Create an Efficient Project Task List in Just 4 Steps

Complex projects can be a real nightmare. From an abundance of teams working on them to a piling number of tasks that need to be done (usually ASAP) — you need to be at the top of your game all the time.

But how do you even divide work in this case? More importantly, how do you ensure the assigned work gets done??

Simple —? create a project task list and stick to it.?

Keep reading to find out how to make an efficient project task list using a template or project management software.

*This article is the abridged, adapted version of the blog post originally published on the Plaky blog: https://plaky.com/blog/project-task-list/?

What is a task list in project management?

A project task list is a list of all the tasks that need to be done for a project to be completed successfully.

It’s created in the planning phase and includes the most relevant information about the tasks, such as:?

• Assignees,?
• Deadlines,?
• Estimated time necessary to finish the tasks, etc.

How to develop a project task list

Follow these 4 steps to build an efficient project task list suitable for various types of projects.

1. Define the project scope

The first thing you need to do is define the project scope by answering the following questions:

• What are the goals of your project?
• How do you plan to carry out your project?
• What resources do you need to realize your project?

Once you’ve done that, you can:

• Decide what the project will include,
• Set the budget, and
• Determine the project deliverables.

Ideally, once you define the project scope, you shouldn’t alter it. Changing the scope mid-project can affect your timeline and cause cost overruns.

So, make sure to communicate with all project stakeholders during this process and get their input. This way, there won’t be any surprises or disagreements later on that could jeopardize your project.?

2. Specify the tasks

Now that the scope has been determined, it’s time to break down the project into individual tasks.?

First, divide the project into large, more general parts. Once this is done, specify all the smaller tasks necessary to complete each part of the project.

Unfortunately, this is trickier than it sounds. If you include complex tasks that take a long time to finish, that defies the purpose of the list — to divide a project into manageable portions.?

However, if you split your work into tasks that are too small, it can result in micromanagement, which means a lot of wasted time for you as a project manager who mainly supervises tasks.?

So, make sure to get the size of the tasks just right.

3. Estimate the time needed for each task

If you want to get the project timeline right, it’s paramount that you estimate, as precisely as possible, how long each task will take to complete.

Naturally, this is far from simple. But, you can make it easier by using project management software that has a time tracking option. This way, you can easily estimate how long each task will take based on how much time your team has usually spent on similar tasks in the past.

Once the time has been distributed and dependencies determined, each task can get a deadline.

4. Delegate tasks?

In the end, you need to delegate tasks to team members. When choosing the right person for a task, take into account their:

• Expertise,
• Experience, and?
• Current workload.?

Why should you use a project task list?

Using a project task list has many benefits:

• Higher productivity — clearly defined tasks with specific deadlines help employees organize their work better and be more productive.?
• Improved progress tracking — you can check if the project is on track by referring to the project task list and noting which tasks are finished, in progress, or still haven’t been started.
• Clearer task delegation — each task can have one or more assignees. The main benefit here is that you can see right away if one team member has too many tasks, while another barely has any work to do.?
• Easier task prioritization — once you form a task list, it is easier to establish the priority of each task in relation to all the others.?
• Higher motivation — crossing out completed tasks from a list helps keep the employees motivated throughout big projects. It makes them feel like their work is noticed and appreciated.

Project management task list example (+ template)

To best illustrate how a task list should look, we’ve created an example for a project in the service industry. For this, we used a template you can get below for free.?

At the top of this template, you’ll find some general information about the project:

• Project name,
• The project manager’s name,
• Starting date,
• Deadline, and
• The name of the client.?

The main part of the template is a table containing a task list with additional information. This segment can include, for example:

• Task number,
• Task name,
• Estimated time,?
• Deadline,?
• Assignee, etc.

You can use this template to quickly create simple project task lists with all the essential information. It’s suitable for any type of smaller project, such as managing employee onboarding or creating social media calendars.

?? Get the template here: Project task list template

Create a comprehensive project task list with Plaky

A project task list template is okay for basic task tracking, but for more elaborate and customizable task lists, you need task management software.?

For long-term projects that evolve over time, a customizable and scalable task list will do you a world of good. And this is precisely where Plaky outperforms any spreadsheet.?

Once you create a task list in Plaky, you can:

• Prioritize tasks to see which ones are urgent,?
• Increase clarity by dividing tasks into groups,?
• View your task list in the form of a Gantt chart or a Kanban board,
• Track all changes to your task list in real time,?
• Highlight any task you want to draw more attention to on the board,
• Adjust task timelines to accommodate for unforeseen delays, and much more.

Organize your projects by creating customizable task lists in Plaky. Set up an account today!