A task management tool for teams that brings every task to its owner.

What a task management tool does

A task management tool, also called task management software, captures what needs doing, who takes it on and by when. In teamspace this unit of work is the open item: a flexible format that can be collected, distributed and worked through. While a ticket arises in the service desk and is tied to a customer enquiry, the open item is deliberately kept general, from the quick scribbled note to the distributed task.

Tasks arise everywhere throughout the day:

• Meetings: every meeting yields items that someone takes on.
• Projects: each work package brings tasks for the operational work.
• Service cases: a ticket often leads to a task, such as updating documentation.
• Inbox and quick asks: whatever arrives by email or in passing becomes an open item with an owner.

teamspace brings these sources together in one place. A task is not just a title: attached to it are owner, due date, priority, status, colour, progress, comment and attachment.

Five types for a task

The open item comes in five types, depending on what is being captured. To-do is the classic errand. Goal captures what a team is working towards and shows through its progress how far along it is. Problem describes something someone should clear up, passed to the right person with an image or attachment. Idea and note catch what would otherwise end up on a scrap of paper.

Because all five share the same format, an item travels from scribbled note to distributed task without anyone having to recreate it. The fields a task has stay the same throughout: owner, due date, priority, status and colour turn the title into a matter that someone completes by a deadline.

My open items: everyone sees their stack

How a task is displayed depends on the angle. In My open items every employee sees the tasks assigned to them, sorted by due date and topped up with the ones already completed today. Split the stack by project, priority or type whenever you need to.

Alongside it there are further views onto the same pool:

• List with filters for pool maintenance and for the meeting.
• Board in Kanban or Scrum logic, with columns for each status.
• Personal pinboard, where everyone pins their most important items with a relevance level.

All views work on the same database. A status change in the list takes effect on the board straight away.

Lists and minutes for the meeting

When the items pile up, you bundle them in a list of open items. A list is more than a collection: it has a distribution group and works well as the basis for a recurring meeting. All the items for the standing meeting, the client project or maintenance sit in one place, and an item may appear in several lists.

In the meeting, items discussed are ticked off, open ones stay put with owner and deadline. On a deadline the list produces minutes that reach the participants via the distribution group. So the meeting is not the end of the tasks but their starting point.

Reminders through follow-up and alert

Task management stands or falls on nothing being forgotten. teamspace reminds you through the follow-up on the open item: put an item on follow-up and it is presented to you again on the set deadline. On top of that come smart alerts that can be attached to a task.

Instead of going through a list every day, the task reports back itself when its date draws near. The same principle applies to whole lists via the deadline: whatever is open by then appears in the minutes and so on the agenda of the next meeting.

Connection to project, hours and board

The difference from a pure task app lies in the connection. The open item does not live in a silo but is attached to what it is about:

• Project and work package: an item can be assigned to a project or a list and turned into a work package whenever needed.
• Hours: on a billable project, time can be booked straight from the item and feeds into the plan vs actual comparison.
• Board and pinboard: the same item sits as a card on a board and on the personal pinboard, with no copy that drifts apart.

So task management feeds the analyses that steer the day, instead of being a second tool that someone maintains separately. How the building blocks of a team play together is shown in the Teamwork overview.

Does this fit your requirements?

Wondering whether teamspace fits your everyday work with tasks? In a 20 to 30 minute call we walk through where your tasks arise, who takes them on and how due dates are tracked today. More in the Teamwork overview.