Task setting

In order to ensure that employees are assigned to proper tasks and they perform these tasks as expected, managers need to set tasks in the right way. Task setting becomes an essential part of task management process. The following task setting definition gives a common understanding of how and why to set tasks:

• Task Setting is a part of task management process and also a responsibility of a manager aimed at creating and defining a differentiated range of tasks to be assigned to employees for the purpose of meeting an existing challenge, taking into account abilities and skills of employees.

If to represent task setting as a process, it can be managed as a sequence of steps to be fulfilled in logical order. The task setting process includes the given below steps:

• Task designing– this step is about defining what needs to be done. Managers consider the work to be done and this work will be divided into a set of tasks. Task designing is one of the primary duties of managers who control teamwork. Managers usually use task design patterns and templates to create tasks and jobs.
• Task deployment – after tasks have been designed and created, the following action is to allocate or deploy them. Task deployment should be done in accordance with abilities and skills of employees. This means an employee gets only those assignments completely covered by the range of the employee's competence, skills and duties.
• Task alignment – this action is about aligning task assignments with deadlines. Each task should have timeframes that specify the task's start date and finish date. Also additional time parameters can be added, such as due date, estimated time and actual time. Task alignment is also about creating a schedule on which tasks are placed, and position of each task is defined by its timeframes.

• Task precision – Each task needs to be measured and estimated, and task precision helps make sure that all tasks are deployed and aligned precisely. Task precision entails applying of measures and indicators.
• Task delineation – this step is about representing tasks in graph view. Task delineation is aimed at designing charts and diagrams that help better understand tasks and get a big-picture view of job assignments.
• Task documentation – this is the final step of the task setting process which has the primary purpose of gathering and making available information relative to tasks. Task documentation helps link tasks to each other, and it contributes to better tracking and monitoring of tasks.

VIP Task Manager is a task management software solution that allows running the task setting process in logical order considering the mentioned steps. The software has Task List view where you can create, deploy and align tasks by using task design patterns. Task List view is perfect to run the first three steps (task designing, task alignment and task precision).

VIP Task Manager has Task Tree view to create hierarchies of tasks and build project trees. Task Tree view is convenient to apply formulas to tasks and task design patterns. To measure and estimate tasks, you can use Custom Fields functionality of the software. In Task Tree view it is also convenient to use Charts Panel to create diagrams that display tasks in graph view. Task Tree view lets run task delineation.