14 Jun Why is task and project tracking important.
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When you think of business, what comes to mind? If you’re like most people, you probably think of spreadsheets, quarterly reviews and as many meetings as humanly possible. Unfortunately, that thinking is too general. Business is much more than that; it’s a process. For businesses to succeed, they need systems in place at every step along the way. That includes task and project tracking, the process of monitoring your team’s progress on various tasks and projects. In an article on Medium titled “10 Reasons You Need Project Management Now” author Dustin Cross explains how project management can help businesses become more agile by eliminating redundant processes and codifying knowledge so it can be used again in the future.
Tasks are the foundation of any business.
Businesses start with a problem to be solved; a need that has to be fulfilled. For example, you might feel that people in your neighborhood could benefit from having a new coffee shop. So, you decide to open one up. This is the start of your business. To get the coffee shop up and running, however, you have to do a lot of things. You have to secure a location, design a menu, hire staff, order supplies, create a marketing plan, get a loan and so on. Each of the above tasks is an action item that you have to complete in order to open up for business. Without the tasks of opening up a coffee shop, you simply wouldn’t be able to do it. All of these tasks are the foundation of your business. They are what allow you to open and run the business, and without them, you can’t succeed.
Tracking is how you know what’s working and what isn’t.
As you go about your day, you don’t sit down and write out an hour-by-hour plan of what you’re going to do. You just do the tasks that you need to do. Unfortunately, that isn’t always an effective approach to business. If you want to know what’s working and what isn’t, you need to keep track of your progress. Otherwise, you have no idea how your team is performing. That’s why, as you go about your day, you should be tracking your progress. That way, you can identify where you’re successful and where you might need to make some changes. Without tracking your performance, you have no idea if your team is on track or not.
By tracking, you can see if your processes are effective or not.
Even though you don’t know what your team is doing, you can use that data to make improvements. Let’s say that you notice that certain team members consistently take longer than others to complete their tasks. That tells you something very important: those tasks are taking longer than they should. Depending on the type of task and project tracking system you use, you can use that data to make adjustments. For example, if you use a method where team members record their times manually, you can sit down with the slower team members and discover why it’s taking so long. Maybe they’re taking too much time on the details or maybe they’re just inexperienced. Once you discover why the tasks are taking longer than they should be, you can correct the issue.
Tracking will help you identify areas for improvement.
If you’re tracking your progress, you can also use that data to identify areas where your team could use some improvement. Let’s say that you notice that your team is spending too much time on research. That’s a sign that you need to make some adjustments. If you have a research specialist on your team, you can have them work with other team members to discover where the time is being spent.
Task and project tracking will also help you identify potential business risks.
Depending on the tasks and projects your business is engaged in, they could be risky. For example, the tasks and projects that your company is engaged in could be affected by extreme weather conditions, economic conditions or even political activities. You don’t want to be caught off guard by these risks, and the best way to avoid that is to track your progress. That way, you can anticipate potential problems and deal with them before they have a chance to affect your business.
Conclusion
Business is a process, and task and project tracking is one of the most important steps along the way. If you want your business to succeed, you need to know what tasks need to be done, who’s doing them and what their progress is. Tracking your projects and tasks will help you identify areas where you need improvement, spot potential business risks and make sure your company is on track to complete the tasks that need to be done.