7 Key Features of the Best Task Management Software

Are you juggling between multiple projects and their timely submission?

Well, the best task management software comes to the rescue. 

According to Project.co, 

96% of people feel that having a to-do list to work through makes them more efficient and productive.

95% of people feel that having a list of tasks to do each day is good for their mental health.

From small-scale owners to freelancers, the best personal project task management software tools can help you manage multiple responsibilities of multiple project tasks smartly and digitally with just a few clicks.

From streamlining workflows to organizing your tasks, it has significantly served the objective of enhancing productivity in the domain of project task management.

 

 

 

What is Task Management Software?

Task management software is a digital tool designed to help individuals and teams organize, prioritize, and track tasks throughout the lifecycle of a project. It offers features that facilitate the planning, execution, and monitoring of tasks, ensuring they are completed on time and in line with project goals.

Task management software helps improve efficiency, reduce missed deadlines, and ensure accountability in both individual and team-based environments.

 

Is Task Organization & Project Management Connected & Interdependent?

Task organization and project management are like two peas in a pod. They work separately but are interconnected and dependent on one another. Let's understand this with an example -

Task organization: Foundation of successful web development

Let’s say you have content creation, graphic design, coding, testing, and more. These are the tasks – the steps that, when combined, result in the successful completion of your project. Task organization is like arranging your toolkit, ensuring you have the tools (tasks) for each job.

Project management: Master plan for website creation

Now, let's zoom out and think about the process of building a website. You need to ensure that all those tasks are not only completed but also done correctly within the given timeframe and budget. This is where project management comes into play.

Think of project management as the master plan – it outlines every aspect of construction from start to finish. It involves planning, scheduling, resource allocation, and risk management. Your project manager ensures that content creators, designers, and developers are all aligned and working together harmoniously toward achieving a goal.

 

Challenges in Task Organization: Avoiding a Chaotic Workflow

Without task organization in place for your website project, you run the risk of ending up with a pile of mismatched bricks instead of a smoothly flowing workflow.

Why is task management important?

Well, it helps maintain organization, prevents any tasks from missing deadlines, and ensures that everyone stays on track with their work. Think of it like placing each brick in a construction project that goes one after the other to build a strong foundation.

 

Are Project Management Challenges like a Coordinated Symphony or a Chaotic Noise? 

Now let's think about the picture. You may have excellently crafted tasks, like bricks. Without project management, they may not fit together seamlessly. Project management is responsible for coordinating the process, ensuring that each task complements the next and that everyone is working in harmony. It involves aligning resources, setting milestones, and navigating obstacles.

So, let's go back to our website example. To ensure your website is built efficiently and becomes a presence, you need both task management and project management. Task management focuses on the tasks. Like looking at each tree in a forest. While project management oversees the forest itself.

Remember that in the symphony of accomplishing goals, both task management and project management play roles. It's similar to having musicians playing their notes under the guidance of an exceptional conductor. That's when true magic happens.

Now, let's dive deeper into the key features of a task management system -

 

How Task Management Software Benefits Teams and Businesses

Using task management software provides several advantages for both individuals and teams, as it helps improve productivity, collaboration, and project execution.

1. Enhanced Organization

With task management software, all tasks are listed, organized, and easily accessible in one place, reducing the risk of overlooking important tasks and deadlines.

2. Improved Collaboration

Task management tools make it easier for teams to work together, share updates, and track the status of individual tasks. Everyone stays aligned with project goals, and there is less chance of miscommunication.

3. Increased Accountability

By assigning tasks to specific team members and tracking their progress, task management software enhances accountability. This clarity ensures that each person knows their responsibilities and can focus on completing them on time.

4. Time Efficiency

Automating task assignments, progress tracking, and reminders saves valuable time for teams, allowing them to focus on task completion rather than administrative processes.

5. Better Prioritization

Task management software allows users to categorize tasks, set priorities, and allocate time efficiently, ensuring that critical tasks are completed first and resources are optimally allocated.

 

Types of Task Management Software

Task management software comes in various forms depending on business needs and complexity. The common types include:

 

How to Select The Best Task Management Software?

Selecting the best task management software is crucial for streamlining your workflow, improving team collaboration, and ensuring tasks are completed on time. With the plethora of options available today, it's important to choose a tool that aligns with your business needs, team size, and project requirements. Here’s a detailed guide to help you make the right decision.

1. Define Your Needs and Goals

Before diving into the selection process, start by evaluating what you want to achieve with task management software. Understanding your goals will help you find the best tool suited for your needs.

Key considerations include:

• Project Complexity: Are your tasks simple and straightforward, or do you need advanced project management capabilities?
• Team Size: Consider whether the software can accommodate the number of users you need, from small teams to large enterprises.
• Task Types: Determine whether you need basic to-do lists or require more complex task hierarchies (e.g., sub-tasks, dependencies).

2. Prioritize Key Features

Different task management tools offer different features. To choose the best software, prioritize the features that will benefit your team and help meet your goals.

Essential features to consider:

• Task Creation & Assignment: Ability to create tasks, assign them to team members, and set deadlines.
• Task Prioritization: Features that allow you to rank tasks by priority (e.g., high, medium, low).
• Collaboration Tools: Built-in communication tools like comments, chat, or file sharing to keep everyone on the same page.
• Time Tracking & Reminders: Features for setting deadlines, tracking time spent on tasks, and sending reminders to ensure tasks are completed on time.
• Progress Tracking: Tools like Gantt charts, Kanban boards, or progress bars to visually track task completion.
• Integration Options: Integration with other tools such as calendars, email clients, or file-sharing platforms.

3. Consider Usability and User Interface

The usability of the task management software is crucial for ensuring smooth adoption by your team. A user-friendly interface can greatly enhance productivity, while a complicated one can slow down progress.

Tips for evaluating usability:

• Ease of Use: The software should be intuitive, so that team members can easily navigate and start using it right away.
• Customization: Look for a tool that allows customization of dashboards, task lists, and other features to suit your specific workflows.
• Learning Curve: Choose software that doesn’t require extensive training to use effectively.

4. Scalability

Your business or project will evolve over time, and your task management needs will likely grow as well. Therefore, it’s important to select software that is scalable and can accommodate future growth.

Key scalability factors:

• Team Expansion: Ensure that the software can support additional users without performance issues.
• Advanced Features: As your team grows, you might need more advanced features like project timelines, advanced reporting, or resource management.
• Cloud-Based vs. On-Premise: Cloud-based tools are generally more scalable because they can easily accommodate more users and data.

5. Cost and Pricing Plans

Task management software is available in a variety of pricing models, from free tools with basic functionality to premium platforms with advanced features. It’s important to choose a software that fits within your budget while still offering the necessary features.

Pricing considerations:

• Free Trials: Look for tools that offer a free trial or freemium version so you can test out the features before committing.
• Subscription Model: Many tools offer monthly or annual subscriptions, so compare pricing plans based on your team’s size and needs.
• Hidden Fees: Be aware of any additional costs such as extra user licenses, advanced features, or integrations.

6. Check for Mobile Access

In today’s fast-paced world, it's important to have access to your task management software even when you're away from the office. Many teams now work remotely or need access to their tasks while on the go.

Mobile access features:

• Mobile App: Choose a task management tool that offers a mobile app for both iOS and Android, allowing team members to stay connected from anywhere.
• Real-time Syncing: Ensure that tasks are updated in real-time across devices, so team members can stay aligned regardless of where they are working.

7. Look for Integration Capabilities

Task management software that integrates with your existing tools can save you time and effort. Integration helps automate workflows and reduces manual input, improving efficiency.

Key integrations to consider:

• Calendar Integration: Sync tasks with Google Calendar, Outlook, or other scheduling tools to keep track of deadlines.
• Communication Platforms: Ensure the software integrates with tools like Slack, Microsoft Teams, or email for seamless communication.
• File Management Tools: Integration with file storage tools like Google Drive, Dropbox, or OneDrive helps team members share and store documents easily.

8. Evaluate Security Features

Task management software often handles sensitive project data, so security is a critical factor. You need a solution that ensures your data is protected from cyber threats.

Key security features to check:

• Data Encryption: Ensure the software encrypts data to prevent unauthorized access.
• Access Controls: Look for tools that offer role-based permissions to restrict access to sensitive information.
• Two-Factor Authentication: Some tools offer extra layers of security through two-factor authentication, which is a helpful safeguard.

9. Read Reviews and Get Feedback

Before making a final decision, it’s always a good idea to read reviews and gather feedback from other users. This will provide insight into the strengths and weaknesses of the tool you are considering.

Sources for reviews:

• Online Review Platforms: Websites like G2, Capterra, or TrustPilot offer user reviews that can help you make an informed decision.
• Peer Feedback: Ask colleagues, industry peers, or team members for their opinions on the software based on their own experiences.

10. Test the Software

Once you’ve narrowed down your options, testing the software is crucial. Most task management software offers a free trial or demo version, which allows you to explore its features before committing.

What to test during your trial:

• Ease of setup: How easy is it to set up and integrate with your current processes?
• User experience: Does the tool meet your needs and is it easy for your team to adopt?
• Customer support: Test the customer support to see how quickly and effectively they respond to inquiries or issues.

Selecting the best task management software for your team or business involves understanding your needs, evaluating features, considering usability, and factoring in your budget. By taking these steps, you’ll ensure that the software you choose will help your team stay organized, collaborate efficiently, and deliver successful projects on time.

Don’t rush the process—take the time to test different tools and make an informed decision that aligns with your goals.

 

Task Management Features To Streamline Your Projects in 2024

1. Planning and scheduling

Are you overburdened with piles of tasks for different projects? 

It’s time to leverage the best project management task software at Kroolo. All you have to do is ‘Sign Up’ and 'Create an account'. Then, break your entire workflow down into simple tasks through a structured approach. Prioritize your tasks as required based on the deadline or set them as recurring tasks. 

For instance, you can create a list with 3 main tasks –

• Hiring two candidates for a position 
• Giving access to must-have tools 
• Arrange a first-week review meeting to see if the new joinee is settling well in the workplace

You can assign these 3 important tasks to different team members. And once you have assigned, you can track the progress when they start working on those tasks.

2. Collaboration

Are you a freelancer or a small-scale business owner? Planning to grow your team size to outscore your business? It’s time to invest in task management web app to enhance the productivity of your team. 

92% of people say they believe collaboration with their teammates could be improved.

Task management software enables users to share tasks, projects, and to-do lists with teammates while assigning tasks to individuals within the team. This fosters transparency, coordination, and accountability among team members. 

In Kroolo, you can create and optimize team dashboards that everyone can access. It serves as a KPI report where you can track the metrics and compare the actual with real-time and expected results based on charts, graphs, and KPI reports. You can share this report with your teammates working on the same project to improve the performance at par.

This makes communication easier, especially when you're working on a project with a mutual objective.

3. Deadline tracking

Every project and task comes with a deadline. So, whether you’re working on your dream project with your dream client or a small one–time project, you can’t miss deadlines. That’s where task management software comes into the picture.

Yes, deadline tracking is a must as it can cause serious consequences such as increased expenses or you might lose a valuable client.

This feature will let you manage, prioritize, and monitor the status of your tasks and upcoming deadlines from a single spot. It even sends you alerts and reminders to prevent tasks from slipping through the cracks while promoting time management. 

4. Resource management 

Gone are the days when businesses had to maintain every detail in Excel manually. Today, with digital transformation, you can have a long-term view of disruptive projects, prepare a list of tasks, and assign it dedicatedly just with a quick prompt. 

Top of that, the best part of this comprehensive digital twin is that companies can plan the tasks like a document that needs to be done and compare it with the costs involved before investing in any resources. This will empower freelancers to plan their commercial in context with their efforts (to be invested) and ensure sustainability throughout the entire process of project task management.

5. Automation and workflows 

Automation and workflow tools in the best task and project management software work based on trigger and action. So, when any user postulates any trigger in the software, like removing the tagged item and moving it to the ‘in review’ stage, an action will be performed when the trigger is achieved.

In Kroolo, you can instruct the task management software to change the status of your task through AI and assign it to the manager for further approval. This saves your time and cut back on repetitive processes.

Thus, the power of the cumulative effect of sending review notifications to the manager several times over a day can save your amount, and that’ll trigger him faster than any email can do.

6. Task visualization tools 

Various personal goal and task management software tools go beyond basic in creating a list of tasks to complete and offer a unique set of visualization methods. Look for the best task management software where you can get unique visualization elements like -

• Kanban Board for representing tasks as cards that move through different stages or columns. 
• Gantt Chart where you can monitor the starting and closing dates of subtasks and track the dependency of subtasks on one another.
• Mind Maps gives you a hierarchical structure for visually representing the tasks and their relationships.
• Burn up and burn down charts to track the no. of tasks that are left to finish over time.

7. Recurring tasks 

Unlock the power of recurring tasks with your task management module. This lets you create a task and schedule it for multiple days for different purposes. Some tasks need to be repeated daily or weekly as a single task, which can at times, serve multiple projects like client communication, updating worksheets, preparing weekly reports, and conducting review meetings. 

Prepare a list of your tasks with respective timelines and get started with this recurring feature.

 

Frequently Asked Questions

1. What are the benefits of using Task Management Software?

• Visibility & Trust - The Team can review, update, and track their day-to-day tasks 
• Gives Mental Bandwidth – No need to juggle between projects, tasks, and teams 
• Improved Processes – Easy to identify bottlenecks & miscommunications

2. Is there a limit to the number of projects, users, and tasks I can create?

Our pricing plan is divided into 3 categories:

• Startup: Free 
• Plus: $15/ User / Month
• Business: $25 / User / Month 

Click here to explore our full pricing. 

3. How do I choose task management software?

• Make selection based on how your team likes to communicate & collaborate 
• Know if it offers a demo or trial to test for the best fit
• Look for room for flexibility in structuring projects into phases 

4. Who can use Task Management Software? 

Any individual team leader managers and project team members can use task management software to create and assign tasks to available team members. You can track your progress at every stage and encourage teammates to work in synergy and collaboratively.

5. How to Manage Tasks with Kroolo?

Here’s a step-by-step guide on how you can organize your team and tasks together

1. Import the task List or Start a New One
2. Prioritize and create your parent task
3. Add task description 
4. Delegate the task 
5. Switch to visual presentation to track & review 
6. Set up Filters 
7. Monitor and Analyze with the Dashboard
8. Get Detailed Reports 

P.S. You can write a prompt to Kroo AI to get all these steps done in a jiffy!