Learn a few tips and strategies to help you save time, manage priorities, and leverage the Tasks tool to your fullest advantage. Apply these tips if you work with remote virtual assistants or have an on-site office.
Contents
Prerequisites
Know how to create a task.
Reviewing the task list
Updating the task list daily is recommended. If the list is out of date, you or your staff might be wasting time on completed or low-priority tasks. Managing the list is a simple task, but it is a step that should be done every day, perhaps at the end of a business or early in the morning.
Send the team a daily update via your preferred communication channel (e.g. Teams or Slack). Your team can also provide daily updates regarding tasks and capacity (e.g. staff illness).
Filtering tasks
The Tasks page comes with filters to narrow the display results. Here are two filtering tips.
Some brokers use a bucket approach (see below) to task management. That means tasks do not have a specific person designated as the Assignee. The advantage of this approach is that important tasks sit at the top of the list and can be completed by anyone on the team. If you follow this approach, you'll want to filter the task list by Broker.
Some brokers assign stages to teams instead of individuals. If you assign by teams, make sure the table displays the Teams field. To customise table display, click the Show Fields tab at the top of the page and toggle on the Teams option.
Assigning tasks ... or not
New or existing tasks can be assigned to a specific person. That's a great way to clarify workflow and introduce accountability. But what happens if that staff person is away or overwhelmed with other high-priority work? Some unfinished tasks could be left behind even though other staff resources are available.
The bucket approach to task management is one alternative that solves the problem of dropped tasks and underutilisation. When a task is created, the Assignee field is left blank. Each processor scans the task list and takes responsibility for the next open high-priority task (or perhaps a group of tasks if they are related to the same applicant/client). When a processor takes a task, they add their name to the Assignee field so the rest of the team knows the task is handled. To work well, the bucket approach requires an investment in staff training because every processor needs to know how to perform each different type of task.
Optionally, staff can track their time on each task. Tracking time on task requires a Toggl integration. Click here to learn more.