TaskManagementGuide.Com Articles

Groupware definition and groupware example

Wed, 03 Mar 2010 00:00:00 +0000

Groupware definition: groupware is a specialized workgroup software application that uses various technologies and platforms (such as web-based technology and client-server platform) to allow users to collaborate, exchange information, discuss ideas, make group decisions, and coordinate activities. Usually an intuitive groupware design and user-friendly interface (GUI) allow team members to use groupware defined tools to access one and the same pool of data over local or wide-area network. Groupware also refers to collaborative tools, and it is widely used to share information throughout an entire organization. Almost any groupware case study or groupware consulting example shows that collaborative software solutions are necessary for establishing continuous workflows and processes in various departments and companies.

Groupware example: VIP Task Manager is collaborative workgroup software that uses a client-server platform. The groupware is designed to help employees create, manage, track and report tasks and assignments within projects and workflows.

Run VIP Task Manager. Use Database Wizard to connect to one of your databases. Also you can use Database Manager to register, edit or delete your databases.
When the groupware is launched, go to Task Tree view to create hierarchies of projects and todo lists. Also go to Task List view to manage tasks and assignments.
Use Calendar view to schedule tasks and create assignment calendars.
Use Resource List view to add users to your database.

Task force � Definition, guidelines and software

Wed, 03 Mar 2010 00:00:00 +0000

What is a task force?
A task force is a number of employees unified into a workgroup and assigned to performing work on a temporary basis to achieve specific and clearly defined goals. For example, a project task force is group of project resources unified into a project team and responsible for performing project assignments to produce a product or provide a service.

Task force guidelines
The following task force tips and guidelines are basic:

Controlling: create a work environment which supports your supervisory incentives to control and audit tasks and assignments of employees.
Encouraging: give employees encouragement for the work done, so they will get powerful incentives for improvement.
Improving: take steps to improve skills and abilities of employees.

Task force software solution
VIP Task Manager offers powerful tools for managing tasks and employees. The software allows using client-server technologies to manage tasks, design schedules, initiate workflows, run projects and create reports.

Action plan:

Run VIP Task Manager and connect to one of your databases.
Go to Resource List view to add users to the database.
Use Task List view to make assignments and create tasks.
Use Task Tree view to organize tasks into todo lists.
Use Calendar view to plan and schedule tasks.

�Set the list of responsibilities for each position of your staff

Task efficiency and task self-efficacy can be enhanced by using task management software

Thu, 25 Feb 2010 00:00:00 +0000

Many managers who need to estimate efficiency and effectiveness of jobs and employees often feel confused trying to understand task efficiency and task self-efficacy. Here are definitions for these terms:

Task efficiency is a performance indicator that shows a ration between planned and actual values relative to a certain task or job.
Task self-efficacy is a projection of a person's belief, readiness and abilities to produce a definite level of performance or achieve certain goals. Task self-efficacy scale will depend on the person's abilities and readiness to do some task or job.

The definitions show that two terms are not the same. At the same time, they have some similarities. Both task efficiency and task self-efficacy refers to a measurable outcome which can be a product or service. In order to improve your task self-efficacy and increase task efficiency of your employees, a task management program is required.

VIP Task Manager is an example of task management software that you can use to manage task efficiency and task self-efficacy. The software allows creating and managing tasks and to-do lists. Custom Fields functionality of VIP Task Manager will let you design specific fields in task lists to perform calculations and create performance indicators, including task efficiency and task specific self-efficacy.

Action plan:

Run VIP Task Manager
Go to 'Tools' – 'Custom Fields' to define custom fields and specify formulas.
Custom Fields can be applied to both tasks and groups.
You can use column layouts and filters to get the best view of your task lists.

�Set the list of responsibilities for each position of your staff

Action plan guide � tool to define, manage and follow guidelines and directives

Wed, 24 Feb 2010 00:00:00 +0000

Action plan guide is specifically created charter that supports project with providing guidelines and comments on action plan performance. Action plan guide is used to communicate clearer and more specific action plan definition to the team, and this document contains action plan guidelines in a form of advices, instructions and directives, which can help performers and supervisors in doing their tasks and achieving action plan goals. Composing action plan guide is a free-of-rules process, there are no strict templates – it can be just a simple supporting document where some wishes of project stakeholders are recorded, or it can be a detailed “bible” where all tasks are described and specified with multiple action plan definitions, comments, directives and guidelines. To provide support to your project team you can use action plan guide software:

VIP Task Manager is real-time teamwork software that can be used as action plan guide for planning and controlling different projects through using different adjustable modes (timeline, calendar, task tree, to-do list) and analyzing performance of your workgroup in order to identify project evolution, realize action plan advantages, control costs and team efficiency.
VIP Team To Do List is action plan guide designed to manage to-do lists in small projects and send them via e-mail. With a help of this easy-to-use tool you can exchange checklist updates through e-mail communication.
To set action plan goals and tasks for your project do the following:

start your action plan guide tool
use Task Tree to break-down your projects into doable activities
plan to-do lists and set action plan goals
add action plan guidelines to Notes or Comments
plan costs, set priorities and assign tasks to performers
control performance parameters

Client server program - client server overview and specific examples

Wed, 24 Feb 2010 00:00:00 +0000

Today, even people who are not experts in computer technologies (but have to use computers a lot) often hear the term client server program. It is useful for everyone to know what is it and how does client server work. Client server definition is quite simple – this is architecture of software, meaning that program consists of two collaborating components – client application (there can be a lot of them) and the server application. The clients (installed on allocated computers connected into one network) send requests to the server; the server processes the requests and returns the results to the appropriate client – this is how client server works. These client server principles allow client server program, while being allocated among multiple computers, to work as one system where client applications keep connection to the server, forming up shared client server environment where users can interact in real-time regime. After such a brief client server overview let’s delve into review of specific client server program to understand how client server principles are applied in practice:
VIP Task Manager is client-server software that allows you to plan and schedule tasks and appointments through using different adjustable modes (Task Tree, Task list and Calendar interface modes) along with giving you instruments to share these tasks. This effective tool ensures real time controlling of performance of your workgroup in order to identify project evolution, costs and team efficiency.
To use client server environment in daily practice – do the following:

start your client server program
create accounts for your teammates, so they can access the software
plan meetings, tasks and appointments for you and your team
set priorities and assign tasks to performers
let them see and report their tasks in real-time

To do list forms � the most common forms and useful tools

Wed, 24 Feb 2010 00:00:00 +0000

There are different to do list forms that can be used to manage our daily chores and activities. One of the most widespread to do list forms are to do list cards that basically are blank paper cards with empty lines, or paper tables that can be filled with records which describe things to do (to do list stationary). Also to do list forms include to do list sticky notes that can be posted on your fridge, your room door, display, desk etc. The idea of such to do list sticky cards is that you can see them at the places which you visit frequently and cannot avoid – for example when you get up in the morning you cannot avoid your fridge, so to do list cards posted on your fridge door will attract your attention informing you about planned events and appointments. To do list forms include computer-based tools – software products that work like electronic to do list book installed on your computer, automatically reminding you about upcoming events etc. Unlike some to do list stationary, software provides you with high flexibility in setting and viewing your agenda.
Examples of software with different to do list forms:
VIP Task Manager is client-server software that allows you to plan and schedule tasks and appointments through using different adjustable to do list forms (Task Tree, Task list and Calendar interface modes) along with giving you instruments to share these tasks. This effective tool ensures real time controlling of performance of your workgroup in order to identify project evolution, costs and team efficiency.
VIP Organizer works as individual to do list book that allows you to get a dynamic list of your appointments and tasks to set their categories, priorities, due dates, notes and to manage checklists.
To ensure using different to do list forms – do the following:

start your task management software
plan your meetings, tasks and appointments
set target dates, priorities, reminders etc

Sorted list � simple tools to streamline your work and time organization

Wed, 24 Feb 2010 00:00:00 +0000

Creating of a sorted list of tasks is one of the main ways to represent our agenda in regard to values of certain task attributes. For example, to sort list by priority means to set out your tasks in priority ascending or descending order. After you finish sorting list of tasks, if your sorted list is arranged in priority-ascending way – you will see tasks with the highest priority in the top side of your list, so you will be informed what tasks are really important at the moment and you will be able to concentrate all your efforts on their completion. Priority of tasks is not the only task attribute which can be used for sorting list, also you may need to sort list by status of tasks, so you can see still uncompleted tasks at the top of your list. How to sort list of your tasks? The best way, of course is to use special to-do list software that allows you to build dynamic, versatile to-do lists.

VIP Task Manager is client-server software that allows you to plan and schedule detailed tasks and appointments through using different adjustable interface modes as well as gives you instruments to share sorted lists of tasks. This effective tool ensures real time controlling of performance of your workgroup in order to identify project evolution, costs and team efficiency.

VIP Organizer is individual software that allows you to get a dynamic sorted list with your appointments, to set their categories, priorities and to manage checklists.

To ensure sorting list of your tasks you need to do the following:

start your task management software
plan your meetings, tasks and appointments
set target dates, priorities etc
select task attribute which you would like to sort list by

Project implementation guide � navigational tool to deploy your project

Wed, 24 Feb 2010 00:00:00 +0000

Project implementation guide is a tool that helps you to navigate through the process of project deployment in real life environment. Project implementation definition: project implementation is deployment of a project over existing infrastructure and organization, so it requires accurate project implementation approach that allows harmonizing of new tasks with already running tasks and communicating new tasks to a team. Project implementation techniques stand for composing special plan that ensures framework to follow in actions and decisions. The essence of any project implementation methodology is to get a clear picture of how project should be deployed, harmlessly for already running projects and tasks. There are project management software products that can be called project implementation guides.

VIP Task Manager is project implementation guide that can be used for creating project implementation plan as a framework to follow, for scheduling and managing project implementation processes divided into tasks, registering members of project team to assign to them all duties and responsibilities described with all necessary details and much more. This project implementation guide is a proper instrument to communicate project tasks to team as it uses client-server technology to create virtual collaborative environment over your corporate LAN where tasks as well as project evolution can be shared among multiple team members.

To plan and introduce project implementation methodology do the following:

start your task management software
use Task Tree to break-down your project into doable activities
plan measurements, task attributes, explain project goals
plan costs, set priorities and assign tasks to performers
control performers in real time

Task technology � definitions, methods and tools

Wed, 24 Feb 2010 00:00:00 +0000

Task technology is a set of consistent methods and instruments which together form up certain mechanism for successful performing of tasks. There are different task technologies for both group and individual approaches, that are intended to bring facilitation and optimization into task initialization, preparing, statement, starting, executing, managing, controlling and finishing. Task technology may outline methods of task description, setting, planning, responsibilities assignment, data collection, output and success measuring etc. The more typical is task – the higher is routineness of task technology, so it is more familiar, better tested, optimized and as result – more effective in use. Today, the indispensable part of any task tech is computer-based instruments which suitability can be valuated according to “Task-Technology fit” theory which provides a measure for evaluating positive impact of IT on individual performance. The measure of task technology fit consists of 8 factors: quality, locatability, authorization, compatibility, ease of use/training, production timeliness, systems reliability, and relationship with users. Each factor is measured using between two and ten questions with responses on a seven point scale ranging from strongly disagree to strongly agree.

VIP Task Manager is real-time teamwork software that can be used for streamlining your task technology to get more productivity and output from your employees by implementing better time management. This client-server program facilitates planning and controlling projects through using different adjustable modes (calendar, task tree, to-do list) and analyzing performance of your workgroup in order to identify project evolution, get faster data collection, control costs and team efficiency.

To implement streamlined task technology in your project do the following:

start your task technologytool
use Task Tree to break-down your projects into doable activities
plan to-do lists and set goals
plan costs, set priorities and assign tasks to performers
control performance parameters

Task at hand � synonyms, definitions, meaning and ways to manage

Wed, 24 Feb 2010 00:00:00 +0000

Sometimes, when dealing with work management practice, we may face quite unofficial term – "task at hand". Task at hand synonym is "task-in-progress" or "work-in-progress", but this doesn't completely explain task at hand meaning. Simple task at hand definition: task that you are currently working at, task that is on the top of importance and urgency for you because of its current incompleteness. Usually task at hand means pending task that doesn't enable you to fully concentrate your attention at other activities, because urgency and uncompleted status of "task at hand" may suppress and disturb you. Actually task at hand idiom speaks for itself – your hands have their limits for holding things – you cannot take too much tasks, because the more tasks at hand you have – the less is your effectiveness in processing new workloads. There is software designed to facilitate your task management approaches and to streamline working processes to avoid overloading with tasks and excessive commitments.

VIP Task Manager is real-time teamwork software that can help you and your teammates to focus on tasks at hand. This software facilitates work planning and controlling through using different adjustable modes (timeline, calendar, task tree, to-do list) and analyzing performance of your workgroup in order to identify project evolution, control tasks at hand and help in calculating costs and team efficiency.

To set and monitor task at hand – do the following:

start your task at hand management software
use Task Tree to break-down your project into doable activities
plan to-do lists
plan due dates, costs, and assign tasks to performers
set priorities to allow them to focus on task at hand
control performance

Business startup guide � try software designed to help in taking business actions and organizing workflow

Wed, 24 Feb 2010 00:00:00 +0000

Starting a business is quite difficult task, and this process can be managed with a help of business startup guide which contains information and step-by-step plan necessary for success. If you want to start your own business, and you want to see it living and growing – you should assure that it is well-supported by financial and intangible means. Under intangible means we imply methodic business startup help like business startup ideas which can be realized trough practical steps, business startup success stories to illustrate the path leading to the bright future, business startup advice like professional consultation on optimal organization of business processes, smart investing into real assets and personnel etc. There are a lot of business startup guides provided by government and franchisers, but the most of them should be adopted for specificity of each particular case. There is software that can be used for getting help in realizing business startup tips and actions given in business startup guides and business startup articles.

VIP Task Manager is real-time teamwork software that can be used as business startup guide in order to facilitate planning and controlling projects through using different adjustable modes (timeline, calendar, task tree, to-do list) and analyzing performance of your workgroup in order to identify project evolution, getting business startup help through controlling costs and team efficiency.
VIP Team To Do List is a tool designed to manage business startup ideasand tasks through composingto-do lists and sending them via e-mail. With a help of this easy-to-use tool you can control project progression through exchanging updates through e-mail communication.
To use software as business startup guide for your project – do the following:

start your business startup guide tool
use Task Tree to break-down your project into doable activities
plan to-do lists and set business plan goals
add business startup tips to Notes or Comments
plan costs, set priorities and assign tasks to performers
control performance parameters

Project work guidelines � software for providing help to your project team

Wed, 24 Feb 2010 00:00:00 +0000

Project work guidelines are required for better work performance as they help to orient in workflow and make appropriate decisions, in other words project work guidelines are used to give more specific project work definition on the path towards obtaining required outputs. Project work guidelines can be included into project work statement to get clear and complete vision of project work scope, and to provide project work help to everyone who is involved into this project. Project work guidelines can be dedicated to every particular area of project work jobs and can be recorded into special charter in quite detailed manner to ensure proper level of performance that guarantees observing project work scope. Project work definition can be provided through appropriate work directives, comments and instructions. In order to determinate and communicate clear project work presentation to workgroup members you can use special software for setting project work guidelines:

VIP Task Manager is real-time teamwork software that can be used for setting project work guidelines in order to facilitate planning and controlling projects through using different adjustable modes (timeline, calendar, task tree, to-do list) and analyzing performance of your workgroup in order to identify project evolution, get better project work help, control costs and team efficiency.
VIP Team To Do List is a tool designed to manage project work guidelines,to-do lists in small projects and send them via e-mail. With a help of this easy-to-use tool you can control project work jobs through exchanging checklist updates through e-mail communication.
To set project work guidelines and tasks for your project do the following:

start your project work statement tool
use Task Tree to break-down your projects into doable activities
plan to-do lists and set action plan goals
add project work definition to Notes or Comments
plan costs, set priorities and assign tasks to performers
control performance parameters

�Set the list of responsibilities for each position of your staff

Event scheduling process � Three factors to be considered to succeed in event scheduling

Wed, 24 Feb 2010 00:00:00 +0000

Event scheduling is a process of creating schedules for tasks and allocating available working time to accomplish tasks. Event scheduling process is highly important for proper planning and performing tasks. Timely completion of tasks will significantly depend on accuracy and availability of job calendars and schedules. Success of the process depends upon three main factors:

Specific event scheduling algorithms used to determine the next job (task) to be scheduled.
Descriptions of jobs to be scheduled.
Time slice given to plan jobs and design event schedule examples.

To run and manage event scheduling process, you can use VIP Task Manager. Calendar view of this task management software allows displaying tasks in daily/weekly/monthly view and filtering large task lists. By using the software, you can design to-do lists, task templates and job schedules. For more comfortable and pleasant event scheduling, you can group tasks by resources and also create column layouts.

Action plan:

Run VIP Task Manager and go to Calendar view.
Use drag and drop functionality to schedule tasks.
Switch between daily view and monthly view to plan short-term and long term tasks.
Use Filter Bar to display only needed tasks on your calendar.

�Set the list of responsibilities for each position of your staff

Day planner tips � Using software for time management that helps accomplish daily tasks always on schedule

Tue, 23 Feb 2010 00:00:00 +0000

Using day planner software means you are able to cope with everyday challenges and accomplish your daily routine timely. Such software allows setting and meeting your day planner targets and goals. To understand how to use a day planner, the following day planner tips are listed:

Use day planner software as a part of your daily routine. Keep it always at hand.
Set due dates for your daily assignments as soon as you get them.
Put everything (from simple tasks to complex projects and large to-do lists) in your planner.
Use priorities to get focused on important and urgent tasks.
Keep incomplete tasks on track.

The listed day planner ideas are basic and can be used to manage daily tasks and duties. Various time management methods offer to use the same or similar ideas to do assignments on schedule.

VIP Task Manager is a good time management day planner solution that provides a hierarchical project/task outline that allows you to break down large to-do items and projects into smaller steps and action lists.

Action plan:

Run VIP Task Manager, create a new database and go to Task List view to create to-do lists and perform tasks.
Use Task Tree view to create and manage projects and assignments.
Use Scheduler view to display tasks in daily/weekly/monthly view.
If you need to manage teamwork and group assignments, you can use Resource List view to add users to the database.
Each user will have personal access to the database. The access is based on user permissions to tasks and task groups.

�Set the list of responsibilities for each position of your staff

Task leader should be well organized and skilled to manage teamwork and supervise tasks

Wed, 17 Feb 2010 00:00:00 +0000

Task leader (TL) is a person who is in a position of authority over a project group and who is responsible for supervising groupwork and reporting to senior manager. The given task leader definition can be also applied to team leaders which in fact have the same duties as task leaders do. The role of task leader requires good organizational and communication skills. Various examples of task leadership prove that an adequate task leadership psychology should be based on excellent professional and technical competence of task leader. Otherwise, task leader doesn’t have enough skills and abilities to manage teamwork, so he is likely to create a frustrating work environment.

Task leaders often use task management software to manage teamwork and supervise tasks. VIP Task Manager has a complete set of task management tools and organizer facilities to help manage teamwork and take task leadership role in groups. The software offers flexibility to supervise tasks and manage employees allowing applying specific task leadership styles and methods.

Action plan

Start VIP Task Manager.
Go to Resource List view to add new resources.
Use Permissions Panel and Roles Panel to restrict user access to tasks.
Use Watch List to assign supervisors (task leaders) to tasks.
Adjust notifications to be sent to you and task leaders.

Multi users capability of task management software � Supporting collaboration between several users

Wed, 17 Feb 2010 00:00:00 +0000

What is multi user?
Multi user definition refers to computer systems, and in fact it means a capability of software that supports two or more simultaneous users. Many software solutions today include multi user maintenance functionality, especially those solutions which are used for managing projects, teamwork and group tasks. Advanced editions of multi user software allow activating multi user screens to share data, as well as using multi user messengers to communicate with several users at a time.

What is an example of multi user software?
There are dozens of software examples that support multi users functionality. In the field of task/project management, a great example of multiuser software is VIP Task Manager . This software uses a client-server platform to allow several users to access common databases through local area network or/and Internet. VIP Task Manager supports real time collaboration between several users. Comments Panel of the software can be used like a multi user chat in which users can discuss tasks and send feedback.

Action list:

Run VIP Task Manager and create a new database in which you will keep tasks and all associated information (like documents, pictures, and other files).
VIP Task Manager allows accessing the database through both LAN and Internet.
Use Task List view to create tasks. Use Task Tree view to create hierarchies of tasks.
Use Comments Panel to discuss and comment tasks. Notes Panel can be used to specify and describe tasks.
Use Resource List view to add users to the database. VIP Task Manager allows adding any number of users, so multi user dimension of this software is unlimited.

Procrastination definition and ways to overcome this problem

Fri, 05 Feb 2010 00:00:00 +0000

What is procrastination? According to procrastination definition – it is behavior characterized by putting off, delaying or defering a task to a later time. According to the most common definition of procrastination – this postponing, delaying or putting off is usually caused by habitual carelessness or laziness. In practice, to define procrastination reasons in each particular case you need to investigate situation carefully. Really, deferment of actions or tasks to a later time can be caused by a great number or reasons, for example it can be caused by force majeur conditions, or by unclear or unfeasible requirements. Procrastination definition, in different cases, may have different peculiarities. To help procrastination investigation you need to get all possible information – who is a procrastinator, how he/she explains this procrastination, what is procrastination consequence, check if requirements were fair and if performer's skills were appropriate. In order to get a background for specific procrastination definition you need to detect fact of procrastination, find its reasons and prevent procrastination in future.

VIP Task Manager is teamwork tool that allows you to plan detailed tasks in different adjustable modes (timeline, day, month, week, year view, to-do list) and to control performance of your workgroup in order to identify project evolution, costs and team efficiency. With a help of this groupware you and your teammates can detect and prevent procrastination of project activities with a help of different anti-procrastinating features.

VIP Organizer is individual simple software that allows you to list your tasks in category- and time-specific manner, set priorities and manage checklists. With a help of this product you can prevent procrastination with a help of due date reminders.

To help procrastination preventing do the following:

Action plan

start your task management software
use Task Tree to break-down your projects into doable activities
plan target dates
plan costs, set priorities and assign tasks to performers
set reminders, set anti-procrastination color-coding and control if performers meet due dates

Meeting agenda guide � software to orient and navigate within your agenda plan

Fri, 05 Feb 2010 00:00:00 +0000

Meeting agenda guide is software that provides functions to help you with navigation among agenda of your meetings, tasks and other considerable appointments. This kind of software allows you to achieve your meeting agenda definition, clearness and representativeness. Meeting agenda guide is a tool which allows you to follow the main meeting agenda tips:

To ensure your meeting agenda definition (consistency, integrity, clearness)
To have your agenda always in sight
To have possibilities to know when you have spare time

These meeting agenda guidelines assure your ability to be flexible and effective with your time planning. Meeting agenda guide is computer-based software that allows you to be punctual with your time and do not miss any commitments.

VIP Task Manager is teamwork meeting agenda guide that allows you to plan detailed tasks and appointments through different adjustable modes (timeline, task tree, calendar, to-do list) to ensure meeting agenda definition and to control performance of your workgroup in order to identify project evolution, costs and team efficiency.

VIP Organizer is individual simple meeting agenda guide that allows you to list your appointments and tasks in category- and time-specific manner, set priorities and manage checklists.

To ensure your meeting agenda definition you need to do the following:

start your task management software
create different categories of your meetings and appointments
plan target dates
set meeting reminders

Home maintenance guide � Organizing home activities by using task management software

Fri, 05 Feb 2010 00:00:00 +0000

Maintaining your home on a regular basis and following good home maintenance tips are the best ways to protect investments (like time and money) in your home. Home maintenance can cover a wide range of activities. Smart homeowners know that there are house maintenance tips that teach to use task management software to organize home activities into the following tasks:

Interior or exterior tasks.
Tasks to maintain house systems (heating & cooling, electrical, plumbing etc.).
Regular tasks (daily, monthly, seasonal and annual tasks).

Task management software allows classifying home activities into categories of tasks. You can better plan todo lists, create home maintenance schedules, and follow the best home maintenance advice. VIP Task Manager is an example of task management software you can use to implement house maintenance guide lines and perform maintenance activities.

This software solution helps take care of home inventories and house cleaning chores as it allows creating and tracking to-do lists in which you plan tasks to fill up inventories and schedule house cleaning next week or month. VIP Task Manager is a client-server program, so it keeps all information about your house in a single location which serves like a home maintenance help database.

Action plan:

Run VIP Task Manager and create a database for your house activities.
Use Task List view to plan to-do lists and tasks to maintain your house in good order.
Use Task Tree view to create a categorized list of house inventories. This view can also help you follow household maintenance tips to create task categories for home activities.
Use Scheduler view to design home maintenance schedules and calendars.

�Set the list of responsibilities for each position of your staff

Staff management tips which you can follow to get your employees task oriented

Fri, 05 Feb 2010 00:00:00 +0000

Staff management is a set of activities undertaken by managers to organize, control and support employees in an organization for the purpose of creating a work environment in which employees are engaged, happy and functioning. One important thing that follows this staff management definition is to keep employees always satisfied and supported. While it may sometimes seem near impossible to keep your entire staff content, it really becomes a simple matter if you start following several simple staff management tips, including the given below:

Treat frustration among your staff, so you will create a positive and attractive image about yourself, your methods of staff management and motivation, and your organization as a whole.
Bring your employees together in a social sense, so you will give them chances to know each other better and to create strong social communication that contributes to productivity and engagement.
Consider open/confidential feedback from employees as an opportunity to see staff management issues and generate staff management advice.

To follow these staff management tips, you need to keep track of tasks and jobs assigned to employees so that you will see staff management issues (like loss of productivity, procrastination, etc.) and take actions to resolve them. VIP Task Manager will help you track jobs and tasks assigned to employees. It's a task management software solution that supports multi-user communication and feedback in real time.

Action plan

Use VIP Task Manager to create a single database in which you will keep tasks and jobs assigned to employees and information concerning documents, files, etc.
Task List view of the software will help you create to-do lists and assign tasks to employees.
Use Scheduler to plan tasks, create schedules and outline calendars.
Comments Panel will let your employees comment tasks, so they can use this panel to leave feedback on tasks and communicate with each other.

Project quality review � document that defines and introduces project quality

Thu, 04 Feb 2010 00:00:00 +0000

Project quality review is a brief project quality statement that outlines the main responsibilities and goals of project quality management. Project quality definitionand project quality goals are oriented to ensuring that all project activities necessary to design, plan and implement a project are effective with respect to the purposes, objectives and project performance. Project quality review is important for all stakeholders of the project as far as it outlines project quality context and makes clear what priorities are set in the area of quality management and what ways are selected to bring project to achievement of these goals. As a result of studying project quality review all project participants get consistent and integral vision of project quality goals. There are software products that can be used in project quality management, for example for preparing project quality reviewand communicating it to team members.

VIP Task Manager is teamwork tool that allows you to plan detailed tasks in different adjustable modes (timeline, day, month, week, year view, to-do list) and to control performance of your workgroup in order to identify project evolution, costs and team efficiency. With a help of this groupware, you can manage project quality definition – implement Quality Events (peer reviews, checklist execution) by using various Quality Materials (templates, standards, checklists). Through the means of VIP Task Manager, quality managers can create and share project quality review and checklists, assign them to project participants and control performance, collaborate with project management and plan different project quality arrangements.

To plan and introduce project quality statement do the following:

Action plan:

start your task management software
use Task Tree to break-down your projects into doable activities
plan quality measurements with a help of task attributes, explain project quality goalsin Notes section or through attachment of documents
plan costs, set priorities and assign tasks to performers

�Set the list of responsibilities for each position of your staff

Task performance � Measuring and analyzing tasks and jobs of employees to get better task performance behaviors

Wed, 27 Jan 2010 00:00:00 +0000

Task performance definition: Task performance is a goal-oriented assessment practice that includes activities to develop task performance measures and apply specific criteria to tasks and jobs of employees. Such a practice is usually organized and supported by task performance group which consists of people responsible for analyzing performance criteria, facilitating effective management of collaborative efforts, and contributing to faster job completion, fewer errors, better productivity and consistency of communication between groups of employees.

If you want your employees to do tasks and jobs with better results, you will need to use task management solutions that support features to measure and analyze task performance.VIP Task Manager is task management shareware that offers powerful Custom Fields functionality to measure and analyze task performance behaviors within a team environment. The shareware solution allows creating specific task performance measures and key performance indicators to be applied to tasks and jobs assigned to employees and team members. You can try VIP Task Manager for free during 30 days to find out how it can contribute to better organization of your employees and building of project teams.

Action plan

VIP Task Manager lets keep tasks in common databases. Run the software to create a single database for all tasks and jobs of your employees.
Go to 'Tools'–'Custom Fields' to create task performance measures and key performance indicators. Custom Fields functionality allows creating and using specific formulas to measure task performance behaviors.
Use Roles Panel and Permissions Panel to create task performance groups that take care of timely completion of tasks and jobs.
Use Task List view to create, manage and track to-do lists, job lists and tasks assigned to employees.
Use Charts Panel to get a visual view of tasks.

Task assignments can be made easier

Wed, 27 Jan 2010 00:00:00 +0000

Making task assignments can be a challenge. When managers try to assign tasks to employees, they often face task assignment problems which are difficult to resolve. To make sure that every task is assigned to and completed by someone, managers will need to apply task assignment approaches by using task management software. Task assignment approach is a series of actions to make optimal task assignments taking into account current workload and minimizing time of task completion. Task management software gives tools that help use various task assignment algorithms and build task assignment matrix showing different task priorities, roles and responsibilities of project resources.

VIP Task Manager is task management software that has Resource Assignment panel, Permissions panel and Roles panel to link activities to resources. You can use the panels to place a check mark under each resource name for a particular task, define permissions level to tasks, and indicate precisely which role any given resource is assigned to. The software offers a convenient and easy-to-use mechanism to make multiple assignments and manage teamwork.

Action plan

Go to Resource List view, find there Roles panel and create roles for resources.
Go to Task Tree view and create task hierarchies for your project. Use Permissions panel to set task permissions for resources.
Go to Task List view and make task assignments by using Resource Assignment panel.

Task dimensions and task statements: Analyzing tasks in the best way

Wed, 27 Jan 2010 00:00:00 +0000

Methods of task analysis describe tasks as basic, definable, measurable and communicable units of work. Tasks are defined by two characteristics: task dimension and task statement. These two characteristics allow making considered interpretations of actions made by employees. Examples of task dimensions and task statements provide a clear and complete picture of what is being done, how it is being done and why it is being done.

Task statement definition: task statement is considered as the most important element of task analysis process that gives a standardized format to describe actions of an employee. Tasks can be expressed in the format of task statements.

Task dimension definition: task dimension is a set of measures that help estimate performance of employees and do tasks according to schedule. Tasks can be measured in the format of task dimension. Use of task measures significantly contributes to completion of specific work objectives.

To begin with analyzing tasks, you need to consider the mentioned characteristics. Such task management software as VIP Task Manager will help write down task statements and define task dimensions to analyze tasks. The software has Custom Fields functionality to describe and measure tasks. You can specify tasks by notes and comments and create key performance measures.

Action plan:

Run VIP Task Manager and create a new database in which you will keep tasks and all associated information.
To write down task statements, open a task, select Notes Tab or Comments Tab and leave some information in the text fields. You can also use Notes Panel and Comments Panel to describe tasks directly from Task List view or Task Tree view of the software.
To create task dimension, use Custom Fields. This functionality allows setting and applying formulas to task fields to perform calculations in task lists. You can use Custom Fields to create KPIs which will serve as task dimension models.

�Set the list of responsibilities for each position of your staff

Task roles for groups � Building a productive team that knows how to accomplish tasks in the best way

Wed, 27 Jan 2010 00:00:00 +0000

What are task roles in groups?
Multiple web resources give the following group task roles definition: task roles are those roles to which members of a group are assigned to move the group forward in completing its tasks and mission. Proper allocation of task roles in a group is the guarantee for good team functioning and development. When your team has the right mix of task roles that are well differentiated and integrated, members of the team share a sense of cohesion and team spirit, and each of them can see whether his/her particular role fits group objectives.

Software for managing task roles
Task roles and maintenance roles are managed by means of task management software for group collaboration. VIP Task Manager is an example of such software that has Roles panel to let you define task roles in accordance with duties and responsibilities of employees and to create multiple types of task roles for project resources. The software supports the permissions system to allow or deny users to view, edit and delete tasks.

Action plan:

Start VIP Task Manager and create a new database.
Go to Resource List view, find there Roles panel and create large and small group task roles in accordance with needs of your project. Your task role settings can be applied to all users within the database.
Use Permissions panel to allow/deny users to view, edit and delete tasks in accordance with the settings for group communication task roles.
Go to Task Tree view to create hierarchies for your projects.

�Set the list of responsibilities for each position of your staff

Action plan tips � Make a list of your hits and misses to get a clear understanding of where you are now and what to do to realize your action plan purpose

Mon, 25 Jan 2010 00:00:00 +0000

Here are some action plan tips that will help you develop a suitable action plan strategy and substantially improve action plan benefits and results:

Create a list of your hits for the last and current weeks/months/years. All achievements in your career, business and studies are considered as hits.
Create a list of misses that will cover lost opportunities and your failures. For example, you might lose job opportunities, fail to negotiate a loan for your business, or receive bad marks in examinations.
Try to estimate every miss and hit in terms of time and money. Then you can compare values of misses with values of hits in order to understand the realization rate for your action plan objectives.
Use goal management techniques (like S.M.A.R.T.) to convert your previous misses into action plan benefits for the forthcoming week/month/year.
Create a schedule for your action plan and make sure this schedule wholly covers hours necessary to achieve your action plan purpose.

In order to use these tips, you will need to get task management software. Such software will let you create to-do lists, tasks and schedules to develop and realize your action plan strategy.VIP Task Manager is a great example of task management software. You can use it to manage to-do lists, record achievements, schedule working hours, design business calendars etc. In case you need to manage teamwork, you can use VIP Task Manager to organize and coordinate collaborative actions of your team.

Action plan

Run VIP Task Manager to create new databases for your projects and action plan strategies.
Use Task List view to create, manage and track both personal and group to-do lists.
Go to Task Tree view to build hierarchical to-do lists and projects.
Use Resource List view to add user accounts (resources) in your database.
Use Filter Bar to track tasks by any parameters, including Name, ID, Status, and Assignment.
You can build task reports by using Report Builder.

Task analysis guide � Improving performance, optimizing workload and reducing non-productive time

Mon, 25 Jan 2010 00:00:00 +0000

Task analysis guide - Improving performance, optimizing workload and reducing non-productive time

Various task analysis guides, such as books, articles and online resources, give the following task analysis definition: task analysis is an organized approach used by managers to analyze activity (jobs or tasks) of employees for the purpose of defining basis reasons that force employees to complete tasks and jobs on schedule. There are a number of task analysis methods that let focus on elements of activity, including skills and knowledge of employees, office equipment, materials, tools, safety issues, and training.

As a manager, you need to apply combinations of task analysis approaches to realization of task analysis objectives in the best way. Task management software will help you analyze tasks and measure performance of employees. By using VIP Task Manager, you will gain the following task analysis advantages:

Improvement of performance
Reducing non-productive time and avoiding delays and procrastinations
Optimized workload and better allocation of tasks
Looking into reasons of failures to find a solution

VIP Task Manager is task management software. It is designed to manage, track and report tasks and teamwork. Powerful tools of the software help analyze tasks, create descriptions for tasks, assign tasks to employees, combine tasks into projects, and display tasks on calendar.

Action plan

1. Run VIP Task Manager to create new databases for your projects and action plan strategies.
2. Use Task List view to create, manage and track both personal and group to-do lists.
3. Use Notes Pane and Comments Pane to specify tasks and create task descriptions.
4. Use History Pane to review what changes were applied to tasks.
5. Go to Charts Pane to build diagrams if you want to get a visual view of tasks.

Progress update � importance of regular project progress updating and tools designed for this purpose

Mon, 25 Jan 2010 00:00:00 +0000

Work progress update is what you should do when you collaborate with your teammates to keep them in touch with project situation. In order to be successful, any work should be properly planned and controlled, and progress updating needs to be shown to everyone who contributes in it. There is no sense to get into work if you don’t have a clear picture of what and how it should be done, and you have no means to control working process and record progress update – in this case your chances to fail are very high. So when you have a plan you need to keep it under control and share it with your collaborators. Earlier, progress updating was quite problematic and laborious arrangement and usually people have neglected regular project progress update sharing in small projects, but today, owing to computer-based tools it is very easy to share and update progress in teamwork of any scale, so even smallest teams can benefit from regular progress updating. To update progress of your joint work you need to have a reliable instrument that is accessible for everyone in your team. Let’s consider examples of progress updating software.

VIP Task Manager is real-time teamwork progress update software that allows project planning and controlling through using different adjustable modes (timeline, calendar, task tree, to-do list) and analyzing performance of your workgroup in order to identify project progress update, costs and team efficiency.
VIP Team To Do List is work update progress tool designed for sending tasks via e-mail. With a help of this easy-to-use project progress updating software you can exchange to-do list updates through e-mail communication.
To update progress in your team do the following:

Action plan

Start your progress updating tool
plan processes and to-do lists
plan costs, set priorities, time and assign tasks to performers
control project progress update through versatile interface

Meeting agenda preparation � Creating meeting agenda examples to successfully prepare your next meeting

Tue, 12 Jan 2010 00:00:00 +0000

An effective and successful meeting can be organized and conducted if meeting agenda examples are used during meeting preparation. No matter whether you need to hold a formal or informal meeting, its outcomes completely rely on how well preparation was made throughout the whole meeting planning process. Meeting agenda is a document that covers all points concerning preparation of meetings. It also helps hold meetings and analyze meeting outcomes. You can use various techniques and methods to create a meeting agenda draft and plan such meeting attributes like date, duration, location and participants. Task management software solutions will help you develop a complete meeting agenda design, plan meeting attributes and achieve goals of your next meeting.

VIP Task Manager is a task management software solution that allows making meeting agenda preparation in an effective way. You can use Calendar tool of VIP Task Manager to schedule meeting dates and duration and create meeting timelines. The software supports user collaboration and lets you share meeting agenda examples between meeting participants. VIP Task Manager notifies users of new changes in current meeting agenda design, so when a new meeting is started, all meeting participants will be aware of changes occurred.

Action plan

Start VIP Task Manager Professional.
Go to Task Tree view to create a hierarchical structure for your meeting agenda draft.
Go to Calendar view to schedule meeting attributes and create timeline for your meeting agenda design.
Use Notifications Panel to receive the latest updates on meeting tasks.

Employee engagement tips � Managing the greatest assets of any company

Tue, 12 Jan 2010 00:00:00 +0000

Employee engagement definition: employee engagement is an important concept for employee management that gives managers a clear vision on how to ensure employees are satisfied with what they do, they feel appreciated, they work with passion and purpose, and they believe in success. Various employee engagement tips teach us how to set employee engagement goals and derive employee engagement benefits by transforming an employee into an engaged employee who is enthusiastically involved in his/her work. Here are some important employee engagement tips:

Get rid of any negative opinions about your employees. Be always positive but impartial.
Make sure your employees have everything they need to do their jobs.
Set clear tasks and goals for your employees.
Make sure they are well trained and skilled in decision making and conflict resolution.
Create corporate culture.
Reward and recognize employees.

To manage your employees effectively and to use employee engagement tips, you will need task management software solutions. VIP Task Manager allows you using task management tools to set realistic goals, assign tasks, and manage employees. This software is based on modern client-server technologies that support real time collaboration and user communication. You can communicate with employees to gather collective ideas and feedback and to improve enthusiasm that will help your business grow and succeed.

Action plan

Start VIP Task Manager software.
Use Task List view to create, assign, manage and track tasks and to-do lists.
Go to Task Tree view to build hierarchical to-do lists and projects.
Use Filter Bar to track tasks.
Use Task Reminder Option to set email/pop-up reminders for urgent and prioritized tasks.
Use Comments Panel and Notes Panel to communicate with your employees and get their feedback.

What is team collaboration?

Tue, 12 Jan 2010 00:00:00 +0000

You may find many people who don't understand or understand incorrectly what team collaboration means. These people generate multiple team collaboration quotes and requests through search engines and look for team collaboration wiki help to find an answer to the question: "What is team collaboration?" If you also need to understand team collaboration and how to manage it, you can find answers below.

Collaboration as such is a substantive idea that serves as a foundation for managing groups and their efforts. Team collaboration is a joint work of two or more persons who are members of a team and who cooperate and communicate with each other for the purpose of applying joint efforts, coordinating activities, achieving common goals and organizing teamwork. Multiple team collaboration articles and team collaboration sites show that collaboration between team members greatly depends on current level of team collaboration skills of team members as well as on an applied software solution.

VIP Task Manager will help you establish team collaboration and manage your people in real time. It is a Windows-compatible task management and team collaboration program based on a client-server platform. The program offers powerful functionality to manage employees and their responsibilities, including tasks, daily duties and projects.

Action plan

By using Database Wizard of VIP Task Manager, create a new database dedicated to tasks, teamwork and group schedules.
Log in the database.
Go to Task Tree view to create a hierarchical structure for todo lists and teamwork.
Go to Calendar view to schedule todo items and create timelines for teamwork.
Go to Task List view to perform tasks and todo lists.
Go to Resource List view to add human resources. Use Roles Panel to create workgroups and teams.
Use Permissions Panel to set user access to tasks in the database and to limit or extend current level of user collaboration.

To do list tips for improving your productivity

Mon, 11 Jan 2010 00:00:00 +0000

Your productivity is something you can always benefit from. To do list tips and task management methods show a lot of ways you can use to increase your productivity. For example, here are some tips that you can use as to do list help guides to become more productive:

Write it – everyday in the morning you can write down tasks you need to accomplish this day. Don’t plan too many tasks for today, but rationally try to create a daily task list that you are able to complete.

Verbalize it – each item in your todo list should have an action verb (ex.: Make a phone call, Pay bills, Send an invitation card, Outline a proposal, etc.)
Prioritize it – each todo item should have a priority so you will know what task should be done now and what tasks can be postponed.
Refer to it – during the day you should refer to your todo list to keep pending tasks on track and to know which todo items are completed and don’t require your attention.
Evaluate it – at the end of each day, you should review which items in your todo list are closed and which ones are still in progress. You can use task management software to keep your todo statistics and use performance indicators to measure your productivity.

Multiple to do list strategies become efficient since you use task management software for creating, managing and tracking your tasks and todos. VIP Task Manager is task management software that helps you do everything required to improve your productivity. The software will offer a powerful todo list manager, a flexible calendar and a convenient project tool to allow you managing your activities efficiently. VIP Task Manager supports user collaboration and teamwork management, so you can use it to organize your employees into a productive team. In this to do list site you can find links to watch to do list video and demo tours that exemplify how to apply VIP Task Manager to management of tasks, todo lists, schedules, and teamwork.

Action plan

Start VIP Task Manager and log in your database.
Go to Task Tree view to create hierarchical structures for todo lists, projects and teamwork.
Go to Calendar view to schedule todos and create timelines for projects and teamwork.
Go to Task List view to perform tasks.
Go to 'Tools' – 'Custom Fields' to create performance indicators to measure your productivity.
Use Charts Panel to build productivity diagrams.

Effective time management � become an effective time manager with easy-to-use tools

Fri, 18 Dec 2009 00:00:00 +0000

What is effective time management? Is it an art that should be learned for years before you master it, or is it a skill that can be studied in a fixed term? We think that effective time management satisfies both definitions as there are lots of effective time planning methods, dozens of books written by different experts who aspire to prove that their effective time management systems are the best, but at the same time every person can master several of these methods, combine and customize them according to own experience and obtain individual effective time planning system. That's why effective time management is a science and an art at the same time. No matter if your effective time planning method is learned by you or you have invented it yourself – anyway you need effective time tracking instrument to apply your system in practice. The most of effective time tracking methods were invented before computers were broadly used, so they offer paper-based tools that seem quite old-fashioned today. Let’s consider computer-based tools that will help you to become an effective time manager.

VIP Task Manager is teamwork effective time management tool that allows you to plan detailed tasks on adjustable Calendar view and to control performance of your workgroup in order to identify project evolution, costs and team efficiency. With a help of this groupware you and your teammates can perform effective time planning with a help of different modes (timeline, day, month, week, year view, to-do list) and carry out effective time tracking of project activities.

VIP Organizer is individual simple effective time manager that allows you to list you tasks in category- and time-specific manner, set priorities and manage checklists. With a help of this product you can create a project plan and perform personal effective time planning in order to design your ideal agenda.

To fulfill effective time management do the following:

start your effective time manager
use Task Tree to break-down your projects into doable activities
plan timeline and target dates on Calendar view
plan costs, set priorities and assign tasks to performers
control effective time tracking through switching between different modes

What are project success factors? Tool to manage project success criteria and project success metrics

Fri, 18 Dec 2009 00:00:00 +0000

According to opinion of project management experts there are several main project success factors and their list includes the project manager, project team, project parameters, project organization and external environment. All these project success factors are very important when we want to satisfy project success criteria. To establish project success criteria means to define how you can know if project is successfully finished. Of course, the main project success criteria are full achievement of project goals. If project team has achieved a full range of goals that were expected from this project you can say that project has succeeded. According to project success statistics, not always project team is able to reach all predefined goals, so usually projects have prioritized list of goals and at a minimum project should attain its most important targets. Other project success metrics include conformity of actual time and costs parameters to planned ones. For this purpose accurate project success statistics on different project indicators should be kept.

VIP Task Manager is real-time teamwork software that allows improving project success factors such as project organization. Through this client-server tool you can create a virtual environment for collaboration and controlling project success metrics. Deploy this software over your business network in minutes, give a quick configuration and use it for setting tasks, organizing tasks, assigning tasks, scheduling tasks and finally live controlling of project execution through using different adjustable modes (timeline, calendar, task tree, to-do list).

To create and manage your project success factors do the following:

start your project management tool
plan processes, project tasks and to-do lists for you and teammates
plan costs, set priorities, time and assign tasks to performers
control project execution and project success metrics through versatile interface

Update task sheets and timetables through special easy-to-use software

Fri, 18 Dec 2009 00:00:00 +0000

When you collaborate with other people you need to share working plans with them. The critical point in collaboration is a question of how to update task list, so you and your teammates can always have access to up-to-date information. Traditional task updating is performed with a help of paper means, such as wall timetables, individual letters and worksheets. Then, since computers are widely used in offices, people try to invent new more convenient and fast ways to update task table. As examples of such attempts we can mention task updating through e-mail communication products (such as MS Outlook), or through spreadsheet software (such as MS Excel). Soon, with experience, many users find out that these methods to update task lists and timetables are not perfect because of different reasons, so they feel a need for task updating software. Take a look through this short review of tools that have wide capabilities in update task function, so they work as team task updaters that keep your teammates in touch with situation.

VIP Task Manager is real-time teamwork task updating software that allows project planning and controlling through using different adjustable modes (timeline, calendar, task tree, to-do list) and analyzing performance of your workgroup in order to identify project evolution, costs and team efficiency.
VIP Team To Do List is work management task updater designed for sending tasks via e-mail. With a help of this easy-to-use task updater you can exchange checklist updates through e-mail communication.

Action plan

To update task in your team do the following:

Log in update task software
use Task Tree to break-down your projects into doable activities
plan processes and to-do lists on Task List view to set target dates
plan costs, set priorities and assign tasks to performers
control task updating and other project parameters

Task example � what are task examples, their purpose and tools to manage

Fri, 18 Dec 2009 00:00:00 +0000

Task example is actually an example of how to state and perform certain kind of tasks. It is helpful for any organization to store a library of task examples for every typical procedure as well as to provide guidelines for dealing with unforeseen situations. Normally, example of task includes sample of task statement (how task should be explained and assigned to be clear for performer), what skills and abilities are required from performer to accomplish this assignment successfully, what measures and indicators are used to identify and evaluate task progression, and what range of results can be considered as a task success. There are task management products that allow to store and manage task examples. Let's consider one sample of such tools.

VIP Task Manager is real-time teamwork software that allows project planning and controlling through using different adjustable modes (timeline, calendar, task tree, to-do list) and analyzing performance of your workgroup in order to identify project evolution, costs and team efficiency. This product allows you to create project and task examples (templates) that can be stored in sharable database and duplicated when it is required, also you can store example of task performance in archive to review its history, parameters, notes etc.

Action plan

To manage task examples in your team do the following:

start your task example software
use Task Tree to break-down your projects into doable activities
plan processes and to-do lists on Task List view
plan costs, set priorities and assign tasks to performers
save task example in archive, so it can be later retrieved and used in practice

Project success stories � Find a balanced combination of time, human resources and budget to succeed in project management

Fri, 18 Dec 2009 00:00:00 +0000

If you start looking for project success stories that can help you with managing projects, you will find many examples which show how experienced project managers run their projects. Various project success surveys demonstrate that a balanced combination of the key factors like Time, Human Resources and Budget will let companies and managers achieve consistency in the way they plan, manage, monitor and close out projects on schedule, per specification and within budget. Such a combination can be created and retained by means of project management software.

VIP Task Manager is client-server project management software designed to help balance time, human resources and budget and find the best combination of these factors to lead your project to success. The software allows using different project success methods and project success indicators to measure and control parameters of your project and to take immediate actions for optimization.

Action plan

Start VIP Task Manager Professional.
Go to Task Tree view to create a hierarchical structure for your project.
Go to Calendar view to schedule tasks and create timelines for your projects.
Go to Task List view to plan tasks and create to-do lists.
Go to Resource List view to add human resources in your project.
Use Custom Fields functionality to apply project success methods and project success indicators.

Meeting agenda timer � A software tool to create and manage meeting agenda outlines

Fri, 18 Dec 2009 00:00:00 +0000

We all know that sometimes any meeting can run longer then it's expected. In order to organize and hold an effective meeting, you need to start with developing a concise meeting agenda outline. Your meeting agenda sample can be drafted and scheduled by using meeting agenda timer software. As a rule, such software includes powerful tools for task management and event scheduling.

There are several key points that should be included in your meeting agenda minutes outline. The points are date, time and location of the next meeting. It's also important to add a list of meeting participants in your meeting agenda outline. You can use such meeting agenda timer software as VIP Task Manager to schedule, plan and manage your meeting agendas.

The software offers a range of task management and event scheduling tools and supports real time collaboration between meeting participants, so you can notify them of date, time and location of the next meeting, share your meeting agenda outline, and get immediate feedback. Calendar view of the software offers you powerful functionality to manage meeting agenda samples. For example, you can display agenda tasks on calendar, create agenda timelines, and apply task filters.

Action plan:

Start VIP Task Manager Professional.
Go to Task Tree view to create a hierarchical structure for your meeting agenda outline.
Go to Calendar view to schedule tasks and create timelines for your meeting agendas.
Go to Task List view to plan agenda tasks, set priorities, and track to-do lists.

Mini business plan template � tools to compose and manage mini business plans

Fri, 18 Dec 2009 00:00:00 +0000

Today, it is very popular among large companies to sell their franchises, especially for establishing enterprises in the sphere of mini and small business. Mini business plan template is what is usually sold together with business franchise, so you can act according to this business plan, but it is effective only after it is adjusted for your reality. Conception of mini business can vary from country to country, but usually very small enterprises where staff includes just a one person or a few persons are called mini-business. Mini business plan template is what tells you how to organize your own shop, bakery or something like this. You may find lots of mini business plan outlines that advise you how to start your own business. Usually every mini business plan outline has some mini business plan example attached to it in order to show how this works. The best mini business plan format is a format which actually helps mini business mangers to perform this plan in practice. Executable mini business plan format is software-based format like a task list.

VIP Task Manager is real-time teamwork software that allows mini business plan template creating and controlling through using different adjustable modes (timeline, calendar, task tree, to-do list). With a help of this tool you can share your mini business plans with your team and analyze performance of your workgroup in order to identify project progress update, costs and team efficiency.
VIP Organizer is individual simple mini business plan template manager that allows you to list you tasks in category- and time-specific manner, set priorities and manage checklists. With a help of this product you can use mini business plan format of to-do list as well as to manage your daily agenda.

To create and manage your mini business plan template do the following:

Start your mini business plan outline tool
plan processes and to-do lists for you and teammates (if required)
plan costs, set priorities, time and assign tasks to performers
control mini business plan template execution through versatile interface

Project step management � make your arrangements and projects measurable and controllable

Fri, 18 Dec 2009 00:00:00 +0000

It is easier to cope with everything in our life when it is clear what we should do to accomplish it. Almost everything can be represented as a project so to clarify what to do we should divide our arrangements into project steps, so every project step is feasible and doable. There are several simple project management steps that ensure our success, so let’s consider them. First of all we should list our goals and make a project break-down structure – we should break our arrangement into smaller project steps (tasks) so we can see what should be done and in what order. The next one of our steps of project management is organizing project – we should define how we will measure success, how we are going to control progress, which project steps will be delegated and how your goals will be realized. The next stage is scheduling project steps – giving specific target dates to your tasks. All these project planning steps can be carried out with a help of special tools.

VIP Task Manager is real-time teamwork software that allows conducting your team through all project planning steps – setting tasks, organizing tasks, scheduling tasks and finally live controlling of project execution through using different adjustable modes (timeline, calendar, task tree, to-do list).

VIP Organizer is individual simple project step manager that allows you to drive your personal arrangements through all classic project management steps. This simple software allows you to manage your time, priorities, files, notes and checklists.

To create and manage your project steps do the following:

Start your project management tool
plan processes, project steps and to-do lists for you and teammates (if required)
plan costs, set priorities, time and assign tasks to performers
control project execution through versatile interface

Switch project parts, groups, details and assignments with a help of special software

Fri, 18 Dec 2009 00:00:00 +0000

Many managers who work with project portfolios dream to have a tool that will help them to quickly switch between different projects, switch project stages, and then "go up" to see overall summarized progress of entire portfolio. There are such computer-based products that allow switching projects, switching project stages, switching project details, parameters and tasks in order to give a full picture of what is going on in portfolio to a project manager. Such a project switcher is well-featured managerial software with multi-project management capabilities that allow you to drive a portfolio of company projects within one database, so when you switch project you can work with the same project terms for recurring/similar/connected projects and apply unique workflow settings to stand-alone projects.

VIP Task Manager is real-time teamwork software that allows switching project folders for planning and controlling different projects through using different adjustable modes (timeline, calendar, task tree, to-do list) and analyzing performance of your workgroup in order to identify project evolution, costs and team efficiency.
VIP Team To Do List is work management tool designed to switch project to-do lists and send them via e-mail. With a help of this easy-to-use project switcher you can exchange checklist updates through e-mail communication.
To switch project stages and task groups do the following:

Action plan

start your project switcher
use Task Tree to break-down your projects into doable activities
plan processes and to-do lists
plan costs, set priorities and assign tasks to performers
switch project groups to control performance parameters

Project brief � Making an overview of the forthcoming project activities

Fri, 04 Dec 2009 00:00:00 +0000

When a new project is about to be initiated, a project brief should be created by project manager to show a full and firm foundation for project initiation. The purpose of project brief is to provide project participants with an overview of what should be done, how deadlines are set and what resources are required. Project brief is a document that outlines the most important and pressing issues regarding current project. Usually project briefdocument includes project background, objectives, expected outcomes, scope, exclusions, assumptions, and interests of the parties involved.

VIP Task Manager will help you create and manage your project brief outline. The software offers functionality to manage projects, create project brief templates, keep documents and tasks in a single database and set user permissions for one or another element of your project brief structure.VIP Task Manager has Task Tree view where you can create project brief examples and project brief layouts. The software supports real time collaboration between team members and immediately notifies them of any changes in current project brief format.

Action plan:

Start VIP Task Manager.
Go to Task Tree view to create a project brief template for your next project. You can use folders and subfolders to build a hierarchical structure of your project brief document.
You can duplicate project brief templates each time when a new project is about to be initiated.
Use Filter Bar and Notifications Panel to track items of your project brief example.
Use Permissions Panel to share elements of your project brief structure.

�Set the list of responsibilities for each position of your staff

Procrastination tips and task management software � A great combination to stop procrastinating

Fri, 04 Dec 2009 00:00:00 +0000

Procrastination is one of the most terrible things that will pursue you and your employees all the time. If you want to build a successful career of an office manager and to know how to stop procrastination, you need to learn many procrastination tips and use a task management software solution to take advantage of these tips. There are several main procrastination tips that teach you not to postpone a task to next time, not to lose your faith, and not to do several tasks at a time. Task management software helps track tasks, always remember about important events, and record personal and group achievements.

VIP Task Manager is a client-server program that allows overcoming procrastination and doing tasks on schedule. You can use the task management software to create to-do lists where you can prioritize each task, define task start time and finish time, set reminders and receive notification messages. The software provides you and your employees with procrastination cure solutions by allowing creating schedules, event agendas and diaries. Functionality of VIP Task Manager lets you use popular task management methods (like GTD technique and ABCD method) to help achieve your goals in the most efficient way.

Action List:

Start VIP Task Manager software.
Use Task List view to create, manage and track to-do lists.
Go to Task Tree view to build hierarchical to-do lists and projects.
Set reminders for urgent and prioritized tasks.
Use Filter Bar to track tasks by any parameters, such as Name, ID, Due Date, Status, Assignment etc.
You can build task reports by using Report Builder.

Task properties management software � tools to plan and control every task property

Thu, 03 Dec 2009 00:00:00 +0000

Task properties are critically important for the processes of task initiation, task performance and task controlling. Each task property plays its own role in the entire task specification. Every task attribute holds a certain informative value to describe some task parameter. Together task properties represent full picture of a task. Task properties help task performer to get a complete picture of what he/she is actually expected to do. On the other hand, task properties determine vision of the work from the side of its supervisor. Describing the complete task attribute set includes definition of all inputs and outputs - work purpose and quality, time parameters and everything that refers to identification of the task as a part of a greater project. During task performance each task attribute can be reported to supervisor in order to control if actual value meets planned/estimated.
VIP Task Manager is real-time teamwork software for task properties planning and controlling. This software allows planning projects where you can describe every task by dozens of standard and custom task fields. This task property planner and controller will help you to assign tasks to multiple performers and control their performance in real-time to analyze team efficiency.
VIP Organizer is individual task manager that can be used for task field management in personal or small business projects. This simple software allows you to manage your time, priorities, files, notes and checklists described by task field table.
To plan and control task properties you need to do the following:

start your task properties management software
create custom task property set if required
use Task Tree to create project break-down structure
create tasks for you and other team members
plan each necessary task attribute – schedule time, plan costs, set priorities, give instructions and assign tasks to performers
control project evolution in terms of tasks completion, time and costs

�Set the list of responsibilities for each position of your staff

Schedule analyzer - switch between different modes to review and analyze schedule of your activities

Thu, 03 Dec 2009 00:00:00 +0000

Accurately analyze schedule of your project before following it. You, as a schedule analyzer, should take care of different factors that ensure workability of your time-specified plan. Schedule analysis stands for plan accuracy and flexibility. Remember that schedules should be built with the understanding that they can be revised. During schedule analysis you need to avoid two extreme points - ensure that schedule is not too tight and also that there are no wide unscheduled intervals that can be better allocated for some activities. If you, during your schedule analysis, find some big time lag, remember that probably you just forget something to schedule or you have mistakenly scheduled two different activities (events) for the same time. Schedule analyzer is software that will help you to build and review your schedule in different modes, so you can disclose scheduling conflicts and other problems.

VIP Task Manager is real-time teamwork schedule analyzer that allows you to plan detailed tasks on adjustable Calendar view and to control performance of your workgroup in order to identify project evolution, costs and team efficiency. With a help of this groupware you and your teammates can select between different modes (timeline, day, month, week, year view, to-do list) to plan and analyze schedule of project activities.

VIP Organizer is individual simple task list manager and schedule analyzer that allows you to list you tasks in category- and time-specific manner, set priorities and manage checklists. With a help of this product you can create a project plan and perform simple personal schedule analysis in order to define if everything necessary is on the list.

To fulfill schedule analysis do the following:

start your schedule analyzer
use Task Tree to break-down your projects into doable activities
plan timelines on Calendar view
plan costs, set priorities and assign tasks to performers
control quality of your schedule by switching between different modes

How to build schematic project representation

Thu, 03 Dec 2009 00:00:00 +0000

Schematic project representation is designing (drawing up) a vivid scheme (plan) where tasks are depicted as "boxes" with lines to describe their relations - let’s say belongings to their tasks groups. Project scheme may represent task groups (categories, tasks phases, processes etc.), their hierarchy (so called task tree) and tasks which belong to each of task groups. Traditionally, scheme of project is drawn up on a paper sheet, but today there are software products which can help you to build a schematic project representation on a screen of your PC. Example of software that can help you to build and manage a project scheme is VIP Task Manager. This product will help you, not only to represent your scheme of project as hierarchy of tasks and task groups, but also to control their execution together with your team.VIP Task Manager is real-time schematic project management tool that allows project planning and controlling through using different adjustable modes (timeline, calendar, task tree, to-do list) and analyzing performance of your workgroup in order to identify project evolution, costs and team efficiency.

VIP Organizer is individual simple schematic project software that allows setting standard task parameters for each your activity, like tasks priorities, statuses and other attributes that help you in schematizing your personal projects.

To create project scheme in your team do the following:

start your schematic project management tool
use Task Tree to break-down your project scheme into doable activities
plan schematic project processes and to-do lists on Task List view
plan costs, set priorities and assign tasks to performers

Employee list tool integrated into work management system � good solution for business

Thu, 03 Dec 2009 00:00:00 +0000

Creating and maintaining employee list that contains detailed data about employees is one of the main HR tasks for any organization. Of course this is not a hard task just to create employee list, but the point of the problem is to find a sure method to achieve coordination of employees list between different projects carried out in organization. The best way to establish and support flexible list of employees where each staff member is identified by certain scope of roles, duties and responsibilities is to use software-driven employee list. Some special employee list software can be used for this purpose, but there is one more advantageous way – to use project team management software with integrated tool for employees list management. This is very efficient approach as electronic employees list integrated into project team management software allows allocating roles and responsibilities without separation of this function from other project management processes. This means that staffing policy and performance management can be carried out together.
VIP Task Manager is real-time work management software that will help you to create employee list with identifying employees with different details and roles. You can use this client-server tool to assign tasks to persons registered in employee list and to control their performance (time, tasks and costs).
VIP Team To Do List is work management software designed for sending tasks via e-mail. With a help of this easy-to-use product you can create employee list, design plan of a project and send categorized, prioritized and dated to-do lists to performers by e-mail.
To create employee list you need to do the following:

start your work management software
go to Resource List mode (employee list)
add users entries with details (Phones, Job titles. Departments etc.)
create and assign roles
plan tasks and assign them to team members

Workflow patterns � select a tool to compose, manage and store your action plans

Fri, 27 Nov 2009 00:00:00 +0000

Workflow patterns are action plans (schemas) - "recipes" that show you how some business processes or projects can/should be organized in order to get required results. If some process or project has a very strict procedure – a workflow pattern is necessary road map which is required for correct and accurate performance. Sometimes workflow patterns are just optimized and recommended guidelines or examples of "the best practices", but usually workflow pattern is a necessary plan that must be followed in order to complete something, so if this plan will not be fully or partially followed – this can cause serious risks and problems. There are different workflow patterns for different purposes as well as there are different products for workflow pattern management. Let's take a look through the following brief review of two products that can be used for composing and following workflow patterns in business.

VIP Task Manager is real-time teamwork management software that will help you to create workflow pattern for your business processes and projects, so then workflow patterns can be put in practice and controlled through different adjustable modes (timeline, calendar, task tree, to-do list) for analyzing performance of your workgroup in order to identify workflow evolution, time, costs and team efficiency.
VIP Team To Do List is workflow patterns management software designed for sending tasks via e-mail. With a help of this easy-to-use product you can create employee list, design workflow pattern of a project and send categorized, prioritized and dated to-do lists to teammates by e-mail.
To create workflow patterns you need to do the following:

start your workflow pattern management tool
use Task Tree to break-down your projects and processes into doable activities/steps
schedule and assign to-do lists to performers on Task List view
plan costs, set priorities and attach documents to tasks
send created workflow pattern to Archive in order to retrieve and duplicate it when required

Project deliverables schedule � The way to get a calendar-based representation of works within a project

Fri, 27 Nov 2009 00:00:00 +0000

Project deliverables schedule is a document that outlines a set of deliverables corresponding to your project, and each deliverable has a due date and a completion indicator to show current task statuses. Developing deliverables schedule means setting start and end dates for all deliverables required to produce the final product at the end of current project. Schedule of deliverables can be a supplement to project plan to help understand the amount of time required to complete all project works and the number of resources involved in current project.

By using VIP Task Manager you can design and share deliverables schedule to let project team members review deliverables, due dates and current project progress. VIP Task Manager helps improve team collaboration and communication by providing real time information exchange solutions. Calendar view of VIP Task Manager allows creating schedule of deliverables and gives a calendar-based representation of project works and tasks.

Action plan

Start VIP Task Manager software.
Go to Task Tree view to create tasks. Each task can serve as a deliverable that has a start time, due date and finish time. Once deliverables are planned, they can be displayed on your schedule of deliverables.
Go to Calendar tab of VIP Task Manager to review your deliverables schedule.

Use status manager software to build and share project status management reports

Fri, 27 Nov 2009 00:00:00 +0000

When you manage projects, you need to get status updates and use progress monitoring tools to have a clear idea of project performance and get the latest information for analysis. Status manager software allows tracking ongoing projects and sharing project status management reports between project participants. Status manager software enables you to identify and clarify which tasks every team member performs, what deadlines of tasks are and whether current task statuses meet expectations. When you are at the final stage of your project, project status management reports will let review outstanding issues and pending tasks.

By using VIP Task Manager, a client-server program, you can create and share project status management reports to make your projects more efficient. You can design reports in Excel format as well as in HTML and text formats. The program has a built-in task status manager (Filter Bar) to help you track completed and pending tasks.VIP Task Manager lets keep all project data in common database.

Action plan

LaunchVIP Task Manager
To create a report in Excel or HTML format, you can filter tasks and go to File – Export View to Excel/HTML.
To create a template-based report in text format, you can select required tasks, right-click on them and select Export tasks to RTF.
To create graph view reports, you can select required tasks or task groups, go to Charts Panel and choose one of the five diagrams.

Use project audit software to improve your projects

Thu, 12 Nov 2009 00:00:00 +0000

Project audit is a periodic or one-time arrangement within a project which is conducted for the purpose of exposing any problems and challenges arisen during project execution. Project audit process gives project sponsor, project manager and project team a complete view of what has been done well and what needs further improvement in order to successfully carry ongoing projects through completion. Project audit results in large savings as it generally identifies new opportunities and utilizes available resources to improve project performance. For project auditor it's very important to have a software tool which helps run project audits process at any project stage.

A software solution for running project audit process and tracking project content can be based on a client-server technology.VIP Task Manager provides client-server connection and establishes real time collaboration between project participants.VIP Task Manager is a multi-purpose software solution designed to manage, track and report tasks within projects and business workflows. The software offers a set of project auditing and tracking tools to review projects at every stage as well as to have a big picture view of current business workflows.

Action List:

Start VIP Task Manager software
Use Notifications Panel to check for new changes in tasks
Use Filter Bar to track tasks by any parameter, including Name, ID, Complete, Due Date, Status, Assignment etc.
Go to Charts Panel to build diagrams that help you get a graph view of projects
You can build HTML and text reports on tasks and projects by using Report Builde

� When you are delegated a task, think if you are able to accomplish it

Use workgroup support systems to manage your people

Thu, 12 Nov 2009 00:00:00 +0000

Workgroup support system is team management software designed to improve performance and collaboration of team members. Workgroup support system allows sharing and tracking multiple flows of information by creating a single work environment in which team members can collaborate with each other, exchange ideas and make valid decisions. Workgroups support system is usually applied to project management to lead project teams and workgroups. At the same time workgroup support systems can be also introduced into a challenging business environment to manage business processes and workflows. Flexibility and functionality provided by workgroup support systems will show you new opportunities for better business management and project management.

To try workgroup support system just now, you can download VIP Task Manager � a groupware solution which helps build a collaborative environment where you can improve team productivity and performance through running and improving team management, document management and workflow management. VIP Task Manager gives real time management tools to initiate, plan, organize and run complex projects and business workflows.

Action plan

Start VIP Task Manager software and log in your database
Use Task List view to create, manage and track to-do lists
Use Task Tree view to build a multi-tier structure of your project and multiple stages of your business workflow
Use Filter Bar to track tasks by any parameter (Name, ID, Due Date, Status, Assignment etc.)
Go to Charts Panel to build diagrams that help you get a graph view of projects and workflows
You can build reports on tasks and projects by using Report Builder

Project screen software for controlling, tracking and monitoring projects

Thu, 12 Nov 2009 00:00:00 +0000

Any new or existing project has a risk of failure because of a specific environment in which it is involved. A set of technological, social, financial, administrative, and other forces can make your project succeeding or failing. To find out whether current environment is appropriate and favorable to your project, project screening software is required. Such software gives you a set of project screen tools that help control, track and monitor current activities in your project. Project screening software allows mitigating risks and deriving expected benefits from completion of your project. By means of project screening software, you can get a big picture view of your project, make project screenshots and build project reports.

In VIP Task Manager the idea of project screening is implemented by means of Charts Panel, Task Tree view and Task List view.VIP Task Manager allows controlling, tracking and monitoring your projects in real time and using diagrams to build project reports. Task Tree view helps create a tree-like structure for your project, and Task List view lets track tasks and to-do lists.

Action plan

Launch VIP Task Manager software
Go to Task Tree view to create a tree-like structure for your project. Use Charts Panel to get graph view reports
Go to Task List view to create and manage to-do lists
Use Filter Bar to track tasks by such attributes as Name, Status, Due Date, Complete and Assignment
You can build reports on tasks and projects by using Report Builder

Running parallel projects at the same time is simpler than you may think

Thu, 12 Nov 2009 00:00:00 +0000

Have you ever tried to run several simultaneous or parallel projects at the same time? If you really have, then you know any additional parallel project is a real challenge, and not everyone is able to address it. Those people who have to manage multiple parallel projects at one time feel that too much time is usually wasted on switching from one task to another one and that project team members suffer too much from a lack of clear guidelines. The failure of project manager to control parallel projects becomes the main reason behind poor project deliverables. The way to efficiently run parallel projects at one time is to use real time project management software.

VIP Task Manager is designed specially to deliver real-time team collaboration and task management solutions to those project managers who need to control multiple parallel projects. VIP Task Manager allows displaying all incomplete tasks of parallel projects in common task list which can be sorted, filtered and customized. Teams from different projects can communicate with each other and exchange project information in real time. VIP Task Manager lets keep multiple parallel projects organized in a single database so you can quickly switch from one project to another one without wasting time.

Action plan

Launch VIP Task Manager software
Go to Task Tree view to add multiple parallel projects. You can keep and manage parallel projects in one database file
Go to Task List view to create, manage and track tasks and to-do lists of different parallel projects
Use Filter Bar to track tasks by any parameter (Name, ID, Task Group, Due Date, Status, Assignment etc.)

Destroying multitasking myth: Be a single-tasker

Thu, 12 Nov 2009 00:00:00 +0000

If to give a simple multitasking definition, it will be like this: multitasking is the ability or practice of people to handle more than one task at the same time. Today you can find a lot of information on multitasking myth and how different people tried to do two or more tasks at one time. According to recent multitasking research and studies, 'multi-taskers' showed more reduced attention spans and couldn't switch jobs as easily as 'single-taskers' could (those who preferred to work on one task at a time). The myth of multitasking skills was destroyed.

People cannot perform several tasks at one time due to habits and abilities of human brain. When we try to multitask (do two tasks at a time), multiple sources of information come from the external world or emerge out of our memory and we are not able to indentify what is not relevant to our current goal. And the inability to correctly filter information results in lowered performance. Multitasking researches show that single-taskers always out-perform multi-taskers.

So you shouldn't be a multi-tasker trying to perform several tasks at a time. Even if you have too many tasks to do within a short period of time, you should do all your work consistently and step-by-step. VIP Task Manager will help you do tasks consistently and on schedule.

Action plan

Launch VIP Task Manager
Create a step-by-step action plan which describes your tasks and jobs for today. Note that your action plan should cover only today's assignments
Go to Task List view and set priorities for task in your action plan
Set pop-up reminders for important and urgent tasks so you won't forget to send an email, submit a document, or make a phone call
Use Filter Bar to display only current tasks in your action plan
VIP Task Manager supports team collaboration so your employees can create and share action plans

Exchange checklist software - share checklist among multiple colleagues

Thu, 12 Nov 2009 00:00:00 +0000

In order to initiate working process for several performers, you should design a collaborative worksheet (shared checklist) that specifies working process with all necessary details and assign appropriate portions of this checklist to appropriate performers. In order to work flexibly you need to have a solution that allows multiple performers to share checklist and to exchange checklist information between each other as far as project workflow requires this. The best way to share checklist among multiple users is to use work management software that supports flexible assignment of roles and jobs. This type of software allows you to update and exchange checklist portions among multiple performers. With a help of special task management software you can first break-down your project into tasks and then allocate tasks among individual electronic worksheets that can be assigned to your team members.

VIP Task Manager is real-time teamwork tool that allows sharing checklist among multiple performers. You are able to create shared checklist of tasks for project, to control and analyze performance of a workgroup in order to identify its efficiency and exchange checklist updates in real-time through client-server technology. With a help of this groupware you can set roles, assign tasks, share checklist in the form of schedules, share documents and track project evolution.
VIP Team To Do List is work management software designed for sending tasks via e-mail. With a help of this easy-to-use product you can exchange checklist updates through e-mail communication. You can design plan of a project and send categorized, prioritized and dated to-do lists to performers by e-mail (as well as upload received updated checklist).
To manage and share checklist within your workgroup do the following:

Action plan

start your task list application
use Task Tree to break-down your projects into doable activities
plan timelines, costs, set priorities and assign tasks to performers
control project evolution in terms of tasks completion, time and costs
automatically exchange checklistupdates through the server

Target date software � don�t miss important commitments and events!

Thu, 12 Nov 2009 00:00:00 +0000

Target date software is a tool that helps people to follow their commitments and duties. We should always follow our commitments, particularly target dates, in order to achieve required goals and to obtain proper reputation in business. It�s about target dates of appointments, projects, jobs etc. and when you publicly set target date for some commitment you should apply all efforts to meet this target date because if you do not cope with this you risk to ruin your professional image and fall short of expectations of people who collaborate with you. If you know that you are not able to meet some target dates you should inform concerned persons beforehand to avoid problems, unpleasant "surprises" and to offer/discuss alternatives, or ask for help. Target date software is what guarantees you that you will be reminded of all your upcoming target dates, so no important event or appointment can be missed or mistakenly ignored. �

VIP Task Manager is real-time teamwork target date software that allows project planning and controlling through using different adjustable modes (timeline, calendar, task tree, to-do list) and analyzing performance of your workgroup in order to identify project evolution, costs and team efficiency.

VIP Organizer is individual simple target date software that allows you to set target date for each of your activities, to set their priorities, statuses and other attributes that help you in personal project management.

To set target date in your team do the following:

start your task target date software
use Task Tree to break-down your projects into doable activities
plan processes and to-do lists on Task List view to set target dates
plan costs, set priorities and assign tasks to performers
control target dates and other time parameters

Task ID � numeric or alphanumeric attribute for task designation

Thu, 12 Nov 2009 00:00:00 +0000

Task identification is very important when it comes to handling multiple tasks and processes within a project. If organization supports proper project management and documenting style, conducting of tasks journal or register, task identification is indispensable part of its workflow as each task should get a numeric (or alphanumeric) attribute (Task ID) that is used for task designation and will be used in different operations such as searching for specific task through register etc. Actually all electronic systems that work with multiple records should give task ID numbers to every new record in order to facilitate navigating through entire multitude of records. Task identifier or task ID may include some information about task encoded according to specific algorithm - for example to identify task, its task ID can be composed from date when it was created and letters that mean process or project which task belongs to etc. Usually computer-based systems automatically give default numbers that uniquely identify task and this method is more reliable than manual entering of task identifier or complicated assigning of Task ID according to certain custom algorithm.

VIP Task Manager is real-time teamwork tool that provides automatic task identification, so every new task in database gets unique task ID that cannot be modified. With a help of this tool you are able to identify task (each of multiple tasks) by numerous standard and custom attributes, to create shared worksheets, to control and analyze performance of a workgroup in order to identify its efficiency in real-time through client-server technology.

To manage and identify tasks within your workgroup do the following:

start your task identification software
use Task Tree to break-down your projects into doable actions (tasks)
plan timelines, identify task with costs, priorities and assignment to performers
control project evolution in terms of tasks completion, time and costs
use column task ID to search for required task

Tools for task sorting, filtering and grouping

Thu, 12 Nov 2009 00:00:00 +0000

Task sorting is one of the basic functions for to-do list management as it helps to review order of our tasks from different points of view. If we use traditional paper means it is very laborious and long to sort task list written down on a paper sheet as we should rewrite all tasks again, but if we use software for task sorting this is just an instant action of one mouse-click. To sort task list is very important action for our activities organization because it allows us to see our agenda through different categories of importance � for example we can perform task sorting to see our tasks ordered according to their priority, most important tasks above, at the beginning of our list, and less important below. In such a way we can sort process (sequence of tasks) of some goal achievement, to see process sorting according to importance or urgency of tasks, or maybe to sort task list of process according to both of these characteristics at one time.�

VIP Task Manager is real-time teamwork project management tool that has task sorting feature, a small part of its powerful capabilities. This process sorting, planning and controlling software allows you to plan detailed tasks using different adjustable modes (timeline, calendar, task tree, to-do list) and to analyze performance of your workgroup in order to identify project evolution, costs and team efficiency.

VIP Organizer is individual simple task sorting manager that allows you to list you activities in category- and time-specific manner, to set priorities and manage checklists. With a help of this product you can create a project plan to filter, group and sort process tasks in order to define if everything necessary is on the list, what is urgent and what is important.

To sort task list do the following:

start your task management software
use Task Tree to break-down your projects into doable activities
plan processes and to-do list on Task List view
plan costs, set priorities and assign tasks to performers
sort process by one or several tasks attributes

Notes diary software to manage home life events and office work schedules

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 00:00:00 +0000

If you are able to make and store your diary notes, work journal entries, articles, or even anecdotes and poems in single event management software, you are about to start organizing your home life and office work. By means of such software, your diary notes will help always remember about what happened today, during this week, this month or last year. You can schedule and note dairy events in the form of simple task lists, to-do lists, checklists and templates where each item keeps exact dates and time of events. Event management solutions will help you organize your life and keep your work schedules in order. Even if you need to manage employees in your office, you can use these solutions. Your employees will always be aware of what they should do and within what deadlines.

VIP Task Manager is software that allows you to manage events which take place in your home life and office work. This software offers efficient solutions to manage working hours and tasks by means of powerful task management tools. You can use these tools to keep your diary notes always up-to-date and shared if needed.

Action plan

Run VIP Task Managersoftware
Open a task or create a new one and go to Notes section. You can add text information, note diary events and leave comments. If the task is shared, your employees can see your notes and comments
You can activate pop-up and email reminders to prevent overdue tasks, missed events and procrastination.

Quick filter � Use software which has powerful options to filter and sort your projects and tasks

Fri, 16 Oct 2009 00:00:00 +0000

As a rule, featured task management programs have content filtering tools that help easily filter tasks, schedules and records and quickly find necessary information as well. Such tools act as quick filters or smart filters allowing users to monitor current assignments and outstanding issues in one mouse click. For example, when you participate in some project that has dozens of tasks and huge schedules, it won't be an easy work for you to find your tasks and schedules. Quick filters of task management software will let you divide project information into small pieces so that you can find any information you need. Smart filter capabilities allow displaying only your assignments and schedules. Smart filters can also point to overdue tasks which require your immediate attention.

Where can you get featured task management software that supports quick filter functionality? You can download such software from this website. VIP Task Manager is a task management program that allows filtering project content by a range of task parameters, including Name, ID, Assignment, Department, Status, Priority, and time characteristics. Filter Bar of VIP Task Manager provides you with an easy and convenient way to save and load filter configuration (active filter profiles). VIP Task Manager shows active filters and allows saving them to multiple task views filter profiles.

Action plan

Run VIP Task Manager .
Go to Task Tree view, Task List view or Calendar view to customize and apply task filters.
Create new custom filters and save them to profiles.
Filter Bar shows all your custom filter profiles in a drop-down list.

Task annotations or how to specify tasks

Wed, 14 Oct 2009 00:00:00 +0000

In terms of task management, task annotation is a short description (summary) of tasks that is aimed to show initial information on how to start, do and report tasks by employees. Often task annotations are used when tasks are in draft. For example, when some task is in draft, manager can add a short summary to the task and employee can review the summary and leave a feedback in order to clarify any misunderstandings and arisen questions. Manager will review the feedback and offer a solution. In such a way task annotation will help clearly specify and timely accomplish tasks.

Task annotations are often referred to work annotations, process annotations and project annotations. In essence, these terms are equivalent and the use of them depends on workflow particular to one or another company. For example, when workflow includes tasks and processes, the use of task annotations and process annotations is natural. When workflow reflects projects, then project annotations will be used respectively.

No matter whether your company's workflow includes tasks, processes or projects, a task management program is required. VIP Task Manager makes your workflow more specified and clear because this task management program allows leaving task annotations in the form of notes, attachments, and comments. The program is perfect to manage tasks, processes, works and projects in small and medium sized organizations.

Action plan:

Run VIP Task Manager.
Open a task and go to Notes Tab or Comments Tab to leave annotations. You can also use Notes Tab to specify folders (task groups).
In Task Tree/Task List View you can display notes underneath each task/folder. This option is called Preview Mode.
Use Preview Mode to quickly access task annotations in common task list.
Use Attachment Tab to enclose files and documents that help describe your tasks.

�Set the list of responsibilities for each position of your staff

Project parameters � Looking for project management software that has extended functionality to create specific project attributes and fields

Wed, 14 Oct 2009 00:00:00 +0000

Project parameters are sets of characteristics (project attributes, fields, elements, etc.) that you can define and then add to multiple categories in your project. Each project may have specific project attributes and project fields that can or cannot be shared with other projects. If you use project management software, you can see that it has features to set standard project parameters like due dates and deadlines, work durations, planned time and actual time, statuses, priorities, assignments, and many others.� You can use standard parameters to run simple projects. But what if you need advanced options to create specific project attributes and project fields? Will your project management software suit your needs?

Many project management solutions have simple yet effective functionality to manage simple projects. However, these solutions don�t give sufficient options to run complex projects. If you need to manage complex and large-scale projects in which specific, user-defined project attributes and project fields are required, you can use VIP Task Manager. This software offers extended features to customize and manage project parameters. Customs Fields of VIP Task Manager allows creating user-defined fields to make your projects more feasible, predictable and measurable.

Action plan:

Run VIP Task Manager.
Log into your database as Administrator.
Go to Tools � Custom Fields to create new projects fields and attributes.
Use math formulas in custom fields.
Use Custom Fields Options to apply your project parameters to both tasks and task groups.
Use Preview Mode in Task Tree view to display custom fields underneath task groups.

�Set the list of responsibilities for each position of your staff

Process filter � Quickly find needed information in large projects

Wed, 14 Oct 2009 00:00:00 +0000

Process filtration as well as project filtration is an important mechanism of project management software that helps you quickly find necessary information on processes, projects, and tasks. This mechanism offers process filter, project filter and task filter. By using these filters, you can review project information at any level. For example, if you want to track tasks and processes within a project, you can use task/process filter. If you need to review projects as a whole, project filter will help you.

The mechanism of process and project filtration becomes vital and indispensable when you run large-scale projects. As a rule, such projects have multiple tasks, processes and assignments so it won't be an easy work for you to track and report tasks and processes. VIP Task Manager will help you cope with such a challenge. This program has a built-in filter bar that allows tracking tasks, processes and projects. VIP Task Manager lets you filter tasks by many parameters like Name, ID, Assignment, Department, Task Group, Status, Due Date, Priority, and also user-defined parameters.

Action plan

Run VIP Task Manager.
Go to Task Tree view to create and organize projects. Use task groups to add subprojects.
Go to Task List view to manage and track tasks.
Go to Scheduler view to plan and schedule tasks.
Use Filter Bar to find necessary tasks and projects.

Sub teams: Running complex projects efficiently

Wed, 14 Oct 2009 00:00:00 +0000

Sub teams offer convenient ways to organize complex projects that may have sub-projects and sub-works. The term 'sub team' means a group of people who participate in complex projects and are assigned to perform some works within sub-projects. A proper organization of sub teams is a guarantee that any sub-project will be run like a well-adjusted and well-coordinated mechanism in which employees do their works with purpose to make project deliverables feasible. Sub team leaders will take care of on-time and complete fulfillment of particular works assigned to their sub teams and sub groups.

In order to manage complex projects, build a comprehensive hierarchy of sub-projects, keep sub teams on track and appoint sub team leaders, a featured task management program is required. VIP Task Manager serves as efficient software to manage multiple projects and tasks, allocate works and jobs, and build teams and sub teams.VIP Task Manager allows creating a tree-like project view where sub-projects and multiple tasks are categorized. The program lets organize resources (users) into teams and sub teams which will be responsible for one or another sub-project and related tasks. Sub teams will be under control of sub team leaders.

Action plan

Run VIP Task Manager Professional edition.
To add new users (resources) who will be members of teams and sub teams, go to Resource List View. There you can create a new user account and specify details (Names, Job Title, Department, Project Role, etc.) for every user.
Use Task Tree View to create a hierarchical structure of projects.
In Task Tree View you can open any task group and go to Watch List to assign supervisors. A supervisor can be a team leader as well as a sub team leader

Task watcher, process watcher, project watcher and schedule watcher: What are these?

Wed, 14 Oct 2009 00:00:00 +0000

All these terms are similar in meaning. They are related to management of tasks, processes, projects and schedules. Any project consists of tasks, processes and schedules. In context of project management software, a watcher is a built-in tool to track and review workflow of projects. For example, when we need to monitor some project, we need project watcher tool that would allow us to review the main project parameters such as scope, milestones, deliverables, etc. When we want to review processes within projects, we can apply process watcher tool. When employees want to see new task assignments in projects, they can use task watcher tool. And schedule watcher is a project tool for tracking timelines, due dates, deadlines and delays in projects.

Functionality of VIP Task Manager allows tracking your project workflow from any point. No matter if you need to track tasks (task watcher), processes (process watcher), projects (project watcher), or schedules (schedule watcher), the program gives you a complete view of the workflow. You can use filters in Task List view to track tasks. Task Tree view will let you track projects and processes. And if you want to manage schedules and timelines, you can switch to Calendar view. VIP Task Manager offers flexibility and convenience in managing tasks, processes, projects and schedules.

Action plan

Run VIP Task Manager Professional edition.
Switch between Task List view, Task Tree view and Calendar view to get the most convenient view to track tasks.
Use task filters and column layouts. For example, in Task List view you can filter tasks by status and assignment. Column layout lets you save current task list view to profiles.
Use Watch List to assign supervisors to help you watch and track multiple tasks, processes and projects.

Instruction template software � tools to create and distribute instructions in format of text and pictures

Mon, 12 Oct 2009 00:00:00 +0000

Instruction template is both methodic and instrumental standard through which instructions should be prepared and distributed to people who need instructions to perform certain jobs. In other words instructions template explains how instruction should be represented, written, organized - which instruction format, style, fonts and colours should be used, what level of details is necessary and so on. Instructions template is used to train someone who is new to certain job or to promote professional level of the regular performers. The best instruction format is textual instructions supplemented with pictures to visualize operations, as people simply learn better and faster when they can see what to do. The best way to create, distribute and maintain instruction template is to use electronic means, such as computer instructions tools. These tools will help you to prepare, update and share instructions in appropriate instruction format (textual descriptions of procedures and operations together with pictures), including personalized templates, so instructions template software makes it easy to train people better and faster.

VIP Task Manager is real-time teamwork tool that allows you to plan detailed tasks and attach files to them, keep instruction template library within the project database and to control performance of your workgroup in order to identify project evolution, costs and team efficiency. With a help of this groupware you and your teammates can create and use sequences of shareable tasks as instructions template to see textual descriptions of operations with attached pictures to make instructions visual.
VIP Team To Do List is team management software designed for sending tasks via e-mail. With a help of this product you can create computer instructions templates (organize tasks and task groups, priorities, notes and documents) to send them through e-mail.

To establish collaboration at computer instructions templates do the following:

start your project instruction template application
use Task Tree or Task List to create instruction template as list of doable operations
use Comments and Notes panels to add extended instructions to each operation
use Attachments panel to add files - pictures and documents
plan timelines and provide performers with instructions
control performance in real-time

Project sorter for organizing multiple projects and tasks

Mon, 12 Oct 2009 00:00:00 +0000

Having multiple projects to manage and dozens of tasks to do may cause inefficiency in your project management. While you can read many articles about feasibility of running several projects at once, you see that it�s really hard to cope with many simultaneous projects, schedules, and tasks. Without project sorting software (or project sorter), you will probably fail and your projects will be inefficient. So the main rule for running several projects at a time is to apply project sorting software. Such software is designed to help sort projects, align tasks with schedules and keep you (and other project participants) informed of any updates and changes in projects.

VIP Task Manager is a perfect task/project management program that has built-in tools to sort projects, tasks and schedules. Task List tab of the program displays sorted projects and organizes tasks by status, priority, due date, assignment, etc. You can use Scheduler tab of VIP Task Manager to plan tasks, design calendars and share event lists. Filter Bar of VIP Task Manager is a good project sorter tool to make your tasks and projects organized as you need.

Action list:

Run VIP Task Manager Pro.
Go to Task List tab to review tasks. You can sort tasks by columns.
Go to Task Tree tab to create multiple projects. You can use Filter Bar to sort projects and organize tasks.
Go to Scheduler to plan tasks and create event listsWhen you are delegated a task, think if you are able to accomplish it

Project background: What parts does it consist of?

Mon, 12 Oct 2009 00:00:00 +0000

What is a project background and do I need it? You may ask these questions even if you are experienced in managing projects. Project background shows common information on projects, what works should be done, who participate in projects, what objectives are set, what due dates are determined, and many other parameters. If to analyze a typical project background, there can be outlined the following parts:

Goals and requirements
Schedules and plans to realize goals and meet requirements
Deliverables and their deadlines
Project resources, teams and participants
Reports and summaries

Besides project background, there can be also used task background and process background. Task background is similar to process background and it shows date parameters, goals, assigned resources, belonging to projects, priorities, progress, status, and so on.

VIP Task Manager helps define project background and share it among project participants. VIP Task Manager is a project/task management program based on a client-server technology. The program allows initiating projects, specifying tasks, setting dates, establishing goals, and building reports.

Action list:

Run VIP Task Manager.
Go to Task Tree view to create a tree-like structure of your projects. Use task groups to add subprojects.
Use Task List view to manage and track tasks. Here you can outline task background, including due date, start and finish dates, priority, assignment, status, etc.
Use Filter Bar to find necessary tasks.
Notes Panel, Comments Panel, and Attachment Panel are also helpful to specify task/process background.

Instruction list software � tool to provide workgroup with organization and technical instructions with different level of details

Tue, 06 Oct 2009 00:00:00 +0000

Instruction list � is an indispensable part of collaboration in any workgroup. When one person assigns tasks to another person, these tasks usually need to be supplemented by general instructions or detailed instructions that explain how these tasks should be fulfilled. Instruction list can be prepared by the task performer according to task owner's oral directives or can be prepared by task owner himself/herself to ensure better awareness of task performer. Instruction list is usually created like an explanation in a format of numbered to do list where each item specifies certain aspect or step of task fulfilment. General instructions are used when you want to outline way of task performance for person who "knows trade" well and do not need very detailed instructions. When it comes to some complicated work the more detailed instructions are given the more is the chance to fulfil this work properly (this is especially fair for technical instructions). Any kind of instructions in teamwork can be provided and managed with a help of work instruction list software.

VIP Task Manager is real-time teamwork tool that allows you to plan tasks for project and to control performance of a workgroup in order to identify its efficiency. With a help of this groupware you can assign tasks to team members and give them organizational and technical instructions in detailed or general form.

VIP Team To Do List is task and instruction list management software designed for sending tasks via e-mail. With a help of this easy-to-use product you can assign work to team members and send them prioritized to-do lists supplemented by general and detailed instructions.

To create instruction list do the following:

start your project instruction list application
create tasks for you and other team members
use Task Tree to break-down your projects into doable activities
plan timelines, costs, set priorities and assign tasks to performers
use Notes or Comments panels to add general and detailed instructions to each task

Why and how to keep a daily diary � tools and tips

Tue, 06 Oct 2009 00:00:00 +0000

Keeping of daily diary is a sign of a good life-organizing culture, because a habit to keep a diary means that you are really attentive and careful with your time and experience. Daily diary of activities allows you to monitor your time, thoughts, emotions, experience and to analyze issues to avoid them in future. There is no need to be very scrupulous when you keep a diary, but it is useful to conduct some kind of a book where you can briefly note down your ideas and observations to study them later. If you want to know how your time is spent, you can conduct a daily diary of activities where you can keep records on every professional and personal activity that you do during daytime in order to optimize your agenda or lifestyle. In a field of professional activities it is very advisable to keep a diary of working time, so you can disclose time-wasting activities, distractions and detours in order to get more productive. There are a lot of tools that can be used for conducting daily diary of different business and personal activities, for example to keep training diary of staff members, or to keep company log-book.

VIP Task Manager is teamwork task and time management software that can be used as a daily diary of your individual and team activities. This product allows keeping records on work and professional agenda performance, monitoring time and making notes regarding your tasks, so this product can be simultaneously used as project analysis journal and HR training diary. You are able to use a free diary tool trial during 30 days.
VIP Organizer is individual task list manager that allows you to plan tasks, set priorities and manage checklists. With a help of this product you can keep daily diary of your activities and observations as you are able to keep a diary records in notepad sections of tasks. For example you can use this software as your fitness training diary for printing out training programs and to-do's. You are able to use a free diary tool trial during 30 days.

To keep records on your activities you should:

start you daily diary application
plan your tasks
use attribute "Date Started" to see when task was actually started
use attribute "Date Completed" to see when task was actually completed
use Notes and Comments panels to record your observations and details

Team agenda tools to compose consistent, comprehensive and non-contentious plan

Tue, 06 Oct 2009 00:00:00 +0000

Team agenda is a time-table of joint moving towards common goals and common achievements. Team agenda is a plan of common work where each participant enjoys own important role, tasks and functions. The most important things that ensure successful running through teams agenda are effectively organized official relations between members (seniority and responsibility), internal climate (mutual respect and assistance), labor stimulation (encouragements and rewards) and actually wise planning of team agendas. You should make it sure that team agenda in your organization is properly methodically and practically supported, as teams agenda should be consistent, comprehensive, clear and non-contentious. When composing team agendas remember that team works better when they feel strong informational background, so supplement each team agenda with supportive notes in terms of "where we are, where we go and how we will get there". In order to schedule and share team agenda with maximum of efficacy you may use special software that can be also used for team direction, instruction and control. Consider following team agenda management products as tools that can bring intelligibility into your workflow:

VIP Task Manager is real-time teamwork tool that allows you to plan tasks in projects and to control performance of your workgroup in order to identify its efficiency. With a help of this groupware you and your teammates can plan and review team agenda in the formats of Calendar view and To-do list.

VIP Team To Do List is team agenda management software designed for sending tasks via e-mail. With a help of this easy-to-use product you can assign work to team members and send them prioritized, categorized and dated to-do lists through e-mail communication.

To create team agenda do the following:

start your team agenda management application
use Task Tree to break-down your projects into doable activities
plan timelines on Calendar view
plan costs, set priorities and assign tasks to performers
control performance of teams agenda in real-time

How to use special software to create and regulate multi-level system of team permissions

Wed, 23 Sep 2009 00:00:00 +0000

When it comes to teamwork you cannot avoid issues related to confidentiality of shared information. Usually use of this information is regulated by team permissions policy. In order to permit team members to work with content of some project and organizational documents, certain system of authorization can be established. This team permission system may have different levels of authorization to let some of team members (let's say organization managers and executives) to be identified as those whose team permissions are broader than others have. Also system of team permissions should include team permission structure of parallel kind � to identify team members according to specificity of their work, as members of parallel sub-teams (departments etc.), who should be able to operate with their own data and usually should not be permitted to see information that refers to activities of other sub-teams. The best way to specifically permit team members to work with certain information in process of doing joint work is to use project management software, such as VIP Task Manager. This software allows creating of multi-level system of team permissions to regulate cooperation.
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VIP Task Manager is real-time team permissions management tool that allows you to plan project tasks and to control performance of your workgroup in order to identify its efficiency. With a help of this groupware you can identify team members by assigning roles, set team permission to specify access rights and share project tasks, documents and project details.

To organize cooperative team permissions, do the following:

start your team permission application
create tasks for you and other team members
use Task Tree to break-down your projects into doable activities
plan timelines, costs, set priorities, attach documents and assign tasks to performers
use Resource List to create Roles and assign them to team members
use Permissions Panel to permit team members to view certain tasks or to do certain operations with them��

Team document cooperative tools for identifying document roles and measuring processes

Wed, 23 Sep 2009 00:00:00 +0000

Any serious project or professional activity is accompanied by set of team documents that describe and support different organizational and technical project aspects. Every team document has certain sharing rules that are regulated by team collaboration policy. Team document collaboration, as well as any other team activity, is predefined by the word "team" and it means that all workgroup members have to perform own specific roles and follow certain rules in cooperation at team document. So we can say that team document management has two dimensions � policy of team collaboration (process description, team document roles) and actually instruments for team documents sharing. Team document roles may include positions of document owner, author, supervisor and user. In order to find good team document management instrument to organize documentation sharing you can consider special task management software for team use, such as VIP Task Manager.

VIP Task Manager is real-time team document management tool that allows you to create tasks for project and to control performance of a workgroup in order to identify its efficiency. With a help of this groupware you can identify team documents owners, authors, supervisors and users to make team document collaborative processes measurable and controllable.

To organize team document cooperation, do the following:

start your project application
create tasks for you and other team members
use Task Tree to break-down your projects into doable activities
plan timelines, costs, set priorities and assign tasks to performers
attach project documents (as links or files) to corresponding tasks
organize access rights to ensure effective and confidential document sharing

What is initiating process group and how it can be managed with a help of software

Wed, 23 Sep 2009 00:00:00 +0000

Initiating process group is the first phase (process group) among other process groups, executed at the beginning of a project in order to perform all pre-requisite activities in order to get prepared for a project. This process group defines and authorizes the entire project. Initiating process group includes identifying and defining project risks, assumptions and constraints, defining project scope, identifying process resources and making initial costs estimation, introducing and authorization of project manager, providing due-diligence process. The main objective on this process group is to develop the project charter, get rights to involve necessary resources and obtain approval to start real work on the project. Initiating process group is one of the five project process groups that are specifically referred to the phases of project initiating, planning, executing, monitoring or controlling, and finally the project closing. Each project process group can be easily handled with a help of project management software.

VIP Task Manager is real-time teamwork tool that allows you to plan detailed tasks within the project and to control performance of your workgroup in order to identify project evolution, costs and team efficiency. With a help of this groupware you and your teammates can participate in each process group to contribute into joint activities and to collaborate with each other and project stakeholders.

VIP Team To Do List is process group management software designed for sending tasks via e-mail. With a help of this easy-to-use product you can assign jobs to team members and send them prioritized, categorized and dated to-do lists through e-mail communication. This software can be used to establish collaboration at initiating process group or at any another process group

To establish collaboration at all project process groups do the following:

start your project management application
use Task Tree to break-down your project process groups into doable activities
plan timelines, costs, set priorities and assign tasks to performers
control performance on process groups in real-time

Team employee management � Establish good communication between team members

Mon, 21 Sep 2009 00:00:00 +0000

Every good manager knows that a disorganized and unbalanced project workflow in which team employees are involved leads to poor performance and bad project deliverables. The reason for team disorganization is obviously a lack or absence of communication between team members. By recognizing that communication is the crucial component of the employee team building process in project management, the project manager can apply collaborative team employee management solutions to provide the team members with confidential team employer assistance.

Such solutions can be provided by VIP Task Manager Pro. The software allows establishing a collaborative environment where team members can discuss together the nature of the existing problem and develop a group decision or an action plan to overcome it. The project manager can track group decisions, commend action plans and find unbalance in the workflow by measuring the workload and performance.

Action plan

Start VIP Task Manager Professional.
Go to Task Tree view and create a new task group which will contain action plans, checklists and guides. Team members will have access to the task group.
Use notifications to inform concerned team members about new decisions or action plans.
Apply performance indicators to balance the workload.
You can assign supervisors who will constantly treat and update action plans and task lists.
Send the tasks to team members and get their feedback to be always aware of current situation, so that you can make right decision to organize the team.

Use event sheets in projects to ensure the project team is aware of ongoing and upcoming events

Fri, 18 Sep 2009 00:00:00 +0000

Monitoring the important events which take place in a project is a critical part of understanding the way how the project is supposed to run; therefore project participants are required to keep track of the current event sheet. Tracking of the event information sheet means that periodically (for example, every two or three days) the project team will do the following two things:

Keep an eye on the project event sheet to review the news and track the important changes in the project
Make sure that the team has the up-to-date and revised task lists as well as no procrastinations are committed

To create, manage and share the current event sheet of your projects, you need to use project management software like VIP Task Manager Pro.

VIP Task Manager lets you easily schedule and track event sheets which are sharable among project team members. The software provides real time collaboration between team members. Each item of the project event information sheet can be represented as a task which has Due Date, Start Date and Finish Date. There’re also user-defining task attributes that can be added to the project event sheet, so you have a flexible tool to make your event sheets more suitable and comprehensive.

Action list:

Go to Calendar view in VIP Task Manager Professional to design new event sheets and task lists.
Use Task Tree view to create the project structure.
Use Comments Panel and Notes Panel to specify items in the project event information sheet.
Set pop-up/email reminders in your event sheets.

Team contributor: Bring up every team member to contribute to team

Fri, 18 Sep 2009 00:00:00 +0000

As advanced theories and methods for team management say, the higher rate of team contribution is fostered between team members, the higher productivity is. In projects and business processes employees are expected to play the role of team contributors which means to contribute to team success and total performance. While it sounds great on paper, in practice most managers and team leaders face difficulties since employees are different in skill level, experience, style, attitude, commitment and work ethic.

If you're a team leader and you supervise group efforts, you should consider team contribution as the way to improve team performance, decrease friction among team members and make it easier for team members to contribute to team as a whole. At the same time you shouldn't be afraid of the difficulties you may face because there's an efficient solution for team management. This is VIP Task Manager Professional. VIP Task Manager allows contributing team to success through real time collaboration, instant information exchange, and centralized location of the project database.

Action plan:

Go to Resource List view to add new team members (users) who will access the corporate database via local network or Internet.
Go to Task Tree view in VIP Task Manager to create and assign task lists to team members.
Use Calendar Tool (Task Scheduler) to properly plan group agendas, schedules, task lists and appointments.
By using Custom Field Editor, create and apply KPIs to access team performance and contribution of each employee to the team success measured in figures.
Comments Panel and Notes Panel are perfect for leaving feedback, remarks, decisions, and text reminders.

How to make project scenario � what are project scenarios and how to use them?

Fri, 18 Sep 2009 00:00:00 +0000

What is project scenario? This is a vision of your project in action. Making project scenarios can help you to anticipate possible problems and decide how to avoid or solve them. Your project scenario will help you to visualize running of your project to define what may happen during actual project performance. Project scenario lets you to foresee how project resources will be used, clarify how your team will work together to implement the project, to disclose project bottlenecks and to think of different project aspects from other positions. It is advisable to create several different project scenarios for one project, so you can experience several different variants of project developments. In order to prepare project scenarios you should have your project plan that is a basic thing for creating a scenario. Actually you (and your teammates) should run several times through project plan in order to envision how you will perform this in practise. You should write down project scenario and consider each step of your plan to decide what difficulties you may face and if everything what you have to do is feasible. As a result of project scenarios creating you will see a lot of project bottlenecks and problems, so you will have a background to optimize your project plan until it is acceptable.

VIP Organizer is individual task list manager that allows you to plan tasks, set priorities and manage checklists. With a help of this product you can create a project plan (organize tasks and task groups, priorities, notes and documents) and make a project scenario.
VIP Task Manager is real-time teamwork tool that allows you to create tasks for project, to control and analyze performance of a workgroup in order to identify its efficiency. With a help of this groupware you can create project plan (set roles, assign tasks, share schedules among team members, share documents) and use it to run through project scenarios.

To create project scenario do the following:

start your project application
create tasks for you and other team members
use Task Tree to break-down your projects into doable activities
plan timelines, costs, set priorities and assign tasks to performers
use project plan to envision and model process of project performance in order to create� project scenarios

� When you are delegated a task, think if you are able to accomplish it

Team office management � Building a winning team

Fri, 18 Sep 2009 00:00:00 +0000

Whether it's about business, education, sports, healthcare, or anything else, the key to success is in building a winning team first. It may seem that the winning team is obviously required for success in team office management; however, we often forget about it and start doing wrong things under pressure of upcoming problems and challenges. We're trying to organize team appointments and meetings while absolutely forgetting about proper event planning and agenda scheduling. We start considering the numbers (indictors, measures, team characteristics, etc.) as the basics for team performance and success.

To avoid the wrong team building, you should understand that while building the winning team, it's not the numbers that drive the team, but the employees as an organized team that drive the numbers. To pave the way for successful team building, you can use VIP Task Manager Pro. This group task management software allows to run task initiating, measuring, tracking, and reporting processes to create a productive team through real time collaboration and data exchange.

Action plan:

Go to Resource List view of VIP Task Manager Pro to add new team members (users) who will access the corporate database via local network or Internet.
Go to Task Tree view to create a tree like structure for task lists of team members.
Use Task Scheduler to plan team appointment agendas, schedules, task lists and meetings.
By using Custom Field Editor, create and apply KPIs to access team performance and contribution of each employee to the team success measured in figures.

� When you are delegated a task, think if you are able to accomplish it

Results management system � New opportunities for work management

Fri, 18 Sep 2009 00:00:00 +0000

Any organization requires implementation of a results management system to track obtained work results, measure performance, and generate new ways for further development. The results management system (RMS) allows companies to track, report, analyze and share the work results. Here's what results management system will enable company managers to do:

Collect and analyze information that covers made decisions and resolved problems
Convert work results into meaningful data for the company
Apply measures and indicators to track changes in the working process
Appoint a person to the position of 'results manager' who will take care of managing the work results
Generate results management reports which are due to be submitted to top management

VIP Task Manager Pro offers effective results management solutions for administering and tracking processes in your company to help ensure reliable and valid work results assessments. The software is for task management, with possibility to plan work, track current work progress and generate work result reposts. There's Custom Fields Editor in VIP Task Manager Pro that allows to create KPI to measure the work results.

Action plan

Use Calendar view to design agendas, schedules, and task lists
Use Resource List view to manage profiles of users (employees). Your employees will access the corporate database via local network or Internet.
Use Comments Panel and Notes Panel which are perfect tools for leaving feedback, comments, and decisions.
Go to Custom Field Editor to create KPI for better results measurement.
Use History Panel to track work results.

Project contributors � Let every member of the project team feel responsibility for project deliverables

Fri, 18 Sep 2009 00:00:00 +0000

To provide the clear and straightforward understanding of project management by the team, every team member should be involved in the project contributing process which means a process for planning, scheduling and measuring tasks of the project. Project contribution ensures that the existing project is a complete collection of problems and solutions which are considered and discussed by the team and the leader and which deliver the results of project works (deliverables) in accordance with the identified project calendar and schedule. Team members become project contributors when the project is run in the collaborative environment and group communication.

VIP Task Manager is a source of project contribution tools which serve as the way to transform your employees into a collaborative project contributing team. The program lets look at your employees as at a complete project work group regardless experience, skill level, and knowledge of the group members. Collaborative tools of VIP Task Manager establish real-time project data exchange and group communication through local network or Internet.

Action plan:

Launch VIP Task Manager Professional.
Go to Task Tree view and create new project folders which will contain action plans, checklists and guides. Team members will have access to the project folders.
Use popup notifications and email messages to inform team members of new decisions or solutions.
Apply performance indicators to measure contribution of each project team member.
Assign supervisors who will help the team leader to manage the contribute project process.

Set the list of responsibilities for each position of your staff

Memos software: Do your tasks always on schedule

Mon, 14 Sep 2009 00:00:00 +0000

Memos software is like a virtual assistant that works for you all day long helping to avoid the lapse of memory and relieve the stress you suffer every day. If you're employee, memos application helps you do your job without delays and accomplish all tasks on schedule. If you're a manager, you probably feel that it's really hard to lead your team without business memo software or digital diary. It helps you create agendas, assign to-do lists and track working time.

Memos software is the way to create tasks and to-do lists with possibility to add specific information and memo examples such as job details, instructions, contacts, links to web resources and documents, and so on. Business memo software is equipped with reminder and task scheduler allowing you and your team to do tasks always on schedule.

You can use VIP Task Manageras an advanced memos software product for business management and life organization. The product has Calendar Tool where you can plan your tasks and create schedules. VIP Task Manager reminds you on urgent and scheduled tasks by sending e-mail messages and pop-up notifications. The memos application is applicable for group use and team collaboration.

Action plan

Use Calendar view to design agendas, schedules, task lists and appointment lists.
Go to Resource List view to add new members of your team who will access the corporate database via local network or Internet.
Use Comments Panel and Notes Panel which are perfect tools for leaving feedback, remarks, comments, decisions, notes, and text messages.
Set pop-up/email reminder at or before specific date and time.
Use History Panel to track occurred changes in task lists.

Work interruptions: Revealing the real reason of them and Starting proper planning

Mon, 14 Sep 2009 00:00:00 +0000

Work interruptions are those negative consequences that come after wrong planning. A new manager who works with many people for the first time can face with the issue of interruptions at work. Because of the lack of experience, he can be amazed thinking how so many people do so little work. Then he'll start finding the reasons. And in most cases, the laziness of people will seem to be the main reason for interruptions at work. However, an experienced manager knows well that the truly real reason for work interruptions is a poor or bad planning.

When a team leader properly plans tasks of the team and manages group events in accordance with the schedule, the team starts working better, delays drastically fall down and productivity increases. The team leader can prevent work balance interruption and establish an effective working environment where team members won't neglect orders and delay tasks. And VIP Task Manager will help the team leader to do so. This software is for team task management. As a manager, you can create, assign, share, track and report tasks of your team. Task Scheduler of VIP Task Manager will let you schedule tasks, events and meetings. You can properly plan working time of each team members and track task performance by using KPIs.

Action plan

Use Calendar Tool (Task Scheduler) to properly plan agendas, schedules, task lists and appointments.
Go to Resource List view to add new team members (users) who will access the corporate database via local network or Internet.
Comments Panel and Notes Panel are perfect for leaving feedback, remarks, decisions, and text reminders.
Set pop-up/email reminders at or before specific date and time.
Use History Panel to track occurred changes in task lists.

Rules and tools for smart action planner

Fri, 04 Sep 2009 00:00:00 +0000

Smart action planner is a person who respects and appreciates his/her time and time of other persons. Smart action planners aspire to plan their agenda in a way that allows maximally efficient use of time. Effective action planners are wise people, so to become one of them you may study main rules of smart action planning by the examples of folk wisdom:

Smart action planner should remember that action brings the maximal output and benefits only at appropriate moment as "stitch in time saves nine".
Smart action planner should remember that every complicated work starts with small initiative action as "every long journey starts with first step".
Smart action planner should remember that some actions can be delegated to assistants as "one man cannot do the work of ten".
Smart action planner should remember that even if it seems that a great amount of time is available, nevertheless it is not endless and should be used wisely as "lost time is never found again".
Smart action planner should remember that every action causes some consequences, so before doing anything it is advisable to count the cost as "after dinner comes the reckoning".

VIP Organizer is individual task management tool for smart action planners. This product will help you to manage your personal projects. This simple action planner allows you to manage your tasks, time, priorities, notes and documents. You can use this product to organize your daily activities, notes, reminders and files.

VIP Task Manager is real-time action planner for business use. This teamwork management software will help you in planning tasks and controlling performance of your team members in terms of productivity, time, tasks and costs. This product allows you to share business/project schedules, documents and work evolution among multiple stakeholders.

To manage your actions in a smart way you need to do the following:

start your action planner software
create tasks for you and other team members
use Task Tree to create project break-down structure
plan timelines, costs and set priorities
give instructions and assign tasks to performers
control project evolution

Staff list saving software � use detailed staff data in work management

Fri, 04 Sep 2009 00:00:00 +0000

Staffing is a topical question for many organizations as today many companies are torn between necessity to reduce costs and save their staff list from dismissals. To the contrary, other companies strengthen their staff list by good unemployed professionals. One of the best solutions that company could apply is to reduce costs without reducing their staff list � by moving of a certain part of the staff to temporary regime of telework. These teleworkers can be easily managed with a help of work management software that allows remote collaboration via Internet connection or through e-mail. The good example of such client-server software is VIP Task Manager. This product can be used for managing both in-office and remote employees. This software allows creating user list that contains detailed data about all your employees. Resources that are listed in names list of software can be used for different operations, for example for tasks assignment. If you decide to move your employees to telework there is no need to change names list as you can use the same user list in spite of the fact whether your employees are in office or at home. The only things you should do is to install VIP Task Manager on home PC's or laptops of staff list members who you would like to manage and to ensure that server where you place database of VIP Task Manager has static IP address.

VIP Task Manager is real-time work management software that will help you in planning tasks and controlling performance (time, tasks and costs) of your team members listed in software surnames list. With a help of this software you can ensure real-time collaboration of your staff list members via Internet.

VIP Team To Do List is work management software designed for sending tasks via e-mail. With a help of this easy-to-use product you can add resources to names list, design plan of a project and send to-do lists to performers by e-mail.

To create staff list you need to do the following:

start your work management software
go to Resource List
add users entries with details (Phones, Job titles. Departments etc.)
plan tasks and assign to team members

Team action - take collaboration of ants as a model

Fri, 04 Sep 2009 00:00:00 +0000

Team actions are very important part of any business or organization activities as far as people cannot achieve much without collaboration. Action team should work together like ants do this � in ant hill every ant "knows" his role and how to collaborate, so together they emphatically go towards common aims. Team in action is a peculiar system that lives according to certain rules. Team action should be supported by a strong background � robust action team climate, well-described rules of collaboration, clear decision-making guidelines and well-defined goals. Team action runs better, with higher efficiency if an experienced team leader supervises this team. Team leader's way to manage team in action is to support team by guidance, advice, encouragement and teaching. The good way to mobilize team and ensure purposeful team action is to inform team members about "where we are, where we go and how we are going to get there".

VIP Task Manager is real-time task management tool for smart team action management. This teamwork management software will help you in planning tasks and controlling performance of your team members in terms of productivity, time, tasks and costs.

VIP Team To Do List is team actions management software designed for sending tasks via e-mail. With a help of this easy-to-use product you can plan job for team members: design plan of a project, categorize, prioritize and assign activities to team members, track progress in terms of time and tasks completion.

To manage your team action in a smart way you need to do the following:

start your team action planner software
create tasks for you and other team members
use Task Tree to create project break-down structure
plan timelines, costs and set priorities
give instructions and assign tasks to performers
control project evolution

Study task history, because those who don't study history are doomed to fail in future

Thu, 03 Sep 2009 00:00:00 +0000

After performing a certain task it is a good practice to attentively analyze traversed path in order to evaluate obtained experience and avoid possible mistakes in the future. In other words you should review history of task. Tracking task history is one the managerial functions that ensures conformity of actual task performance with plan. Task history is a history of work evolution - case history that shows you when and what was done at the task. Studying history of task can explain you many questions and issues, find out where wrong steps where made and take actions to improve process in the future. The smart way to record and track task history is to use powerful work management software that will be your guide, support and background in improvement of your working and managerial style, so try to implement task history software to plan, review and analyze your activities and projects in order to have success in the future, instead of failure.

VIP Task Manager is real-time teamwork software that will help you to study task history, to review productivity, costs, time, outputs etc. This product allows you to manage business and projects, to control performance in real-time, to analyze team efficiency and report history of task.

VIP Organizer is individual task manager that can be used in small business projects or your personal projects. This simple software can help you to track history of task lists, to create reports of your productivity, to manage your priorities, time and checklists.

To study task history, do the following:

start your task history software
create tasks for you and your team members
use Task Tree to create project break-down structure
plan timelines, costs and set priorities, assign tasks to performers
make reports and use charts to control individual performance, productivity and time
use task history panel to see how, when and who has modified the task

When you are delegated a task, think if you are able to accomplish it

Don�t let your team day turn into a wasted day! Make it a day of common victories!

Thu, 03 Sep 2009 00:00:00 +0000

What is a usual team day within an organization? Team day is one more day of productive collaboration and effective official relations between team members, one more day of joint moving towards common goals, one more day of mutual assistance and common achievements. To be precise previous statement refers only to properly organized team day. In practice team days may appear a counterproductive nightmare that will bring down your project. So what can ensure effectiveness of team days?

First of all team should be mobilized and encouraged � establish position of team leader(s) who can guide and supervise team "internally". Team days can be much more productive if there is a competent and approachable person who can advice, teach, guide and be an example for other team members.
Team works better if team members feel strong background � keep team informed about past, current and forecasted state of affairs. Team day can flow better if team members know "where we are, where we go and how we will get there". Moreover team members should feel their important role in a common progress.
Clear agenda - Team days should be properly planned and organized. This will bring intelligibility into workflow. This can be easily established with a help of special software for team days organization.

VIP Team To Do List is team days management software designed for sending tasks via e-mail. With a help of this easy-to-use product you can design team day, categorize, prioritize and assign activities to team members, track progress in terms of time and tasks completion.

VIP Task Manager is real-time team days planner for business use. This teamwork management software will help you in planning tasks and controlling performance of your team members in terms of productivity, time, tasks and costs. This product allows you to share business/project schedules, documents and work evolution among multiple stakeholders.

To manage your team days in a smart way you need to do the following:

start your team day management software
create tasks for you and other team members
use Task Tree to create project break-down structure
plan timelines, costs and set priorities
give instructions and assign tasks to performers
control project evolution

How to send Team notification to multiple project participants?

Thu, 03 Sep 2009 00:00:00 +0000

What do you need when you manage a team of people moving towards common goals? You need a good communication between team members! This includes both methodic approaches and practical means. Good communication between team members is required to ensure proper level of their awareness as staying in touch with latest project news and helps team members to feel their places and roles in common work better. One of the best ways to notify team about latest changes and achievements is to use work management software with built-in team notification capabilities. Such software allows automatic sending and receiving of team notifications as soon as some project updating or event happens. Such a team notification should contain appropriate data about project event, so person who receives this team notification can understand what kind of event happened, when and how.

VIP Task Manager is real-time project collaboration software that will help you in workgroup management in terms of time, tasks and costs. This product allows you to share business and projects schedules, to monitor work execution in real-time and to notify team members by in-system and e-mail notifications.

VIP Team To Do List is collaboration software that can be used to notify team by e-mail. With a help of this easy-to-use product you can plan, categorize, prioritize and assign tasks to team members, send tasks lists by e-mail and receive feedbacks to track progress in terms of time and tasks completion.

To ensure team notification you need to do the following:

start your team notification software
register project participants in Resource list and set notifications
create tasks for you and other team members
plan timelines, costs and set priorities, give instructions, assign tasks to performers
control project evolution in real-time

Manage, select and insert new list of tasks to put employee into working process

Thu, 03 Sep 2009 00:00:00 +0000

There are four main activities that can be done with worksheets during project evolution � to create new list of tasks, to insert list of tasks, to select list of tasks, to remove list of tasks from the project plan. Let's consider these operations one-by-one:

Create a new list of tasks � in order to initiate working process, you should design a worksheet that specifies working process in necessary details and assign this new list of tasks to appropriate performer. With a help of special task management software you can first break-down your project into tasks and then allocate tasks among worksheets that can be assigned to your team members.
Insert list of tasks � in order to make your project or business management integral and consistent you need to keep integration and coordination of multiple worksheets assigned to different employees. With a help of special management software you can easily insert list of tasks into project plan in order to integrate it into your project, in the same way all tasks lists are coordinated concerning each other.
Select list of tasks � in order to work flexibly you need to be able to create virtual lists of tasks. Optionally created virtual lists of tasks are formed according to some common tasks characteristics. With a help of special task management software you can easily create, save and select list of tasks united by certain common characteristics.
Remove list of tasks � when worksheet is completed it should be removed to archive. With a help of special task management software you can easily remove list of tasks that were completed.

VIP Organizer is individual task list manager that allows you to plan tasks, set priorities and manage checklists. With a help of this product you can create new list of tasks, organize task groups, priorities, notes and documents.
VIP Task Manager is real-time teamwork tool that allows you to create list of tasks for project, to control and analyze performance of a workgroup in order to identify its efficiency. With a help of this groupware you can set roles, assign tasks, share schedules among team members, share documents and track project evolution.

Action plan

To manage new list of tasks within your workgroup do the following:

start your task list application
create tasks for you and other team members
use Task Tree to break-down your projects into doable activities
plan timelines, costs, set priorities and assign tasks to performers
control project evolution in terms of tasks completion, time and costs
remove list of tasks to archive when it is accomplished

GTD group implementation � problems that can appear and solution

Fri, 28 Aug 2009 00:00:00 +0000

A lot of action management methods are used in team work management. One of them is GTD. As practice shows, GTD is a wonderful method for individuals who want to dramatically increase their productivity. GTD group use is a different matter as this method cannot be directly applied in a team practice. GTD team use can appear counter-productive as it may be subjected to several problems. As far as GTD method was designed for personal action management, usually implementation of GTD in a group is falsely understood as all team members should get own GTD systems. In this case separate individual GTD systems will mainly work discordantly and of course this does not look productive in the context of entire group collaboration. Another problem that will destroy productivity and will fail the GTD group implementation may appear when team head tries to subdue GTD systems of subordinates to his/her own system. Main thing that you need to remember is that personal productivity and group productivity are different and need to be managed differently. Communication and collaboration � these two things are the key conceptions for group productivity.
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VIP Task Manager is real-time communication and collaboration software that will help you in planning tasks and controlling performance of your team members in terms of time, tasks and costs. This product allows you to share business and projects schedules, to monitor work execution in real-time and to analyze team efficiency.

VIP Team To Do List is e-mail communication and collaboration software. With a help of this easy-to-use product you can plan, categorize, prioritize and assign tasks to team members, send tasks lists by e-mail and receive feedbacks to track progress in terms of time and tasks completion.

Action plan:

To ensure good fulfilment of your GTD group plan you need to do the following:

start your communication and collaboration software
create tasks for you and other team members
use Task Tree to create project break-down structure
plan timelines, costs and set priorities, give instructions, assign tasks to performers
control project evolution in real-time

Set the list of responsibilities for each position of your staff

Team jobs management - rules and tools for team leader

Fri, 28 Aug 2009 00:00:00 +0000

If you are a team head and you want to elaborate the most productive style to manage your team jobs - you need to remember several important rules:

Be rather the team leader and team coordinator, than just a team head - allow team members to use their own heads! A fascination of team jobs is that you do not need to do everything yourself, so do not hesitate to delegate some operational freedom to your team members.
Let the team job flow naturally and without stressing pressure. This is absolutely unnecessary to suppress your team by regular reminding about your seniority and authority - this is not one of team leader jobs.
Perform the real team leader jobs - to supervise, guide, advice, encourage and teach. For effective team job supervision it is advisable to implement teamwork management software.

Take a look at specific examples of team job supervision software:

VIP Task Manager is real-time team job management software that will help you in planning tasks and controlling performance of your team members in terms of time, tasks and costs. This product allows you to share business and projects schedules, to monitor work execution in real-time and to analyze team efficiency.

VIP Team To Do List is team leader jobs management software designed for sending tasks via e-mail. With a help of this easy-to-use product you can plan job for team members: design plan of a project, categorize, prioritize and assign activities to team members, track progress in terms of time and tasks completion.

Action plan

To ensure good fulfilment of your team leader jobs you need to do the following:

start your team jobs software
create tasks for you and other team members
use Task Tree to create project break-down structure
plan timelines, costs and set priorities, give instructions, assign tasks to performers
control project evolution in real-time

How to detect a waste of time?

Thu, 13 Aug 2009 00:00:00 +0000

Have you ever kept track of employees (so called time waster) who did actually nothing useful but just wasted their working time? Sometimes employees waste their time while daydreaming or wondering where they would spend their next summer vacation. Time waste is a scourge that makes the work worse and job results poorer. Unfortunately, time wasting has a tendency to appear almost in any office where the office managers don't take sufficient care to the time waste problem. If you faced this issue, you should know how to detect the waste of time. Task management software solutions will be helpful.

You can apply VIP Task Manager Professional edition to keep track of task performance and employee productivity. The software shows tasks assigned to employees in real-time mode, so you can detect which task is tending to be overdue and which employee is assigned to it. Time waster won't be a problem for you any more as VIP Task Manager allows to apply task performance indicators to access contribution of every employee (as well as the whole group) to the job results. Each week or month you can build performance reports and conduct analysis of the work done.

Action plan

In Task List view create a list of tasks and assign it to employees
Keep track of tasks by receiving pop-up or email notifications
Apply filters to track tasks by priority, due date, resource assignment, progress, etc.
Use Custom Field functionality to create KPI
Use Report Builder to create text and HTML reports. Charts Panel will be helpful to create graph reports

Making better group decisions with the stepladder theory

Thu, 13 Aug 2009 00:00:00 +0000

The step ladder theory (also called stepladder technique or stepladder method) is a simple and effective tool that determines how people enter the decision-making group. The stepladder theory assumes that members contribute to the group on an individual level before being influenced by anyone else. Such an approach brings a wider variety of new ideas, more flexible thinking and creative points of view. While implementing the step ladder technique, five basic steps are due to be passed:

Step 1. Before a group is formed, you should present the task list or the problem list to all participants. Give everyone enough time to think over and carefully investigate what needs to be done. Each member will generate own opinion on how to accomplish the tasks or solve the problems
Step 2. Form a core group of two members. They will dispute and find the problem solution
Step 3. Add a third member to the core group. This member will bring new ideas before hearing the first two members' conclusions and solutions. After new ideas and discussed solutions are presented, thee members start discussing new options together
Step 4. Run this process repeatedly. A fourth member, a fifth member, and so on will be added to the core group
Step 5: Generate the final decision only after all members have been added to the group and they've presented their new ideas.

This checklist can be run and managed by using VIP Task Manager. This software is perfect for the group decision making process and sharing information among group members. The following action list will help you create and run the checklist for the stepladder technique:

Go to Task Tree view and create the 'Stepladder technique' folder. It will contain all tasks, action lists and assignments concerning the group decision making process.
Create tasks that associated with the 5 steps.
If group members are located in different places, they can use real time collaboration mode of VIP Task Manager
Members of the group can use Comments Panel to leave their own opinions and ideas on the task or problem
As a manager, you can review the decision making process

Accomplishment report

Wed, 12 Aug 2009 00:00:00 +0000

An accomplishment report is a regularly prepared status report that provides an overview of what was achieved during the given period.� Specific information related to team work progress, goals established and achieved, problems arisen and decisions made, and descriptions of unplanned activities are covered by the report of accomplishment. The process of accomplishment reporting is managed by the team leader who collects all necessary information, conducts analysis, tracks tasks and manages team members. Task management groupware helps team leader to do these tasks to create accomplishment reports.

Such groupware as VIP Task Manager is a good chance to get your team managed and tracked and to build an exhaustive accomplishment report. VIP Task Manager is designed to manage tasks and events within projects and workflows. Team members who participate in a project will do tasks, and VIP Task Manager will let the team leader gather necessary information and track each task of the team. There's Report Builder that allows creating accomplishment reports. The team leader can also create a status report in Excel/HTML format by exporting current tasks of the project to Excel/HTML file.

Action plan:

Start VIP Task Manager
Initiate a new project. You can create a task group for the project and put there project tasks.
Make resource assignments and let each team member know of new tasks by setting tasks status to 'Created'.
To create the accomplishment report, select tasks, right-click on them and go to Exporting/Printing. When a new window is opened, you will be able to customize the report.
Use also the Export View to Excel/HTML option to create the report
Comments Panel and Notes Panel are perfect for demonstrating feedback, opinions, discussions and other constituents of decision-making in accomplishment reports.

Set the list of responsibilities for each position of your staff

Is group cohesion so important in team building?

Tue, 11 Aug 2009 00:00:00 +0000

What is group cohesion? There's the group cohesion theory that answers this question. The theory gives group cohesion definition. According to the theory, group cohesion is the way how to get people in a group connected, committed and in harmony with project goals and objectives. In other words, members of the cohesive group have a sense of unity or connectedness that exceeds individual motives, and so there's a strong force of attraction between the group and its members. For project team building, it's highly important when team members are cohesive and can efficiently collaborate with each other.

Regarding the group cohesion theory, there're two aspects of group cohesiveness: personal and task-related. The personal aspect examines what each member of a group feels to other group members and to the group as a whole. Therefore, this aspect determines whether group members like to spend time with other group members and so be productive, reliable and loyal. The task-cohesiveness aspect concerns the degree to which group members share group objectives and collaborate with each other to meet these objectives.

To put the group cohesion theory into practice, you can use VIP Task Manager. The following action list will be helpful:

Go to Resource List view to add new members of your group
Use Task List view to create and assign tasks to group members
Group members can use task Comments Panel to leave messages, recommendations and feedback. They can express personal emotions and wishes. VIP Task Manager allows to set permissions to tasks so only permitted group members can review tasks
You can use Custom Field to access group task performance

Set the list of responsibilities for each position of your staff

Should you avoid groupthink within projects? How to spot groupthink?

Tue, 11 Aug 2009 00:00:00 +0000

What is groupthink? There's a groupthink definition that describes how a team or a group of people can be motivated or directed to reaching one or another objective. Have you ever noticed that on a project meeting or some other type of group setting some participants didn't agree with major statements, but they didn't express their disagreement because they didn't want to appear unsupportive of the group's efforts? Or you've seen that most team members were reluctant to express their own opinions? If so, then you've probably faced the phenomenon of groupthink of the groupthink theory. Groupthink examples occur when the striving for group consensus dominates over people's common desire to find alternatives, criticize a stated position, or express an unpopular opinion. Here're some signs that take place in case of group think:

There's a persuasive and confident team leader
A high level of group cohesion
There's an intense pressure from the outside on decision making

Groupthink has positive impact on projects as group members can join their efforts to the direction of the project goal. At the same time, projects can fail as group members won't be active in discussing problems and offering alternatives. So as project manager you should always keep track of project goals and arising problems and try to find solutions with help of group think. You shouldn't also forget about possible negative influences of groupthink like group inactivity and lack of new ideas and try to avoid them.

And VIP Task Manager will help you with this. The teamware is designed for project group management providing you with task management and group collaboration solutions. By using VIP Task Manager, you can put the groupthink theory into practice and personally examine its positive and negative aspects to finally find a balance between your team's efforts and established goals.

Action list:

Use Resource List view to add new team members. Each new team member gets appropriate permissions level and role.
Use Task Tree view to manage tasks and task groups.
Let your team use Comments Panel to leave feedback
Use Task List view to appoint meetings and schedule events. All tasks can be shared among team members
Use Watch List to assign team leaders and group supervisors

Project boundary � Manage objectives and deliverables of crossing and merging projects

Tue, 11 Aug 2009 00:00:00 +0000

Project boundary is a limit of project scope referring to its common and distinguished activities that isn't a part of the project. Project boundaries outline the area and extension needed for the project operations and maintenance. There're two things that mostly define project boundaries: the project objectives and its deliverables. All projects strive for achieving something. Objectives can be achieved through the designing of one or more deliverables. A list of objectives and respective deliverables uncovers till what boundaries current project will extend. If there're several projects which interact with each other during their lifecycles, their boundaries will be the same and merged. In some moment of development these projects will have common phase boundary and process boundary.

In order to manage projects and tasks and to define project boundaries, you can use VIP Task Manager. The software allows to set time, quantitative and qualitative measures for tasks making your projects goal-oriented. If you manage multiple projects which have multiple assignments, VIP Task Manager simplifies your project management. It lets keep all projects in a single database and provides you with effective scheduling, tracking and reporting tools. �

Action List:

Go to Task Tree view to create project tree structure by using task groups
Set time measures and schedule tasks by using Due Dates, Estimated Time, Start Time, etc.
Use Custom fields to create specific quantitative and qualitative measures for tasks
Use Report Builder to create task reports
Keep several projects in one database. Access to the database is protected by password.

Set the list of responsibilities for each position of your staff

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