We find the 10 best options, so you can make informed decisions on tons of products and services.
Juggling multiple projects that each involve many tasks, various teams, and a whole slew of other responsibilities ensures that a good manager’s head will constantly be running from the minute they wake up until well after they’ve gone to sleep. To keep things simpler and more organized, the best managers utilize a task manager. Task management tools are loaded with features and functionality that help teams and managers collaborate better, create to-do lists, and stay organized across multiple tasks, projects, and offices.
Not sure what a task tracker actually is, how it works, and where to find the best task manager for your business goals? Read on to get all the answers, and maybe a few more.
Task management software has several functions that will both provide useful tools to lighten the load for managers and help manage and organize tasks. Essentially, a task organizer is meant to manage a single (or multiple) task from start to finish, covering every aspect of the task. This can include time estimates, resource requirements, task scheduling, and various aspects of planning the implementation and completion of the task.
The best task management software will utilize smart features to maximize efficiency, minimize redundancy, and increase productivity and clarity for everyone.
With a basic understanding of the importance of a quality task manager, the next thing you’ll want to know is what to look for when shopping around for your own task planner. Here are a few must-have features that any good task management software will include:
A combination of these features will deliver the smoothest and most efficient task planning and management process possible.
Now that you have a nice shopping list of features, it’s time to do your research. If you’re not interested in all of the legwork involved in comparison shopping, here are 3 of the most useful task manager tools that managers are using in 2024.
Stop trying to juggle so many balls at once, and start letting technology do the hard work for you with the right task management software for your business today.
monday.com unifies your team’s tasks and processes into one user-friendly and visually pleasing interface. This work operating system (OS) provides teams with a clear overview of who’s responsible for what and when tasks are due, which can enhance transparency, instill accountability, and enable efficient resource management.
The tool also offers over 200 templates that you can easily adapt using 20+ customizable columns and numerous integrated applications. These ready-made templates and apps can significantly reduce how much time you spend on setting up projects or tasks, leading to improved productivity.
Additionally, you can tailor dashboards to provide detailed, team-specific views of tasks, project progression, and upcoming deadlines to enhance your team’s workflow clarity. Samyuktha Shivakumar, Global Marketing Operations Manager at Thoughtworks, reinforces this, stating that monday.com enables them “to budget the team’s time and efforts much more scientifically.”
Why we chose monday.com: monday.com earns the top spot on our list because it unifies power, flexibility, and intuitiveness and can cater to the most complex project needs. It also allows you to import data from spreadsheets and integrate it with your current tools. With this functionality, you won’t have to manually input any data, giving you more time for other tasks.
Our experience: monday.com has revolutionized my team’s information management. It let me implement processes that would’ve previously taken days or weeks within a few minutes. The platform’s communication tools, such as document sharing, comment annotation, and direct communication within the task manager, also improved collaboration within my team.
Smartsheet is a cloud-based work management platform that allows teams to manage dynamic work regardless of their location. With all data stored on the cloud and updated in real-time, you can track progress, identify potential issues early, and make data-driven decisions quickly.
This tool is also very user-friendly. A testament to Smartsheet’s ease of use comes from Janina Hill, Marketing Program Manager at WebEx, who notes, “Everybody has different levels of Smartsheet skills. But with drag and drop, all solutions are easy to use. Also, the workflow is much smoother when all processes are automated, and all information is in one place.”
This single-platform solution fosters interconnectivity across the entire organization, letting you share sheets with team members and effectively collaborate on projects. By centralizing data, it also reduces time spent on information management, boosting efficiency and enabling your team to focus on their primary responsibilities.
Why we chose Smartsheet: Smartsheet’s spreadsheet-like interface allows you to add new rows and columns as your project grows. This functionality can help you seamlessly expand small tasks into enterprise-wide initiatives. Additionally, its integration with apps like Slack, Teams, and Jira consolidates your data onto a single platform.
Our experience: Smartsheet allowed my team to strategically plan, implement, and monitor work on a large scale. This led to more streamlined processes, fostered innovation, and positively impacted overall business results within our own context. I found it invaluable in effectively navigating the complexities of today’s ever-changing work landscape.
ClickUp’s variety of visualization options for tracking project statuses is truly remarkable, with tools like Gantt charts, mind maps, and Kanban boards catering to various management styles. These tools give you a blend of flexibility and control in your projects, enabling you to stay on top of your tasks, track progress, and pinpoint roadblocks.
The platform’s “Timeline View” brings about a new level of resource management. By enabling you to visualize your schedule linearly, it helps you plan work over time and create visual roadmaps. It also allows task grouping by assignee, priority, tags, custom fields, and more, so you can create a flexible organizational structure.
Additionally, ClickUp enhances team visibility with the “Pulse ClickApp.” This feature provides high-level activity reporting, showing who’s online and their current tasks. Its global timer function also lets you track time both automatically and manually, linked directly to your desktop, mobile, or browser.
Why we chose ClickUp: What sets ClickUp apart is its seamless integration with over 1,000 other apps, including Slack, GitLab, GitHub, and Webhooks. This capability makes it a go-to choice for development teams, allowing them to streamline their existing workflows.
Our experience: I was particularly impressed with ClickUp’s unique features, such as notepads, time tracking software, goal-setting tools, and pre-made templates. I also liked that I could use slash commands (typing “/” in any text field to trigger a command menu) to assign tasks, set due dates, or create subtasks quicker.