Many people use them, but with varying degrees of success: to-do lists are undoubtedly an indispensable tool in project management, but you have to find the right method. The well-known lists, which have already been created by almost everyone, offer considerable added value in a professional context — especially for you as a project manager. They serve as an efficient tool when it comes to tackling an extensive mountain of important tasks and ensuring that none of them are overlooked.
A to-do list not only lists all pending tasks, but it can also be individually adapted to the specific requirements of your projects. This provides a high level of clarity and enables you, as a project manager, to precisely track the progress of each individual project step.
There are various methods available to keep a clear to-do list — from the basic to the complex method. For you as a project manager, there is a more complex method, as this divides all project tasks into sub-areas and the required resources and Stakeholders are listed. This gives you deep insight and comprehensive control options.
The key question is: What are the advantages and disadvantages of to-do lists for effective project management? In this blog, you'll learn 5 helpful tips on how to make your projects more successful with task lists.
What are the benefits of to-do lists?
As a project manager, you know the crucial importance of effective time management and a clear organizational structure in your work environment. A to-do list proves to be particularly helpful because it removes unfinished work from memory and allows you to concentrate completely on the task at hand. A clear focus on one task allows you and your project team to complete it efficiently before you embark on the next.
The creation of a clear organizational structure, combined with improved time planning and Prioritize according to relevance and deadline, makes the to-do list an essential tool for you. The ability to track the status of individual project steps and to always keep an eye on overall progress motivates the entire team to achieve the goals set.
The challenges of to-do lists
Despite the promising benefits of to-do lists, you should also keep an eye on potential challenges. In particular in situations where time resources for a project are already tight, creating a to-do list could be seen as an additional expenditure of time. The resulting time pressure could lead to unconscious or even conscious stress, which can have a negative impact on performance or quality. Continued stress could have further negative consequences — Like a burnout symptom — occur.
In addition, it is possible that the to-do list may set unrealistic goals. This can often be attributed to too high expectations of one's own performance or that of the team. When going through the list, unfinished tasks could be demotivating, while overlooking what has already been successfully achieved and ticked off.
Digital or analog — Which to-do list is right for you?
If you find that the benefits of a to-do list outweigh your day-to-day project work, it is now crucial to determine the optimal form of such a list for your needs. First, you should choose whether an analog or digital solution is better suited to your requirements. Analogous variants include a notebook, whiteboard or handwritten lists. These are — provided that your project team works together in one place — accessible to everyone. In addition, written analogously is easier to remember. The disadvantage of this method is that priorities cannot be changed as flexibly without increasing effort. In the digital world, you can simply move entries elsewhere without wasting much time. With the manual version, you would have to rewrite various points or possibly create the entire to-do list again.
The digital version of the to-do list is accessible to all employees in one system. This is a huge advantage, especially if your project team is working from home or at different locations. You can read more about cross-site project work here. With software such as ZEP, you can divide your projects into individual task packages and sub-projects and always have an overview of what tasks are next.
To-do lists in project management — 5 valuable tips
With to-do lists, project management focuses primarily on one important resource: time! With the ALPEN method Put your individual to-dos in the right order:
By using this method in your time management, you also integrate decision-making and control into your to-do lists. They prioritize and make decisions about which tasks are completed how, when and by whom. A time period for buffers is also taken into account, because: Priorities may change over the course of a project! Although the follow-up takes additional time, it saves a correction loop in return if you identify errors before submitting a project.
Tip 1: Break down big tasks
Especially with extensive project steps, it can be difficult to keep track of things and know where to start in the first place. An effective strategy is to break down complex tasks into several small steps. This gives you a better structure and clear clues as to where and when to start a task.
In digital solutions such as ZEP This can be implemented, for example, by introducing subtasks within a main task. With the Tickets, Tasks & To-dos module Divide projects into individual tasks for your team and can even include support requests from your customers directly as tickets in the course of the project. The division of tasks not only makes them more feasible for your team, but also leads to rapid success as well as an improved overview, concentration and order in your project process. The option to assign subtasks to individual team members and set individual deadlines is particularly practical.
Tip 2: Plan tasks and time
A common problem exists when too many tasks in too little time must be done. Managing a large number of tasks that can't be completed in a single day anyway can overwhelm you and your project team and lead to stress and dissatisfaction. In order to better estimate the number of tasks that can realistically be completed within a working day, it is advisable to always plan them with an approximate expenditure of time and resources. Get your expert project staff on board and ask them for their time and resource estimates for your project. The employees concerned are often very good at estimating how long they will need for the respective project steps.
The estimated time for each project step gives you a clear overview of how many hours of your day are planned. In digital tools such as ZEP, you can store an estimated time for each sub-project and task package.
Tip 3: Plan buffer times
The next deadline is already imminent, but you haven't completed the project step yet? Set yourself shorter deadlines in the future and thus integrate a buffer into your project planning. When you finish earlier than planned, you can move on to the next task or give yourself a well-deserved break. Because: Even the most effective to-do list can become frustrating if the number of tasks doesn't decrease or even new to-dos are constantly being added. It is therefore advisable to ensure sufficient buffer times. Since the effort required for tasks or sub-projects is often not exactly predictable, create enough leeway to avoid stress!
Tip 4: Eat the Frog — Important Things First
Big and unpleasant tasks are often postponed and remain in doubt. However, when you start with the hardest task, motivation for the remaining positions on your to-do list increases. Why Then you've already had the worst behind you — this Method is also Eat the Frog nicknamed.
Procrastination can cause a significant loss of time, so that every well-thought-out time management and every to-do list, no matter how precisely drawn up, in project management suffers from this procrastination.
Tip 5: Select suitable tools
You can optimally organize digital notes with the help of suitable tools. Apps such as OneNote or Microsoft are often sufficient for simple to-do lists. However, when it comes to to-do lists directly related to individual tasks, a Project management software such as ZEP significant added value.
With ZEP, you can create a list of tasks or support requests from your customers directly in the project with reference to priority and duration — and assign the individual tasks to different employees in your project team. By using the Plan Hours module, you can define hours and services in advance to enable professional and detailed planning of your projects. You can choose between fixed and dynamic schedule hours to manage your projects according to your individual requirements. This allows you to divide your project process into individual to-dos for each employee and thus keep an eye on every project step right from the start.
To-do lists ensure project success
The undeniable advantage of to-do lists in project management lies in the simplicity of their structure. If you can therefore strengthen the overview of your entire project — from planning to management to successful completion — with to-do lists, it is highly advisable to do so as well. Especially if you make sure to check the lists regularly, they can be very clear and contribute to your project success. This is especially true if you use software such as ZEP to divide every major project step into sub-projects or work packages. In this way, you can always keep an eye on project progress.
By using ZEP, you can not only track the tasks completed, but also precisely document the working time spent. As it has been since BAG ruling from September 2022 It is mandatory in Germany. This enables a precise analysis of working hours, identification of efficiency potential and a improved resource planning. If you want to find out for yourself what options ZEP offers you for more effective project management, you can use Test software free of charge and without obligation for 30 days.
