In addition to email, many organizations and individuals rely on spreadsheets for task management. While spreadsheets can serve a valuable purpose, especially for smaller companies, they are not the most efficient way to track task management. In the past, spreadsheets were an incredible tool as computers and the internet were becoming more mainstream, but particularly in today’s world, they have some shortcomings. Recently during a website redesign, an organization needed key stakeholders to review their webpage content for accuracy before going live. Emails were sent emails with instructions and deadlines and they were largely missed, late in returning, or ignored.
Because spreadsheets were used to track progress, there was no control or transparency to show who accepted the task or the status. So repeated emails and trips to their offices were required to complete the project. Spreadsheets do not provide any transparency into the status of projects as they progress. It is hard to keep them up to date on where every worker is in terms of their role in a project, so wires can get crossed and communication suffers. Additionally, while spreadsheets may sometimes be helpful for regularly occurring tasks, they are not easily modified for dynamic tasking.
Replacing spreadsheets can significantly improve work performance. Staff spends less time updating and searching for information and spend more time on the tasks that need to get done. This simple switch to task management software automatically tracks and reports progress can work wonders for the overall effectiveness of your team.
