Our approach
Using our five pillars (goals, tasks, results, recognising success, and managing failure) as well as maintaining communication throughout this process, will offer your company the best solution and will allow for the greatest success. And we can offer you the full package. However, you may feel that your business would benefit from some assistance just with tasks and here’s how we can help you with just that.
Names for ‘task’
One manager’s task is another manager’s mission. At *sparkfolios we use the term ‘task’ to refer to work that needs to be done in order to fulfil a goal, but we understand that your business might prefer the term piece of work, objective, job, etc. Our client-centered approach means that we will tailor our products to suit your needs and your terminology!
Why set tasks?
We place an emphasis on the importance of having goals for your business. Tasks are the pieces of work that need to be done in order to achieve those goals. Therefore, they are just as, if not more important, to define and set out.
Setting and publishing your tasks
It’s important to have all of your tasks recorded, preferably in one place. Making a list of work needed to be done has no meaning if it is not written down, or published, and if it is not visible to the people responsible for completing the tasks. Tasks should be actionable – specific separate, step-by-step jobs that are manageable. You should also have a clear indication of the deadline for the task and prioritise tasks by importance and time sensitivity.
Tracking and measuring your tasks
Making lists of required work, even if they are detailed, actionable and published to the people who need them is no good if they are not referred to on a regular basis. Tasks, and one’s progress towards completing them, should be tracked. It is of particular importance to follow tasks that you may have delegated to others as one can quickly lose track of their progress. Keeping an eye on your tasks also enables to you to be flexible to change tasks when your priorities change or when the task is no longer actionable.
An end point
Tasks are often more finite than goals and require specific deadlines. This is something that should be set at the time of recording the task and assists all who are working on the job to strive towards the completion of the task. Recognising and rewarding the completion of tasks, even smaller ones along the way to progress, is an important part of keeping motivated. Equally, examining why a task was not completed and being able to adapt from that is also relevant.
How we can help…
While we might not set your tasks for you, *sparkfolios can take over the hard work from there. Our *sparkfolios software will publish your tasks to the right people involved. It will then track them, and your employee’s progress, and remind your employees of where they’re at and where they need to be, and by what date.
Using our holistic approach, our solution then enables you to celebrate the success of the completion of the task and recognise or reward those involved. Should a task not come to fruition, we can analyse what happened and advise you on the path forward.