The “Task” system enables users to generate and assign action items to teams and collaborators. Tasks can be attached to a specific object in the project, enabling users to jump straight to the object to complete the task at hand.
Tasks are a fantastic way to organize and track work that needs to be done. When fully utilized in a team's workflow, tasks provide data analytics, including workload balancing across team members, estimating time to complete outstanding tasks, and identify workflow bottlenecks (e.g. long waits to receive critical feedback, backlog in part of the pipeline causing work shortages in another).
Points are a subjective estimation of the difficulty of a given task. The value should reflect the time needed, the level of effort required, and the degree of uncertainty involved in completing the task. Workers are people, and a task that will take 2-4 hours, requires interrupted complex thinking, and additional research to complete, should receive a significantly higher point value than 4 hours of menial labor. Over time, a worker may learn that they can only complete one 5-point task in a given day, and should pair it with 1 and 2-point tasks to balance their workload. Higher complexity tasks might be assigned to senior team members, while lower number tasks go to junior members. Some workers may work best with 2- and 3-point tasks.
In an ideal team environment, the entire team will assess outstanding work, assign points to each task, and then distribute the work across the team according to established worker dynamics. After work is completed, the team should assess how their estimates reflected actual work load, and make adjustments to their workflow before the next round of work.
There are currently four actions that automatically affect the status of a task:
We are currently developing task analytics that will provide deep insights into your operational efficiencies to assist with time management, cost estimates, and workforce planning. A simple example is to track the number of points that you complete each week, and estimating of the number of days to complete outstanding tasks. We may flag potential issues, like a group of tasks being added with very short turnarounds, or tasks that are getting “stuck” in the “awaiting feedback” status, causing long delays.
The more thoroughly that your team uses the task system, the more accurate and helpful insights will be.