Icon icon EN
Tiếng Việt Tiếng Việt English English
Sign Up
Intranet Internal communication & corporate culture
Tasks Assign tasks, monitor & evaluate results
Workflows Digitize & automate 100% of business processes
Documents Manage internal incoming & outgoing correspondence
Files Store, share & manage documents
Calendar Company & department work schedules
Assets Asset information & usage tracking
icon
Business Management

Employee task management plays a decisive role in the success or failure of any organization. As a manager, you need to create an effective strategy to manage your staff’s work process to ensure the progress of every task and project. However, not every manager can do this well, especially new leaders who lack experience. Understanding this, in the article below, 1Office will share with you an effective employee task management method that has been successfully applied by 90% of managers. 

I. What is Employee Task Management?

Employee task management is one of the rights and responsibilities of a manager towards their employees and the business they work for. As a manager (holding positions such as CEO/department head/team leader…), you are responsible for monitoring and supervising the execution of work items by your subordinates to ensure progress and work quality.

Specifically, task management activities include:

  • Assigning personnel to be responsible for daily tasks and project work items
  • Tracking and understanding the status of employees’ work items
  • Regularly updating information about the work employees are doing, evaluating employee performance, and proposing measures to improve work efficiency
  • Compiling records and documents related to the work
  • Creating reports and evaluating the results of personnel’s work performance

Thus, it can be seen that managing the work of subordinates requires managers to grasp a vast amount of important information related to the tasks that employees are performing daily or in a specific project. From there, they can make assessments and plan future development strategies.

Employee task management
Employee task management

However, in reality, when managing the work of a large number of employees in a business or team, managers often face shortcomings in setting goals, applying management methods, etc. What are these specific shortcomings? The answer will be in the next section.

See more:

II. Current Shortcomings in Employee Task Management

The exponentially increasing number of personnel in an organization or business has inadvertently created difficulties in management, especially in managing the work performance of staff. Specifically, most managers today are still struggling with shortcomings when monitoring employee tasks, such as:

Challenges Details Consequences
No management objectives

Failing to clearly define work objectives to manage employee performance;

Vague and impractical work objectives

Employee task management is misdirected and unfocused, leaving employees unsure of what they are working towards. This leads to decreased work performance.
No effective management method No clear, specific management plan for each work item; leadership is spontaneous, addressing tasks as they arise;

Irrational task allocation among employees and departments

 Leadership cannot closely monitor employee work progress;

Employees become stagnant, work inefficiently, and quality declines
Ineffective time management Managers take on too many tasks, losing focus when dividing time among various issues;

Inability to balance time for managing employees across different departments

 Too much time is wasted, leading to ineffective employee task management.
No supporting management technology Managing all employee tasks through paper reports and constant meetings to update progress is time-consuming;

No unified platform to comprehensively manage all work items.

 The process of managing and updating employee work progress is fragmented and lacks a consistent system;

Difficulty in remote management without the support of effective management software.

To resolve the remaining challenges in employee task management, managers need to build a specific management strategy that is suitable for their working conditions and personnel characteristics to achieve the best results.

III. 3 Employee Task Management Methods to Increase Management Efficiency by 80%

1. Manage Employee Tasks by Objectives

Management by Objective (MBO) is a management method used by many managers today. This employee task management method aims to set clear objectives to guide employees, thereby improving work efficiency. Specifically, managers will implement this management by objectives strategy in the following 5 steps:

1 Define common goals Common goals for the entire team or business can be set for 3, 6, or 12-month cycles.

Managers will organize strategic meetings with leadership and employees to identify the company’s target goals, which will then be applied throughout the entire organization.
2 Define individual goals (for employees) Managers need to define the goals that employees must achieve during the project or work process. Individual goals are closely linked to the common goals of the company or organization.
3 Track progress regularly and continuously From goals to specific actions, managers need to monitor and update progress accurately and objectively to ensure all work items are being completed well.
4 Evaluate work performance Evaluate the quality of their work based on the employee’s achievements and activities.
5 Provide feedback and rewards Provide fair, transparent, and the most objective assessments of employee work results;

Reward employees who complete their work well in a timely manner to motivate them to strive harder.

Note:

  • When communicating work objectives to employees, you need to show them the big picture clearly so they can clearly visualize their role in that job/project.
  • To track and update work progress most effectively, invest in a work management software so that all employee activities, working hours, and completions are continuously and automatically updated.
  • Build a reasonable and well-invested salary and bonus system; you should not just give rewards to employees on a whim.

See also: [Updated 2023] Top 8 Effective Online Task Assignment and Work Management Software for Employees

2. Managing employee work by tasks

With this task management method, instead of looking at the overall job/project to manage employees, managers can break down important tasks and assign them to specific employee groups.

Specifically, the 4 steps in the strategy of managing employees by tasks are as follows:

1 Break down work items The manager will divide large tasks/projects into smaller work items based on thorough discussions with leadership.
2 Categorize employee groups Then, categorize employees into groups based on their individual capabilities and suitability for the divided work items.
3 Assign tasks Delegate work to each group and assign them responsibility.
4 Monitor and evaluate Monitor the work process of the groups for each specific task.

Note:

  • Avoid breaking down work items into excessively small, trivial tasks, as this can be confusing and difficult to manage.
  • When dividing employees into groups, you should assign a team leader (Leader) to more effectively monitor the team’s work progress.
  • Once tasks have been assigned to each group, you should let them discuss and agree on a work plan together based on the overall objective. Avoid micromanaging every single one of their tasks.

Effective employee task management strategy
Effective employee task management strategy

3. Effectively manage employee working hours

Every organization and business has its own regulations regarding employee working hours. However, not every business leader can effectively manage employee working hours. Because in addition to monitoring whether employees are adhering to work hour regulations, managers also need to know if the tasks employees are working on are progressing according to the set schedule.

Therefore, if you have chosen to manage employee tasks based on time, you need to manage employee working hours by following the steps below:

  • Step 1: List and rank important work items that need to be prioritized.
  • Step 2: Arrange the above tasks chronologically: by day, week, and month, based on overall goals and direction.
  • Step 3: Estimate the time required for employees to start and complete the assigned tasks.
  • Step 4: Monitor the employee’s work progress, stick to the established plan, and conduct evaluations.

Thus, all three employee task management strategies above share a common point: managers need to closely monitor work progress to both promptly handle any issues that arise and conveniently evaluate the quality of employee performance. However, if the process of monitoring work progress is only conducted through continuous internal meetings and paper-based reports, the possibility of errors and lack of transparency is unavoidable.

To make employee task management more scientific and convenient, managers need the help of top effective task management software to ensure all management and progress tracking tasks are fast, accurate, and as transparent as possible.

IV. Optimize the efficiency of employee task management with 1Office software

1Office is one of the software solutions that helps optimize employee task management and is chosen by over 5,000 businesses. 1Office possesses many modern features that help business leaders assign tasks to employees effectively, simply, and quickly. It also helps managers control and monitor employee work progress anytime, anywhere.

Key features of the 1Office employee task management solution:

Key Features  Details 
Supports managers in work planning Create specific, realistic work plans based on updated data;

Supports assigning and allocating tasks to employee groups, suitable for their job positions and departments;

Automatically updates assigned tasks to each employee’s personal calendar.
Closely monitor work progress Work progress is updated automatically, continuously, objectively, and transparently;

Smart automatic alerts help both leaders and employees proactively perform tasks to meet deadlines.
Supports direct discussion Managers and leaders can discuss work directly in the comment section of each work item updated on the software;

Easily create meetings and events with a reminder feature so no member misses out.
Smart reports help evaluate work quality transparently The software automatically updates progress reports regularly and transparently;

Visual reports in the form of Dashboards and dynamic reports help managers evaluate employee performance effectively.

With the information above, 1Office hopes to have provided readers with useful knowledge about effective employee task management methods as well as the application of task management to improve administrative efficiency. For more detailed information, please contact:

Apply Management Knowledge in Practice
with 1Office's Comprehensive Business Management Suite!
Sign up now icon
Zalo Hotline