with everything else
free and paid options
Not the greatest, but given you're already using O365 it makes sense.
Microsoft Planner.
https://tasks.office.com
Apps available as well.
Microsoft Planner.
https://tasks.office.com
Apps available as well.
Trello, and either do a column for each team member and they can put what they're working on now at the top of their column and next tasks down below; or the more conventional task planning columns something like "planned", "in progress", "stuck", "done", "not going to do", and give each team member a label, then you can allocate their labels to individual trello task cards, and they can filter it by label to see just the tasks they're involved in. The latter method copes with multiple individuals working on the same task. Trello does have this concept of team members that it shows with each person's initials and you can assign them to individual task cards but I find that using the labels for individuals is simpler (may be different in massive teams).
There's an app for mobile use or you can just call it up on the phone browser, either works fine. You can get all advanced and set up an email address for the trello board to which you can email new tasks as you think of them (and have it put them in the "planned" column until you properly allocate them).
Then importantly have a big screen that you gather the whole team round at a fixed time every morning (or at least twice a week) just for 15 minutes max, with no chairs, and go round everyone in turn and they just give a one or two line summary of what they worked on the day before and where it got to and what they'll be doing with it next. It soon becomes apparent if they're spending too much time on tasks that aren't on the trello board (or just aren't working at all) when they know they have to give a daily update in front of everyone. Important to keep the gathering super brief though, not spend an hour every day in a meeting room on it!
There's an app for mobile use or you can just call it up on the phone browser, either works fine. You can get all advanced and set up an email address for the trello board to which you can email new tasks as you think of them (and have it put them in the "planned" column until you properly allocate them).
Then importantly have a big screen that you gather the whole team round at a fixed time every morning (or at least twice a week) just for 15 minutes max, with no chairs, and go round everyone in turn and they just give a one or two line summary of what they worked on the day before and where it got to and what they'll be doing with it next. It soon becomes apparent if they're spending too much time on tasks that aren't on the trello board (or just aren't working at all) when they know they have to give a daily update in front of everyone. Important to keep the gathering super brief though, not spend an hour every day in a meeting room on it!
i know you are trying to fix this with software , but is this the real issue ?
First - are the junior "staff" located in the same location as you ... or are they working remotely? as could change how you approach this .
You mention that you are managing them poorly.. so is their anyone who can mentor you ? If they arent working on priority tasks - is this because you havent shared the priority with them or adequately explained the importance of their contribution. AND are the priority tasks really the priority.
Once this is in place you can work on how you need to manage them ... you might be micro-managing them without realising it !
As far as tools ... start with a conversation and a piece of paper
then a whiteboard
then consider software options ... but look at people and process first
( sorry if im teaching you to suck eggs .. but its too easy to look for software fixes when the root cause is elsewhere)
First - are the junior "staff" located in the same location as you ... or are they working remotely? as could change how you approach this .
You mention that you are managing them poorly.. so is their anyone who can mentor you ? If they arent working on priority tasks - is this because you havent shared the priority with them or adequately explained the importance of their contribution. AND are the priority tasks really the priority.
Once this is in place you can work on how you need to manage them ... you might be micro-managing them without realising it !
As far as tools ... start with a conversation and a piece of paper
then a whiteboard
then consider software options ... but look at people and process first
( sorry if im teaching you to suck eggs .. but its too easy to look for software fixes when the root cause is elsewhere)
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