team assignment service

Get started

• Project management
• CRM and Sales
• Work management
• Product development life cycle
• Comparisons
• Construction management
• monday.com updates

20 best task management software

Task management software is more than a digital base for your to-do lists. It’s a collaborative space where your teams can come together and understand their role in shared workloads.

This guide walks through the features you should look for in team task management software and 20 vendor examples to kickstart your research for the perfect tool.

What is team task management?

Task management is the systematic process of planning, organizing, assigning, tracking, and completing tasks to meet your business objectives. Each task is a single unit of work that individual team members are responsible for completing. Managing these overall tasks involves coordinating team members’ efforts, setting priorities, and monitoring task progress to ensure efficient collaboration, streamlined workflows, and successful project outcomes.

Why do teams need task management software?

The right task management software will move your team away from endless email chains and focus on the necessary tasks to keep your work and projects flowing. From here, it’s easy for teams to work together efficiently and identify potential issues such as bottlenecks or imbalanced workloads.

What features should task management software have?

When researching team task management software, you’ll notice that platforms have a wide range of features, and some will share common functionality. Before you invest, check your preferred tool is equipped with the following:

• Multiple views : Visualize your tasks using common views like Calendar, Kanban, List, or countless alternatives. For example, monday work management offers 15+ options, including Gantt Charts, which visually display task milestones and dependencies between items for a clear overview of your work.
• Intuitive interface : Ensure your team easily adapts to any new task management tool.
• Range of integrations : Connect your task management software with multiple other tools in your tech stack to prevent tool-hopping.
• Custom automations : Simplify repetitive workflows by setting up automations that run in the background. For example, an automation could email the entire team when someone completes their task.
• Ability to set subtasks and dependencies : Break tasks down into smaller chunks called subtasks and specify the order they must occur by making some tasks dependent on the next. For example, editing a blog post would depend on someone writing the first draft.

Now you know the features and functionality you’re looking for in a quality task management software, here are twenty solutions to compare when researching the right platform for your team.

1. monday work management

Best for: Any size of team that wants to reach shared goals faster and at scale.

monday work management is a feature-rich work management platform built on top of the monday.com Work OS.

Companies use our platform to plan and organize any type of workflow or project, with task management being a key collaboration feature. monday work management offers the following features:

• 15+ board views, including the Workload View delivering visibility into team member capacity. This visibility is essential for task assignment as project leads and managers have clarity about what each team member is available to work on.
• Customizable dashboards using 10+ drag-and-drop widgets to display high-level project data. You can see to-do lists, team goals, and task reports at-a-glance and in real time.
• Automations to eliminate repetitive tasks from your workflow, like updating team members with email or Slack notifications when each task is complete. This enables peers to review the work, or move on with their task at the next stage of the project.
• Recurring tasks  are another automation you can set up. For example, schedule regular team meetings to keep on top of your projects, or set up recurring requests for weekly project reports.
• Integrations with the tools you already know and love, so you can run powerful projects without switching tabs. For example, you might integrate monday work management with Google Drive to attach docs to your tasks or Slack to update a team channel following completion.
• Time tracking to ensure your team spends its time efficiently. Use the data to accurately forecast how long your team might need to allocate to specific tasks, or to bill clients accordingly.

monday work management pricing

monday work management offers five different price plans:

• Free: $0 for up to 2 users: 20+ column types, 200+ templates, iOS & Android apps, whiteboard collaboration, shareable forms, and more
• Basic : $27/month/3 users with annual billing: Unlimited users, 5GB storage, unlimited boards/docs, custom fields, unlimited free viewers, and more
• Standard : $36/month/3 users with annual billing: Unlimited users, 20GB storage, 6-month activity log, integrations, guest access, and more
• Pro : $57/month/3 users with annual billing: Unlimited users, 100GB storage, 1-year activity log, time tracking, workload management, and more
• Enterprise: Custom pricing, 5-year activity log, up to 50 boards, dedicated customer success manager, enhanced admin controls, and analytics

More details on monday.com pricing here

Best for: Teams seeking simple task and project management with clear communication capabilities.

Asana is a task management software offering a simple interface for tracking your team projects’ various sections, tasks, and subtasks.

Key features

• Customizable views , such as the Timeline view to gain visibility into upcoming deadlines or the Workload view to understand team member capacity.
• Task celebrations which occur when you check the task completion box.
• Integrations with 200+ tools in your tech stack, allowing you to automate tasks between them. For example, you might create a new Google Drive folder for each new task you add in Asana.
• Weekly focus mode , which allows you to capture your top priorities for the week ahead.

Asana pricing

• Free : Up to 15 users
• Premium : Starting at $10.99/user/mo
• Business : Starting at $24.99/user/mo
• Enterprise : Custom pricing, includes Business plan features, custom branding, data export, and 24/7 support

Related: Asana alternatives , Asana pricing , Asana work management

Best for : Cross-functional teams aiming to streamline workflows and communication.

Wrike is a project management software you can use to assign tasks to team members, upload files, set deadlines, and track progress. One of Wrike’s strengths is supporting cross-collaborative teams from a central platform.

• Multiple dashboard views to gain insights into task statuses.
• Real-time collaboration , including commenting and file sharing from a central location.
• Customizable pre-built templates designed for marketing, IT & engineering teams, etc.

Wrike pricing

• Free : Suitable for teams up to five people
• Team : From $9.80 per user/mo for teams of 2-25 people
• Business : From $24.80 per user/mo for teams up to 200 people
• Enterprise : Custom pricing is available for companies who require features like user audit reports and custom access roles.
• Pinnacle : Additional enterprise features include advanced reporting, budgeting, and billable hours tools.

Related: Wrike pricing

Best for : Agile software development teams focused on issue tracking and project planning.

Jira is an Atlassian product created for software developers who follow Agile project management principles.

• Interactive timelines , including mapping work items, task dependencies, and new releases.
• Reports and insights tied to your tasks and overall projects to understand metrics like deployment frequency and cycle time.
• Autonomy preferences allow you to decide whether your projects are company or team-managed.

Jira pricing

• Free : For up to 10 users
• Standard : From $7.75 per user/mo
• Premium : From $15.25 per user/mo
• Enterprise : Custom pricing for unlimited sites, central security controls, user subscriptions, 24/7 Enterprise support.

Related: Jira pricing, Jira work management

Best for: Visual thinkers and small teams managing tasks with a simple, card-based interface.

Trello uses a Kanban-style methodology for task management which will appeal to teams who like to visualize all the projects they have on the go and the specific tasks they need to complete.

• Boards, lists, and cards , where boards represent projects, lists are each project stage, and cards are for individual tasks. Users move cards between lists once they’ve completed them to indicate they’re ready for the next project stage
• Multi-device compatibility , including availability on your browser and mobile devices, even when you’re offline
• Collaboration , including commenting or tagging teammates on specific cards and adding relevant attachments

Trello pricing

• Free : For up to 10 boards
• Standard : Starting at $5/user/mo
• Premium : Starting at $10/user/mo
• Enterprise : Starting at $17.50/user/mo for larger organizations requiring advanced security and controls.

Related: Trello pricing , Trello vs. monday.com

6. Basecamp

Best for: Startups and small teams looking to centralize project communication and tasks.

Basecamp offers a way to set up a single page to house everything you need for each project.

• Project scheduling tool which displays your deadlines, milestones, dated to-dos, and relevant events.
• Campfire conversations which act as Basecamp’s in-built group chat tool.
• Doors that are integrations to external tools like Slack, Airtable, Google Drive, Miro, etc.

Basecamp pricing

• Basecamp : $15 per user/month
• Basecamp Pro Unlimited : Starting from $299/month for unlimited users

Related: Basecamp alternatives

7. Evernote Teams

Best for: Creative teams requiring note-taking and information sharing in a digital workspace.

Evernote Teams is a collaborative workspace for note-taking, brainstorming, or hosting a company wiki. 

• Real-time collaboration , including the ability to edit notes simultaneously. 
• Task assignments , with functionality such as delegations and reminders. 
• Searchable document repository to find the right note based on its title, keywords, content type, or dates. 

Evernote Teams pricing

• Professional : From $17.99 per user/mo

Teams : From $20.83 per user/mo

8. Airtable

Best for: Data-driven teams wanting a flexible database and project management solution.

Airtable is a no-code database platform designed to help teams manage projects and store data.

• Spreadsheet view with a drag-and-drop function to manipulate your data layout.
• Multiple views, including Kanban, Gantt, List, and Calendar.
• Rich media support , including the ability to attach videos, images, and audio files to your tasks.

Airtable pricing

• Free : Designed for individuals or small teams
• Plus : Starting at $10/seat/mo
• Pro : Starting at $20/seat/mo
• Enterprise : Custom pricing for larger teams requiring features like unlimited workspaces, extensions, and Salesforce & Jira on-prem sync integrations.

Related: Airtable pricing , Airtable vs. monday.com

9. Smartsheet

Best for : Teams involved in business operations requiring access to dynamic spreadsheet capabilities.

Smartsheet is a spreadsheet-like project management platform designed to help teams manage work, automate repetitive tasks, and collaborate on documents.

• Multiple data views , including Grid, Chart, Gantt, and Calendar.
• Pre-built templates for tasks like planning and budget goals which you can customize to fit your requirements.
• Customizable forms to collect insights and data from internal or stakeholders.

Smartsheet pricing

There are four Smartsheet pricing options:

• Free : Suitable for individuals
• Pro : Starting at $7/user/mo
• Business : Starting at $25/user/mo
• Enterprise : Custom pricing is available for large teams, with access to Smartsheet Advance offerings.

Related: Smartsheet project management

10. HubSpot

Best for : Sales and marketing teams that need to track leads and manage customer relationships.

HubSpot isn’t a traditional task management software. However, it does offer the ability to add tasks within the CRM platform.

• To-do list prioritization for scheduling tasks related to your customer base
• Task dashboards which act as a base for your tasks, contact details, and meetings
• Embedded reporting , including past task tracking of closed deals, calls made, and activities completed

HubSpot pricing

• Free : $0 for marketing, sales, service, CMS, and operations tools
• Starter : From $30 per month
• Professional : From $1,600 per month
• Enterprise : From $5,000 per month

11. Todoist

Best for: Small teams focused on a holistic approach to collaborative task management.

Todoist is a simple task management app that enables teams to manage tasks, projects, and collaboration in one place.

• Task assignments including the ability to create projects, add tasks, set due dates, and assign responsibility.
• Messaging functionality which allows team members to share files, discuss details and provide updates.
• Task filtering so users can see each other’s activity streams or upcoming due dates.

Todoist pricing

• Starter Plan: For up to 5 active projects.
• Business Plan : From $6 per member/mo

12. MeisterTask

Best for : Creative teams seeking intuitive project planning and visual workflows.

MeisterTask is another Kanban-style task management tool that gives teams a clear overview of their to-do lists.

• Agendas which are private boards visible only to individual team members
• Task watchers to keep relevant people in the loop about specific tasks
• Task relationships allow you to tag whether tasks are related or duplicates

MeisterTask pricing

• Basic : For up to three projects
• Pro : $8.25 per user/mo
• Business : $20.75 per user/mo
• Enterprise : Custom pricing is available for a dedicated account manager, personalized onboarding assistance, and SAML single sign-on.

Best for : Teams requiring knowledge-sharing and project management using a single platform.

Notion is an all-in-one workspace that uses custom blocks, including text, images, or tables, to store your notes, documents, and project tasks.

• Task views allow you to filter by calendars, task lists, Gantt Charts, tables, and more
• Template library with access to 5,000 customizable templates to suit your project tasks.
• Integrations with tools like Loom or Slack so you can attach video messages or conversations to your tasks.

Notion pricing

• Free : Small teams can try a limited block trial.
• Plus : Starting from $8/user/mo
• Business : Starting from $15/user/mo
• Enterprise : Custom pricing with advanced security features, among other benefits.

14. MS Project

Best for : Large enterprises managing complex projects with advanced scheduling.

Microsoft Project is a platform that allows you to manage large-scale projects from a central location.

• Coauthoring tools which allow multiple stakeholders to update task lists and project schedules simultaneously.
• Interactive roadmaps you can build to increase visibility across your organization.
• Timesheet submissions for capturing time spent on tasks.

MS Project pricing

MS Project is available as part of the following cloud-based packages:

• Project Plan 1: $10 per user/mo
• Project Plan 3 : $30 per user/mo
• Project Plan 5: $55 per user/mo

15. Microsoft OneNote

Best for: Teams on a budget requiring collaborative note-taking and information organization.

Microsoft OneNote uses Notebooks as the highest level of organization within the platform, which includes sections and pages to store your notes and tasks.

• Built-in OneNote templates for mapping out project lists
• Task prioritization by adding High, Medium, or Low project tags
• Handwriting compatibility using Surface or Surface Slim Pen 2 devices allows you to digitize your handwritten meeting notes and transform them into tasks

Microsoft OneNote pricing

OneNote is available with a Microsoft 365 subscription, which starts from $6 user/mo for a Business Basic package.

16. Adobe Workfront

Best for : Creative teams that need to manage projects, approvals, and digital assets.

Adobe Workfront is a cloud-based collaboration and project management solution that enables teams to track progress, tasks, resources, and budgets in one place.

• Automated handoffs to simplify reviews and approval of work tasks.
• Real-time dashboards that enable you to gain visibility of your work and address any bottlenecks.
• Scenario planning tools to anticipate how incoming tasks will impact your team.

Adobe Workfront pricing

Adobe Workfront offers Select, Ultimate, Prime, and Custom pricing plans, but you must contact the vendor for an accurate quote.

Best for : Visual collaboration, brainstorming, and diagramming among remote teams.

Miro is a visual task management tool you can use as a digitized version of a whiteboard and sticky notes.

• 2,000 Miro and community templates offering frameworks like mind maps and service blueprints.
• Integrations with 130+ apps in your existing workflow, including Jira, Zoom, and Google Docs.
• Flowchart maker to plot out the essential tasks in your project processes.

Miro pricing

• Free : For unlimited team members.
• Starter : From $8 per member/mo
• Enterprise Plan : Custom pricing for SCIM license management, enhanced security with 2FA, domain control, etc.

Best for: Teams looking for integrated project management and communication.

Hive is a productivity software that enables teams to manage upcoming tasks and collaborate on wider projects.

• Six project layouts , including database and summary views
• Meeting note task assignment enabling you to take action following team discussions
• External user task assignment if you need to work with guest users like freelancers, clients, or third-party business partners

Hive pricing

• Teams : From $12 per user/mo
• Enterprise : Custom pricing available for enhanced security and permissions, custom analytics, etc.

19. SmartTask

Best for : Businesses seeking an all-in-one platform for task management and CRM.

SmartTask is a work management platform with tools to organize recurring or one-off tasks.

• Task estimates for individual tasks if you need to budget or allocate resources.
• Video meetings which you can trigger directly from tasks.
• Automatic tasks are generated by sending your email communications directly to SmartTask.

SmartTask pricing

• Free : For unlimited users
• Premium : From $7.98 per user/mo
• Business : From $10.98 per user/mo
• Enterprise : Custom pricing available, including white labeling, SSO, Enterprise API, etc.

Best for : Teams requiring dynamic spreadsheets and project management capabilities.

Any.do is a simple task management platform accessible from various desktop and mobile devices, including smartwatches.

• Automated WhatsApp notifcations for deadline reminders.
• Smart calendar view that displays all upcoming tasks in one place.
• Task color-coding to categorize your work.

Any.do pricing

• Personal : For individual users
• Premium : From $3 per month
• Teams : From $5 per user/mo

monday work management: the perfect team task management software

There are all kinds of task management apps, tools, and software at our fingertips to make us more productive than ever before. monday work management stands out from the rest by making team task management easier, while also being adaptable for all functions related to executing tasks, projects, and processes more efficiently. Here’s how it excels:

• You can set up your task management views including Kanban, calendar, Gantt chart, and task list options.

• You can set rules for dynamic assignments, notifications upon task completion, and a lot more.

• You can integrate with 72+ favorite tools to make a seamless workflow.

• You can streamline communication with one place for comments, updates, and file sharing.
• When you use monday work management as a project management software , you can get a ton of insights into the success and profitability of your project tasks with dedicated and customizable dashboards.
• You can build custom workflows with no-code building blocks and choose from over 200 automation recipe options that make your team task planning so much more efficient.

Since monday work management  is built on a Work OS , it’s an all-in-one platform for everything your business needs, and can grow and scale along with it. You can use monday.com as a CRM for the sales team, create processes and workflows for marketing content, onboard new employees, and manage IT requests.

What is task management software used for?

Task management software is used to organize teams' workflows and projects by assigning tasks and tracking progress. It enables teams to collaborate more efficiently, reduce their reliance on email, and focus instead on progress tracking and delivery.

What are the benefits of team task management?

Teams who use task management software will enjoy the following benefits:

1. Increased clarity & visibility: Team task management is all about accountability. Each team member should know who is working on what, the requirements, and the time frame for the task. When mapped out for everyone involved, managing time, prioritizing tasks, and reassigning work becomes easier.

2. Reduced stress: Task management can prevent a lot of frustration because it relieves your team of questions like “Who is the owner of that task?” or “How can I prioritize my other work in accordance with this project?”

3. More data points for accurate project reporting: Task management isn’t just crucial for project planning and execution—it also comes in handy with post-project analysis. For example, if you’re managing cross-company content requests, you can track details like task completion date and department to get a big picture of demand over time.

4. Boosted productivity: 82% of people rely on a list or an email inbox as their means of task management. Surely there is a better way? Task management helps you accurately take stock of your tasks and assign priorities and deadlines. You can spend more time doing what matters most instead of searching for what to do next.

What is the simplest way of managing tasks?

Here are some classic steps for team task management, no matter what tool you decide to use:

1. Make a list of your team’s required tasks: Add additional details, such as which are recurring vs. one-off. Use a start and end date as your boundaries. 2. Add task deadlines and timeframes: This is critical information before you assign tasks to your team. Be sure to leave enough time for execution and feedback. 3. Assign task priorities: Different priority levels, such as low, medium, and high, provide a more granular view of what's important for your team. They can also help you refine due dates. 4. Note other relevant task information: You might include task dependencies, important files, or related client information. 5. Assign each task to a team member: Review each team member’s workload to ensure no one has too much on their plate. 6. Track your team’s progress: Check in with your team regularly to see if you need to make any adjustments.

monday work management can help you manage and automate many of these steps.

What are the 4 types of tasks?

To determine which tasks are a priority, some teams use the Eisenhower Matrix, which divides tasks into those that are:

1. Urgent and important, for example, if a deadline for a critical project is due today 2. Not urgent but important, for example, arranging a long-term planning and strategy development session 3. Urgent but not important, for example, attending a team social meeting in your calendar 4. Not urgent and not important, for example, browsing your social media feed.

How to Give Assignments to Team Members

Table of Contents

The project has been divided into milestones, goals and objectives broken into tasks, and now it’s time to assign them. But as you open the project management platform, you’re faced with the unflattering process of wording the tasks, and choosing whom to assign them to.

Well, in this article, we offer advice on how to make that jumbled first moment a little clearer. There are actionable tips, learning the difference between allocating and delegating tasks, and suggested criteria on how to choose the best person for the job.

For a more precise overview, here’s a table of contents:

How do you assign employees tasks?

We normally think that assigning tasks is a time-consuming process that focuses on clearing out task lists to keep the project going. However, task assignment should actually be a more employee-oriented process that requires additional dedication and effort, which yields incredible results. But what do we mean by that?

Properly assigned tasks push your employees, projects, and the overall company forward. Here’s how.

• They strengthen accountability and trust between managers and employees;
• They help teach new skills and perfect old ones;
• They allow employees to get familiar with other teams and avenues of work;
• It becomes easier to make project estimates;
• Makes for great bases for performance reviews, etc.

The list could go on, but we’ll stop there for now.

Of course, such long-term benefits don’t come without some proverbial blood and sweat in the planning stage. Let’s take a look at the general ideas on assigning employee tasks, and specific steps you can take.

Motivation comes from knowing the bigger picture

When we talk about the bigger picture in project management, we talk about each team member’s task affecting their peer’s down the line. Since all tasks are usually small pieces of the puzzle, it helps to remind employees how their work contributes. For example:

• A high-quality draft can make a great foundation for the final version, and it can be completed more quickly.
• A well-prepared presentation can shave time off unnecessary questions and additional email inquiries.

It comes as no surprise that people work better and are more productive, when they know that their work has an impact on the company level.

And so, when you assign tasks, try to emphasize how they fit in the bigger picture. Simply saying: “ You doing X will help with Y and Z ” and how it reflects on the project as a whole will let an employee know that the task they were assigned is important.

Get your employees excited to commit

Telling people about the bigger picture and showing them what’s possible can only get them so far. It’s enough to ignite the initial spark, but for them to fully commit to the task, you need to define what that task entails.

They should be able to picture how to go about the work, what skills to use, and how to reach the desired result. The clearer the instructions, the more motivated they will be to work.

Simply put, give directions on how the task should be done, and make sure they understand. You can’t read each other’s minds, so it’s important everyone is on the same page.

Ask for task transparency

One of the best practices a company can employ is transparency among coworkers.

This is achieved by having everyone input their tasks for the day in a timesheet. The purpose of timesheets is to get an accurate idea of what everyone is working on at any given time.

When people know who works on what tasks, it’s easier for them to know if a person is available or busy, how far along they are with a task, etc.

So, when you give assignments to employees, label them with deadlines. Alternatively, you can ask for employees’ assessments on how long the work would take them, and use those timeframes.

Source: Clockify team timesheet

Timesheets are a great way to keep an eye on tasks and the people doing them. You get to:

• see who struggles with what (helps assess people’s skill sets);
• who burns through their workload and is available for additional tasks;
• whether your time estimates need correction;
• identify any wasted time.

💡 If your employees are insecure about keeping public records of their tasks, here are a few resources that can help:

• How to create order in your daily work tasks
• How to be more efficient with your tasks

Keep a crystal clear timeframe

While we’re discussing timesheets and deadline transparency, it’s important to mention that the times you set for task completions need to be clear-cut.

As we’ve mentioned, the safest way to assign deadlines is to consult the employees. They are better at assessing how long it will take them due to the tasks’ difficulty, overall deadlines, the standards that need to be met, and the skill required to complete it.

When they get a say in how long they should be doing an assignment, people tend to feel more accountable for the whole process. They will do their best to finish in time, since they actively participated in setting the deadline.

Set very clear expectations

Assigning a task should always include your (the supervisor’s) expectations pointed out. For example:

• Does a logo pitch need as many drafts as possible, or just a few finished pieces?

If you ask a designer to make some drafts for a logo pitch, you must specify the kind of quality you’re looking for. Explain whether you are looking for some sketches and drafts for a brainstorming meeting, or if you want clean, presentable pieces to show.

Additionally:

• How many pieces should the designer do?
• Is there a specific color palette they need to follow?
• How important is the task? Is this the day they finally decide on a logo, or is it still in the brainstorming stage? (decides on the quality of the work itself)

Assigning the task using the above questions, you help the designer understand how much effort precisely they need to invest. They become more motivated with clear instructions, as they know what is expected of them. There’s no fear of having their work criticized for something that wasn’t communicated in the beginning. And on your end, it prevents breached deadlines or subpar results.

Avoid creating dependency by being less involved

It’s not unusual for employees to ask their supervisors for their opinion on a certain task, or their performance.

The problem arises when a supervisor makes themselves too involved with the process. When they feel like the project might fall apart if they don’t have their eyes on every moving part all of the time. And when you have, say, 20 people waiting for that person’s approval, advice, or consultation, the workflow runs into a gridlock.

And wait time is wasted time.

Plus, people lose motivation, patience, and grow frustrated, as they could be doing other things.

So, learn not to jump in every time people call for your aid. Assign reliable people who can address smaller issues, while you handle the big picture. Learn how to expend your own energy where it is needed more.

For example – making a pitch presentation for potential investors keeps getting put off because one person needs you to check a client email they want to send, another wants your signature on a form, and the third wants to ask something about employee feedback that’s coming up.

In order to not be stretched thin, and have your time wasted on menial tasks, here’s where you can start:

How to mitigate the risk of being over-involved when assigning

• Remember that you match tasks to people

Which means that, by matching the right people with the right tasks, your involvement will be minimal. Take time to carefully choose who gets to do what. What is the point of assigning tasks if they can’t be done without you?

• Have a 10-point scale to judge the importance of items

How important are certain aspects of your leadership role? Are you absolutely necessary in every meeting, or during every call? Which tasks need your approval, and which ones can be approved by someone under you?

Rank these items on a scale of 0 to 10, based on their importance to you and the project. Top priority tasks should get your undivided attention. And what can be delegated, should be.

• Analyze your schedule

Your energy and time are needed on a much broader scale. The best way to spot if you’re wasting time being too involved is to look at your schedule. Identify how much time you’ve spent on low-priority items, and assess which issues could’ve been solved without you.

• Take into account priorities and deadlines

Step in only when absolutely necessary. You are in charge of things getting done on time, by people most qualified for assigned tasks. Determine what your priorities are for each project, and concern yourself only with those issues, unless there is a risk of breaching a deadline.

• Formulate a list of dependable people

If you know your employees (or team members) well enough, then you should be able to single out those who are more dependable and ready to take on a little more responsibilities. Write out the reasons how they could help by getting involved on low-priority items instead of you. When the time comes, rally them and present them with the idea, keeping in mind that this solution helps push the project forward. When authority is delegated to several people, there’s fewer chances of a hold-up in the workflow.

This also falls into the realm of task delegation , which we’ll get into later.

How do you decide what tasks to assign to which employees?

1. assign based on priority.

Naturally, some tasks will be more important than others. When you break down a project into tasks , spend some time assessing their priority level.

High-priority tasks should be the first on your list to allocate. Whether it’s because they’re time-sensitive, or require more effort and dedication.

Low priority tasks can be allocated as fillers to the first available person.

2. Assign based on employee availability

Another factor to consider when assigning tasks is who is available at the moment.

As the project moves along, new tasks will be added. You will have to allocate new work, but odds are you won’t always be able to pick who you want. Especially if a deadline is approaching, the person with the smallest workload should be your first choice.

Overloading an already busy individual just because they’re more skilled or you have faith in them the most puts an unnecessary strain on them. It’s cause for frustration, poorer results, and decreased productivity.

And as we’ve mentioned, if you have a timesheet with an overview of all the tasks and employees working on them, it’ll be much easier to spot who is free and who isn’t.

3. Assign based on employee skill level

High-priority tasks should go to employees with more experience in a given field or skill. However, you should occasionally give such tasks to other employees as well, to help them grow and become just as dependable. Giving people challenging tasks that can boost their experience is essential to productivity and morale.

Not to mention you get to have multiple high-skilled employees.

Low-priority tasks can be assigned to anyone, despite their experience level. They’re a good opportunity to practice, pick up new skills, or get smaller tasks out of the way to make room for more important ones.

4. Assign based on preference

Last, but not the least, preference can also play a big part in how you assign tasks.

It’s a given that some employees will prefer certain tasks over others. So it could be good to assign tasks at a meeting with the team. As you discuss priorities, deadlines, and availability, ask them which tasks they would like to work on.

If someone shows interest in a specific type of work, they should (with some consideration), be allowed to take it. After all, people are more productive when they’re assigned to something they find new or exciting.

Note: Apply this rule with caution. Letting people do only the tasks they want can stunt their career growth. Getting out of our comfort zones and occasionally doing tasks that we don’t like is how we develop and learn. So, don’t forget to document assignments as you hand them out, to spot these potential issues early on.

Allocating vs delegating tasks

While semantically similar words, delegation and allocation in terms of tasks are two different things.

When you allocate tasks , you are assigning tasks without giving the employees much authority, challenge, or room to grow. It includes you keeping all of the responsibility – writing out the tasks, making deadlines, providing resources, tools, etc. These are usually recurring tasks that can become repetitive.

When you delegate tasks , you allow for some of that responsibility to fizzle out from your fingers. All you think about are the objectives, while letting the employees figure out the details and means to get there.

However, that doesn’t mean delegation is right and the allocation is wrong.

Task allocation has its own place. It is just as important, as a lot of tasks come down to repeated processes that are still vital to the project progress. Task delegation is just a good opportunity for employees to learn, challenge themselves, and assess their skills and performance.

When should you allocate tasks?

Management and BizDev consultant Artem Albul shared his concept on task assignment, which he dubbed an “algorithm”. He emphasized how these criteria are useful only and only when you wish that employees perform the tasks based on your guidelines and instructions (aka allocation).

Here is how Albul broke down the algorithm:

Source: Artem Albul, TWA Consulting

As we can see, task allocation, while the more “controlling” of the two, also gives in-depth instructions and asks for confirmation on task clarity. A lot of it comes down to everyone being on the same page, leaving little to no room for misinterpretation (but also creative freedom).

How should you allocate tasks?

With all that we’ve mentioned in the previous section, here’s how your task allotment could look like, step by step.

• Break down your project

Detail out the goals, objectives, and some individual tasks (not all, be careful not to start micromanaging). Place the most important deadlines.

• Prioritize tasks and sort them

It’s important to know what tasks need to be done faster/better, to properly allocate your resources and manpower from the start.

• Make a list of teams and team members

Assign team leaders (if you don’t have them), and alternatively, ask for their input on individual employees skills, for a more informed decision on who gets what.

• Schedule a meeting

Make a meeting with the team leads and go through the points above. Assign tasks according to each team’s availability, interest, and skill required to successfully push the project forward.

• As team leads – assign tasks further down the pipeline
• Track task completion and make necessary changes along the way

Whether it’s pushing deadlines, reassigning tasks, or shifting around resources. This is perfectly fine and expected, so long as it doesn’t happen on every task you’ve assigned. Then, it is an indicator of poor pre-planning.

• Offer feedback and write performances

Don’t forget to track the progress and make notes of important details that might help the next task allocation/delegation process. It’s also a useful piece of information for the employees on what they need to improve on.

Allocating tasks is somewhat more complicated than we want it to be. But, this kind of thorough research and preparation will make projects run more smoothly. Employees will also be more satisfied with their work, and there will be less hurdles as deadlines approach.

When should you delegate tasks?

Delegation is a great practice in trust for both the employer/supervisor and the employee. The employer learns how to give away some of their control over the process, while the employee learns how to take more accountability for their work.

This lets you focus on big-picture aspects of your job, since you deal less with assignments that are low-priority for you. You save time and energy, while helping others move up in their careers.

How do you effectively delegate tasks as a leader?

As we’ve mentioned, delegating includes more employee independence. There are some additional components which make this type of task assignment more appealing than allocation, with great opportunities for growth.

Focus on delegating objectives instead of actual tasks

When you delegate, you focus on the objective that needs to be done. You shouldn’t give employees a “color by numbers” instruction on how to complete a task.

Communicate clearly what the end result should be and what expectations you (or the higher-ups) have. Leave the means for reaching that end goal to the employees themselves. Because how you solve a task may be completely different to how they will. And that is perfectly fine, so long as the result is the one you are looking for.

Keep the objectives challenging

When the objectives you’re delegating are too easy, chances are the person will either procrastinate, or feel like you don’t trust them enough. And if they’re too difficult, they get frustrated, anxious, and begin to panic.

It’s a good idea to be aware of an employee’s skill level, so you can gauge how much challenge and responsibility they can take on. For them to be the most productive and achieve great results, they need to enter “the state of Flow”.

Source: Optimal Experience , M. Csikszentmihalyi

💡 We’ve discussed the state of Flow in more detail in an article on time organization.

Encourage discussion and feedback

Let employees voice their opinions on the topic.

They should ask anything about the task, the goals, or the overall impact their work will have on the later stages or others’ workflow. It means they are interested in the task, and getting involved.

And if they aren’t asking questions themselves, you can always nudge them into proactivity.

• Is there something you’d like me to clarify?
• Do you already have any ideas on how to go about the task?
• Is the time we agreed upon enough for you?
• Will you need other resources, tools, or support?
• Do you see any problems or risks?

Questions like these help them feel valued, their efforts acknowledged, and let them know you care about the task and how well they perform. Just be careful not to overdo it, or you’ll start to look like a micromanager.

Give employees free rein, but offer support

Speaking of micromanaging, delegation means you let people problem-solve their way out on their own. There should be no reason for a manager to step in and control or supervise any step of the process, unless absolutely necessary.

However, what you should do is let them know you’re available for any advice should they feel stuck. Just because employees get authority on a certain task, and are left to their own devices, doesn’t mean the project has to suffer until they pull themselves up.

From time to time, ask them if they need anything from you, and make sure they know you’re there for any kind of support, consultation, or mediation. ANother good practice is to also give them additional learning opportunities – such as training, conferences, courses, etc.

Delegate objectives that move people forward

Choose assignments that boost the skills and employ all of their experiences, instead of something that simply needs to be done. For example:

• Tasks that require they brush up on their team communication skills;
• Learning how to allocate smaller tasks;
• Supervising others’ work and doing quality control;
• Learning to work with a new tool;
• Holding a meeting (or more), etc.

Find out which skills your employees may want or need to develop, and then plan your delegations accordingly. You want them to complete the task while having learned something new at the same time.

How to choose who to delegate to

Paul Beesley, senior director and consultant at Beyond Theory proposed a nifty checklist for when you’re choosing an employee to delegate to. It’s meant to simplify and speed up the process.

To successfully complete the delegated task, your chosen employee needs:

S – the skill to perform and complete a task

T – the time to complete the task, and if needed, learn the required skill

A – the authority to handle everything concerning the task

R – the necessary level of responsibility

R – the recognition for successfully completing the task

This list is a set of important criteria that should be covered when you consider who to assign to a specific task. However, depending on your niche, type of service, company size and the project at hand, the criteria are likely to change. And it should accommodate your needs, not the other way around.

Common task delegation mistakes to avoid

With all being said, there are some common mistakes managers and employers make, sometimes without even realizing it.

• Being too vague concerning deadlines (using: as soon as possible, when you get to it, I need it by yesterday). It creates unnecessary pressure.
• Being unavailable for questions and concerns. While you shouldn’t micromanage, you should still be present for support if an employee feels stuck. Ignoring them or handing them over to someone else could cause distrust. However, if you are usually swamped with work, set consultation hours each day or week.
• Having unclear directions. Specifying the allotted time for task completion and expectations should be the bare minimum when delegating tasks.
• Not providing feedback. No feedback is worse than bad feedback. Employees need to be aware when they’re doing good work, as well. In one company I worked for, the mantra was: “If no one is complaining about your work, that means you’re doing good”. And while it sounds like sound logic, it actually caused a lot of frustration. We were left directionless, and simply “floating” from task to task, never knowing if any of them had a positive impact on our performance.
• Not listening to employees. Take into account how they feel about a task or the objective. Let them give you feedback and if there are potential problems from the get-go.
• Assigning other people to the same task. If you notice a person struggling, the first instinct should be to ask them how they’re faring, and if they need any help. Some managers tend to assign other employees to help them without consultation, which leaves a sore taste. The employee will feel even more incompetent and will be less likely to take on a similar task in the future.
• Assuming people will know what you mean. This is one of the biggest problems. When you’re formulating a task, be as clear as possible about the goals and expectations. Oftentimes managers think that these things are implied, but the truth is – no one is a mind reader. To avoid having information misconstrued or misunderstood, communicate clearly and directly.

There could be more mistakes, especially for every different field and industry. If at all possible, identify the most common ones, made either by you or your peers. Note down all the instances where certain tasks weren’t up to par, and see what you could have changed in your assignment process to fix it. Maybe there wasn’t enough time or resources, you were unclear, or the employee wasn’t ready for such responsibility. Use the same procedure in all future task delegations. It’s the only way to learn and make the process quicker.

Use Clockify to assign tasks with ease

Now you’re a master of task delegation — congrats!

But there’s more to it than meets the eye.

In fact, what if you used a digital tool like Clockify to increase the likelihood that each job would be completed on time and on point?

In Clockify, you can easily create highly descriptive assignments that contain information like:

• Start time,
• Billability status,
• Name of the employee,
• Period for getting the assignment done,
• Hours per day to spend on the assignment, and more.

That way, you can plan who works on what, how long, and when.

Similarly, Clockify allows you to create project milestones to achieve results faster.

With the Milestones option, you can select dates for deadlines, allowing you to pin down important events in your projects.

For example, if your client expects you to keep them in the loop about developments, you can inform them promptly on whether your team has reached the agreed-upon milestones.

Refocus on your company’s big picture with a project and time tracking tool.

Marijana Stojanovic is a writer and researcher who specializes in the topics of productivity and time management.

Where does the time go?

START TRACKING TIME

with Clockify

How to create a PTO policy

Everything you need to know about creating a PTO policy — from the basics of PTO to choosing a PTO tracking system that suits your workflow.

Working Overtime Without Pay – Know Your Rights and Options

Discover the legal and financial aspects of working overtime without pay. Learn your rights and how to handle common concerns regarding off-clock work.

PTO vs. Vacation: What Is the Difference?

Learn the difference between PTO and vacation and find out the answers to the most frequently asked questions regarding paid leave!

Best methods for tracking team productivity

Find out the most useful methods of tracking team productivity, followed by actual examples of how different teams measure their effectiveness.  

Difference between a freelancer, a contractor, and an employee

Learn which work category you fall into, to better protect your rights as a worker and avoid worker exploitation.

10+ Life-changing tips to increase office productivity in 2023

Workplace distractions, stress, and poor performance are everywhere. Read this guide with life-changing tips to increase office productivity now!

FREE FOREVER • UNLIMITED USERS

Free time tracker

Time tracking software used by millions. Clockify is a time tracker and timesheet app that lets you track work hours across projects.

Filter by Keywords

20 Best Task Management Software Tools to Elevate Your Workflows [2024 Edition]

Sudarshan Somanathan

Head of Content

May 14, 2024

Just a few years back, I was always stuck in a cycle of frustration and self-blame—all because my professional workload was spiraling out of control . I’d make ambitious plans for me and my team and watch in agony as they fell flat. Things became so bad that I got used to the anxiety that accompanied my zillion unattended tasks. What followed was constant overwhelm, a clear lack of motivation , and even sneaky health repercussions. 😔

Eventually, I confided in some peers and realized that I was definitely not alone. In fact, there’s research revealing that as many as 41% of workers experience stress due to their heavy workloads. 

I was able to get out of this rough patch over time, and I cannot emphasize enough how life-changing it was for me to find the right task management software. You see, it’s never the amount of work that creates chaos—but poor task management.

In my case, for instance, I once unknowingly orchestrated a team burnout as I had the habit of setting over-enthusiastic ( read: unreasonable ) deadlines and delegating tasks without realistic workload considerations. It was only after I found my perfect task management tool that I had the knowledge and visibility needed to make more practical choices.

I’d call myself a much saner task manager now, and I hope my team here at ClickUp agrees. We have worked together to bring you this article exploring the 20 best task management software , with a special focus on tools that can assist you in assigning tasks and optimizing priorities effectively in 2024. You can learn about their key features, limitations, and pricing before locking your ideal task manager tool. 🌻

What Should You Look for in a Task Management Tool?

• 1. ClickUp—best overall project & task management software

2. Asana—best for remote teams

3. jira—best for experienced it professionals, 4. monday.com—best for marketing and pmo teams, 5. trello—best for small teams, 6. hive—best task management software for multi-layered team collaboration, 7. meistertask—best for kanban task management, 8. ntask—best task management software for scheduling, 9. zenhub—best for software teams, 10. zoho projects—best for complex project management, 11. activecollab—best for personalized task management experience for client-based workflows, 12. wrike—best for scalable workflow management, 13. todoist—best for teams on a budget, 14. proofhub—best for granular task tracking, 15. smarttask—best for managing multiple projects, 16. hubspot (hubspot task management)—best for crm tasks, 17. paymo—best for client tasks and bookings, 18. timecamp—best for time tracking and billing tasks, 19. any.do—best for creating to-do lists, 20. smartsheet—best for spreadsheet-style task management, leveraging the best task management tools: which one to pick.

For cross-collaborative teams like mine, task management software doesn’t just help identify, monitor, and manage tasks . It goes beyond supporting a simple to-do list and offers features to efficiently collaborate on elaborate workflows for effective goal completion .

The best task management software allows my team to set deadlines, prioritize tasks , track progress, and adjust schedules with ease, which results in smoother decision-making. Other useful functionalities that we prioritize include:

• Flexibility: In my experience, good task management software is always the one that has a user-friendly interface. Bonus points if it runs smoothly on all major operating systems across devices, giving my team more control over everyday work
• Time tracking: We find it’s best to go for a task management solution that lets us improve our time management through seamless time tracking
• Task automation: As your business grows, automation plays a key role in expanding your task base sustainably. The best task management software lets us automate recurring admin tasks, leaving everyone more time to focus on cognitively demanding, high-level assignments
• Communication support: Because I’m running a busy, distributed team, I value tools that support productive task-related discussions, file sharing, and instant announcements
• Reporting and analytics: We’ve noticed that quality task management software provides reporting features to record and analyze information (like clock-in/clock-out data, absence, and overtime hours) for productivity analysis, invoicing, and payroll management
• Integration with other tools: Now this may be a personal preference, but I like it when my task management system integrates with other software we use, like messaging apps , project management tools , and writing assistants , simply because this eliminates context switching and makes team collaboration and task monitoring way easier 😇

20 Best Task Management Software for Balanced Task Planning and Execution

When we started testing out the tons of task management apps available on the market, one aspect was clear—they’re not all cut from the same cloth. For instance, some are versatile tools, while others focus on nailing specific functions like task dependencies.

We eventually narrowed down to 20 best task management software that just had to be on our list. We cherry-picked them after considering diverse criteria like feature set and affordability, so you’re sure to find something that addresses your immediate needs. 🧐

Here’s a snapshot of our list, which will be followed by detailed and honest reviews of each software:

1. ClickUp —best overall project & task management software

Why end with a bang when we can start with one? 💥

We might be a bit biased here, but ClickUp has repeatedly proved itself to be the best task management solution for individuals, professionals, and teams alike. It’s not just us; even G2 considers it to be the best-rated task management and team task management software , ranking it #1 in 15+ competitive categories in 2024!

What makes ClickUp click is its AI-enabled, end-to-end support for managing tasks and priorities, monitoring progress, and staying productive.

How we use ClickUp for hands-on task management

The way we leverage ClickUp for my team is pretty straightforward—for starters, we go to ClickUp Tasks for everything, from centralized task planning and scheduling to tracking individual assignments.

I love how the platform makes our task management process super intuitive and data-rich. We get to categorize team tasks by type and set Custom Task Status from To Do to Done to make tracking effortless. We can use as many Custom Fields as we want to set deadlines, add assignees, and define further details we want to track or filter through. For each task assignment, our team can also: 

• Add links and comments to centralize contextual knowledge and discussions
• Specify task dependencies to offer visibility for schedule management
• Define subtasks and checklists to support extensive deliverables 
• Use @mentions and action items to delegate tasks and share updates

Our Task View is by default a pop-up window, but we can also minimize it to a sidebar or Task Tray if we want to keep our individual to-do lists accessible or track time as we go.

If you are a visual task manager like me, there’s good news! I frequently use the 15+ project views of this task management software for comprehensive visibility over our entire workflow—I manage tasks on Kanban boards, sort through them in the List view, and visualize timelines with colorful Gantt charts. 🌈

ClickUp comes with a drag-and-drop Calendar view that aids our granular task planning. We also make use of the Recurring Tasks feature to schedule routine stuff, like meetings and sprint retrospectives, and visualize or adjust our day-to-day directly on the Calendar.

At any given day, we have 100+ active tasks across departments, and it’s near impossible to follow up on each one of them. Thankfully, we can stay on top of our task lists with ClickUp Reminders . We create them from any task comment or notification, which gives us more flexibility to manage team tasks seamlessly from any device we’re on without losing sight of inter-departmental dependencies.

And, if we’re dealing with an overwhelming workload, we identify what to prioritize and deprioritize using ClickUp Task Priorities and its color-coded tags. We also lighten team workloads with ClickUp Automatons , which lets us automate time-consuming tasks like checking emails or organizing documents.

Bonus! Our secret to stress-free productivity? ClickUp Brain and pre-made templates

Beyond tracking and prioritizing tasks, ClickUp also lends us a hand with Project Management . For instance, we employ ClickUp Brain , the platform’s AI assistant, to automate project summaries, task planning, and task standups and updates.

ClickUp Brain is a neural network connecting the team’s tasks, documents, and discussions living on the platform—it helps us extract and summarize information and action items through simple prompts and questions.

We also take our productivity to new heights with numerous customizable ClickUp templates that help us standardize task assignments immediately! If you’re new to the platform, the ClickUp Task Management Template can be a great starting point. By downloading this free template , you can organize your tasks into Lists like Action Items , Ideas , and Backlog for easier navigation. Open separate views to track assignments by department or priority label. 🚩

ClickUp best features

• 1,000+ templates to kickstart skillful task management
• Intuitive task scheduling platform with time tracking
• ClickUp Dashboards for real-time task tracking and productivity metrics
• ClickUp Goals to set measurable task KPIs
• Task Checklist feature for easy to-do list creation
• Multiple project views like List, Table, and Timeline
• Custom task statuses to complement your workflow
• A Bulk Action Toolbar to edit multiple tasks at once
• Automates recurring, error-prone tasks
• Built-in task prioritization levels  
• Universal Search and Tags to access tasks quickly
• Supports task generation directly from ClickUp Docs and Whiteboards
• Integrates with 1,000+ apps like Slack, Gmail, Zoom, Outlook, and HubSpot
• Dedicated mobile app for iOS and Android
• Compatible with Mac, Windows, and Linux
• Built-in chat and file-sharing options for task collaboration
• Easy-to-use, no-code interface

ClickUp limitations

• It takes time to explore all its task management features (you can leverage the ClickUp Help Center to ease the learning curve)
• A dedicated subtask reporting feature would be a great add-on

ClickUp pricing

Most of ClickUp’s task management features are accessible on the free plan. The price-to-features ratio on the paid options is one of the best in this space.

• Free Forever (supports unlimited tasks and members)
• Unlimited: $7/month per user
• Business: $12/month per user
• Enterprise: Contact for pricing
• ClickUp AI: Add to any paid plan for $5 per member per month

*All listed prices refer to the yearly billing model

ClickUp ratings and reviews

• G2: 4.7/5 (9,000+ reviews)
• Capterra: 4.7/5 (4,000+ reviews)

The platform has garnered largely positive reviews as a task management solution. Here’s how one user describes their experience :

My favorite feature is the ‘add to’ function for tasks, which enables me to have a central location for all major projects. Within the project/Epic, subtasks can be assigned to the correct space/list to be worked on by whoever needs it. Having a top-down view of the location and status of each subtask is invaluable to keeping track of what is completed and incomplete. Adding custom fields wherever I need them is also fantastic.

There’s no milder way to put it—we just love Asana as an online task management software for remote teams! For starters, we can use pre-built templates to organize our remote projects and coordinate on tasks and updates using the centralized Inbox feature.

As we tested the tool further, we noticed that it was incredibly easy to add and track cross-team tasks across multiple projects. Essentially, I can ensure the same task is never duplicated in another department, which is a common pain point for remote teams!

Its breadth of features is quite similar to ClickUp (you can check out a detailed ClickUp vs. Asana comparison here ). For instance, I can add task descriptions in the form of bulleted lists, embed files to add context, set due dates, and add assignees in a few clicks. It’s also effortless to create subtasks, identify blockers, and streamline approvals on task changes.

What makes Asana stand out among its alternatives for me is the Workflow Builder feature —it gives us a smooth interface to create workflows without coding, helping us automate routine tasks and expedite projects. This quality task management software also features a My Tasks list , which helps prioritize work by auto-promoting tasks based on due dates.

Overall, Asana is a collaborative task management tool for anyone working remotely —my distributed team was able to communicate directly within the app, encouraging cross-functional collaboration with minimal friction. For added transparency, we recommend adding relevant collaborators to your team’s tasks to keep them updated on progress async.

Asana best features

• Templates for task management
• Remote-friendly collaboration tools
• Zero-code workflow builder
• Search and filtering options for simpler navigation
• Integrates with apps like Slack and Dropbox, as well as ClickUp
• Mobile app for Android and iOS

Asana limitations

• May be challenging to implement for larger teams
• Storage and collaboration features could use improvement

Asana pricing

• Personal: Free forever (for up to 10 users)
• Starter: $10.99/month per user
• Advanced: $24.99/month per user

Asana ratings and reviews

• G2: 4.3/5 (9,000+ reviews)
• Capterra: 4.5/5 (12,000+ reviews)

Many users have favorably reviewed Asana’s auto-reminders feature, like this one :

I like how Asana helps us to make and assign tasks to employees in our team, and also it auto gives them reminders to complete the tasks on time. Their reminder emails are very much helpful, this way our co-workers have the list of To-Do’s ready without checking multiple messaging platforms and emails.

When I first started exploring Jira, it was evident to me that this was not as beginner-friendly as other alternatives due to a somewhat complex feature set. But then, Jira is a popular task management software option among seasoned professionals in industries like IT, finance, marketing, and HR, so it was worth a try.

To give you some context, Jira was first launched by Atlassian as an issue-tracking tool for software developers—but has now branched out to become a useful tool for project managers and task managers alike. In my experience, I found it to be an incredibly handy tool for Agile project management .

My team tried to set up a sample workflow for a complex Agile project, and we were able to break everything into manageable sprints . We got the option to set up tasks under:

• Company-managed projects: A standard admin-controlled workflow
• Team-managed projects: A more self-contained workspace for independent teams

Jira’s multiple views, like boards and timelines, makes it easy to track sprint tasks and identify roadblocks to ensure continuous improvement . The tool also supports team collaboration by allowing members to brainstorm and exchange task information across departments through shared workflows.

Moving to productivity, it’s worth noting that Jira, like ClickUp , lets us update custom task statuses in real time, while its automaton feature allows for running manual actions in the background. Plus, project managers can automate work using its numerous task management templates . 😀

Tip: Explore the Jira-ClickUp integration to manage your Agile workflow better!

Jira best features

• Workflow automation support
• Multiple task views for agile teams
• Templates for niches like human resources , marketing, and IT
• Integrates with Atlassian Work Management and other popular apps
• Effective task management apps for Android and iOS

Jira limitations

• The system can be slow at times
• The user interface and dashboard design could be improved

Jira pricing

• Free: Up to 10 users
• Standard: $8.15/month per user
• Premium: $16/month per user
• Enterprise: Contact sales for pricing

Jira’s business support is only available on paid tiers. However, free plan users can seek out community support .

Jira ratings and reviews

• G2: 4.3/5 (5,000+ reviews)
• Capterra: 4.5/5 (13,000+ reviews)

Bonus read: Check out these Jira alternatives !

Can using Monday.com for managing tasks can make Mondays less dreadful? We think yes! This simple task management software provides all key features, from multiple task views to task templates, that you’d find in most Monday alternatives .

However, what our research team loves the most is the software’s specific task management features for marketing and PMO teams . For example, marketing teams can benefit from key features like brand asset management , robust Gantt charts (to build task timelines), and campaign tracking . Meanwhile, PMO teams rely on features for monitoring OKRs , identifying dependencies, and tracking time for future task planning.

I think Monday.com also stands out with its smooth interface . Its Work Management feature lets you create no-code marketing workflows for specific functions like content creation, social media, and event planning.

I consulted a few project managers who use the tool, and they even appreciated its intuitive layout. For example, the platform allows them to make informed decisions by accessing quick overviews of task progress on a dashboard. 📈

Plus, Monday.com allows you to organize workspaces into projects with individual tasks and subtasks, complete with color-coding options to help you track task priorities and statuses easily.

Overall, it’s a powerful task management tool—quite similar to ClickUp and Asana in terms of design and feature set. Plus, the platform integrates with top marketing tools as well as other collaborative platforms ( including ClickUp ).

Monday.com best features

• Includes 200+ automation options
• Color-coded custom task statuses and priority levels
• User-friendly project templates
• No-code workflows setup
• Offers a mobile app for iOS and Android
• Integrates with over 200 apps

Monday.com limitations

• The initial setup tends to be overwhelming
• Some users struggle with custom reminders and experience delays in notifications

Monday.com pricing

You can access the following plans by first signing up for a 14-day free trial:

• Free: Up to two users
• Basic: $9/month per user
• Standard: $12/month per user
• Pro: $19/month per user

Monday.com ratings and reviews

• G2: 4.7/5 (10,000+ reviews)
• Capterra: 4.6/5 (4,000+ reviews)

I’m a religious fan of Kanban boards, which is partly why I always have a blast using Trello. One of the main reasons why I put it high up on our list is simplicity—most project management software are not as easy to learn as Trello, which makes it perfect for managing linear tasks on a smaller scale.

This good task management software is all about moving tasks like sticky notes on a drag-and-drop Kanban board for easier status tracking. Individuals can use it to create personalized task lists, while team members can rely on advanced checklists to add context to tasks by adding due dates and assignees. 

As far as basic task management is concerned, this software supports task prioritization through labels like high, medium, or low priority. Say I want to access a specific batch of tasks and prepare a quick status report—all I have to do is filter through these labels.

Trello’s no-code (and cute!) automation tool called Butler is also incredibly comfortable to use. Even the less tech-savvy members of my team can automate recurring tasks by creating simple rules, buttons, and commands.

Trello lets us view tasks on calendars, timelines, and neatly organized tables, which is often more than enough to manage workloads in smaller teams. However, if you’re running a larger team or a more complex project that requires agility and a wider variety of project views, Trello alternatives with enterprise features may be a better option.

Trello best features

• Butler—a no-code automation tool
• Kanban-based task tracking software
• Includes checklists, calendars, and timelines
• Color-coding helps prioritize tasks
• Android and iOS mobile apps
• Integrates with other task management systems like ClickUp and Jira

Trello limitations

• Gets costly as users increase in number
• May not support complex project management

Trello pricing

Trello’s free plan is pretty generous and supports up to 10 boards. You need to get a Premium tier to access more views and AI-driven features, which are necessary for effective task management in modern workspaces.

• Standard: $5/month per user
• Premium: $10/month per user
• Enterprise: $17.5/month per user

Trello ratings and reviews

• G2: 4.4/5 (13,000+ reviews)
• Capterra: 4.6/5 (23,000+ reviews)

Here’s what one user had to say about completing tasks and projects with Trello:

Trello provides software development projects with a smooth platform for managing Agile and Kanban workflows. Tasks can be easily created and organized because of its user-friendly interface and customisable boards, lists, and cards. While Trello’s ease of use is one of its main advantages, it might not have all the complex project management capabilities of more all-inclusive applications. 

I had little idea of what Hive is like when I first started testing it. The platform advertises itself as an all-encompassing project management software with use cases ranging from project and resource management to client engagement. While I mostly explored features for task management, I can confidently say that this tool wins when it comes to facilitating team collaboration.

Hive provides any hybrid team with a task management platform to:

• Assign, track, and execute tasks together, regardless of location
• Monitor upcoming tasks across departments
• Streamline task intake data with forms
• Collaborate async or live with Hive Notes and Text and Voice Chat

Like ClickUp, Hive supports project collaboration by letting teammates communicate across projects by leaving comments on action cards or tagging team members.

Collaboration here is smoother because you get to observe your tasks from unique angles . For example, we can use the Portfolio view to get a detailed overview of tasks across projects or the Label view to categorize subtasks. I thought I could focus better by activating the My Actions view to display my task assignments in a concentrated way. 

We can also rely on key features like task status to easily track progress, templates to customize project layouts and business processes, and notifications to never miss a beat. Plus, Hive offers Workflows App —a no-code task automation tool to help you cut down on manual labor and design personalized automated workflows. 

Hive best features

• Collaborative task management tool
• Supports individual, group, or project discussions
• AI assistant ( HiveMind ) and templates to support standard tasks
• My Actions view tracks all the tasks assigned to you 
• Includes a no-code task automation tool
• Integrates with Dropbox and Google Drive

Hive limitations

• The mobile app has limited functionality
• UX may get compromised with many collaborators

Hive pricing

Hive’s free plan neatly supports basic task management for all your projects, but you’ll have to upgrade to paid plans for features like custom fields, task labels, and an in-app calendar.

• Starter: $5/month per user
• Teams: $12/month per user

Hive ratings and reviews

• G2: 4.6/5 (500+ reviews)
• Capterra: 4.5/5 (100+ reviews)

Bonus: Check out these Hive alternatives !

Most alternatives to MeisterTask include Kanban boards as one of their key features. However, I’d emphasize that MeisterTask excels as Kanban-based task management software because of how user-friendly and intuitive it is. 😻

The tool is beautifully crafted and provides customizable Kanban-style boards that let us organize and monitor task cards. We can mark if tasks are In Progress , Done , or on the To Do list (or create custom sections). What’s cool is that we can also switch to a Gantt-like timeline view to access more linear scheduling.

These boards keep all work centralized and let us communicate effectively through task comments. We can mention teammates in the comments, add them as project watchers, and assign them tasks directly from the board. Whenever you manage projects prone to changes, just activate real-time notifications to keep everyone in the loop about the latest updates.

Besides collaborative boards, the software offers personal Kanban pinboards called Agendas , where we can organize all the tasks assigned to us, as well as access due dates and important files faster.

Many user reviews for MeisterTask compliment the tool’s pretty interface —here’s what a verified user shared:

The colorful Kanban-type interface, the multiple project lists you can have, tags, integration from MindMeister, easy integration from other websites to spawn tasks. I use it on my phone, tablet, and iPad.

MeisterTask best features

• Easy-to-use Kanban boards to track project progress
• Can serve as a personal task management software
• Task-related collaboration through comments
• Dashboards to track tasks, time-tracking data, and notifications
• Lets you automate recurring tasks
• iOS and Android mobile apps

MeisterTask limitations

• The software could benefit from adding a workflow calendar to its features
• Notifications may be delayed on mobile devices

MeisterTask pricing

• Basic: Free (doesn’t allow integration with other apps)
• Pro: $6.50/month per user

MeisterTask ratings and reviews

• G2: 4.6/5 (100+ reviews)
• Capterra: 4.7/5 (1,000+ reviews)

nTask serves as an SMB-focused hub for tracking and scheduling tasks under three sections: To-Do, Workflow, and Projects . The idea is to create both personal and professional task lists, as well as define workflows for specific functions like designing, fund management, and freelancing. 

In my opinion, the Projects tab has quite a clutter-free interface to design granular schedules and assign tasks or entire task lists to your teammates. If you’re new to the platform, you can start with a weekly scheduling sheet to create a baseline of tasks, along with descriptions and assignees. Then, you can use the Task Builder to add tasks as needed.

As a visual task management tool, my team was able to use nTask to plan and prioritize tasks on a Kanban layout, manage interconnected delivery timelines, and visualize projects with color-coded Gantt charts.

For example, we scheduled tasks by setting planned and actual due dates and creating task dependencies and milestones to ensure timely completion. Then, we set priorities, custom statuses, and real-time notifications to ensure no action remains overlooked.

nTask’s robust time-tracking capabilities help us stay within realistic timeframes. I can monitor time spent on tasks and estimate the time my team will need for future tasks, which makes scheduling (and invoicing) easier over time.

nTask best features

• Offers multiple project views (board, grid, list, and calendar)
• Comprehensive task tracking
• Visual task management and task scheduling through Gantt charts
• Recurring tasks feature with daily, weekly, or monthly repeats
• Integrates with 1,000+ tools like Apple Calendar, Zoom, and Microsoft Teams
• Android and iOS support

nTask limitations

• Attaching documents and images to tasks may be challenging
• User interface could be more intuitive

nTask pricing

You can access a 7-day trial period for all plans. NGOs may be able to get up to 50% off upon contacting sales.

• Premium: $3/month per user
• Business: $8/month per user

nTask ratings and reviews

• G2: 4.4/5 (10+ reviews)
• Capterra: 4.2/5 (100+ reviews)

ZenHub is a project management solution that primarily caters to software development teams. It provides a native GitHub integration via a browser extension for Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox. This helps reduce context switching by keeping project tasks connected with GitHub code. 

Plus, ZenHub offers automatic task updates as users complete issues in GitHub, streamlining task completion by eliminating manual status check-ins from your team’s to-do list. There are also automated hand-offs to update all connected workspaces.

This online task management software and software development tool brings tasks together on intuitive, drag-and-drop Kanban boards , allowing teams to view all current tasks and their statuses.

Use these boards to prioritize tasks, track projects, and attach pull requests to corresponding issues. Group related issues into Epics or connect various private and public GitHub repos to a single board. 👨‍🏫

Additionally, ZenHub offers sprint planning features, making it a handy tool for agile teams . It lets us set automated sprint cycles, auto-generate new sprints with prioritized and unfinished tasks, and receive periodical reports on progress.

I’ve also heard pretty exciting things about ZenHub AI (automatic issue categorization, sprint reviews, etc.). However, I wasn’t able to get past the waitlist to try out its beta program.

ZenHub best features

• Various key features for agile teams
• Native GitHub integration
• Provides spring planning and tracking
• Boards with intuitive task management capabilities
• Automate repetitive tasks and hand-offs
• Acts as a visual task management tool with roadmaps and timelines
• Integrates with Figma, Miro, and Loom

ZenHub limitations

• Steep learning curve
• The interface may be challenging to navigate

ZenHub pricing

• For Teams: $8.33/month per user (annual billing after a 14-day free trial)
• For Enterprises: Contact sales for pricing

ZenHub ratings and reviews

• G2: 4.3/5 (30+ reviews)
• Capterra: 4.4/5 (30+ reviews)

Zoho Projects is a reliable project management software with features such as issue tracking, team monitoring , project timesheets, and resource utilization charts. From the range of use cases we explored, this platform can be excellent for managing complex projects in industries like marketing, construction, IT, and consulting.

Zoho Projects offers a comprehensive toolset for task management that assists us in breaking projects down into milestones, task lists, and subtasks for simpler tracking. This task management platform is all about details—each task can have attributes like assignees, work hours, priorities, and reminders. Plus, we can use timesheets and timers to record time spent on each task.

We were able to schedule tasks on a calendar and get an overview of team members’ capacity simultaneously. This, I think, is crucial for balanced task planning and avoiding the risk of team burnout.

Like many Zoho alternatives , this tool simplifies task organization by providing Kanban-style boards with drag-and-drop task cards and flexible statuses. As for planning and tracking complex workflows, we can use Gantt charts to identify granular team tasks, set dependencies, and monitor deadlines to ensure everything is done on time. ⌛

I believe that using Zoho Projects is great for consolidating your task ecosystem when you use other Zoho applications, such as Zoho Mail or Zoho CRM, as the tool gives you a unified view of your tasks across sister platforms.

Zoho Projects best features

• Quick-access Gantt charts
• Supports versatile task management use cases
• Highly customizable workflows with project templates
• Easy task scheduling on calendars
• Integrates with various Zoho, Google, and Microsoft apps 
• Task management apps (iOS 9.0+ and Android 4.1+)

Zoho Projects limitations

• Initial setup may be challenging
• Software customization can be time-consuming 

Zoho Projects pricing

• Free: Up to three users
• Premium: $4/month per user (10-day trial)
• Enterprise: $9/month per user (10-day trial)

Zoho Projects ratings and reviews

• G2: 4.3/5 (300+ reviews)
• Capterra: 4.4/5 (400+ reviews)

Reviews mostly mention the product to be useful, albeit confusing at times. Here’s an excerpt :

Zoho Projects is useful when using to assign tasks, getting multiple projects done, and needing to know who will do it by when. It allows people to go in and time themselves to track how long it took them to do it. It does get really confusing at times to create tasks because of the many tedious needs that can be miscommunicated while trying to assign (tasks). 

ActiveCollab is all about increasing productivity and meeting deadlines with ease in client-based workflows. Whether you’re a startup or a small creative team, the tool lets you invite unlimited clients to the platform for improved collaboration and feedback loops. In my opinion, this alone can help eliminate those hard-to-keep-track-of client meetings and follow-up email chains.

My experience? Besides adding tasks for my team, I was also able to break down complex actions into subtasks for my clients, ensuring all assigned tasks got done as planned. Additionally, we saw functions to:

• Add due dates, assignees, and detailed task descriptions
• Group tasks based on different criteria
• Duplicate repetitive tasks

This online task management software offers only three project views to choose from, which is less than what ActiveCollab alternatives typically offer. Still, it includes frequently used views—the Kanban board, Gantt chart, and List view. 📝

I know automation is a recurring theme at this point, but still worth a mention—ActiveCollab can reduce manual labor by automating recurring tasks like drafting weekly reports. And, if you need to ensure actions are completed in a fixed order, just create dependencies between multiple tasks.

ActiveCollab stresses the importance of a personal task manager, which freelancers may find useful. It provides a My Work page where you can find and organize your task assignments by project, client, or due date. 

ActiveCollab’s timesheets also impress me quite a bit. Besides getting an overview of all my time records, I can access project-level time tracking for easier billing. I can even revisit my productivity in terms of the comments posted, tasks created or closed, or due dates modified.

ActiveCollab best features

• Excellent personal task management software
• Tools to automate repetitive tasks
• Dependencies for completing tasks in a specific order
• Android and iOS smartphone apps
• Integrates with other task management tools like Asana and Trello

ActiveCollab limitations

• The file-sharing feature of this task management software could be simpler to use
• Adding more customization options could be beneficial 

ActiveCollab pricing

All plans come with a 14-day free trial. However, you have to subscribe to the most expensive plan for features like workload management and days-off planning.

• Plus: $9.5/month 3 users/month
• Pro: $8/month per user/month
• Pro+Get Paid: $11.75/month per user

ActiveCollab ratings and reviews

• G2: 4.2/5 (90+ reviews)
• Capterra: 4.5/5 (300+ reviews)

Wrike is well-known for its robust task and workflow management features. But what many users miss is how beautifully scalable it is! For instance, the platform lets me build a library of custom tasks that mimics our core processes—we can use it as a baseline for all our future workflows. And the best part is, we can expand this library to build a workspace tailored to a role, department, or even industry.

During the time we tested this tool, we created multi-level task lists across levels like folders, milestones, phases, and projects. Some of us even created personalized dashboards by pinning important tasks from our to-do list, all automatically sorted by priority and due date.

Like most of Wrike’s competitors , the platform supports strong teamwork —we can collaborate on real-time project plans, task assignments, and decision-making within the platform. Plus, the software includes built-in proofing tools for quick yet detailed task feedback and task automation to save time and increase work efficiency.

Additionally, Wrike allows project managers to build customizable reports on task and team performance. I was, for instance, able to further optimize workflows by analyzing relevant key performance indicators (KPIs) on dashboards.

Wrike best features

• Comprehensive project dashboards with personalized reports
• Supports feedback-friendly team collaboration
• Multiple project views
• Visualize tasks in views like Gantt Chart, Kanban, and Calendar
• 400+ third-party integrations
• Task automation

Wrike limitations

• Could use more custom display options
• Some users experience task syncing issues

Wrike pricing

Wrike offers integrations and additional cloud security features for an extra fee, but all of the following plans contain task management features:

• Team: $9.80/month per user
• Business: $24.80/month per user
• Enterprise and Pinnacle: Contact sales

Wrike ratings and reviews

• G2: 4.2/5 (3,000+ reviews)
• Capterra: 4.3/5 (2,000+ reviews)

While many Todoist alternatives on our list offer additional project management features, this veteran app is purely focused on task management. I think Todoist is one of the few apps that consistently upgrades itself within its niche space. For instance, we can now create detailed daily to-do lists and set recurring tasks using natural language.

The tool ticks all the boxes for basic task planning and management—we can create tasks and subtasks, determine priorities, add due dates, and set reminders to ensure nothing goes overlooked. 👀

Although it’s primarily a task management app, Todoist can help you manage small-scale projects as it includes goal-setting features , labels to categorize tasks, and task descriptions to keep information centralized.

I personally loved its Upcoming calendar view —it displays which tasks are due urgently, and if anything’s too demanding, I can use a drag-and-drop function to reschedule assignments. And if I need to focus on team tasks that are currently due, I simply go to the Today view .

While Todoist’s simple navigation and low price make it a handy tool for personal task management, it’s also a good to-do list app for teams on a tight budget . Its project management features aren’t too comprehensive, but you can still assign tasks and leverage comments for better teamwork and transparency. Here’s what a small business owner had to share after using the tool :

Extremely easy to use for all levels of technological understanding. I use Todoist several times a day and we have integrated this across our whole team. We’ve experienced far less chance of tasks being lost or forgotten and people stay accountable because of the notifications received upon completion.

Tip: ClickUp has a neat Import from Todoist feature if you need to switch to a more extensive project management tool in the future.

Todoist best features

• Efficient daily task management
• Multiple task views (including Kanban boards and lists)
• Basic team collaboration support
• Easy navigation to monitor project progress
• Integrates with various productivity and time-tracking apps
• Has a to-do list app for Android and iOS

Todoist limitations

• Integrating the software with some apps may be challenging
• It would be beneficial if the app displayed tasks when you’re offline

Todoist pricing

• Beginner: Free
• Pro: $4/month per user
• Business: $6/month per user

Todoist ratings and reviews

• G2: 4.4/5 (700+ reviews)
• Capterra: 4.6/5 (2,000+ reviews)

Besides being a good task management tool, ProofHub is a task tracking software that lets you easily create task lists and individual tasks, assign them to more than one team member, and closely follow due dates and priorities across task categories . I am particularly in awe of the platform’s Table view for task tracking—I get to monitor progress percentages for actions in different categories (without being a pesky micromanager). 😁

Similar to ProofHub alternatives , the software is fully customizable —we can build personalized workflows and use custom fields to capture any task-related data my team deems important. Custom fields enhance task tracking —because we customize them to track virtually any detail, be it deadlines or output.

Speaking of tracking, ProofHub has an intuitive interface for creating task dependencies for ensuring tasks are completed in a predetermined order. If you want to offer more clarity to assignees, leave comments on tasks or use mentions to guide them.

Additionally, ProofHub offers various reporting options to help gain insight into a project’s progress. You can enhance resource allocation by analyzing resource utilization reports or track project-specific progress with task completion reports.

ProofHub best features

• Multi-faceted task tracking software
• Customizable workflows
• Supports task-related discussions through comments and mentions
• Reports to gauge task progress
• Various project views like Kanbans and tables
• Mobile-friendly

ProofHub limitations

• Notifications can get difficult to manage
• Some users find its customization features complex

ProofHub pricing

Note that ProofHub currently avoids the per-user billing format, which may make it appealing for some teams.

• Essential: $45/month for unlimited users
• Ultimate Control: $150/month (or $89/month for a limited time offer)

ProofHub ratings and reviews

• G2: 4.5/5 (80+ reviews)
• Capterra: 4.6/5 (90+ reviews)

SmartTask includes all key features you’d typically find in a task management tool. You can set deadlines, add dependencies, and manage tasks in views like calendar, list, and board. I’d highlight that you can create a realistic workflow here by optimizing dependent, overlapping, and ignored tasks—this is the kind of visibility you need when your team is juggling 5+ projects simultaneously.

This software stands out for me especially because of its tools for managing multiple projects simultaneously in a cross-functional setup. Its Project Portfolios feature allows you to create multiple boards to track separate goals, aligning your marketing, sales, and design teams. To play it safer, you can even share task lists across teams to prevent orphaned actions. 

SmartTask supports team collaboration by letting us comment on tasks and generate real-time notifications for updates. We can also invite clients, vendors, and external stakeholders to collaborate on any task or project by sending them an invitation.

Plus, it provides dashboard reports on both project tasks and sales that you can easily find through its advanced search bar. 🔎

SmartTask best features

• Internal and external team communication
• Set recurring tasks (daily, weekly, or monthly)
• Task and sales reports
• Supports managing tasks across projects
• Time tracking for individual tasks
• Task management tools for iOS and Android

SmartTask limitations

• The UI and UX could use some improvement
• Adding more integrations would be useful

SmartTask pricing

SmartTask may offer discounted pricing to NGOs upon contact. Eligible startups can also apply for a $1,000 worth of credit.

• Free Forever
• Premium: $7.99/month per user
• Business: $10.99/month per user

SmartTask ratings and reviews

• G2: 4.5/5 (60+ reviews)
• Capterra: 4.6/5 (30+ reviews)

I’ll admit that HubSpot Task Management is far from a traditional task manager—it’s more of a suite designed to help marketers streamline Customer Relationship Management (CRM) processes. Now, we know that effective CRM depends on properly storing, tracking, and managing lead- and customer-based activities. HubSpot helps you streamline these scattered tasks to boost revenue.

We explored this software extensively and can confirm that it reduces the need to switch between multiple tabs when talking to prospects, all thanks to dashboards that centralize all CRM work. In terms of use cases, utilize the dashboards to track your to-do list items, view prospect details, and stay on top of meetings. 

Need to create new tasks? Do that directly from your workflows, email inbox, or to-do list. And if you need insights from past task performances, like deals made and activities completed, leverage HubSpot’s reporting tools. This platform simplifies communication with email templates (for sending messages in bulk) and real-time team chat. 

While sales and marketing teams may enjoy HubSpot’s task management style, some of HubSpot’s alternatives could be a better choice for companies in IT or finance. You can even consider the HubSpot-ClickUp integration if you want to organize your customer-facing processes more diligently.

HubSpot best features

• A wide array of CRM functionalities
• Live team chats
• Dashboards to centralize prospect-related work
• Integrates with apps like WordPress, Gmail, and Zapier
• iOS and Android mobile app for HubSpot CRM

HubSpot limitations

• Limited option to prioritize tasks
• Workflow automation is limited on the free plan

HubSpot pricing

For individuals and small teams:

• Starter: $15/month
• Professional: $800/month

HubSpot (CRM) ratings and reviews

• G2: 4.4/5 (11,000+ reviews)
• Capterra: 4.5/5 (4,000+ reviews)

Paymo is a simple task management software and invoicing app rolled into one, so I can see how it holds enormous appeal for professionals and freelancers who want to manage client work, time tracking data, and resources within one platform . It lets you automatically set up ghost bookings based on the task details you’ve entered in the past, as well as receive a visual overview of all bookings for the immediate team on a single screen. 🖥️

Paymo also simplifies managing resources by allowing multiple managers to work on scheduling to avoid overbooking or underbooking. We can:

• Book time for time-sensitive tasks by the hour
• Accommodate unscheduled tasks with a simple drag-and-drop function
• Visualize our team’s availability on timelines
• Send booking notifications only to relevant team members

The platform lets my employees view their tasks in a single view, while our task managers monitor both their personal tasks and team’s work in separate views. Like with most Paymo alternatives , we get project views like Gantt charts, Tables, and Calendars to visualize tasks.

Paymo also encourages team collaboration, offering a detailed Task View to chat in real time about the latest task updates. Finally, Paymo provides task priority levels like critical, high, normal, or low across teams, which we can adjust based on our delivery commitment to clients.

Paymo best features

• Timelines to assess employee availability
• Allows booking time for client tasks by the hour
• Real-time chat
• Project views like Gantt chart and Kanban board
• Integrates with apps like Slack, Google Calendar, and JotForm
• Mobile app support for iOS and Android

Paymo limitations

• The mobile app may be tricky to navigate
• Takes time to train employees to use the platform

Paymo pricing

• Free (for up to five clients)
• Starter: $5.9/month per user
• Small Office: $10.9/month per user
• Business: $16.9/month per user

Paymo ratings and reviews

• Capterra: 4.8/5 (400+ reviews)

I have talked to many freelancers about their task management routines, and I think one of their main problem areas is connecting tasks to tracked hours and, eventually, invoices. That’s precisely why I made sure this handy all-in-one tool was on our list.

While most TimeCamp alternatives on this list include typical task and project management features, TimeCamp shifts its focus to time-task budgeting instead.

With its one-click time-tracking capabilities , you can track your or your team’s working hours effortlessly. You can use this data to standardize times for specific jobs, plan and create task assignments and invoice estimates, and monitor each team member’s productivity.

TimeCamp also provides features for measuring the profitability of your projects and tracking billable hours, streamlining invoicing and resource management. Basically, the tasks you had to do manually, like creating invoices and approving timesheets, are automated on this platform.

Although this software highlights time tracking, it’s still a task management tool. Its TimeCamp Planner product helps you organize tasks and monitor their progress on Kanban-style boards. 

If you’re dealing with repeatable tasks, automate them by specifying information like due dates, assignees, and progress statuses. Plus, you can switch from team task overview to your own using the My Tasks feature , which displays your assigned tasks on a list, calendar, or timeline view.

Note that TimeCamp’s time tracking and task management features are available on separate pricing plans .

TimeCamp best features

• Comprehensive time-tracking tools
• Kanban board for easy task tracking
• Personal task lists
• Can automate repeatable tasks
• Includes apps for Android and iOS
• ClickUp (you can use this integration to time your ClickUp tasks and enjoy billing accuracy)
• Google Calendar

TimeCamp limitations

• The user interface and server load time could be better
• The tool may be buggy at times

TimeCamp pricing (for TimeCamp Planner)

• Starter: $2.99/month per user (best for freelancers)
• Premium: $4.99/month per user (ideal for businesses tracking profitability)
• Ultimate: $7.99/month per user (for better analytical reporting)
• Enterprise: $11.99/month per user (for higher security and custom integrations)

TimeCamp ratings and reviews

• G2: 4.7/5 (100+ reviews)
• Capterra: 4.7/5 (500+ reviews)

Any.do specializes in providing easy-to-use to-do lists to help you achieve both personal or professional goals efficiently. It caters to individuals, families, and teams, and is available via 10+ platforms, including Mac, Safari, and iPad.

During my time with this tool, I was able to organize my to-dos in separate lists and projects, all color-coded to set clear priorities and determine task categories. We can enhance our task lists with:

• Subtasks and attachments for added task awareness
• Deadlines and reminders

Sharing responsibilities is also simple—just share a task list with your teammates or family to collaborate on task completion . For example, you can assign different items on a grocery list to family members and track the list to ensure they complete the task successfully. If there’s an urgent matter you wish to discuss, use the chat function to communicate in real time.  

For companies looking for a task management tool with project management capabilities, Any.do is a solid choice as it also offers features like customizable workflows, views, pre-made templates, and powerful integrations with other work tools.

If you want more comprehensive workflow features, though, explore some more advanced Any.do alternatives .

Any.do best features

• Provides simple to-do lists
• Great as a daily task manager
• Lets you share lists with teams, family, and friends
• Reminders for timely task completion
• Has apps for iOS and Android
• Integrates with other task management tools like ClickUp and Asana (via Zapier)

Any.do limitations

• Some users desire more integrations (like with Microsoft Calendar)
• Limited advanced features for this price range

Any.do pricing

Remember to get a Family or Teams plan to access shared lists.

• Premium: $2.99/month per user
• Family: $8.33/month per four users
• Teams: $4.99/month per user

*All listed prices refer to approx values billed annually

Any.do ratings and reviews

• G2: 4.2/5 (100+ reviews)
• Capterra: 4.4/5 (100+ reviews)

At the time of reviewing this tool, we noted a few less-than-positive reviews by Android and iOS users, mostly about some UX elements. However, the reviews for the overall functionalities are quite positive. Here’s what a sales manager who uses the product had to say :

With Any.do, organizing my tasks is simple and fast. The app works fine, and it does the job that it’s supposed to do, setting daily reminders and scheduling to keep myself on track of what’s going on. I love apps that offer a simple, minimalistic professional design.

Smartsheet is a spreadsheet-like task management tool . It’s great for those who are comfortable tracking tasks in Excel but are open to switching to a tool with less complicated calculation work. The tool is popular in construction, healthcare, and education industries where task management is all about working with scattered data.

Like ClickUp, Smartsheet offers comprehensive project and task management tools for handling different workflows. For example, it lets you schedule tasks, create subtasks, allocate resources, and track assignments efficiently from one platform. ✅

Here, tasks are represented on spreadsheets for individual projects. Like most Smartsheet alternatives , we can add basic task information, like due dates and assignees, in clear fields and columns. We can also merge several spreadsheets to have a consolidated view of our tasks across categories.

However, these aren’t traditional spreadsheets—they also provide the advanced features of a modern task management tool. For instance, we can use checkboxes, dropdown lists, and comments to interact with tasks on Smartsheet.

This is a great task management software for teams working on extensive projects as it includes templates for agile project management, OKR tracking, budgeting, and resource management.

It also supports task automation, real-time collaboration , and advanced analytics. Plus, it integrates with services we may already use, like Google Workspace and Microsoft Teams.

Bonus read: Explore ClickUp vs. Smartsheet !

Smartsheet best features

• Spreadsheet-based project management tool
• Advanced functionalities for monitoring complex projects
• Supports real-time team communication
• Templates for agile project management
• Integrates with numerous communication, data visualization, and project delivery apps
• Available as an iOS or Android mobile app

Smartsheet limitations

• There may be a steep learning curve for users figuring out advanced features
• It could benefit from adding more template options

Smartsheet pricing

• Free (for up to two task editors)
• Pro: $7/month per user
• Business: $25/month per user

Smartsheet ratings and reviews

• G2: 4.4/5 (14,000+ reviews)
• Capterra: 4.5/5 (3,000+ reviews)

Our first-hand experience with these tools has been both adventurous and enlightening. We think each of these options understands their target users and strives to deliver. However, if you’re still struggling to find “the one,” make a list of what you really prioritize in a task management platform.

Typically, great task management software provides features that help you plan, organize, track, and assign tasks, but you shouldn’t have to pay a fortune for these functions. Some features, like reminders, automation, and task views, are the bare minimum, and we see them in almost every tool we discussed.

What you can explore is the overall functionalities you get for a given price. Say Tool A gives you 30 advanced features and the more popular Tool B gives you 25 advanced features at the same price point—you know what to pick!

Lastly, the best task management tools are supposed to make your life easier, not vice versa, so ensure your chosen tool is easy to implement and fun to work with! 🥳

If you absolutely can’t make a choice, we’ll be cheeky and persuade you to try ClickUp ! It’s got all the features you’ll need to streamline task management with minimal effort. Whether you want to set goals, track and assign tasks, manage time, reduce manual labor, or communicate with your team, the possibilities are endless.

Sign up to ClickUp today and enjoy the best toolkit a free task management software has to offer! 💖

Questions? Comments? Visit our Help Center for support.

Receive the latest WriteClick Newsletter updates.

Thanks for subscribing to our blog!

Please enter a valid email

• Free training & 24-hour support
• Serious about security & privacy
• 99.99% uptime the last 12 months

10 Task Management Software Tools To Keep Your Team On Track (Free & Paid)

Managing a project is about identifying the tasks that need to be done. But, that’s just the first step. To deliver a project, you’ll need to get project tasks done. A team task management software simplifies this by helping you and your team identify, organize, and get tasks done.

When it comes to choosing a task management app , you are spoiled for choice. To reduce this overwhelm, we have created this resource to help you pick the right tool for task management.

In this article you’ll learn:

What is task management?

• Differences between task management and to-do lists

Why do you need team task management software?

• How to choose a team task management software?
• The best 10 task management software tools

If you want to directly skip to the tools, here’s the list of the top online task management solutions. Click on the name of the tool to learn more about it.

Task management is an essential part of project management. It enables you to break down the project into small, achievable tasks and measure their progress throughout their lifecycle.

Task management helps teams reduce the overwhelm, boost productivity, and reward small wins on the completion of key milestones.

Task management consists of three primary activities:

• Tracking Project Tasks: You keep a tab on task completion. You can use kanban boards or set up customized project workflows to track the task progress.
• Delegating Tasks: You assign tasks to individuals or a team(s). Task delegation allows managers to increase efficiency and improve collaboration.
• Assigning Task Deadlines: Depending on the project timeline , task complexity, and estimated time required, you assign a deadline to each task. If necessary, you can also set up reminders to notify the team of the upcoming deadline.

Task management vs to-do lists

The confusion between task management and to-do lists perhaps stems from the similarity between checking-off a task off the list after its completion. But task management is quite comprehensive compared to a to-do list.

To-do lists are the simplest form of task management. You enlist the tasks, errands to run, or anything you’d like to complete during the given day, and that’s it. You might rearrange the items, but they don’t go any granular than this.

Task management, on the other hand, is concerned with other intricacies of project management. Some of the complexities in task management include:

• Deadlines: Assigning a delivery deadline allows individuals or teams to prioritize their work.
• Resource Availability: By viewing resource allocation and workload distribution you can optimize task delegation.
• Task Dependencies: By visualizing task dependencies, you can prioritize the tasks that would speed up project completion.

A task management system simplifies your team’s task workflow.

Here are five reasons a team task management software can be of immense help for managing projects:

1. Capture, organize and prioritize project activities

Task management software helps you keep a record of the identified tasks. In addition, it helps you organize project tasks according to project milestones , and schedule them based on priority. Depending on task dependencies, you can then plan out a project timeline.

2. Plan work and team schedules

Based on the project timeline , you can use a task planning app to plan and schedule your work.

Identifying team members and assigning tasks helps you distribute work. The team schedule visualizes individual tasks and workloads, which allows you to view who is overworked and who can cram in one more task.

3. Create a project information hub

A task management application provides a platform to store all project-related information in one place. While creating new tasks, team members can include additional information (external links, resources) and attach files under each task.

Users can also create a project wiki to centralize essential documentation and information required for the project.

4. Track project progress

Most task tracking apps come with multiple views to visualize project progress . Two of the most common views include the kanban board and the Gantt chart/timeline view.

The kanban board consists of a workflow to visualize task progress. Users can move tasks across different boards as they are working on them.

The Gantt chart shows the project/task schedule over a timeline. You can view each task’s start and end date, duration, current progress, dependencies, etc. in an instance.

On the task level, team members can collaborate with the team, discuss potential issues, and get stakeholder approval.

5. Meet deadlines

A milestone is achieved when all the pre-agreed tasks are completed by a given deadline. That’s why team members need clear visual cues about upcoming milestones and deadlines. Task management software tools help the team get an overview of the progress made towards a milestone.

How to choose a perfect task management software?

Before we look at the 10 best task managers, let’s understand how to pick a solution that will work for you. The following points can help you evaluate task management alternatives:

1. Infrastructure & availability

Security and workflows dictate the infrastructure you’ll need for a project task manager. In addition, the infrastructure you choose will also decide when and how the task management system is available.

• For personal task management , daily task management software will work just fine. It doesn’t have to be fancy-schmancy. As long as you can check off the to-do list at the end of the day, it’s served its purpose.
• If you are an in-house team , you can use on-premise software that works on the company intranet. The shortcoming of this infrastructure is that you can’t access the application outside company premises via the internet.
• On the other hand, with a cloud-based task manager , you can access the software via a smartphone or a computer as long as you have a working internet connection.

2. User interface and user experience (UI/UX)

A task organizer is always a means to an end. In other words, you don’t want your team to spend more time updating tasks progress than actually doing them.

Complex task management solutions often slow teams down. That’s because you have to spend time onboarding your team, teaching them about the software, and making sure they use it the right way.

And, sometimes team abandon using a tool, simply because it’s too complex to use.

3. Key features

Task details: The task planning app should allow you to add sufficient information about what needs to be done. That way, the team members responsible for doing the task have everything they need to complete the task.

This includes file attachments, rich text task description, task deadlines, etc.

Customizable task workflows: Each team works in a different way.

A design team has to brainstorm, ideate, create and get a creative approved before it goes live. On the other hand, a software team may take an entirely different approach.

The task planning tool should be flexible to work with your workflow. Or, you’ll have to spend even more time adapting to the tool’s workflow.

Task collaboration platform: Often team members need to work together on tasks. A task manager needs to have the ability to:

• Assign tasks to multiple team members.
• Share task notes and comments to discuss details and manage approvals.
• Attach files that may be needed to complete the task.
• Keep stakeholders updated with the project progress.

Task schedule overview: It’s immensely helpful if the task manager offers a timeline view. This way, you can track tasks, understand task dependencies and bottlenecks, phase completion in a glimpse. You will also be able to visualize resource allocation.

4. Integrations

The task management platform should compensate for the missing features via third-party integrations. The most common integrations include time tracking , calendar, billing, scheduling, and communication apps.

Money is a big factor when it comes to choosing a task management app. That’s because most tools charge a monthly fee per user. So, you’ll need a budget for all the team members you plan to onboard.

Top 10 online task management software tools

Now that we know what to look for in a project and task management tools and how to choose one, let’s look at the top ten task management platforms for teams.

1. Toggl Plan

Toggl Plan is one of the simplest project and team task management tool for many reasons. While it comes with everything you need to manage tasks, there’s practically no learning curve involved.

Plan tasks on a timeline

Planning tasks is super-easy with Toggl Plan. To get started, just add tasks to the project’s timeline. Then, schedule tasks based on deadlines and resource availability.

The timeline gives a clear overview of what’s being done and what needs to be done.

Create custom workflows with boards

While you can manage tasks directly from the timeline, Toggl Plan also comes with a boards view. You can customize the board based on your workflow.

And, your team members can simply drag and drop tasks from to-do to done.

Keep everything you need in one place

With Toggl Plan, you can keep all your project information in one place.

You can add all the task details in one place with a rich text task description, task checklist, and file attachments. Task assignment is easy and you can make multiple team members responsible for a task.

Also, tasks can be assigned to multiple team members. Team members can then discuss and collaborate on the task by adding comments.

Recurring Tasks & Time-Tracking

With Toggl Plan, you can also plan and manage repetitive tasks. Recurring tasks can repeat daily, weekly, monthly, or every year.

In addition, you can improve your team’s productivity by integrating with Toggl Track for time-tracking.

• Toggl Plan is free for solo users and includes unlimited tasks and projects.
• The team plans starts at $8 per user, per month, paid annually. You also get additional features like the annual view, custom colors, and multi-assign tasks.

Trello is a kanban-based project and task management tool. Known for its simplicity, Trello is to manage individual goals as well as team projects.

• Visual task management with kanban boards.
• Users can add subtasks, due date, attach files, include task description, leave comments, and assign it to multiple users.
• Create customized workflows to suit your project requirements .
• Automate task management through rule-based triggers, calendar, and due date commands.
• Doesn’t offer the Gantt chart or timeline view.
• Users can’t visualize task dependencies.
• The absence of timeline and calendar views restricts its utility for complex tasks.
• The free plan lets you create ten boards and is useful for individuals or small teams. 
• The paid plans start at $12.50 per user, per month that offer unlimited team boards, powerful automation features, and better support.

3. Basecamp

The first thing you’ll notice with Basecamp is that its interface is different compared to contemporary task management apps. It segregates the message board, to-do list, chat, and files into different modules under each project or team.

• Create task lists in the to-dos section. You can assign tasks, add notes, attach files, set due dates, and leave comments.
• Visualize project progress using Hill Charts. It’s a native Basecamp feature that provides a macro perspective of the project.
• Centralize project files at a single location.
• Doesn’t offer kanban board and timeline views.
• Very rigid when it comes to customizing options.
• The lack of phases and milestones makes it challenging to track project progress.
• Expensive for smaller teams.
• Doesn’t offer a free plan.
• After the 30-day free trial, you are charged a $99 per month flat.

Todoist is a simple yet powerful task management tool. The tool brings together the best of a simple to-do list and the complexities of a task management app.

• Create a task list and order it by task priorities.
• Categorize tasks by tags, projects, or due dates. Prioritize important tasks by projects, labels, or filters.
• Automate recurring task creation based on their frequency.
• Use ready-to-use templates to set up a list of tasks.
• Comprehensive third-party integrations.
• Although the app is easy-to-use, setting up projects can be complex in the beginning.
• Essential features like file uploads, comments, and calendar sync are offered under premium plans.
• Not a comprehensive solution to manage complex projects or tasks.
• The absence of the timeline view makes it difficult to track project progress.
• The free plan accommodates 80 projects with five users per project. Useful for individual projects.
• For reminders, activity logs shared team inbox, and user roles, subscribe to their business plan starting at $5 per user, per month.

Tasklog is a nifty work management software for freelancers. It comes with all the essential features to help freelancers boost their productivity and manage tasks and time effectively.

• Built-in time tracker, timesheets , and Pomodoro timer.
• Create and manage tasks and projects. Assign labels. Create reusable templates.
• Set up an hourly rate. Track your time and earnings per project to identify crucial clients.
• Use the dashboard to analyze productivity, time per project or client, profitable projects, and clients.
• Not a powerful for teams or complex projects.
• Lack of third-party integrations.
• Doesn’t offer kanban board or timeline views.
• The app offers a free 7-day trial. The individual plan costs $5 per month.
• The basic plan for teams starts at $50 per month for 50 users.

6. MeisterTask

MeisterTask is an intuitive project task management system for individuals and teams. The tool is primarily kanban-based, which makes it easy to track tasks.

• Import your data directly from Trello and Asana.
• Visualize task dependencies to identify bottlenecks. Users receive notifications when these bottlenecks are resolved.
• Set up recurring tasks.
• Add custom fields depending on the nature of the project.
• Provides built-in time tracker.
• Not suitable for traditional or complex project management.
• Doesn’t offer timeline and calendar views.
• Users have faced difficulties with setting up customized workflows.
• The free plan allows you to add three projects with limited integration capabilities.
• The pro plan starts at $4.19 per month, billed annually.

7. Sendtask

Sendtask is an under-development task management tool known for its flexibility. The biggest advantage while collaborating is that the collaborators don’t need a Sendtask account to work on the project.

• Set up tasks and subtasks, assign tasks, add followers, upload files, set due dates, and auto-reminders.
• Create recurring tasks.
• Useful for individuals and smaller teams.
• Doesn’t have a kanban board and timeline views.
• You can’t assign tasks to multiple people.
• Limited integrations.
• Sendtask is still in beta and free to use.

Notion is a workspace suite that offers some features for project and task management. It is useful to set up a content repository, manage tasks and projects, and works as a powerful note-taking application.

• Manage tasks using document boards, calendars, lists, and tables.
• Set up a wiki to store project documentation.
• Create customized workflows.
• Offers a truly rich-text editor that lets you embed 50+ apps inside Notion pages.
• Notion’s expansive feature set itself can make the app clunky to use.
• Lacks intuitiveness that comes due to the comprehensiveness of the product.
• Doesn’t offer timeline views and other task management features offered by traditional task management apps.
• The free plan is useful for solo users.
• The team plan starts at $8 per user, per month and offers better collaboration options.

Nifty is a team collaboration software that also offers a team task manager. The app’s UI is similar to that of Basecamp. You can customize the modules to suit your project requirements.

• Kanban and timeline views provide a better way to track tasks.
• Automate task allocation by assigning a task list to a user. This automatically assigns every new task to the list to the default user.
• Convert task lists into milestones and map out dependencies.
• It relies on Zapier to facilitate some integrations, which can get expensive.
• Comes with a learning curve.
• The interface can get crowded.
• Time tracking and reporting features cost an additional $20 per month for basic plans.
• Nifty offers a 14-day free trial. The basic plan starts at $49 per month that supports ten users.

10. Backlog

Backlog offers project management, bug tracking, and robust task management features. That’s because it’s primarily for software developers.

• Visualize tasks and schedules using kanban boards, burndown charts, and timeline views.
• Integrate with Git and SVN to manage tasks and source code.
• Assign guest roles to freelancers, clients, and vendors for better collaboration.
• Users have reported issues with the task management process.
• The mobile app is not as powerful as its web version.
• Provides fewer integrations considering the product’s scope.
• The free plan allows ten users and one project.
• The basic plan starts at $35 per month for 30 users and five projects and includes 1 GB of storage.

How to pick the right task management tools for your team?

Effective task management determines the success of a project.

Picking a project task management system isn’t always easy. That’s because there are so many parameters and options.

The best way is to weigh the features and cons of each tool and shortlist the ones that fit your budget. And then try out 2-3 solutions. Finally, go for the one that’s intuitive and easy-to-use.

As you’re evaluating, do give Toggl Plan a try.

It comes with all the essential task management features you need. But, critically, there’s absolutely no learning curve. In fact, your team will love using it every day.

Sign up for a free Toggl Plan account .

Join 30,000+ subscribers getting the best tips on productivity, work management, hiring and more!

We promise we won't spam you and you can unsubscribe anytime.

You might also like...

Related to Project Management

10 Best Consultant Project Management Software (2023)

How to Track Project Progress Effectively [Actionable Guide]

The Complete Guide to Project Milestones: Definition, Purpose, Identification & Tracking Progress

Take a peek at our most popular categories:

How to Assign Tasks and Responsibilities to Team Members

As a manager or team leader, it’s important to effectively assign tasks and responsibilities to team members in order to ensure that work is completed efficiently and effectively.

This can be a challenging task, especially if you have a large team, are working on a complex project, or are leading a team with no experience .

In this blog post, we will provide tips and best practices for assigning tasks and responsibilities to team members in a way that helps your team succeed.

We’ll cover topics such as setting clear expectations, delegating tasks appropriately, and providing support to team members as they complete their work.

By following these guidelines, you can create a productive and collaborative work environment that helps your team achieve its goals.

Setting Clear Expectations

One of the key elements of effective task assignments is setting clear expectations for team members.

This includes outlining the specific tasks that need to be completed, as well as any deadlines or goals that need to be met. It’s also important to communicate the purpose of the tasks and how they fit into the overall goals of the project or organization.

This helps team members understand the context of their work and why it’s important.

To set clear expectations, it’s a good idea to create a written document or task list that outlines the specific responsibilities of each team member.

This can be a simple spreadsheet or project management tool, or a more detailed project plan. Make sure to include details such as the task description, any necessary resources or tools, and any deadlines or milestones.

It’s also a good idea to discuss the task assignments with team members individually, to ensure that they understand their responsibilities and have any questions answered.

By setting clear expectations, you can help team members stay organized and focused as they complete their work.

Delegating Tasks Appropriately

Effective task assignment also involves delegating tasks to the right team members.

This means considering the skills, experience, and workload of each team member, and assigning tasks that are appropriate for their abilities and capacity. Delegating tasks appropriately helps to ensure that work is completed efficiently and effectively, and helps to avoid overloading any one team member or causing delays due to a lack of resources.

To delegate tasks appropriately, it’s important to have a good understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of each team member. This may involve reviewing their previous work or having candid conversations about their interests and capabilities.

It’s also important to consider the workload of each team member and ensure that they are not taking on more work than they can handle.

Another key aspect of effective task assignments is empowering team members to take ownership of their work . This means giving them the autonomy to complete tasks in their own way, within the parameters set by the project plan or task list.

Empowering team members to take ownership of their work can help to foster a sense of ownership and responsibility, and can lead to higher quality work and greater job satisfaction.

Providing Support to Team Members

Effective task assignment also involves providing support to team members as they complete their work.

This includes making sure that team members have the necessary resources and tools to complete their tasks, as well as offering guidance and assistance when needed. Providing support helps to ensure that team members are able to complete their work efficiently and effectively, and can also help to foster a sense of teamwork and collaboration within the team.

There are several ways that you can provide support to team members as they complete their work. This may include offering training or development opportunities, providing access to necessary resources or tools, and offering feedback and guidance as needed.

It’s also important to be available to team members if they have questions or need assistance with their tasks. By providing support and assistance, you can help team members to feel more confident and capable as they complete their work.

In conclusion, effective task assignment is an important element of managing a team or project. By setting clear expectations, delegating tasks appropriately, and providing support to team members, you can create a productive and collaborative work environment that helps your team succeed.

Communicating Task Assignments and Updates

Effective task assignment also involves effective communication with team members.

This includes not only clearly outlining the tasks and responsibilities that need to be completed, but also keeping team members informed of any updates or changes to the tasks or project plan. This can help to ensure that team members are aware of their responsibilities and are able to stay on track with their work.

There are several ways that you can communicate task assignments and updates to team members. This may include using a project management tool or task list to keep track of assignments and deadlines, as well as regularly holding meetings or check-ins to discuss progress and address any issues that may arise.

It’s also important to be available to team members if they have questions or need clarification on their tasks.

Effective communication is key to ensuring that team members are able to complete their work efficiently and effectively.

By keeping team members informed and providing clear guidance, you can help to ensure that work is completed on time and to the required standards.

Assessing and Adjusting Task Assignments

Effective task assignment also involves ongoing assessment and adjustment of task assignments as needed. This means regularly reviewing the progress of team members and the overall project, and making adjustments to tasks or responsibilities as needed to ensure that work is completed efficiently and effectively.

To assess and adjust task assignments, it’s important to regularly check in with team members and review their progress.

This may involve holding meetings or check-ins, as well as reviewing any project management tools or task lists that you are using to track progress. If you notice that a team member is struggling with their tasks or is unable to complete them on time, it may be necessary to adjust their assignments or provide additional support.

Similarly, if you notice that a team member has extra capacity or is particularly skilled in a certain area, you may want to consider reassigning tasks or increasing their responsibilities.

By regularly assessing and adjusting task assignments, you can ensure that work is completed efficiently and effectively, and that team members are able to make the most of their skills and abilities.

Encouraging Team Input and Feedback

Effective task assignment also involves encouraging team input and feedback.

This means soliciting ideas and suggestions from team members and actively listening to their concerns or issues related to their tasks or the project as a whole. Encouraging team input and feedback can help to foster a sense of ownership and engagement among team members, and can also lead to better decision-making and problem-solving.

There are several ways that you can encourage team input and feedback. This may include holding regular team meetings or check-ins, as well as setting aside time for open discussion and brainstorming sessions.

It’s also a good idea to create a culture of open and honest communication within your team, where team members feel comfortable speaking up and sharing their ideas or concerns.

By encouraging team input and feedback, you can create a more collaborative and inclusive work environment that helps your team succeed.

Providing Recognition and Rewards

Effective task assignment also involves providing recognition and rewards to team members who excel in their work. This can help to motivate team members and encourage them to continue performing at a high level, as well as foster a positive work culture.

There are many ways that you can provide recognition and rewards to team members. This may include offering verbal praise or written feedback, as well as more tangible rewards such as gift cards, paid time off, or additional responsibilities.

It’s important to consider the preferences and motivations of individual team members when deciding on recognition and rewards, as different people may respond differently to different forms of recognition.

By providing recognition and rewards to team members who excel in their work, you can show appreciation for their efforts and help to motivate and inspire them to continue performing at a high level.

Wrapping Up

Effective task assignment is an important element of managing a team or project.

It involves setting clear expectations for team members, delegating tasks appropriately, and providing support and assistance as needed.

Effective task assignment also involves ongoing communication and assessment, as well as encouraging team input and feedback and providing recognition and rewards for excellent performance.

By following these guidelines, you can create a productive and collaborative work environment that helps your team succeed.

Are you a visionary leader? Find out with our self-assessment!

Disclaimers

All the information on this website - https://melbado.com/ - is published in good faith and for general information purpose only. Melbado does not make any warranties about the completeness, reliability and accuracy of this information. Any action you take upon the information you find on this website (Melbado), is strictly at your own risk. Melbado will not be liable for any losses and/or damages in connection with the use of our website.

From our website, you can visit other websites by following hyperlinks to such external sites. While we strive to provide only quality links to useful and ethical websites, we have no control over the content and nature of these sites. These links to other websites do not imply a recommendation for all the content found on these sites. Site owners and content may change without notice and may occur before we have the opportunity to remove a link which may have gone 'bad'.

Please be also aware that when you leave our website, other sites may have different privacy policies and terms which are beyond our control. Please be sure to check the Privacy Policies of these sites as well as their "Terms of Service" before engaging in any business or uploading any information.

By using our website, you hereby consent to our disclaimer and agree to its terms.

• Contact sales
• Start free trial

The Ultimate Guide to…

Team Management

Brought to you by projectmanager, the online team management tool used to plan over 2 million projects..

What Is Team Management?

Why team management is important, what is team management software, benefits of online team management software, must-have team management software features, how to manage a project team with online tools, how to manage a team, team management skills, team conflict resolution, team recognition.

• 5 Inspiring Teamwork Examples

Get Team Management Software Free for 30 Days

Team management resources.

Team management is all about working with your team to help them collaborate and be more productive. It also refers to the activities and tools that allow teams to work better together. That means managing assignments, schedules, workload and more.

To best manage teams, you need to set clear objectives, help facilitate teamwork, have clear communications and oversee performance, while adjusting workload as needed to get the most out of your resources. This also means seeing issues and resolving them before they become problems that sidetrack the project.

Therefore, team management is a day-to-day activity when running a project. It touches almost every phase and method of project management . For example, when you’re scheduling a project and prioritizing tasks, what you’re doing is fundamental to team management.

A team is the fuel that drives a project. They take tasks, and with expertise and experience, complete them according to your plan—on time and within budget. To do this requires thorough administering and coordinating.

That’s easier said than done. There are objectives to meet, communication channels to create, collaboration to foster and being able to appraise your team’s performance all while in the midst of running the larger project.

The main importance of team management, then, is that it helps to bring your project in successfully. But there are more benefits that might not be as evident.

Team Building

Teams work better when they work together. But not everyone on a team clicks immediately. You must promote the collaborative nature that bonds team members into an effective team. That means assembling the right team and giving each member responsibilities that fit their skillsets. You can also try team building activities to create a collaborative environment.

Productivity

We touched on this before, but it’s worth emphasizing. Team management serves the project by getting teams to work better. That doesn’t mean driving them until they burn out, which is counterproductive. Rather, it’s about balancing their workload , creating reasonable timelines , supporting them and removing obstacles that prevent them from succeeding at their tasks.

Teams are not static. You probably will use the same team for similar projects. The more experience they have, the better they’ll work. Having a team that is well managed means that, as you add new team members, they will have less of a learning curve and be helped to get up to speed by the more experienced members. As teams gain experience and skills they become a more valued asset.

Giving teams what they need to do their work is not only going to increase their productivity, but they’ll be happier. Happiness might seem insignificant in the larger business environment, but happy teams are not only more productive. They are easier to retain and mean less turnover, which saves money.

Performance

Similar to productivity, performance speaks to the larger subject of helping organizations meet their goals and objectives. Team management creates stronger teams that meet the targets of the larger organization while they work on the smaller tasks of individual projects.

Managers use team management software to connect and monitor their teams and enhance their ability to work better together. A quality team management tool improves collaboration by opening clear communication between team members, while also giving managers features that help balance resources and keep everyone working at their capacity.

Key features of team management software include team scheduling, resource management and deep reporting. In terms of communication tools, software sometimes features unlimited file sharing and notifications that alert managers to updates.

Managers and teams work differently, of course, and team management software will often give them various project views. For example, managers plan and schedule on Gantt Charts , while teams can manage their work with task lists and kanban boards. A calendar can also be helpful to capture important dates, such as task deadlines. Microsoft Project is one of the most commonly used project management software, but it has major drawbacks that make  ProjectManager a better choice for team management.

Having features that can view progress at a high-level and report in greater detail on tasks is going to help you stay on track. These are some of the key benefits of online team management software:

• Assign tasks and track progress
• Foster collaboration with your team
• Balance resources in workload feature
• See team availability and labor costs
• Automate timesheets to track hours and streamline payroll
• Get email alerts and in-app notifications to stay updated

Oversee Your Team’s Tasks

Making sure teams have the right amount of work keeps them productive. Too few tasks, or too many, and you’ll fall out of schedule and morale will take a hit. A workload feature will show who is doing what and allow you to balance a team’s task load from the same page.

Monitor and Track Progress

Getting the most from your team means managing their tasks. You need a tool that has features to assign, monitor and track progress. A team management software that can do this in real time and automatically calculate key project metrics is essential.

Flexible & Customizable Options

Keeping your data secure is important when working in a team management tool. Project security should be customizable, and the managers must have the authority to designate roles beyond the basic administrator, manager and team member.

Monitor Your Team’s Logged Hours

Knowing how much time is left in the project, and how much time your team is spending on tasks, will help you stay on schedule. Dashboards give you a high-level view of the project, and timesheets and reports capture the hours logged by your team when executing their tasks.

Know What You’re Spending on Labor

Having a handle of your costs keeps the project on budget. Manage your team to make sure they’re not spending more time and money executing the tasks than anticipated. You want a tool that can set labor costs, then use that baseline to track them later.

Get Teams Working Together

Connecting your teams and giving them the tools to facilitate working together leads to even greater productivity. Features that allow teams to comment at the task level and attach files to a task can provide clear direction for the project.

Team management software helps project managers control their teams, communicate effectively with them and set their schedules and workload to meet their capacity with the resources they need to get their jobs done.

ProjectManager is an award-winning tool that better organizes teams and projects to boost productivity through increasing efficiency. This is how we help you manage your project team .

Onboard Your Team

Getting the team onboard is the first step. Getting started is a quick and easy process, and once in the interface, users will find an intuitive interface that avoids a steep learning curve.

Invite the team to the software with an email. All they need to do is follow the link, and they’re in. You can adjust their profiles, including their skills and labor costs, to use for future projects and to track costs.

Assign Tasks

Tasks are how your team interacts with the project. They were assembled to complete them. Prioritize, describe and assign them, so they have clear direction.

Describe tasks and attach any related documentation or images. Set the priority, so they know what to work on. Add resource costs and you can track them later.

Use Multiple Views

Not everyone works the same, and therefore, they need different tools to meet their needs. Our team management software has the flexibility you need for effective cross-team collaboration .

Plan on a Gantt chart, with features to link task dependencies and set milestones. Then, visualize your workflows with kanban boards. See important dates on a calendar, and mark off tasks on the list view.

Get Transparency

Getting insights into your team’s work is the main reason to use team management software. You can get transparency, without getting in their way. It’s especially useful for managing distributed teams.

View the team management page to see your entire team, the tasks they’ve been assigned, their due dates and the task’s percentage complete. Know their progress anytime, anywhere.

Work Better Together

Team management software isn’t just about managing teams, it’s also giving them the tools they need to collaborate and work more efficiently to increase their productivity.

With ProjectManager, teams have a collaborative platform where they can communicate at the task level, get notified when the tasks they’re working on are commented on or updated, and can readily share pertinent files.

View Progress

More than just knowing the tasks your team is working on, team management software needs to give you a high-level view of the whole project, so you can make data-driven decisions.

See an overview of your project as it progresses across six metrics, measuring the overall health, costs, workload and more. All data is collected in real-time and automatically calculated for you.

Manage Resources

Resources are anything you need to complete the project, like teams, equipment, supplies and more. This includes your team’s tasks, and making sure everyone is well assigned.

View our color-coded workload page to instantly see who has too many tasks, and who is working on too few. Then, reallocate resources right from the page to balance workload.

Submit Timesheets

Timesheets are a tool to streamline the payroll process, but they are also another way to monitor the progress of your team as they log their hours over the week.

Use timesheets to keep track of your team as they log hours while working on their tasks. Timesheets are automatically updated when task statuses are filed, so you get real-time data.

Reports offer richer data, allowing you to get granular to measure aspects of the project not covered in the more general view of the dashboard. They also keep stakeholders in the loop.

Get reports with one click, and see details on project status , team availability, variance and more. Reports can be filtered and easily shared as a PDF for when you need to present to stakeholders.

Team management is a tool to help team leaders inspire, guide and help their teams achieve the goals of the project. While every team is different, and there is no one right way to manage a team, there is a basic roadmap to follow that can make sure you’re hitting all the proper marks.

Transparency

Being transparent opens up the workplace. It helps teams feel more a part of the overall project, which helps them be more accountable, happy and creative—all important to productivity. This will help teams feel more secure, which in turn means they’re more likely to contribute ideas. The more open discussions, the more creative solutions. Keep your team in the loop. Respect them and value their contributions.

Acknowledge Work

Acknowledging good work is good for morale. That doesn’t mean you ignore problems. It’s part of the feedback loop. Positive feedback boosts your team’s confidence and helps buy in for their tasks. Bringing them into criticism, without being hurtful, can not only help resolve issues, but also show that you respect your team’s experience. Remember, they’re on the front lines of any project and whether it goes right or wrong. They will have the greatest insight as to why.

Part of leading is delegating. You can’t do it all yourself, nor do you want to ride your team, micromanaging their every step. The team was hired because they have what’s needed to complete the project’s task; therefore, respect their skills and experience.

It’s not team management if you’re not giving your team work. To effectively delegate tasks , you’ll need to know who has the capacity, time and skills to do that work.

Manage Conflict

Conflict resolution is key to keeping your team working together. There can be personality issues, or people feeling that others are getting more responsibilities while they’re being overlooked. These issues come up in even the best teams, so you need to be on the lookout for them, and when a conflict arises, respond to it immediately. Conflict will erode the bonds that hold your team together, with disastrous results for both them and the project.

Be Decisive

Team management is about giving your team the tools they need to do their best work, but you are the team leader and must be decisive. Teams need leaders, even the self-directed kind. How involved you are depends on the team and the situation, but when it’s time to make a decision there’s no place for wishy-washiness. Just as your team is hired for their skills and experience, the team leader is also in place to do a job. They have the authority and need to use it, not abuse it.

Managing a team requires the proper mix of people skills and tools to keep schedules and workload balanced for optimum performance. The tools clear the path forward for teams, making sure that they’re never blocked or overallocated. The soft skills respond to the uniquely human relationships that make a team gel and perform.

Have a Vision

Team leaders need to have a vision for the project and project that to their team. That means uniting the team with a common goal and not getting bogged down in the day-to-day minutia. Without direction, teams can get confused or start filling the void at the top and moving off track. Therefore, vision— and communicating it well—are essential.

Be a Communicator

Communication is a key component to successful team management. Communication is based on being clearly understood, but it’s also about listening. You need to get feedback and respect other points of view that might be expressed. In terms of leading the team, you must make the priorities and long-term goals clear to the team, while acknowledging their successes and helping them resolve their failures.

Get Organized

Managing a team is complicated. Chances are you’re not only responsible for team management, but the whole project. That’s a lot of balls to juggle. To keep them all in the air, you must be well-organized . This means using the right tools to work more efficiently, being available for your team and letting them know when you can’t be disturbed.

Stay Firm But Fair

Confidence is bedrock. Teams respond well when they know someone is in control. But you’re not a dictator, and shouldn’t act as one. Never play favorites, always listen to any complaints and resolve conflicts. But the buck stops with you, and the team must know that you hold authority over any team management decisions. Do this right and you’ll earn their respect and team morale and retainment will be strong.

Remain Flexible

Remain flexible. It sounds like an oxymoron, but managing a team is a constant balancing act. You must always be willing to change. Projects are often thrown a curve, and if you’re rigid, you’ll never get back on track. Teams will develop conflicts, plans might have to change. Always be open to adapting.

Think Strategically

Teams want to work on tasks that are part of a larger strategy. They focus on the smaller stuff and they expect their team leader to have the big picture in mind, so when they’re in the trenches, the battle being waged is for a reason. The leader guides from this high-level view. It provides a sense of security that gives teams the confidence to focus on the work at hand.

Remember, You’re Part of the Team

The team comes first. You might have to act as an intermediary between the team and higher management if there have been issues with their work. You might need to stand up for a team member that is unjustly the target of other team members, or by management. Their wellbeing is more important than your label as their leader.

We mentioned conflict resolution as a foundational pillar of any good team management, and it’s a subject that deserves more clarity. It will come up a lot. People can be difficult, but groups of people are always going to cause problems.

When conflict arises, the first thing to do is acknowledge it without bias . Talk to the person or people involved. As you discuss the conflict, focus on behavior and actions, not on the personalities of those involved. Most importantly, listen. This is their time to talk.

After you’ve heard the complaint (without comment or judgement), it’s time to identify the points where the people involved agree and where they disagree. Summarize these points, and make sure you have agreement on that summary from those involved. Then, prioritize them and see what’s most important to resolve.

Now it’s time to come up with a plan to resolve the conflict, beginning with the most pressing issue. The plan should not focus on past issues, but look towards future solutions and how to get there. You should set up future meetings with the people in conflict to make sure that things are progressing positively.

These things can take time, so stay with the plan and keep discussions open. Point out progress, compliment the people when they’ve made progress, and in time, the conflict will resolve itself. Of course, sometimes it doesn’t, but no more drastic step should be taken until you’re thoughtfully and honestly worked at resolving the conflict.

To help avoid conflict, especially with the team leader, there’s something called team recognition. It’s a way to get the team to meet the goals and objectives of the project and keep them happy in the process.

Basically, team recognition is the bridge between management and the team leading to the success of the project. The team is supposed to fulfill their responsibilities and in turn be supported by management, who honors and respects their work. This is encouraged by reinforcement of behavior you’d like to see repeated.

Applying team recognition as part of your team management will help you retain employees and have less turnover, get better organizational results and help with goal setting, communication and accountability. But what about benefits for your team?

Team recognition is a two-way street. Teams will experience higher engagement, leading to more fulfillment on the job and generally feeling happier at work. Teams are more productive and have a higher morale. All of which leads to wins for management and workers.

Inspiring Teamwork Examples

There are many examples throughout history that illustrate the importance of teamwork. In this section we have selected some of our favorite inspirational examples of teamwork in a variety of circumstances. We hope that these examples inspire you and speak to the benefits of teamwork and collaboration!

1. Apollo 11 Moon Landing

One of the most historic examples of teamwork is the Apollo 11 1969 mission. While the world focused on the three astronauts, Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins, the former two who walked on the moon, most remember only Armstrong and his famous line upon being the first human being to set foot on the satellite: “This is one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.”

However, behind that momentous moment are years of research and teams of people working diligently to do what no one had done before. Mission planners worked for two years prior to launch, studying the moon’s surface using satellite photographs in order to discern the best site for a lunar landing.

According to NASA, there were an estimated 400,000 people involved in making the moon landing possible. This included teams of scientists, engineers and technicians, many who had not worked in aerospace before. To make for a more cohesive team, the astronauts worked with many of these groups, making the human connection that is the blood of any team.

2. Wikipedia

The digital age is defined by teamwork, and one new media company illustrates that more than any other. Wikipedia is everyone’s go-to when they need a quick answer. It’s library of the internet, a collaborative engine of knowledge that is constantly evolving.

There were once encyclopedias that collected the world’s knowledge, but these are static volumes that are only updated every number of years. Also, what is printed between their covers is not up for debate. If you have a problem with what’s listed, you could write to the editors and maybe even get a response.

But Wikipedia changed that whole paradigm by recruiting an army of volunteer writers and editors who put the facts into its website. This simple but effective and massive example of teamwork is almost incomprehensible in its scope and yet runs surprisingly well. There are mistakes, but the site is built in such as fashion that these anomalies are quickly discovered. Teamwork is essential for Wikipedia because in a sense, everyone who has ever landed on the site is part of the team.

3. The Constitution of the United States

The Constitution of the United States is a foundational document of US democracy. It is also a prime example of teamwork. The then 13 states, all of which would have to ratify the constitution to make it the law of the land, were not united. There was no central government and the risk of the new nation falling apart was even more of a concern than it is today!

Debates raged over such things that we today take for granted like how long a president’s term should last. For four months delegates debated, until on September 17, 1787, the 39 delegates signed the historic document. Of course, that wasn’t the end of it. Now voters in each state had to approve. But the delegates did their job and the people ratified the Constitution in 1789.

Teamwork is not having one person force their way on the others: it’s about being open to compromise. All parties involved must find common ground and work together, because the end result is something all can benefit from. Just like the Constitution, which has been amended over the years as times and attitudes change, so teamwork must be a fluid process, not etched in stone, but always open and willing to improve.

4. The Beatles, Live in Hamburg

Everyone knows the Beatles. They defined the 1960s, moving from the Mersey Beat that made them a boy band that the girls loved to folk and psychedelic rock, inventing new genres seemingly with ease. Their music is the soundtrack of an era and continues to influence musicians to this day. But those are the flowers that grew from the dirt. That fertile soil that nourished and sustained them was far from their Liverpool home.

During the very early 1960s, before any radio play and Beatlemania wasn’t yet a word, they were the house band for a ruckus portside bar in Hamburg, Germany, called the Kaiserkeller. There they had to play for hours and hours, stretching three-minute pop songs into 20-minute jam sessions. It was in this crucible, that the four soon-to-be mop tops bonded musically. It was through live performances that they learned to put on a show, according to George Harrison on the Beatles Anthology DVD.

The magic of the Beatles is that four individuals learned through intense and extended live sessions to play as one, to anticipate each other and develop an almost intuitive communication. That set the stage which allowed their songwriting gifts to flourish. It was teamwork, plain and simple, that gave the Beatles the musical chops to develop their potential.

5. The Starbucks Expansion

It might be a joke now (how there’s a Starbucks on every block and soon occupying every storefront), but it wasn’t always like that. In fact, the dominance of Starbucks was never as sure a thing as it looks in retrospect or over its company timeline. Back in the early 1990s, Starbucks chairman and CEO Howard Schultz had opened a few hundred new stores across the United States, but the business was not successful.

The ambitious expansion was hitting problems concerning customer service and a lack of communication between various levels of the company. The company might have brewed a winning cup of joe but their customer service and employee engagement were staler than a pot of yesterdays coffee.

In 1995, Howard Behar became the president of Starbucks and with him came advancements in company culture. He cultivated a work environment that met the employees needs, which in turn inspired them to better serve their customers. It was through his belief that it was not the coffee they were selling but the customer experience, which gave Behar the mission statement to rally his teams to work together more effectively.

ProjectManager is a cloud-based software that helps project managers and their teams work more effectively. Its team management features give you visibility into your team’s tasks, while the teams themselves get collaborative tools and multiple project views to work how they want.

Team management software integrates seamlessly with timesheets, team task management, planning, scheduling, monitoring and reporting features to give you more control over your project.

See why over 10,000 teams in organizations such as the US Postal Service, NASA and Bank of American use our tool to work more productively. Take our free 30-day trial today .

Start Your Free Trial

• Team Management Software
• Best Team Management Software
• Resource Management Software
• Project Dashboard Software
• Timesheet Software
• Team Charter Template
• Communications Plan Template
• Lessons Learned Template
• Timesheet/Time Tracking Template
• How to Run Team Meetings: Tips & Best Practices
• Project Management Trends (2022)
• What Is a Virtual Team? Definition & Examples
• 6 Tips for Developing Cross-Functional Teams
• How to Manage with Servant Leadership
• 5 Team Productivity Blockers and How to Overcome Them
• How to Manage Your Team’s Workload
• 10 Essential KPI Metrics for Teams
• 25 Best Teamwork Quotes

Start your free 30-day trial

Deliver faster, collaborate better, innovate more effectively — without the high prices and months-long implementation and extensive training required by other products.

how to effectively assign tasks to team members to increase productivity?

Picture this: It's Monday morning, and your team is buzzing with excitement, ready to take on the week. But wait! Who's doing what? Does everyone know their roles and responsibilities? Ah, the perennial challenge of assigning tasks . If this rings a bell, worry not. We've all been there. Have you ever felt the sting of mismatched roles? Like trying to fit a square peg into a round hole? Assigned tasks play a pivotal role in the smooth functioning of any team. And guess what? There are methods and tools that make this process easier. Let’s dive in.

As a leader in the workplace, it is essential to ensure that everyone in the team gets the appropriate amount of work. Sometimes, it's tempting to give an employee more tasks than others, especially if he/she finishes the tasks faster. But keep in mind that as managers, you must be fair. You must learn how to effectively assign tasks to your team members . 

Although it may seem like a simple management function, assigning tasks to your team is actually challenging. As said by Liane Davey, cofounder of 3COze Inc. and author of  You First: Inspire Your Team to Grow Up, Get Along, and Get Stuff Done , You are “juggling multiple interests” in the pursuit of optimal team performance.

Task distribution among various departments might vary from person to person. For efficient delegation, it is vital to consider guidelines while distributing duties to team members.

Tasks that are delegated effectively move your people, projects, and the entire business forward. It increases management and staff trust and accountability, helps in refining and teaching new abilities, enables personnel to become acquainted with various groups and areas of employment, and is an excellent foundation for performance reviews, etc.

How do you assign tasks to your employees? 

Assigning tasks is typically perceived as a time-consuming activity that focuses on removing items from task lists in order to keep the project moving forward. Task assignment, nevertheless, ought to be a more employee-focused procedure that calls for extra commitment and work, which produces excellent outcomes. 

Here are some tips to effectively assign tasks to your employees:

1. Delegate Positively

Don't just throw work at someone and expect them to deliver when they might not be qualified for that particular assignment. Maintain a mindset of doubting every assignment you gave and go over your personnel roster to see whether anyone else is capable of completing it as effectively as you can. They will be more likely to believe that they can do the assignment in the manner that the leader desires if they have a positive outlook. Employees won't feel inspired to start their assignment if you adversely assign them or have doubts about their competence. A little encouragement will make their day happier and encourage them to confidently do the tasks given to them.

2. Set Clear Goals and Objectives

To understand how your team performs, you should set clear goals and objectives before entrusting them with any responsibilities. When goals and objectives are not defined, it'll be harder for your team to see the big picture and perform tasks in a particular manner. 

3. Assign the Right Task to the Right Employee

This is the key to productivity. Who has the most expertise and experience should be given priority, but don't give that individual too much work. You should also think about who needs to develop their sense of responsibility. Also, take into account the passage of time and their eagerness to seize the opportunity. To do this, the manager should create a delegation plan that considers the various skill sets of each employee and assign tasks that are properly suited to each individual. On the other hand, when a task requires an extraordinary employee and there is a talent shortage, the leaders themselves should do the assignment in an emergency or without a workforce.

4. Obtain Inputs from Your Team and Set Up Meetings if Possible

Get suggestions from your team on what should be modified, who you could include, and how outcomes should be defined. Engage with the specific managers of the sub-teams if you are in charge of a large team or organization. A meeting with the entire team is necessary before assigning tasks to team members. You may obtain a clear picture of who is responsible for what and how purposefully they can do the assignment. Getting suggestions from your team members ensures that each of them will contribute to the task's accomplishment.

5. Conduct Training and Supervision

A project's completion necessitates the blending of various delegation techniques, a high degree of team member commitment, and effective planning and execution. It is essential to teach the team members and meet with the team every day in order to produce a skilled workforce. The training includes free access to resources for developing skills, such as courses from Upskillist ,  Udemy , or  Coursera . Following the training phase, the work must be supervised by a professional to ensure that the team learned from the training provided. Before and throughout the task assignment and execution among several team members, training and supervision are equally crucial.

6. Communicate Constantly

It doesn't mean that when you're done delegating the tasks, everything's good. No, it doesn't work that way. Constant communication is also the key to unlocking productivity. You need to collaborate with your team . Professionals at work must keep a close watch on their team members to learn about any challenges or issues they may be having.  For the task to be completed and the status of each team member to be tracked, communication is essential. Following up on tasks you assign to your employees helps them manage pressure and boost job productivity since problems like stress and pressure may tangle them and slow them down. Employee burnout is a result of micromanagement, which is not a good concept. It is best to let staff go free by following up casually.

7. Know who to Handover Authorization and Control

Decentralized power relieves employers of job management. Make sure to provide your staff some authority when you delegate tasks to them using management apps such as Trello , Asana , Edworking , Slack , and the like. Employees become empowered and responsible for completing tasks as a result of the control transfer. Giving them too little authority can cause issues because they lose interest in their work while giving them too much control might overwhelm them and cause them to forget basic responsibilities. The key to the team's success is giving each member the authority they rightfully deserve while also soliciting input.

8. After the project, assess the results

Ask yourself how you as the manager could support the success of your team members more effectively. Give constructive criticism and accept it in return.

The most vital phase in job completion is assigning tasks to team members. Due to the frequent mistakes made while delegating duties, it is imperative to use management tools when giving your team responsibilities. Project management solutions provide better work allocations by incorporating features like marketing automation. Employee development and time tracking are made easier by the task assignment guidelines, which also help keep workers interested. 

Allocating Vs. Delegating Tasks 

Now that you've learned about some tips to properly assign tasks, you may also have questions like, "what's the difference between allocating and delegating tasks?" 

As stated by Abhinav in a published article on LinkedIn, "The imbalance of responsibility and accountability is the main difference between Delegation and Allocation." What does it mean? Delegation gives a real opportunity for your team to upskill, grow, and develop. Allocating tasks is merely assigning tasks without the goal of helping your team grow.

Although assigning tasks has its merits, delegating tasks offers significant advantages in terms of employee growth and engagement. Because delegation when done well delivers diversity and other intrinsic motivational incentives that make work so much more meaningful, it will be even more rewarding for the manager and team members.

Task Tips and Best Practices 

In order to accomplish our objectives and SMART goals, we define a particular number of tasks that we must do each day. We frequently take on more than we can handle in the fight to remain at the top of our game and maintain our competitive edge.

Even while everything appears to be of the utmost importance, something is off in your struggle to finish everything while maintaining your composure. Some of us have a lengthy list of things we want to get done before a given age or period. Others devote so much effort to honing a particular skill that by the time it shines, it is no longer relevant.

Time management and balancing workload are not just skills of project managers or superiors. In reality, these abilities should be embraced at every level, particularly when working in a team. Research by Cornerstone found that when workers believe they don't have enough time in the day to do their jobs, work overload reduces productivity by 68%. What tips and best practices should you do so you don't only allocate tasks but delegate them effectively?

1. Prioritize. Make a to-do list according to the order of priority

Even if to-do lists are classic, they are still more efficient and effective than ever. People used to keep handwritten notes for ideas and tasks back in the day.  There are smart to-do lists apps and software that provide notifications and reminders prior to the task's due date. 

2. Maximize productivity and minimize procrastination

To start, delegate the tasks to the right people. Don't do it tomorrow or the next day. Do it today. Having a lot to accomplish may be stressful, which is sometimes worse than the actual task. If you struggle with procrastination, it's possible that you haven't come up with a good task management strategy. You might express your lack of starting knowledge by procrastinating. It could not be laziness, but rather a matter of setting priorities.

3. Be motivated

Procrastination and a lack of motivation are closely correlated. When you lack motivation, you tend to get distracted. If you want to meet milestones and deadlines, be motivated.

4. Delegate and be involved

The reality of being overburdened can have a negative impact on productivity if it is not properly managed. At the end of the day, we're still just humans. When it comes to having patience, resilience, working under pressure, or finishing a task quickly, each one of us possesses a certain set of skills. So, delegate the right tasks to the right person in your team, and don't just stop there. Be involved. Leaving the stadium just because you're done delegating is a big no. Keep in touch with them and follow up on the progress of the tasks assigned.

Task Vs. Subtask 

Tasks and subtasks are quite similar. The only difference is that a subtask should be completed as an element of completing a larger and more complex task.

For example, the task is to increase your company's social media presence. So, what should you do to accomplish those tasks? That's when you have subtasks such as creating optimized posts and content on various social media platforms, scheduling them, interacting with your audience in the comment section, etc. 

The additional stages that make up a task are called subtasks. They are essential while working on large projects with a wide range of tasks. In some task management tools, You may create as many subtasks as you need in the task view, but you must first choose the parent task before you can create a subtask.

Why You Should Assign Tasks Effectively to Team Members

Enhance team productivity.

Efficient task assignment can work wonders for your team's productivity. When each team member knows their role and is well-suited for their tasks, they can focus on delivering high-quality results. Imagine a well-oiled machine, with each cog spinning smoothly and in harmony - that's your team at peak productivity!

Consider these points:

• Match tasks to individual skills : Ensure tasks align with your team members' unique abilities and expertise.
• Set clear expectations : Be transparent about deadlines, deliverables, and objectives.
• Foster collaboration : Encourage communication and collaboration among team members.

Nurture a Sense of Ownership

Assigning tasks effectively helps to in still a sense of ownership and responsibility within your team. When individuals understand their role in a project, they are more likely to take pride in their work and strive for excellence. It's like planting a seed - with proper care and attention, it'll grow into a strong, thriving tree.

Key elements to foster ownership:

• Encourage autonomy : Allow team members to make decisions and take charge of their tasks.
• Provide feedback : Offer constructive feedback and celebrate successes.
• Support development : Invest in your team members' growth through training and development opportunities.

Reduce Work Overload and Burnout

Nobody wants to be buried under an avalanche of tasks. By allocating work effectively, you can prevent team members from feeling overwhelmed and burned out. Just as we can't run on empty, neither can our team members - so, let's ensure they have a manageable workload.

Strategies to avoid overload:

• Balance workloads : Distribute tasks evenly and consider individual capacities.
• Encourage breaks : Promote a healthy work-life balance and remind your team to take breaks.
• Monitor progress : Regularly check in with your team members to assess their workloads and stress levels.

Boost Employee Engagement

An engaged employee is a happy and productive one. When you assign tasks effectively, you're laying the groundwork for increased engagement. Think of it as a dance - with the right choreography, everyone knows their steps and performs in harmony.

Steps to enhance engagement:

• Align tasks with goals : Ensure tasks contribute to the overall goals of your team and organization.
• Offer variety : Mix up tasks to keep things interesting and provide opportunities for growth.
• Recognize achievements : Acknowledge hard work and accomplishments.

Improve Overall Team Morale

Finally, effective task assignment can lead to a happier, more cohesive team. When everyone feels valued and supported, team morale soars. Imagine a choir, each voice blending harmoniously to create a beautiful symphony - that's a team with high morale.

Ways to uplift team morale:

• Empower decision-making : Encourage team members to contribute their ideas and be part of the decision-making process.
• Foster a positive atmosphere : Cultivate an environment of open communication, trust, and support.
• Celebrate successes : Acknowledge both individual and team achievements, and celebrate them together.

Tools to Simplify Task Assignments in Teams

Microsoft outlook: not just for emails.

Yes, you heard that right. Beyond sending emails, Outlook has task features that allow managers to assign work to team members. You can set deadlines, prioritize, and even track progress. Think of it as your digital task manager. How cool is that?

Google Docs: Collaboration Made Easy

A favorite for many, Google Docs allows real-time collaboration. Need to distribute tasks ? Create a shared document, list down the tasks, and voila! Everyone can view, edit, or comment. Ever thought of using a simple shared document as a task distribution board?

Trello: Visual Task Management

For those of us who are visual creatures, Trello is a game-changer. Create boards, list assigned duties , and move them across columns as they progress. Remember playing with building blocks as a kid? It’s pretty much that, but digital and for grown-ups!

Common Mistakes to Avoid

Assigning tasks effectively is a skill that every leader must master to ensure team productivity and employee satisfaction. While the tips provided earlier can help you get there, being aware of common mistakes in task assignment is equally crucial. Avoiding these pitfalls can save you from derailing your projects and hampering your team's morale.

1. Overburdening Skilled Employees

It's tempting to give the bulk of the work to your most skilled team members, but this can lead to burnout and decreased productivity in the long term.

2. Lack of Clarity in Instructions

Vague or unclear instructions can result in misunderstandings, leading to poor quality of work or project delays. Always be specific and clear about what is expected.

3. Micromanaging

While it’s essential to oversee the progress of tasks, hovering over your team members can undermine their confidence and create a stressful work environment.

4. Failing to Prioritize Tasks

Not all tasks are created equal. Failing to prioritize can lead to poor allocation of resources, with less important tasks taking away time and energy from critical objectives.

5. Ignoring Team Input

Ignoring suggestions or feedback from your team can result in missed opportunities for more effective delegation and stronger team cohesion.

6. One-Size-Fits-All Approach

Remember that each team member has unique skills and limitations. Assigning tasks without considering these factors can lead to ineffective results and frustrated employees.

7. Neglecting Follow-Up

Assigning a task is not the end but part of an ongoing process. Failing to follow up can result in delays and could indicate to your team that the task wasn’t that important to begin with.

8. Fear of Delegating

Sometimes managers avoid delegating tasks because they feel that no one else can do the job as well as they can. This not only increases your workload but also deprives team members of growth opportunities.

A significant aspect of a leader's duties is delegating assignments to team members effectively. The secret to a manager's team functioning like an efficient machine is wise delegation.

Because of delegation, you won't have to spend hours on work that someone else can complete more quickly. Trying to handle everything on your own can quickly wear you out, regardless of your knowledge or expertise. Effectively delegating tasks enables you to keep on top of your own work while assisting team members in acquiring new abilities and developing a sense of comfort with taking ownership of tasks. 

Proper delegation of tasks also provides managers and team members with a learning opportunity since it enables everyone to build trust and become accustomed to exchanging comments and showing each other respect and appreciation.

Less is more when attempting to boost your team's output. Your team may become burned out if you try to increase their production too rapidly. In contrast, if you're too aggressive, your team can lose interest in their work and productivity might drop. Keep in mind that everyone will be more productive if they are part of the decision-making and execution process.

If you want to delegate tasks with ease and convenience, go for Edworking . This management tool lets you assign tasks and oversee your team's progress in a specific task. You can also conduct meetings to meet your team.`

Know that productivity greatly matters. With the right knowledge of assigning tasks to your team members, you can maximize productivity. Thus, achieving the goals and objectives of your organization.

What is the best way to assign tasks to team members?

Recognizing and understanding each member's unique strengths and expertise is paramount. Instead of assigning tasks randomly, it's always better to match each job with the individual’s skill set. Consider open dialogue, seek feedback, and ensure the assigned tasks align with both team and individual goals. It's a bit like giving everyone their favorite role in a play; wouldn't they shine brighter?

How do you assign tasks to a team in Teamwork?

In Teamwork, tasks can be assigned effortlessly. Start by creating a task list, then add individual tasks. Within each task, there's an option to 'Assign To.' Simply choose the team member you wish to assign the task to. Think of it as passing the baton in a relay race – each person knows when to run and when to pass it on!

Why is it important to assign tasks to your team members?

Assigning specific tasks helps in streamlining the workflow, ensuring accountability, and reducing overlaps or gaps in responsibilities. It also empowers team members by giving them ownership of their work. Have you ever seen a football team where everyone runs after the ball? Without clear roles, it's chaos!

How do you politely assign a task?

Start by acknowledging the individual's capabilities and expressing confidence in their ability to handle the task. Then, clearly explain the job's scope, expectations, and its importance in the overall project. Think of it as offering a piece of cake, not dumping a plate on their lap!

How do short term goals differ from long term goals?

Short-term goals act as stepping stones towards achieving long-term goals. While short-term goals focus on immediate challenges and tasks (think weeks or months), long-term goals look at the bigger picture and can span years. It's like comparing a sprint to a marathon. One's quick and intense, the other's about endurance and the long haul.

• Product overview
• All features
• App integrations

CAPABILITIES

• project icon Project management
• Project views
• Custom fields
• Status updates
• goal icon Goals and reporting
• Reporting dashboards
• workflow icon Workflows and automation
• portfolio icon Resource management
• Time tracking
• my-task icon Admin and security
• Admin console
• asana-intelligence icon Asana Intelligence
• list icon Personal
• premium icon Starter
• briefcase icon Advanced
• Goal management
• Organizational planning
• Campaign management
• Creative production
• Marketing strategic planning
• Request tracking
• Resource planning
• Project intake
• View all uses arrow-right icon
• Project plans
• Team goals & objectives
• Team continuity
• Meeting agenda
• View all templates arrow-right icon
• Work management resources Discover best practices, watch webinars, get insights
• What's new Learn about the latest and greatest from Asana
• Customer stories See how the world's best organizations drive work innovation with Asana
• Help Center Get lots of tips, tricks, and advice to get the most from Asana
• Asana Academy Sign up for interactive courses and webinars to learn Asana
• Developers Learn more about building apps on the Asana platform
• Community programs Connect with and learn from Asana customers around the world
• Events Find out about upcoming events near you
• Partners Learn more about our partner programs
• Support Need help? Contact the Asana support team
• Asana for nonprofits Get more information on our nonprofit discount program, and apply.

Featured Reads

• Leadership |
• Team structure: 10 effective ways to or ...

Team structure: 10 effective ways to organize your team

A team structure defines the relationships between activities, leadership, and team members. While this may seem simple enough, team structures can have a huge impact on the distribution of authority and how teams collaborate and work together on a daily basis. 

Each organizational structure features a different chain of command and offers unique ways to encourage teamwork with the help of collaboration software . Likewise, each of these helps to form relationship dynamics and create a collegial work environment. 

From a functional structure to a flat structure, we’ll go over the 10 most effective ways to organize your team to help you find the right approach for your goals. 

1. Hierarchical structure

A hierarchical format is the basis of most organizational charts . A hierarchy is organized into a pyramid-like structure, with executives, directors, managers, and employees in order from the highest level to the lowest in the chain. This is by far the most widely used structure and creates clear boundaries between team members. 

Many organizations use the traditional hierarchy structure, though there are many variations you can choose from. These include a process-based and circular structure, which use a similar hierarchy but are visualized in different ways.

The number of layers your structure includes will depend on the size and complexity of your team. Most organizations have four or more layers, and visualize the structure in a company-wide org chart.

Best for teams that are looking for:

A straightforward reporting structure

Clear career paths

Specialties within individual positions 

Since this approach is a universal org structure, the hierarchical approach can work for most, if not all, teams. 

No more silos: Optimizing your organizational structure for stronger cross-team collaboration

In this ebook, learn how to structure your organization to prevent silos, move faster, and stay aligned in the face of change.

2. Functional structure

One of the most widely used team structures, apart from the hierarchical approach, is the functional organizational structure. In this approach, teams are grouped based on their skills and knowledge. These groups are then vertically structured between each department from the top-down, from the president to individual team members , and so on.

Functional structures organize top management—or a type of single authority—to oversee each department. 

While these teams will vary from company to company, the point of the functional structure is to allow for specialized skills and to prepare for organizational growth .

Field experts

Team accountability

Organizational growth

A key feature of the functional structure is the ability to cultivate niche specialties within different departments. 

3. Matrix structure

The matrix structure differs the most from other team structures as it doesn’t follow the typical hierarchical model. Instead, this team structure is organized in a grid format, with team members reporting to more than one leader. These relationships are commonly structured as primary and secondary reporting relationships. 

Matrix organizations use this structure in order to create a balance between leadership and, ultimately, the decision-making process. 

The approach you choose will depend on the nature of your teams and reporting structure. The main benefit is creating a balanced organizational structure, which can be achieved by establishing reporting lines for every individual to multiple leaders in different departments or divisions. 

A balance between units and products

Improved collaboration and communication

Fluid balance in leadership

This tends to work for teams that want to ensure decision making authority isn't limited to a handful of individuals, and rather, want team members to feel empowered to make decisions. 

4. Process-based structure

A process-based structure emphasizes different internal processes rather than departments. Similar to other structures, it’s also organized by hierarchy with leadership connected to these various processes.

This type of team structure is preferred by organizations whose processes take precedence over individual projects. These may be new processes or ones your organization has implemented already. 

Assistance with many different processes

Teams that are suited for this structure tend to be focused on internal processes and efficiency rather than external-facing projects. 

5. Circular structure

While visually different, the circular structure follows a hierarchical organization like most others. Higher-level team members are represented in the inner circle, and lower-level team members occupy the outer circles. Executive leadership is shown in the center of the circle, which represents the fluid relationship they have with each department head. 

This full-circle organizational structure keeps everyone connected, yet separate in their own circles. The number of rings in your structure will continue to increase until all individuals are placed at their appropriate level. 

Due to the visual nature of this structure, it’s best suited for small teams that aim to have fluid communication. 

Streamlined communication

Easy flow of information

Fluid relationships

While different from many other structures, this modern approach can work well for remote organizations that need help effectively communicating between leadership and team members. 

6. Flat structure

Unlike the triangular shape of a traditional org structure, a flat structure is an interconnected web with multiple flat levels. These levels include all leadership tiers, from executives to middle managers and beyond. The difference is that there is only ever a couple of steps between leadership and individual teams—unlike a hierarchical approach which could have many levels in between executives and lower-level team members. 

The flat structure is great for teams that want to create centralized or unified networks that link back to common goals. 

Your connections will differ depending on your teams and the involvement of executives. The main objective of this structure is to create a balance between leadership and cross-functional teams . 

Higher productivity

Aligned goals

Organizational clarity

If you’re willing to take a nontraditional approach, the flat method can have a tremendous impact on productivity and clarity. 

7. Network organizational structure

In a network organizational structure, teams are structured based on relative networks. This is primarily well-suited for organizations that require work to be done by external teams, have various global locations, or even own multiple small businesses. 

In this structure, each of these networks is organized as a separate entity and connected to one another by hubs.

Separating teams into hubs allows a lot of information to be shared within networks as opposed to sharing little information with a lot of networks. This is because team members are more likely to know the appropriate team member to contact within their hub and communication can flow freely. 

Communication within networks

Clear contact information

Specialties within networks

The network structure is most commonly used out of necessity. Most organizations won’t use it unless their team is already arranged into networks of some kind. 

8. Product-focused divisional structure

A divisional structure is one that groups each function into a separate division. Within this type of structure, there are a variety of specialized areas, including a product-focused structure. 

In this approach, each division is divided into individual product lines.

From there, select teams are responsible for each product line. This is helpful for organizations that revolve heavily around production and want to create clear responsibilities cross-departmentally.

Semi-autonomous divisions

Continuous product improvements

These features are best for teams heavily involved in product development and who prefer a balance of both individual work and teamwork. 

9. Market-focused divisional structure

While similar to product-focused, a market-focused division focuses on—you guessed it—individual markets. This can be anything from different industry types to customer types. Organizations that use this structure may have multiple brands under one umbrella company or even vastly different goods and services. 

This type of divisional structure creates clear responsibilities for specific departments. Companies that use this structure usually have a wide array of products and need help organizing departments across all the different product lines.

The ability to focus on one market at a time

Team specialization

Individual accomplishments

Similar to other divisional structures, a market-focused structure is best for teams that prefer a balance of both individual work and teamwork. 

10. Geographical divisional structure

The final divisional structure type focuses on geographical areas. Regions, territories, or districts are organized into separate divisions, creating clear boundaries and logistics across geographies. This structure is best for organizations that rely on customers or supply chain needs within specific regions. 

Dividing work can positively impact a variety of functions, including individual specialization and increased value in select geographical locations.

The ability to serve local communities

Communication with local customers or supply chain facilities

Team collaboration

Similar to the network structure, this type of divisional structure is most commonly used out of necessity. If your organization doesn’t have geographical limitations, like multiple brick-and-mortar locations or team members spread across multiple areas, you won’t need to worry about using this approach. Then again, it can be a great option for teams who do need a solution for geographically dispersed teams. 

Which team structure is right for you?

The right team structure for your organization depends on many factors, like the size of each team, the number of executives you have, and even your company values. While some may take more traditional approaches, others may take more modern ones. 

A couple of the key factors to consider when considering a new team structure mainly include communication and leadership balance—both of which can make or break a team dynamic.

Team structures and communication

When it comes to communication and clarity within an organization, there is very much a balance between too much and too little. Overcommunication can cause confusion and employee burnout. On the other hand, too little communication can result in duplicate work and low productivity. 

Team structures that embody balanced communication and clarity include:

The matrix structure

The circular structure

The network structure

These types of structures can be used for development teams, marketing teams, and most others in between. 

Team structures and leadership

Similar to the balance that organizational communication requires, the dynamic between leadership and team members is equally as crucial. Large gaps between upper and lower-level employees have the potential to create a lack of clarity and communication issues. 

Finding a balance can be tough. On the one hand, those in leadership roles should have authority over areas that have broad impact to the organization. On the other hand, limiting authority to a few individuals can feel disempowering for the vast majority of team members. 

Team structures that create a balance of leadership authority include:

The flat structure

The hierarchical structure

The right authority structure will help empower your team to contribute ideas and deliver work that makes an impact. 

Structure your team for success

Your team’s structure impacts everything from team building to employee morale and even business success. As a project manager , creating clear boundaries between different teams can help improve productivity and performance. 

Related resources

How to find alignment on AI

Grant management: A nonprofit’s guide

Fix these common onboarding challenges to boost productivity

Understanding dependencies in project management

Create an assignment in Microsoft Teams

Create  assignments for your students in Microsoft Teams for Education . Manage assignment timelines, add instructions, create resources to turn in, and more.

Note:  Assignments is only available in class teams . You can assign assignments to classes of up to 1000 students. Classes larger than 300 can't use a Class Notebook or Makecode.

In this article

Create a new assignment, title and category, instructions and attachments.

Points, rubrics, and grading

Assigning to students or groups

Due dates and scheduling, assign, save, or discard, classwork modules.

Navigating the Grades tab

Navigate to the desired class team, then select Assignments .

Select Create >   New   Assignment .

At a minimum, you must give the assignment a title. This is required. You can optionally add a tag, which will make this assignment easier to search for in the future. 

Assignments only supports the following image file types: .png, .jpeg, and .gif. 

On mobile, Images will resize to the screen. 

On desktop, you can use sizing handles on images to resize them.  

You can also attach existing files, links, or assignment integrations and create and name a new file right from here for students to turn in.

Note:  You can add up to five files for students to edit. The total number of resources you can add to an assignment is 10, whether editable or non-editable. Read-only reference files can be up to 500 MB in size. Files for students to edit can be up to 50 MB in size.

Select Attach  to attach resources to the assignment. Choose a file from your OneDrive, upload a file from your device, or choose one of the other options set by your admin, such as MakeCode.

Note:  If you're assigning a Class Notebook page, check what version of OneNote your students are using to ensure that their assignment pages will lock after the assignment due date passes.

Select +New  to create a blank Word (.docx), Excel (.xlsx), PowerPoint (.pptx), or Whiteboard document, or a new video recording to hand out to your students.

Select  Apps  to attach content from an app to the assignment. Admins can  manage Teams apps in the Microsoft Teams admin center .

Select Learning Accelerators  to add Reading Progress , Search Progress and other Learning Accelerators to the Assignment.

By default, Students can't edit  attached documents, meaning the document is read-only. This is a great option for reference materials.

Note:  If you have older documents with the file extension .doc, .xls, or .ppt, students won't be able to edit them. You can either attach them as read-only reference material or create a new file in Teams, copy in the old content, and save it. All new files you create in Teams or other Microsoft 365 apps will have the correct extension.

The Assign to field is where you choose the class for this assignment. By default, the class team you are in will be selected. 

Multiclass Publish

Multiclass publish allows educators to create an assignment for multiple classes with the same due date. 

Do this by navigating to the Assign to field and check the boxes for classes the assignment will be published to. 

Points and rubrics

You can select which grading scheme,  grading categories , and points the assignment is worth. 

If you have configured the class to use Grading Categories, you need to select a Grading Category for assignment with points.

Select the amount of points this assignment is worth, if any. You can use points on any number-based scale including whole numbers of 100 and set your own denominator. Examples:  88/100 or decimals 3.7/4.0.

Select  Add rubric  to  create a rubric .

Select  Manage grading categories  to create or edit the grading categories for the class.

Setting up Grading Schemes

Letter grading and grading categories must be set as a Grading Scheme in the Grade settings section to display these options.

2. Navigate down to Grade settings .

3. Choose Add Schemes or  Manage schemes .

Note:  If no other grading schemes other than "Points" have been set, this link will read  Add Schemes . Once you have gone through the steps to add a new scheme, the link will change to  Manage schemes. 

5. Set the grading levels. Letter grades will be the normal A, B, C, D, F, scheme. Ensure that there are enough levels to cover the entire 0-100 percent range.

6. Select the Save button when complete. 

Finish by choosing the  Done  button. 

Choose multiple classes, individual students, or groups of students  in one class to assign to.

By default, only students who are in your class now will receive this assignment. Change this by selecting an option from the dropdown menu.

Note:  If you choose a close date, any student who joins will receive this assignment until the close date.

Select a time and date for the assignment to be due. To schedule an assignment, next to  Assignment will post immediately with late turn-ins allowed  select Edit assignment timeline . Here, you can customize when your assignment will be posted to students and when it will close for turn-ins. By default, no close date will be selected, which allows students to turn in assignments late.

Note: If you choose multiple classes to publish the assignment to, you can select Set due date per class to set individual schedule , due and close date for each class

You can choose whether to add this assignment to your calendar on Outlook, students' calendars, and other educators or staff in your class team. Set this preference for all assignments in Assignments Settings .

Next to Add assignment to calendars , select the dropdown and pick one of the following options:

Students only  adds the assignment to just student calendars.

Students and me adds the assignment to both student calendars and your calendar.

Students and team owners to adds the assignment to both student and other educators or staff in the class team calendars.

Choose the channel where you'd like notifications for this assignment to post. This allows you to keep student work and discussion organized by unit, topic, or subject. By default, assignments will be posted in the General channel or your selection in Assignments Settings.

To choose a channel to post in, next to Post assignment notifications to:  select the down arrow for a list of available channels. 

Pick the channel you’d like this assignment notification to post in, your selection will be applied immediately.

To post assignment notifications to a channel, make sure bot posting is enabled. You can check that here  or ask your IT Admin for help.

Assignments will post to channels that are visible to all students. Private channels will not appear during this step.

If you have selected multiple classes, select Set per Class to set which channel to use or just use the General channel. Assignments to individual students do not post to channels.

When you're ready, you can finish the process of creating your new assignment by assigning it to students.

Note:  If your school uses Turnitin, you can sync assignment turn-ins to Turnitin .

Assign  will immediately publish the assignment and your students will be notified of the new assignment on the day you specified and the notification linking to this assignment will post in the channel you selected. They'll also have an entry on their Teams and Outlooks calendars if you've selected that option.

Save  will save a draft of the assignment. Students will not receive any notification, and nothing will be added to any calendar. 

Discard  will delete the draft of the assignment. Students will not receive any notification, and nothing will be added to any calendar. 

Create a New Module

1. Navigate to the desired Class Team, then select Classwork.

2. Select Add module. 

3. Enter a title for the new module.

4. Optionally, enter a description.

5. Select Save to save the module as a draft.

Note: Draft modules are only visible to Team owners (teachers) until published. All new modules are created in draft states. 

Learn more about managing classwork modules in Microsoft Teams.

Navigate the Grades tab

To open the Grades tab, navigate to your desired class team and select Grades .

You'll see that students appear in a column, with their assignments in a row next to their name. Assignments are listed in order by due date with the nearest date at the beginning. 

Learn more about the Grades tab. 

Create a group assignment

Edit an assignment

Save an assignment as a draft

Grade, return, and reassign assignments

Additional resources for educators

Ask the community

Need more help?

Want more options.

Explore subscription benefits, browse training courses, learn how to secure your device, and more.

Microsoft 365 subscription benefits

Microsoft 365 training

Microsoft security

Accessibility center

Communities help you ask and answer questions, give feedback, and hear from experts with rich knowledge.

Ask the Microsoft Community

Microsoft Tech Community

Windows Insiders

Microsoft 365 Insiders

Was this information helpful?

Thank you for your feedback.

66 team building activities to bring your team together (and have fun!)

Team building activities can make all the difference when it comes to job satisfaction , employee engagement and organizational success . But even with the best intentions, it’s not sufficient to simply bring a group of people together. Effective team building activities can help your group feel more connected and able to collaborate more effectively .

But how do you choose the right activity, and where do you get started when trying to encourage team bonding or alignement? We're here to help with this collection of simple and effective team building activities!

Design your next session with SessionLab

Join the 150,000+ facilitators 
using SessionLab.

Recommended Articles

A step-by-step guide to planning a workshop, how to create an unforgettable training session in 8 simple steps, 47 useful online tools for workshop planning and meeting facilitation.

Building a highly effective team takes effort , consideration, and the deployment of a thoughtful group process . Remember that teams are composed of relationships between people and all relationships need care and attention. The team-building activities below are a great place to start!

That said, some employees may bristle or cringe at the mention of team building activities, and with good reason. Done badly, team building at work can be frustrating , unproductive, or a waste of time for all involved . 

We’ve put together a collection of proven team-building activities, games, and exercises that cover everything from communication and collaboration to alignment and vision . 

Whether you’re working in a small team or as part of a large organization, taking the time to develop your team and enable everyone in your group to do their best work is time well spent. Let’s take a look!

What are team building activities? 

Team building is an activity or process designed to help build connections between members of a team, create lasting bonds, and enable better teamwork and working practices.

Team building activities might include running team games and activities, holding group discussions, hosting away days, or simply doing things together as a team. They key is that the exercise is designed to bring your team together in a fun and engaging way.

What is the main purpose of a team building activity? 

The main purpose of any team-building activity is on improving some aspects of how a team works together while bringing everyone together in a shared experience .

This might include working on communication, collaboration, alignment, team values, motivation, and anything else that can enable a group to work together more effectively. It might also include resolving conflicts, sharing skills, or simply bringing your group together in a shared experience.

Broadly speaking, any team building effort should be designed to help bring team members closer or find ways to first define and then move towards your shared goals as a group .

As Forbes notes , team building is “most important investment you can make for your people.” On this point, it’s worth noting that team building doesn’t just happen during the activity and so being purposeful your choice of exercise is important.

The best team building activities hold space for building connections in a way that spills over into day-to-day work and creates lasting bonds. It’s not enough to throw your team into an escape room or scavenger hunt without first thinking about why or how this will benefit your team!

After you’ve chosen some engaging team building activities, it’s time to design a complete process that will engage your team while achieving your desired outcomes.

SessionLab makes it easy to build a complete team building agenda in minutes . Start by dragging and dropping blocks, add activity timings and adjust your session flow to create an effective session.

What are the main types of team building activities?

Team building activities are games and exercises that help a group collaborate on a shared goal, discuss important issues constructively, share in a fun experience or find better ways of working together.

These activities can take forms – from quick and funny games you use in your regular meeting, or the may be part of a larger process or team development workshop.

Being purposeful and knowing the objective of your session means you can choose an activity accordingly. Sometimes, your team will come together because they have problems to solve, or you might just want to have fun and celebrate your wins. Pick the right activity for the right time to ensure your team is onboard and ready to engage!

Here are the main categories of team building activity that you might want to use with your team. We’ve made it easy to get started with the right activity for your team by including the length of each game, how many participants can play and how hard it is to run alongside clear instructions.

Team building activities for work

Starting the team building process can be difficult, especially if you’re working with a new team who don’t yet know each other well. The activities in this section are focused on helping teams and employees get to know each other better and start to develop bonds and trust.

Even if your team has been around a while, learning more about one another and building deeper bonds is useful for both team cohesion and group happiness. These are also great activities to use when trying to improve employee engagement and company culture – any organization is only as strong as the bonds between its people!

Try these team building games for work to encourage conversation and break the ice – especially if you’re working with a remote team who might not be in the office together.

3 Question Mingle

Conversation is often the best starting point when it comes to team building, but without structure, it can be difficult for groups to get moving. In 3 Question Mingle, each team member writes three questions on sticky notes and then has a one minute meeting with another person. They each ask another one question and then trade those post-its. Invite the group to move around the room asking questions in pairs and swapping questions afterwards. 

Not only does this team building activity help an entire team get to know each other, but it also invites the group to ask the questions they want to ask. By combining structure with self direction, you can get your team building workshop off to the right start! Bonus points for adding those sticky notes to a memory wall for later reflection!

3 Question Mingle   #hyperisland   #team   #get-to-know   An activity to support a group to get to know each other through a set of questions that they create themselves. The activity gets participants moving around and meeting each other one-on-one. It’s useful in the early stages of team development and/or for groups to reconnect with each other after a period of time apart.

9 Dimensions Team Building Activity

Building better team relationships and improving group dynamics often means sharing something about ourselves and finding space to discuss and be honest. In this team building exercise, give each team member a set of red, green, yellow and blue dots alongside the 9 dimensions you’ll be looking at. Each participant puts a dot on each dimension based on whether they believe they’re crushing it or need to do more work. 

By sharing some of their 9 dimensions, your team gets to surface things they’re proud of, as well as those that need work. You’ll explore what your group is aligned on in the debriefing section and then move forward together as a team.

9 Dimensions Team Building Activity   #icebreaker   #teambuilding   #team   #remote-friendly   9 Dimensions is a powerful activity designed to build relationships and trust among team members. There are 2 variations of this icebreaker. The first version is for teams who want to get to know each other better. The second version is for teams who want to explore how they are working together as a team.

Awareness Circle

Getting to know people is easier for some members of a group than it is for others. While extroverts can start chatting to new team members with ease, introverts may find it more difficult to bond with their team and create meaningful team bonds.

In this activity, you’ll encourage a group to get to know each other without speaking and show that everyone in a team has a connection. Another great takeaway from this activity is to take note of the diversity (or lack thereof) in the room and consider this as a point for future team development. 

Awareness Circle   #teampedia   #team   #icebreaker   #opening   This activity helps participants to get-to-know each other without saying a word.

Break the Ice with The Four Quadrants Activity

Sometimes pictures are better than words when it comes to helping a team get to know one another. Creative games like this one can also be especially effective at helping introverts or distanced teams share with the group.

Start by handing out sheets of paper and inviting each participant to draw a 2×2 grid and pose four questions to the group. Each team member draws their answer in one of the grid squares and once the time limit is up, invite the group to share. If you’re looking for a fun game that encourages creative thinking while being visual and memorable, look no further! 

Break the Ice with The Four Quadrants Activity   #team   #icebreaker   #get-to-know   #teambuilding   The Four Quadrants is a tried and true team building activity to break the ice with a group or team. It is EASY to prep for and set up. It can be MODIFIED to work with any group and/or topic (just change the questions). It is FUN, COLORFUL and works every time!

Just One Lie

Not all team building games need to reinvent the wheel. Particularly with new teams or groups that aren’t used to team building, keeping it simple with a tried and tested method can be your best bet.

Just One Lie is adapted from the well-known icebreaker two truths and a lie, though encourages participants to mingle and share lots of facts about themselves with one another – great for breaking the ice and getting to know one another too!

Just One Lie   #icebreaker   #energiser   #team   #get-to-know   This method is adapted from the well-known icebreaker ‘Two Truths And A Lie’  to create an activity that you could return to throughout a meeting.

Both groups and individuals go through many twists, turns and changes throughout their life. At its best, team building not only helps create better teams but allows time for reflection and deeper sharing between participants.

With Life Map, encourage your group to draw or create a collage of their life story they can then share with the team. This kind of deeper getting to know your exercise can really help bring a team together and allow for meaningful self-reflection too! 

Life map   #team   #teampedia   #icebreaker   #get-to-know   With this activity the participants get to know each other on a deeper level.

Personal Presentation

Team building is all about building trust and openness between teammates. Sharing personal experiences and enlarging the social aspects of the group with presentations not only allows everyone to get to know each other but also encourages team development skills too.

For this team building method, ask each participant to prepare a presentation including three things that have shaped who they are as a person. Encourage creative thinking by asking teams to use simple drawings and words to visualize their presentation too.

Personal Presentations   #hyperisland   #team   A simple exercise in which each participant prepares a personal presentation of him/herself sharing several important experiences, events, people or stories that contributed to shaping him or her as an individual. The purpose of personal presentations is to support each participant in getting to know each other as individuals and to build trust and openness in a group by enlarging the social arena.

Passions Tic Tac Toe

Helping employees get to know each other more deeply and connect beyond the scope of their job roles is a great space to explore with a team building exercise. In this activity, your entire team fills in a 3×3 grid with a passion or core value in each of the boxes. Then, ask your group to mingle and compare passions.

When someone finds a match, they each sign for the other person in that square of the grid. Declare your first winner as the person who gets three passions in a row. This team building exercise works well for remote workers and is a great way for your entire team to get to know each other a little better.

Passions Tic Tac Toe   #get-to-know   #values   #icebreaker   #thiagi   This simple game that explores the concepts from these two quotations: “Passion is energy. Feel the power that comes from focusing on what excites you”. —Oprah Winfrey. “Getting to know someone else involves curiosity about where they have come from, who they are.” —Penelope Lively, novelist

Quick team building activities

Team building doesn’t have to take all day. While running dedicated team workshops like a team canvas workshop can have a profound effect on team dynamics, you can also run team building exercises in as little as 5-10 minutes.

In this section, we’ll share some effective yet quick team building activities you might use to warm-up your group or inject some team building into the start of a meeting or event. If you’re looking for 5-minute team building activities to easily slot into your meetings and events, this is a great place to start!

Best and Worst

Teambuilding activities are often at their most effective when you ignite the passions of everyone in a group and bring up talking points that enable people to share something of themselves with the team.

Best and Worst asks each participant to ask one question about the best and worst thing they want to learn from the group. For example, “What’s the best recipe you know?” or “What’s the worst injury you’ve ever had?” After putting all the questions in a hat and choosing a random pair, invite the group to share their answers and related stories.

Best and Worst   #teampedia   #get-to-know   #opening   #icebreaker   #team   This activity could easily break the ice at the beginning of a workshop, enabling participants to get to know each other in a fast process.

Group Order

Supporting the get-to-know process at the start of a session or with a new team can be as simple as asking participants to group themselves together based on what they know about each other and inviting them to find out what they don’t.

This activity requires nothing more than getting your group together in a room and asking them to line themselves up in an order based on a criterion such as distance from home to the workplace, birth date in the calendar year or number of different countries visited. You’ll be surprised at how easy it is to get people talking and sharing when in pursuit of a common goal.

Group Order   #get-to-know   #energiser   #icebreaker   #thiagi   #team   This is an energizing activity that helps members of a group get to know each other, network, and recognize what they have in common.

Happiness Exercise

Good teams know how to appreciate one another and share joyful, happy experiences. When a new team is getting to know each other, using an exercise that encourages the sharing of positive stories and experiences not only allows people to connect but also builds a positive atmosphere in the room.

You might also use this team building activity at work or with a more established team. If your team has been going through a challenging period, it can be transformational to share things that make everyone happy and defuse stress or tension as a team.

Happiness exercise   #teambuilding   #icebreaker   #warm up   #remote-friendly   This exercise is a simple application of the principles of Appreciative Inquiry.

Name Juggling

Working with new teams means having new names to learn. Team building starts with getting to know everyone, but how can we make this more fun and dynamic than simple introductions?

In this get to know you game, start by having everyone stand in a circle and introduce themselves by name. Introduce a ball and have people state someone’s name before throwing the ball to that person. That person thanks the person who passed the ball by name before then passing the ball on to someone else. Once people get comfortable, spice things up by introducing more balls and trying to keep them in the air!

Name Juggling   #teampedia   #icebreaker   #energiser   #get-to-know   #team   Name Juggling is another variation of a try-to-learn-everyone’s-name but the game guarantees high energy level as well as some strategic thinking.

Finding you have things in common with other team members is one of the cornerstones of effective teamwork and communication. While conversation games or other team building activities might ask for an in-depth approach, Open Fist helps teams bond with a simple, effective activity.

Sharing little known facts about ourselves can help teams be more cohesive and by limiting the number of shared facts to the amount of fingers on a hand, this quick team building activity can fit into an agenda with ease.

Open Fist   #get-to-know   #icebreaker   #thiagi   #team   Teams work better when they find things in common. Stronger teams reduce turnover, increase pleasant interactions, and improve productivity.

Cross the Circle

Finding common ground and shared experiences across a diverse group is what team building is all about. In this playful team building activity, participants are encouraged to cross the circle in response to questions posed by a person in the middle.

For example, “Cross through the circle if you have worked here more than 5 years.” or “Cross through the circle if you can play an instrument.” After each stage, a new person gets to pose a question and your team gets to know one another and their commonalities in a simple, effective way.

Cross the Circle   #teambuilding   #get-to-know   #energiser   #team   #thiagi   This activity provides a playful way for participants to find commonalities among themselves.

This fast-paced exercise is fun but gently challenging game that helps create focus and presence in a group. Get started by getting your team into a circle and ask them to move a clap around the room quickly by having two members clap at the same time.

By asking your group to synchronize and move quickly, sync claps is a fun way to energize the room and help your group feel more connected.

Sync Claps   #hyperisland   #energiser   This circle exercise is simple, but challenging and very effective for generating focus and alignment in a group. Participants stand in a circle and send a clap around the circle. Each clap involves two members of the group clapping their hands at the same time. The group tries to move the clap around the circle faster and faster with as much synchronization as possible. The exercise gets even more challenging when the “double clap” is introduced and the clap can change direction.

Fun team building activities

In an increasingly stressful environment of deadlines and meetings, it’s worth remembering the value of joy, play and simply have fun as a team.

Injecting fun and laughter into your team building event is effective on many levels. We often recommend starting a session with one of these activities, as they can help set a more relaxed and personable tone in an instant.

We’ve also found that some of the more memorable moments of our sessions have come out of these kinds of activities. It’s lovely to have something funny to reference in future meetings too!

Bringing team members out of their shells and loosening them up with a funny game can also help prevent existing hierarchies or team structures from affecting the team building session. 

You can also use these funny team building activities to kick off your session, or when the energy levels drop and you need to get your team re-engaged for the team workshop ahead. Let’s take a look.

Having fun and energizing your team is a great way to kick off your team building event. Bang is a simple and effective game that encourages quick reactions and fun – perfect for both new and established teams to play together! 

Start by electing a sheriff and having the rest of the group stand in a circle around them. The sheriff spins around and points at one person in the circle and says “bang!” That person then crouches as quickly as possible. The two people on either side of the person crouching must quickly point at each other and shout the other’s name. Whoever does not react quickly enough is eliminated. Try using this one at the beginning of a team building event to really loosen up the group!

Bang   #hyperisland   #energiser   Bang is a group game, played in a circle, where participants must react quickly or face elimination. One person stands in the middle of the circle as “the sheriff”, pointing at other players who must quickly crouch while those on either side of them quickly “draw”. A good activity to generate laughter in a group. It can also help with name-learning for groups getting to know each other.

Build-a-Shake

Creating a secret handshake was something many of us did as kids. This team building activity taps into that same sense of creativity and also encourages team members to get to know each other while sharing and building on their handshake in pairs. By moving between pairs and teaching others the steps of your handshake, this also helps create group closeness and cohesion. We love team building activities or office games that encourage people to bring a little of themselves to the table and Build-a-Shake is a great example of that!  

Build-a-Shake   #teampedia   #energiser   #get-to-know   #opening   #team   How to introduce yourself in a fun, creative way? Build a handshake!

Simple tasks that require team focus, cohesion, and awareness are great for any group working on team building. In Count Up, a team has to come together and count up to twenty with their eyes closed and without any other communication. People cannot say more than one number at a time, and if two people speak at the same time, the group must start over. 

Though it seems simple, this team building exercise can really demonstrate the power of effective teamwork and is a great opener for a team building workshop. 

Count Up   #hyperisland   #team   #energiser   #remote-friendly   In this short exercise, a group must count up to a certain number, taking turns in a random order, with no two people speaking at the same time. The task is simple, however, it takes focus, calm and awareness to succeed. The exercise is effective to generate calm and focused collective energy in a group.

Follow the Leader

When performing online team building, simple activities are often the best strategy in ensuring participation and removing frustration. Follow the Leader is a great team building energiser suitable for online and offline teams.

In virtual settings, put Zoom into gallery view and invite people to perform an action in the frame of their screen that other participants have to follow. Being a little silly is encouraged and this team building exercise often results in laughter and energy as a result! 

Follow the Follower   #zoom   #virtual   #physical   #teambuilding   #connection   #energiser   #opening   #remote-friendly   #ericamarxcoaching   One person is designated as the leader.  Others copy exactly how the leader moves.  The leader calls on a new person to be the leader, and so on. Follow the follower variation is when the leading gets passed to the entire group and no single person is leading.

Portrait Gallery

Creative team building activities are great for breaking the ice or energising a team via play. In Portrait Gallery, you and your team will collaboratively create portraits of everyone in the group and have a fun, electric set of portraits to display afterward.

Start by splitting your group into two teams. Team B will draw portraits of Team A, though every 10-15 seconds, they’ll pass their current drawing to the next person to continue. By the end of this team building game, you’ll have a set of eclectic portraits for everyone in the group and have broken the ice significantly too! 

Portrait Gallery   #hyperisland   #team   #icebreaker   The Portrait Gallery is an energetic and fun icebreaker game that gets participants interacting by having the group collaboratively draw portraits of each member. The activity builds a sense of group because it results with each participant having a portrait drawn of him/herself by the other members of the group together. It also has a very colourful visual outcome: the set of portraits which can be posted in the space.

Fun team building games are a great way to start any group development process, and they’re even better if they energize the team too! Snowball is a great activity for getting people out of their seats and moving around while also breaking the ice. 

Start by asking a question relevant to your group and ask each participant to write an answer on a piece of paper. Once that’s done, invite everyone to crumple their paper and come to the centre of the room to have a snowball fight! After a few minutes, ask everyone to keep a snowball and find the person who wrote the answer. Not only does this team building exercise invite energy into the room, but it encourages people to get to know each other too.

Snowball   #get-to-know   #opening   #energiser   #teambuilding   #team   This is a great activity to get people up and moving around in a playful way while still learning about each other. It can be related to any topic and be played at any time during the group’s life.

Celebrity Party

You’ve likely played the game where you stick the name of a random celebrity on your head while then asking questions to help you guess who it is. (Or at least seen a film where someone else does it!) It’s simple, but it absolutely works when you want to break the ice or just generate some laughter and conversation.

This classic team building game is a great way to warm up large groups, encouraging mingling and have fun too. Ask participants to be creative, keep it light and not to give hints and you have all the makings of an effective team building exercise.

Celebrity Party   #teampedia   #icebreaker   #communication   #diversity   #team   #action   Great activity to help people warm up in a new environment.

Non-verbal improv

Whether you’re working with remote teams or co-located groups, having fun when you get together should never be undervalued. We love simple games that are also ways to begin conversations about how we’d like to work together more effectively.

This improv game is easy to touch and is a great way to build team connections while raising some smiles. Start by preparing some actions on post-it notes, such as drinking a glass of water or eating pasta. Next, invite participants to mime the action without speaking. Include more difficult and amusing scenarios to challenge the group and create some funny opportunities for team connection!

Non-verbal improv   #improv game   #energiser   #fun   #remote-friendly   An improv game where participants must use non-verbal communication and actions to communicate a phrase or an idea to other players. A fun game that’s a great way to open a discussion on better communication!

Rock, Paper, Scissors (Tournament)

Encouraging team members to play and have fun is an often overlooked aspect of building better teams. Play is an inherently human activity, and by doing this as a team, we can start to see ourselves as more than just a group of people who work together.

In this version of Rock, Paper, Scissors, large groups pair off until only two players remain for a final showdown. We love that losing players become fans of the winners and cheer them on. This is a quick and easy team game that can build excitement and get the group ready for deeper team building activities to come!

Rock, Paper, Scissors (Tournament)   #energiser   #warm up   #remote-friendly   This is a fun and loud energiser based on the well-known “Rock, Paper, Scissor” game – with a twist: the losing players become the fan of the winners as the winner advances to the next round. This goes on until a final showdown with two large cheering crowds! It can be played with adults of all levels as well as kids and it always works! 

Fun team building activities often ask the group to let go of their inhibitions and find space to be playful and silly. This game from Hyper Island encourages the group to perform some loud, exuberant moves to emulate our favourite historical raiders – the Vikings.

You might use this activity during a longer workshop or meeting to energize a group and create a memorable moment with your team. For bonus points, have a group photographer capture those moments and put them on a history wall for reflection later!

The Viking   #hyperisland   #energiser   In this group game, players stand in a circle and perform a series of loud physical moves, passing from one person to the next. When a player hesitates or makes a mistake, he or she is eliminated and the game continues. The game generates laughter and playfulness in the group.

Wink Murder

We love team building exercises that include space for friendly competition and laughter. Wink murder is a variation on a classic party game that asks every team member to try and catch the wink assassin, whose job it is to eliminate the other players by winking at them without being caught.

We especially like the fact this game makes team members to use creative thinking while playing. Run multiple rounds with extra rules such as adding an accomplice to spice things up and have even more fun!

Wink Murder   #icebreaker   #energizer   #group game   #team   #teambuilding   A fun energizer where one player must try and eliminate the rest of the team by winking – all without being caught.

Corporate team building activities

Running team building games in the office can be a great way to finish up the week, onboard new team members or just boost employee engagement.

While all of the activities in this post are suitable for the office, the team building games in this section are especially effective in a corporate environment where some team members may need some coaxing or you want to gently introduce important topics.

Try these activities if you want to add an opportunity for your team to bond during a corporate training session, all-hands or other office event.

Appreciations Exercise

Office trivia can be fun, but you know what’s better? Taking a moment to appreciate each team member and uplift everyone in the group.

This method is designed to help everyone in a group receive appreciative feedback on their strengths from others. Start by sitting the group in a circle and having each participant write their name on a piece of paper and pass it to the person on their left. Each person writes down what they have most valued about the person whose name is on the sheet before passing it along.

At the end, share these appreciations and celebrate everyone in the group! You might even include this activity during a happy hour to truly celebrate one another!

Appreciations Exercise   #team   #appreciation   #self esteem   #remote-friendly   When you hear about your strengths from others and acknowledge them to yourself, this builds your motivation and self-confidence. If you do this at the end of a workshop, you go away feeling good about yourself and your colleagues too.

Cover Story

Bringing an activity that encourages creative thinking and imagination can be an effective method for getting team mates involved at your next corporate event. In this game, small groups create a magazine cover with your team on it and add headlines and taglines that show the best possible version of your team.

By defining the ideal future state for the organization your group can see what actions they might take today while also creating a fun and useful artefact for the team. Use as many sheets of paper as you need!

Cover Story   #gamestorming   #idea generation   #organizational development   #vision   #strategy   Cover Story is a game about pure imagination. The purpose is to think expansively around an ideal future state for the organization; it’s an exercise in visioning. The object of the game is to suspend all disbelief and envision a future state that is so stellar that it landed your organization on the cover of a well-known magazine

Coat of Arms

Even established teams have more to learn about one another. A corporate team building activity is a great time to encourage groups to go deeper and share who they are as a team.

In Coat of Arms, each team member begins by drawing a personal coat of arms and then sharing it with a partner. The partner interprets the coat of arms and then presents it to the rest of the group. This kind of getting to know you activity taps into group creativity and is a fun way of helping your team bond. 

Coat of Arms   #teambuilding   #opening   #icebreaker   #team   #get-to-know   #thiagi   Coat of Arms exercise provides a way for participants to introduce themselves and their colleagues, particularly for groups who think they already know each other very well. Almost invariably participants discover something about their colleagues of which they previously had no idea. Occasionally this revelation has an immediate and direct application to another participant’s current project or challenge.Because this activity forces people to use drawings rather than words, it is particularly useful as a dual-purpose introductory exercise in training sessions that deal with such topics as innovation, creativity, and problem-solving.

My Favourite Manager

Leaders and managers can be a deciding factor in creating a great company culture and employee happiness. In this game, get started by bringing your team together to discuss their favourite and least favourite managers.

This corporate team building activity is great at creating a safe space to discuss management styles and create empathy between teams. You’ll often find team members can shift their perspective, learn something about how they relate to their leaders and have fun too!

My Favourite Manager   #management   #leadership   #thiagi   #teamwork   #remote-friendly   Participants work individually, assuming the roles of three different people and brainstorming their perceptions of three most favourite managers and three least favourite managers. Later, they work with a partner (and still later, in teams) to prepare a list of dos and don’t-s for improving employees’ perception of a manager’s style.

Who are you? The Pirate Ship exercise

Explore team roles and responsibilities in a lighthearted manner is a great way to spend time during an office event.

In this simple but powerful team building exercise, share the image of the crew of a pirate ship. Next, invite participants to reflect on who they most identify with on the ship. Who is the captain? Who is looking out for land or maintaining the deck? By reflecting together around a fun premise, you can encourage meaningful discussions with your grop.

Who are you? The pirate ship exercise (dinámica del barco pirata)   #team alignment   #team   #remote-friendly   #teamwork   #warm up   #icebreaker   This an easy but powerful exercise to open a meeting or session and get participants to reflect on their attitudes or feelings about a topic, in the organization, team, or in the project.

History Map

Building effective teams is often a process of ideation, reflection and iteration over time. Sometimes, it’s easy to lose sight of just how much a team or organization has grown. With this corporate team building activity, invite your group to reflect and build on their collective experience with a memory wall that collects moments over a fixed period of time.

It’s a great way of reinforcing major takeaways, celebrating the highlights and creating a sense of closure and progress. By also encouraging the creation of a shared visual resource, History Map also enables creativity and a sense of fun that can provide the perfect end to a project or working session. 

History Map   #hyperisland   #team   #review   #remote-friendly   The main purpose of this activity is to remind and reflect on what group members or participants have been through and to create a collective experience and shared story. Every individual will gain a shared idea of what the group has been through together. Use this exercise at the end of a project or program as a way to reinforce learnings, celebrate highlights and create closure.

Birds of a Feather

It’s not uncommon for teams to naturally form sub-groups with common characteristics. This exercise effectively shows how consciously creating more diverse groups can make teams more resilient and productive.

Get started by giving each team member an index card with a single letter on it. Then ask people to form a group of five people as quickly as possible without any further instructions. Next, ask the groups to form the longest word possible from their cards. It will quickly become apparent that the best way to win the game is with a team that has diverse cards.

This simple game is a great introduction to a wider conversation about diversity or inclusion. As always, debrief learnings and invite deeper conversation in the group to make this activity a success.

Birds of a Feather   #teamwork   #diversity   #team   #creativity   #thiagi   Participants naturally want to form groups with common characteristics. This exercise illustrates how diverse groups have access to more resources and provide a greater variety of solutions. Each person is given an index card with a letter on it, and then asked to form a group of five people. Participants assume that they should get into groups with others who have the same letter. However, when the facilitator asks them to form the longest word possible with the letter cards, they realize that it would have been more beneficial to have created a diverse group.

Corporate meetings can sometimes be heavy going, but they don’t need to be. In this fun teambuilding game, encourage your group to loosen up while working together to solve a puzzle that involves their bodies!

Start by getting your team members into groups of 7-12 people. Ask each group to stand in a circle, close their eyes and then link hands with two other people in the circle. Next, ask each group to work to untangle the human knot they have created without breaking the chain. This is a really fun game that requires clear communication, collaboration and a little flexibility too!

Human Knot   A physical-participation disentanglement puzzle that helps a group learn how to work together (self-organize) and can be used to illustrate the difference between self-organization and command-control management or simply as a get-to-know-you icebreaker. Standing in a circle, group members reach across to connect hands with different people. The group then tries to unravel the “human knot” by unthreading their bodies without letting go of each other people’s hands. As a management-awareness game to illustrate required change in behavior and leadership on a management level (e.g., illustrate the change from ‘task-oriented’ management towards ‘goal/value-oriented’ management).

Team building activities for small groups

Team work doesn’t always come naturally, and effective team collaboration needs attention, reflection and work in order to happen. It’s not enough to just assume your team members will be able to work together efficiently: all teams can benefit from a strategic and well-thought approach to how they communicate and collaborate.

Whether you’re having a team away day or using methods expressly designed to improve collaboration and communication in small groups, you’ll find inspiration in the activities here!

These team building games are helpful whether you’re trying to solve miscommunication or collaboration issues, or just want to strengthen your company culture or communication skills in small groups.

Conflict Responses

It’s important to remember that every team is made up of individuals and sometimes, conflicts or disagreements can arise. While its regular working practice to disagree, our responses to conflict and how we deal with them when they arise are in our control and can be improved.

In this exercise, reflect on previous conflicts as a team and collectively create a set of guidelines to use in the future. Resolving issues effectively is a massive part of team collaboration, and by including all team members in this process you can get more meaningful results too.

Conflict Responses   #hyperisland   #team   #issue resolution   A workshop for a team to reflect on past conflicts, and use them to generate guidelines for effective conflict handling. The workshop uses the Thomas-Killman model of conflict responses to frame a reflective discussion. Use it to open up a discussion around conflict with a team.

Heard, Seen, Respected

Team empathy is a vital ingredient of good team work though whatever the size of your organization, it can sometimes be difficult to walk in the shoes of others and see things from other perspectives.

Heard, Seen, Respected is a team building activity designed to help participants practice deeper empathy for colleagues and build the kinds of bonds and working practices that can improve team collaboration. By inviting participants to notice patterns in the stories shared and find common takeaways, it’s a great way to get everyone involved on the same page and improve communication skills too.

Heard, Seen, Respected (HSR)   #issue analysis   #empathy   #communication   #liberating structures   #remote-friendly   You can foster the empathetic capacity of participants to “walk in the shoes” of others. Many situations do not have immediate answers or clear resolutions. Recognizing these situations and responding with empathy can improve the “cultural climate” and build trust among group members. HSR helps individuals learn to respond in ways that do not overpromise or overcontrol. It helps members of a group notice unwanted patterns and work together on shifting to more productive interactions. Participants experience the practice of more compassion and the benefits it engenders.

Myers-Briggs Team Reflection

One potential obstacle to effective team collaboration is when members of the group don’t fully understand one another. Team building activities for work that encourage participants to not only try and understand their colleagues but themselves can be especially helpful when helping a team be more cohesive.

In this activity, invite your group to first take a version of the Myers-Briggs personality test. Start by asking each team member to reflect on their own personality type before then moving towards small group discussion. 

When using this activity, it’s important to correctly frame the usage of the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) framework: This can be a useful framework to understand different communication preferences between people, but team members should not be labeled or put into boxes based on their self-reported preferences. 

Myers-Briggs Team Reflection   #team   #hyperisland   A workshop to explore personal traits and interpersonal relations using the Myers-Briggs personalities model. Use this tool to go deeper with your team to understand more about yourselves and each other on personal and professional levels.

Strength Building exercise

Exercises for team building come in many varieties. In this activity, the emphasis is on the team championing one another and increasing confidence, self esteem and mutual trust.

Start by asking team members to share an event where they accomplished something that made them feel good about themselves. The rest of the team chimes in to suggest two to three strengths they must have exhibited in order to achieve the accomplishment. Team collaboration often means helping others on the team achieve their best, and this activity helps the group uplift one another meaningfully and effectively.

Strength Building exercise   #team   #appreciation   #self esteem   #remote-friendly   People develop confidence and self esteem as they discover that their achievements and skills are valuable. This is an exercise for team building and for increasing self esteem and mutual trust.

Strength Envelopes

All members of a team have unique strengths, capabilities and working preferences. When working as a group, you can improve engagement and group workflow by having each participant utilize their strengths and do work that interests them the most.

With this team building activity, ask participants to write their name on an envelope and invite other members of their team to spend a few minutes writing down strength statements for that person. Place these in the envelope and pass them along so at the end of the session, each person has a set full of strengths they can use as the basis for reflection. 

Strength Envelopes   #appreciation   #self-awareness   #feedback   #team   #thiagi   #teambuilding   #action   This activity helps working teams to discover and share individual strengths and to increase their engagement by structuring their jobs around these strengths. Suitable for people who work together (for example, members of an intact work team) organized into playgroups of 5 to 9 members.

Team of Two

Whether you work in a small startup or a multinational organisation, the reality is that a large part of your working day will be spent working in pairs and interacting on a one-to-one basis. Whether in-person, over email or on video chat, finding ways to work together more effectively is vital for effective teams.

Try this team building exercise to help empower your groups toward more effective communication skills and have more meaningful interpersonal relationships at work. As a member of a remote team, I’ve found this method to be personally useful time and time again.

Team of Two   #communication   #active listening   #issue analysis   #conflict resolution   #issue resolution   #remote-friendly   #team   Much of the business of an organisation takes place between pairs of people. These interactions can be positive and developing or frustrating and destructive. You can improve them using simple methods, providing people are willing to listen to each other. “Team of two” will work between secretaries and managers, managers and directors, consultants and clients or engineers working on a job together. It will even work between life partners.

What I Need From You (WINFY)

Some of the best team building activities focus on helping your group improve their teamwork skills and communicate and collaborate better as a team. A sometimes overlooked part of working as a team is clearly articulating what you need from other people and knowing how to ask for it.

What I Need From You is a team building method designed to help team members better articulate their core needs and be transparent with the group. This leads to a more cohesive team that works together with integrity and understanding.

What I Need From You (WINFY)   #issue analysis   #liberating structures   #team   #communication   #remote-friendly   People working in different functions and disciplines can quickly improve how they ask each other for what they need to be successful. You can mend misunderstandings or dissolve prejudices developed over time by demystifying what group members need in order to achieve common goals. Since participants articulate core needs to others and each person involved in the exchange is given the chance to respond, you boost clarity, integrity, and transparency while promoting cohesion and coordination across silos: you can put Humpty Dumpty back together again!

Team building games for problem solving

Teams often come together to solve collective problems as a group . Whether these are large projects or simply finding better ways to work together on a day-to-day basis, solving problems is something all teams should do – in or out of a conference room!

Improving problem solving skills with a game that asks for communication, collaboration and creative thinking is a wonderful way to bring everyone together. We love using these kinds of team building exercises to bring large groups together to solve a fun, simple problem.

By engaging team members in this way, they not only have fun, but they learn how to work together more effectively and reflect on how they can take that learning back to their day work.

In this section, we’ll look at team building exercises you can use to encourage creative thinking, build problem solving skills and teamwork in an experiential way!

Blind Square – Rope Game

Nothing energizes a team workshop like a seemingly simple problem that also gets everyone moving and engaged. In this team problem solving game, start by tying a length of rope into a circle and invite the participants to plan how to make the rope into a perfect square while blindfolded.

After planning time, team members is blindfolded and has ten minutes to form a perfect square. By debriefing afterwards, your group will find communication, planning and attention to detail are all important aspects of creative problem solving – all while having fun too!

Blind Square – Rope game   #teamwork   #communication   #teambuilding   #team   #energiser   #thiagi   #outdoor   This is an activity that I use in almost every teambuilding session I run–because it delivers results every time. I can take no credit for its invention since it has existed from long before my time, in various forms and with a variety of names (such as Blind Polygon). The activity can be frontloaded to focus on particular issues by changing a few parameters or altering the instructions.

Crocodile River

We love team building activities that challenge the group to work together in inventive ways and also help energize a workshop setting. Crocodile River is a team problem solving exercise that challenges team members to support one another physically as they look to move across a wide outdoor space and reach the finish line together.

By changing the setting and inviting problem solving and strategic thinking to solve a challenge, your group not only stretches their problem solving muscles but also works on team communication, leadership and cooperation. As with any more abstract team building game, be sure to debrief afterward for best results!

Crocodile River   #hyperisland   #team   #outdoor   A team-building activity in which a group is challenged to physically support one another in an endeavour to move from one end of a space to another. It requires working together creatively and strategically in order to solve a practical, physical problem. It tends to emphasize group communication, cooperation, leadership and membership, patience and problem-solving.

Classic team building games like Egg Drop offer tried and tested ways to encourage teams to solve problems together while improving the way they communicate. This game often generates a bunch of laughter and creative thinking too – how can we save this poor egg!

In this team problem solving activity, invite small groups to build a freestanding structure that can support the dropping of an egg from seven feet. Include some caveats and challenges to make it more difficult and encourage an even greater degree of team collaboration. Just make sure you bring a mop for afterwards!

Egg drop   #teampedia   #collaboration   #teamwork   #icebreaker   #team   This fun activity could be used as an icebreaker for people who have just met but it can be framed as a method that shows and fosters team communication, collaboration and strategic thinking as well.

Helium Stick

Bringing team members together with problem solving activities that also encourages play can perform multiple functions. Not only do you encourage teamwork and the building of various team skills but you can have fun and promote laughter too.

Helium Stick is an example of a simple team building game that does double duty by encouraging fun, physical activity while introducing and exploring some core team building concepts. Ask the group to lower a long pole to the ground while keeping all of their fingers in contact with the pole at all times – more difficult than it first appears!

Helium Stick   #teampedia   #team   #teamwork   #icebreaker   #energiser   A great and simple activity for fostering teamwork and problem solving with no setup beforehand.

Lego Challenge

Creating something is often the purpose of bringing your team members together. Tap into the engaging process of co-creation and collaboration with this team building game using LEGO.

Building on the concept of LEGO Serious Play, this exercise is a great way of encouraging play, out-of-the-box thinking and creative approaches to existing problems. Additionally, each team member has a secret assignment which increases the challenge and encourages finding inventive ways to cooperate effectively and achieve both personal and team goals. 

LEGO Challenge   #hyperisland   #team   A team-building activity in which groups must work together to build a structure out of LEGO, but each individual has a secret “assignment” which makes the collaborative process more challenging. It emphasizes group communication, leadership dynamics, conflict, cooperation, patience and problem solving strategy.

Marshmallow Challenge with Debriefing 

Real-life challenges are often time-sensitive and need to be considered thoughtfully and pragmatically. Team building activities for work are especially effective when they help create this same sense of urgency while encouraging team work.

In just eighteen minutes, groups must build the tallest free-standing structure out of materials including: spaghetti, tape, string, and one marshmallow, placing this last item on top. In this version of the team building game, there’s a debriefing section which encourages reflection on the roles of everyone in the team. 

Marshmallow challenge with debriefing   #teamwork   #team   #leadership   #collaboration   In eighteen minutes, teams must build the tallest free-standing structure out of 20 sticks of spaghetti, one yard of tape, one yard of string, and one marshmallow. The marshmallow needs to be on top. The Marshmallow Challenge was developed by Tom Wujec, who has done the activity with hundreds of groups around the world. Visit the Marshmallow Challenge website for more information. This version has an extra debriefing question added with sample questions focusing on roles within the team.

Getting outside and doing fun, physical activity can be a great way to bond teams and mix up a normal working routine. In this team problem solving game, participants are asked to work to make holes in a grid of string and rope that can safely and effectively accommodate everyone in the group getting through at once. Team members are not allowed to touch the string or rope and with diverse groups, the difficulty this presents makes for an interesting problem solving challenge for teams to solve. 

Spider web   #team   #teampedia   #warm up   #outdoor   #physical   This is an active team building game and requires participants to move about a lot and so can be also used as an energiser.

Stress Balls

At one point or another, most teams will be asked to perform effectively under pressure, whether that’s generated by internal or external stressors. By using team building games that help participants work together and communicate effectively even under difficult circumstances you can prepare your team members for almost anything!

Stress Balls is a fun game to help start exploring team resilience and problem solving under pressure, and it’s easy to run with large groups too! Start by simply passing a single ball around the room before adding more complex rules to help team members learn a valuable lesson about communication and teamwork!

Stress Balls   #energiser   #communication   #teamwork   #team   #thiagi   #action   #icebreaker   Understanding the importance of communication and teamwork is an important requirement for high performance teams of knowledge workers. This exercise is an effective energizer that requires communication and teamwork. Ask participants to form a circle and throw a ball around to simulate the movement of a message. Change different variables such as speed, quantity, and complexity to create a mess.

Scavenger Hunt

Activities that encourage groups to use teamwork and communication to achieve their goals are great ways to build team spirit. A classic scavenger hunt is a wonderful way to bring large groups together and have fun doing something a bit different!

Be sure to use office trivia, inside jokes or aspects of your company culture to inform this fun team building activity. You’ll find it much more effective if it’s tailored to your group. Bonus points if you can mix in activities that speak to the various departments or skillsets in the group during your scavenger hunt!

In the virtual-friendly version below, you’ll also find rules to help you run this activity with a remote team.

Virtual scavenger hunt   #energiser   #teambuilding   #remote-friendly   A fun team-building energiser that encourages groups to recreate the scavenger hunt experience in a fully remote environment! 

Team bonding activities

Mutual trust is a vital ingredient for any group of people working together, though it doesn’t always emerge organically. Taking the opportunity to build team bonds and create trust creates benefits for team connection, happiness and your company culture too!

While many of the fun team building activities above will bring your team together in some way, these methods are designed to expressly create better team bonds and build trust.

When working on improving team trust, we recommend being open about the goals of the exercise and encouraging the group to be honest . Being intentional during these activities can really help bring the group together!

Trust Battery

Great teamwork isn’t just about bringing a group of people together into the same space. Without honesty, openness, and trust, your team can’t collaborate effectively and can lead to frustration or frazzled relationships.

Trust Battery is a team building activity designed to help all members of your group reflect on their trust levels and rebuild those batteries with lower levels. By encouraging all members of a team to meaningfully reflect, you can enable better team collaboration and help your team feel closer and more cohesive too.

Trust Battery   #leadership   #teamwork   #team   #remote-friendly   This self-assessment activity allows you and your team members to reflect on the ‘trust battery’ they individually have towards each person on the team, and encourages focus on actions that can charge the depleted trust batteries.

Telling Our Stories

Everyone has a story to tell, though without a framework or guiding principles, surfacing those stories in a way that makes everyone feel safe and head can be tricky – especially for new teams. Team building activities that combine self reflection, sharing and structure are great for helping people to get to know each other deeply and build better bonds.

In Telling Our Stories, invite participants to reflect on childhood, young adulthood and today while answering questions on colored post-it notes. By sharing from the full gamut of our experiences, your team can get to know one another meaningfully and create trust too. 

Telling Our Stories   #hyperisland   #team   #teambuilding   To work effectively together team members need to build relations, show trust, and be open with each other. This method supports those things through a process of structured storytelling. Team members answer questions related to their childhood, young adulthood, and now; then weave them into a story to share with the rest of their team.

Better Connections

Great teamwork and collaboration is all about building stronger relationships and connections and this often means taking the time to see each other as more than just our job title. Once we get a fuller picture of who we are outside the office, everyone can feel more seen and understood. This is one of the cornerstones of team bonding and trust!

Encourage people who know each other the least to pair up and create space for meaningful reflection too – your team culture will thank you for it! It’s also a great way to improve communication skills and break down silos.

Better Connections   #interpersonal relationships   #teambuilding   #team   #connection   #thiagi   #get-to-know   We build a stronger relationship with people when we see them as human beings with whom we share similarities in terms of family and life situations. It is very difficult to form strong relationships with people about whom we know very little.We feel more connected to “full” people. For example, take John, the accountant. If I think of John as an accountant, I might put him into a box of what I think I know about accountants. I might not feel connected to accountants and will treat him accordingly. But when I think of John as a keen mountain climber and outdoor adventurer with two children, one of whom is graduating from university next month, then John becomes human to me, and I can feel connected to him.

Feedback: Current Strongest Impression

Giving and receiving feedback is a great team building activity that sees benefits long after your session. When we find ways to be more open with one another and say what we really think, the results can be transformative for any group.

This activity is a great one to bring to any event where you want to improve team bonding, as it creates a safe and simple way to start practicing more honest feedback. The next time you think about how to improve the way your team works together, think about whether you have a good feedback culture. The trust that good, open feedback can create is a fundamental part of any high performing team!

Feedback: Current Strongest Impression   #hyperisland   #skills   #feedback   Regular, effective feedback is one of the most important ingredients in building constructive relationships and thriving teams. Openness creates trust and trust creates more openness. Feedback exercises aim to support groups to build trust and openness and for individuals to gain self-awareness and insight. Feedback exercises should always be conducted with thoughtfulness and high awareness of group dynamics. This is a good first feedback exercise. It supports individuals to try out giving and receiving a very basic form of feedback in a safe way.

When a team doesn’t trust one another, the atmosphere and culture of a team suffers. Creating space to align and create a shared understanding of what trust means to your team is a great way to build team bonds and improve the way you all work together.

Start this activity by bringing together a set of trust cards containing characteristics, behaviours, attitudes, habits, values, and beliefs associated with trust in the workplace. Next, ask participants to create their own trust cards and move towards creating three core trust cards for your team.

By co-creating the output together, this team building activity is great for ensuring buy-in and creating long-lasting trust.

Trust   #thiagi   #issue analysis   #trust   One of the most important concepts in the workplace is trust. It affects performance, informal and formal relations, atmosphere of the workplace etc. With this activitiy you cn discover what one thinks about trust.

Translated Rant

Team building workshops are a great place to give your team room to have fun, vent and be honest with one another. Creating space for honesty while also building communication skills is the goal of this fun team building activity!

Split your group into pairs and have one person rant about a pet peeve for 60 seconds. Next, have the other person translate this rant while focusing on what the person really cares about. This kind of deep listening activity is fundamental to creating team trust, and sharing some of our annoyances in the group is great for building bonds too!

Translated Rant   #active listening   #emotions   #values   #trust   #conflict   #introductions   #opening   #connection   One person rants for 60 seconds. The second person translates their rant into what they care about and value.

Team building exercises for purpose and alignment

Even the best teams can have differences of opinion and approach. While different viewpoints and perspectives are useful in many situations, it’s also vital that everyone is aligned on team purpose and vision.

Aligning on how the team will work together is an important part of helping the team be happy, productive and pulling in the same direction.

In this section, we’ll look at team work activities to help improve team alignment and get everyone working towards the same purpose. Let’s get started!

Alignment & Autonomy

Activities that help improve each member of your team work more effectively and feel empowered to operate autonomously can be great for improving employee happiness and productivity. If we feel aligned on the core purpose and goals of our team while also being given the space to work in the way that is right for us, we can boost employee engagement and job satisfaction too! 

In Alignment & Autonomy, invite participants to reflect on times when they felt aligned and autonomous versus non-aligned and non-autonomous. By sharing, reflecting, and then ideating on solutions, your whole group can move forward together.

Alignment & Autonomy   #team   #team alignment   #team effectiveness   #hyperisland   A workshop to support teams to reflect on and ultimately increase their alignment with purpose/goals and team member autonomy. Inspired by Peter Smith’s model of personal responsibility. Use this workshop to strengthen a culture of personal responsibility and build your team’s ability to adapt quickly and navigate change.

Engineering Your Team OS

When seeking to improve teamwork, it can be useful to think of your team as a system with complex, interlocking parts which may need a gradual refresh and redesign. This kind of abstraction can help prevent discussions from becoming too personal or difficult and ensure that your team alignment efforts are a success.

In this activity, your team designs an ideal working system by making aspirational statements and then methodically chooses a single statement to work towards ahead of the next meeting. By making positive changes incrementally, your team can achieve alignment and better working practices in a meaningful and sustainable manner. 

Engineering Your Team OS   #team   #hyperisland   This is designed to work as a standalone workshop or as a companion to the Team Self-Assessment tool . Using reflections and insights on your working process, your team will ‘update’ its operating system by making deliberate choices about how to work together. The goal is gradual development, not a radical shift. You will design an ideal-state for your team and slowly work towards that.

Generative Relationships STAR

Better working relationships start with shared reflection and the discovery and discussion of existing working patterns. This team alignment activity invites participants to assess their team along four vertices: Separateness, Tuning, Action and Reason and jointly shape next steps and future actions.

By including the whole team in the alignment process from start to finish, you can get meaningful buy-in and see real results! We love using this on an online whiteboard too. It can be a great way to help remote workers consider their inter-personal relationships!

Generative Relationships STAR   #team   #liberating structures   #teamwork   You can help a group of people understand how they work together and identify changes that they can make to improve group performance. All members of the group diagnose current relationship patterns and decide how to follow up with action steps together, without intermediaries. The STAR compass tool helps group members understand what makes their relationships more or less generative. The compass used in the initial diagnosis can also be used later to evaluate progress in developing relationships that are more generative.

Team Canvas Session

Team alignment isn’t always straightforward. The more large, complex or multi-discipline your team is, the trickier it can be to help the group mesh and understand their roles and responsibilities to the team and each other.

In Team Canvas Session, you and your team create a shared visual resource for understanding and articulating your goals, values and roles of your team. It can be used for general alignment, for onboarding new team members and even for defining the structure and purpose of a brand new team – simply recreate or download the team canvas and get started today!

Team Canvas Session   #team alignment   #teamwork   #conflict resolution   #feedback   #teambuilding   #team   #issue resolution   #remote-friendly   The Team Canvas is Business Model Canvas for teamwork. It is an effective technique to facilitate getting teams aligned about their goals, values and purposes, and help team members find their role on the team.

Team Self Assessment

All groups need to go through a period of reflection and self-assessment in order to grow. But without structure or a guiding framework, these discussions can become bogged down or unproductive. With this reflective team building activity, you can enable a thoughtful and thorough team self-assessment along six guiding dimensions.

Start with individual reflection before bringing everyone back together to debrief and see what you’re aligned on and what needs more work. By then narrowing these down to the most important elements, you can align and enable better co-working practices quickly and efficiently!

Team Self-Assessment   #team   #hyperisland   #remote-friendly   This is a structured process designed for teams to explore the way they work together. The tight structure supports team members to be open and honest in their assessment. After reflecting as individuals, the team builds a collective map which can serve as the basis for further discussions and actions. The assessment is based around 6 dimensions. Each one encouraging the team to reflect and analyse a different and crucial element of their behaviour.

Letter from the Future

Without a cohesive shared vision, teams can become unproductive or harbor frustration on team direction. By spending time with visioning activities, you can help everyone push in the same direction while still utilizing their unique talents.

In Letter from the Future, invite your team to imagine all the changes that might impact them in the next 5 years and write a letter back from that point. Ask your team to cover what’s been accomplished in those five years, and what kind of challenges and obstacles were overcome to make this happen. Remember to remind teams that good letters have a beginning, middle, and end and that they should read clearly – this will help during the sharing and debriefing section of this method!

Letter from the Future   #strategy   #vision   #thiagi   #team   #teamwork   Teams that fail to develop a shared vision of what they are all about and what they need to do suffer later on when team members start implementing the common mandate based on individual assumptions. To help teams get started on the right foot, here is a process for creating a shared vision.

Team Purpose & Culture

Defining your team’s purpose and culture is an integral part of team building. By clearly articulating why your team exists and how you will all work together to fulfill that purpose, you can align and bring focus to all the work you do. This team values and vision activity aims to create a shared visual resource that your team can refer to in the future.

It also uses wisdom from other successful organizations to help enable meaningful conversation and move from individual purpose statements to a single one for the whole team. If you’re looking for a complete process that can guide your team values and vision efforts, this method from Hyper Island is worth a try!

Team Purpose & Culture   #team   #hyperisland   #culture   #remote-friendly   This is an essential process designed to help teams define their purpose (why they exist) and their culture (how they work together to achieve that purpose). Defining these two things will help any team to be more focused and aligned. With support of tangible examples from other companies, the team members work as individuals and a group to codify the way they work together. The goal is a visual manifestation of both the purpose and culture that can be put up in the team’s work space.

Checkout and recap activities for your team building workshop

The process of team building and enabling a group to work together more effectively can be involved and exhaustive.

As with any group process or workshop, taking the time to reflect, recap and check out can ensure the lasting impact of what was covered in the session.

You’ll often find that finding time to close team building activities creates space for further employee engagement and reflection. Getting team members involved in choosing the next activity or coming up with a theme for the next round of office trivia!

In this section, we’ll take a look at some great team building activities for closing a session and for recapping the main learning points. Let’s dive in!

Check-in / Check-out

Ensuring everyone in a group is present, focused and committed to the work of a session is a vital ingredient in making a team building session a success. With this workshop method from Hyper Island, you can not only start and end your session the right way, but you can help everyone in your group be seen, heard and understood by the rest of the team.

This is especially useful with a remote team, where ensuring clear connection between team members who don’t share a physical office is especially important.

This activity also helps encourage reflection and brings the workshop to an effective close – be sure to give it a try!

Check-in / Check-out   #team   #opening   #closing   #hyperisland   #remote-friendly   Either checking-in or checking-out is a simple way for a team to open or close a process, symbolically and in a collaborative way. Checking-in/out invites each member in a group to be present, seen and heard, and to express a reflection or a feeling. Checking-in emphasizes presence, focus and group commitment; checking-out emphasizes reflection and symbolic closure.

The trip back from a team building event is a great place to share feedback and appreciate one another. Don’t have a bus? No worries! Create a few rows of chairs and simulate the experience for this reflective closing activity.

Once you’ve gotten the chairs of the bus set-up, ask participants to speak the person next to them and share: what they like about the other person, what they appreciate and what about the other person makes them happy. Speak for just 45 seconds each and then ask the group to switch seats.

Bus Trip   #feedback   #communication   #appreciation   #closing   #thiagi   #team   This is one of my favourite feedback games. I use Bus Trip at the end of a training session or a meeting, and I use it all the time. The game creates a massive amount of energy with lots of smiles, laughs, and sometimes even a teardrop or two.

One Breath Feedback

In particularly large teams, it can be tempting to forgo the closing activity or individual feedback steps just because it will take so long and it can be hard to maintain energy and interest. One Breath Feedback solves this problem by giving each participant the space of a single breath to check out and reflect on the session. By ensuring that everyone has room to speak and be heard while also placing a time limit on the reflection, you can cap off a team building workshop effectively and intelligently.

One breath feedback   #closing   #feedback   #action   This is a feedback round in just one breath that excels in maintaining attention: each participants is able to speak during just one breath … for most people that’s around 20 to 25 seconds … unless of course you’ve been a deep sea diver in which case you’ll be able to do it for longer.

Team building workshop templates

Building better teams often starts with designing an effective group process. Whether this takes the form of a workshop or meeting, you’ll want a balance of activities, ice breakers and reflective methods in order to help your group align and grow together.    

In this next section, we’ll take a look at some example processes with a complete workshop template you can use to get started. Let’s take a look.

Team development day for a new team

Helping new teams to bond and find a shared purpose and value system is often best achieved with a well designed group process. Try the team development day template when working with a brand new team or one which has seen large growth and is in need of development.

Here, you’ll find a complete one-day group process full of team building activities that can take a group from getting to know each other all the way through to defining their needs and making commitments. 

Team Development Day for a New Team

Emotional Culture Workshop

Good teams are empathetic and in touch with their emotions. Using the emotional culture deck , this workshop can be run in under 3 hours and helps your team define and improve working relationships and the emotional culture of your team.

Taking the time to articulate and define these items ensures that everyone in your group is seen, understood and valued, and that you have a shared language for moving forward.

Team Dynamics Workshop

Cohesive teams that work well together are those with an understanding about what makes a team and how it functions.

Support your team building activities with this half-day workshop template and guide your group through a process of understanding and building on the dynamics of working together. 

Team Dynamics Workshop Template

Team building sessions made easy

Designing an effective team building workshop means creating a balanced agenda of activities and group discussions while also keeping everything on time.

With SessionLab, you drag, drop and reorder blocks to build your agenda in minutes.

Your session timing adjusts automatically as you make changes and when you’re done, you can share a beautiful printout with your colleagues and participants.

Explore how teams use SessionLab to collaboratively design effective workshops and meetings or watch this five minute video to see the planner in action!

Over to you

Enabling better teamwork and building stronger, more cohesive teams isn’t easy. Whether you’re running a team building day, team workshop, or simply adding some team building activities to your meetings, we hope that some of the methods above can help you and your group come together and do better work. 

Got a team workshop to plan? Check out our complete guide to workshop planning to make the process a breeze. Want to start creating your agenda quickly? Use a meeting or workshop template to save time designing or get inspiration.

Which of these team building activities is your favourite? Is there anything missing from the list above? Let us know in the comments! We’d love to hear about how we can all improve our team building efforts.

Hey there, Thank you so much for sharing this interesting stuff ! I will share these ideas with my HR Departments. And I am sure this blog will be very interesting for me. Keep posting your ideas!

All the training techniques have been well thought pit, planned and illustrated with tangible objectives which in itself is incredible to say the least. Have learnt so much which O shall incorporate and refine in my Workshops…Than you Team Session Lab

Leave a Comment Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Going from a mere idea to a workshop that delivers results for your clients can feel like a daunting task. In this piece, we will shine a light on all the work behind the scenes and help you learn how to plan a workshop from start to finish. On a good day, facilitation can feel like effortless magic, but that is mostly the result of backstage work, foresight, and a lot of careful planning. Read on to learn a step-by-step approach to breaking the process of planning a workshop into small, manageable chunks.  The flow starts with the first meeting with a client to define the purposes of a workshop.…

How does learning work? A clever 9-year-old once told me: “I know I am learning something new when I am surprised.” The science of adult learning tells us that, in order to learn new skills (which, unsurprisingly, is harder for adults to do than kids) grown-ups need to first get into a specific headspace.  In a business, this approach is often employed in a training session where employees learn new skills or work on professional development. But how do you ensure your training is effective? In this guide, we'll explore how to create an effective training session plan and run engaging training sessions. As team leader, project manager, or consultant,…

Effective online tools are a necessity for smooth and engaging virtual workshops and meetings. But how do you choose the right ones? Do you sometimes feel that the good old pen and paper or MS Office toolkit and email leaves you struggling to stay on top of managing and delivering your workshop? Fortunately, there are plenty of online tools to make your life easier when you need to facilitate a meeting and lead workshops. In this post, we’ll share our favorite online tools you can use to make your job as a facilitator easier. In fact, there are plenty of free online workshop tools and meeting facilitation software you can…

Design your next workshop with SessionLab

Join the 150,000 facilitators using SessionLab

Sign up for free

More From Forbes

How to organize your employees into teams to maximize productivity.

• Share to Facebook
• Share to Twitter
• Share to Linkedin

UNSPLASH.COM

Teamwork can have a multiplier effect, cross-pollinating team members’ skills and knowledge. But before you begin corralling employees into distinct units, remember that collaboration can come at a cost. Teams don’t always work out, according to J. Richard Hackman , the late Harvard organizational psychology professor and leading expert on teams. Hackman’s research demonstrated the surprising ways that teamwork can hurt productivity.

That said, certain strategies have been shown to improve the efficacy of teams. Here are some tips for strategically creating teams that boost organizational productivity and innovation—rather than chip away at it.

Build small, cross-functional teams

Speaking of cross-pollination, bees understand the value of teamwork. In a recent study , Finnish researchers taught bumblebees to push a small brick to clear the way or navigate a tunnel to get a treat. Researchers taught the bees to go it alone or to execute the task with a partner. In both cases, the partnered bees waited for their teammates. The takeaway: teamwork is nature’s way to get things done.

A growing body of research shows that when humans pool their skills, knowledge, and motivation, the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. Science teams are more productive and make a greater impact when collaborating across organizational and geographic boundaries. In academia, interdisciplinary teams publish more and in more diverse outlets. In controlled studies from the American Psychological Association , groups of three, four, and five people delivered better performance on coding challenges than individuals or groups of two.

The caveat: it’s critical to maintain small team sizes. Hackman told Harvard Business Review that as teams get bigger, the number of links to manage among members increases exponentially, creating extra administrative, people-managing tasks. Adding another wrinkle: many teams don’t have clear boundaries. Hackman’s data on 120 top teams around the world showed that fewer than 10% agreed about who was on their team. Leaders should clearly articulate team members and limit them to single digits.

Biden Borrowed At Least $50,000 Via Home Equity Loan, New Disclosure Reveals

Kamala harris raked in interest income in 2023 new filing shows, forbes releases 2024 30 under 30 asia list.

At my company, Jotform, I realized we needed to create teams when we expanded from five employees to 15. Suddenly, productivity suffered. We were no longer working towards a unified mission. The company vision became hazy. When we broke into cross-disciplinary teams of five to six employees, with self-determined goals and deadlines, we regained momentum. Each team lived and breathed its unique mission. Teams had dedicated designers, who reviewed every design decision, and our products improved. As the numbers showed, users (aka the most important stakeholders) were happier, too.

In short, leaders must deliberately create diverse teams with clear members and roles, and keep a cap on members or run the risk of diluting the team’s efficacy.

Designate a team leader

When each team has a leader, teams can avoid some of the pitfalls of collaboration and capitalize on their strengths. Studies have shown successful teams have a clear purpose, established roles, and a formal communication system. A leader can step in to ensure that these higher-level administrative tasks are taken care of, for example, to make sure communication is working effectively before issues snowball.

Team structures have the unintended positive outcome of creating leadership pipelines throughout the company. Since every team has a lead, employees acquire management skills while working full-time, putting them on a path to advancement. At Jotform, our current VP of Product, Enterprise began 11 years ago as an introverted developer. She became one of our first team leads, then went on to product management before her most recent promotion to VP. She’s progressed on an individual career level while championing teams toward their collective goals.

Create shared workspaces

A 2023 study found that collaboration hurts efficiency when team members can’t observe each other and communication is less efficient than face-to-face interactions. To avoid this pitfall, teams need shared workspaces. Physically shared workspaces are ideal.

At Jotform, we hired an architect to design team rooms for six people maximum. Every room had whiteboards and closed glass doors, giving teams privacy. With three people sitting next to each other on one side and three on the other, even the computers were organized to promote collaboration. Any team member could easily see their colleague’s monitor and observe what they were working on. We opted for team productivity over individual privacy, propelling us toward our larger organizational goals.

Remote teams must take extra measures to build shared workspaces so collaboration feels near-seamless and doesn’t dampen efficiency. Luckily, today there are numerous applications to choose from, like Notion and Google Google Workspace. ( G2 is a great resource for researching the latest tools and reviews.)

Teamwork can make the dream work if managed and organized strategically. Hopefully, the above tips can help your team members build off each other’s strengths and make the most of your organization’s talent pool.

• Editorial Standards
• Reprints & Permissions

Join The Conversation

One Community. Many Voices. Create a free account to share your thoughts. 

Forbes Community Guidelines

Our community is about connecting people through open and thoughtful conversations. We want our readers to share their views and exchange ideas and facts in a safe space.

In order to do so, please follow the posting rules in our site's  Terms of Service.   We've summarized some of those key rules below. Simply put, keep it civil.

Your post will be rejected if we notice that it seems to contain:

• False or intentionally out-of-context or misleading information
• Insults, profanity, incoherent, obscene or inflammatory language or threats of any kind
• Attacks on the identity of other commenters or the article's author
• Content that otherwise violates our site's  terms.

User accounts will be blocked if we notice or believe that users are engaged in:

• Continuous attempts to re-post comments that have been previously moderated/rejected
• Racist, sexist, homophobic or other discriminatory comments
• Attempts or tactics that put the site security at risk
• Actions that otherwise violate our site's  terms.

So, how can you be a power user?

• Stay on topic and share your insights
• Feel free to be clear and thoughtful to get your point across
• ‘Like’ or ‘Dislike’ to show your point of view.
• Protect your community.
• Use the report tool to alert us when someone breaks the rules.

Thanks for reading our community guidelines. Please read the full list of posting rules found in our site's  Terms of Service.

Multiple Team Assignment

We recently added the feature to assign multiple teams to a scheduled job or estimation within ServiceWorks. This can be useful for situations where you’d need more than one team assigned to a service without the tedium of having to individually add each professional to the ticket. Here’s a tutorial on how to utilize this feature: A few things to note before you start:

• You will need to create a job / estimation ticket BEFORE you can add multiple teams. It will not work from the creation of a new job or estimation.
• This feature is only available via the Schedule view at this time. Other methods of multiple team assignment are currently in development.
• This feature will not work if a professional is assigned to more than one team. Attempting to assign duplicate professionals will result in an error message.

From the schedule view, click on the job you want to assign multiple teams to and select ‘ Edit Assignment ‘

Once you’ve opened the Assignment Information screen, select ‘ Professional ‘ to begin assigning teams to the job

In the following menu, you’ll see a list of the available professionals and teams that can be assigned to the job. Choose the desired teams and then click ‘ Done’ to save your selection.

Now that when you return to that job on the schedule, the window should display the teams assigned to the job as well as a list of professionals assigned to each team

Need More Assistance? Contact us: Use the chat bubble on our site here Email: [email protected] Phone: 636-220-4363 Ext #1

Share this:

• Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
• Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
• Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)
• Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window)
• Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window)

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Business Management For Service, Retail And Delivery

Popular categories, 1001 craig road, suite 456, creve coeur, mo, 63146, us, email address:, [email protected], copyright © 2024 service works blog | all rights reserved., discover more from serviceworks academy.

Subscribe now to keep reading and get access to the full archive.

Type your email…

Continue reading

You must be logged in to post a comment.

Texas A&M Veterinary Emergency Team Deploys In Response To East Texas Floods

Four members of the Texas A&M Veterinary Emergency Team (VET) and four future Aggie veterinarians on the VET rotation have deployed to East Texas in response to historic river flooding affecting thousands of people and animals. The already soaked area is expected to receive additional rainfall on Thursday, prompting the federal Weather Prediction Center to warn of a high risk of excessive rainfall for the eastern portion of the state.

The team, which deployed Wednesday afternoon to Coldspring, will play a vital supporting role in providing veterinary medical care to companion animals housed together with their families at a local emergency shelter. The team immediately began examining and administering care to the 39 dogs and 13 cats in the shelter.

“Animal shelters play a vital role in the recovery efforts during and after disasters,” said Dr. Deb Zoran, VET director. “They provide shelter for those who’ve been displaced from their homes or lost during the storm and offer families the chance to reunite with their beloved animals and begin the healing process together.”

The VET rotation visits counties around the state to help them develop emergency animal shelter plans for all types of hazards, including flood events such as this one. As a result, Zoran said, the team is well-prepared to assist in animal shelter care and in recovery efforts in a community. 

“All flood-related disasters are different, but whether they are caused by heavy rain, overflowing rivers or hurricanes, it’s important to remember the basics of responding to water-related disasters,” Zoran said. “We know that in many of these events, the animals evacuated or rescued have been in the floodwater and so may be injured and require medical care, or may simply have been exposed to the pollutants and bacteria in the water. This means they need decontamination for the protection and safety of their owners and caregivers as well as themselves and other animals.  

The VET has developed protocols to assist communities in removing floodwater contaminants from dogs using decontamination guidelines .

“People impacted by disasters are comforted by knowing there is a safe place for them and their animals in their community,” Zoran said. “It’s an honor to have the opportunity to serve our fellow Texans and to provide opportunities for our fourth-year veterinary students to work alongside our team to assist people and their animals ” Zoran said. “Our response efforts wouldn’t be possible without the support we receive from our donors, who share our passion for supporting communities in need.”

The VET is the largest, most sophisticated team of its kind in the country with members including faculty, staff and students from the Texas A&M School of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences as well as volunteers from the veterinary profession and beyond.

To learn more about the VET, visit vetmed.tamu.edu/VET , and to support the VET on this deployment, visit tx.ag/SupportTheVET .

Media contact: Rachel Knight, [email protected] , 979-862-2489

Related Stories

How A National Network Of VETs Will Advance Disaster Preparedness And Response

Texas A&M Veterinary Emergency Teams poised to expand with federal support.

Texas A&M Team Receives National Recognition For Collaborative Service In Rio Grande Valley

Faculty, staff and students from health, vet med and nutrition will be awarded in D.C. for work with Operation Border Health Preparedness.

Veterinary Emergency Team Provides Assistance Amid Texas Wildfires

The team's recent deployment to the largest wildfire in Texas history provided essential assistance to animals and communities in need while serving as a learning opportunity for students.

Recent Stories

Remains Of Two Men From Central China Shed Light On Ancient Practice Of Punitive Amputation

A Texas A&M professor’s research suggests the two individuals were members of the aristocracy who had parts of their legs amputated as punishment for alleged crimes.

Medal Of Honor Recipient, Former Student Dies At 76

Clarence E. Sasser, a Brazoria County native and distinguished veteran of the Vietnam War, earned the nation’s highest military honor in 1969 before studying chemistry at Texas A&M.

Top Barbecue Tips From The ‘Three Brisketeers’

Texas A&M AgriLife experts share four tidbits every barbecue lover should know.

Subscribe to the Texas A&M Today newsletter for the latest news and stories every week.

Our office will be open virtually on Mondays and and Fridays during the summer. Resume drop-in hours will resume in the fall. Have a great summer!

• Schedule an Appointment
• Undergraduate Students
• Graduate Students
• Faculty & Staff
• Prospective Students
• Parents & Families
• Career Champions
• African Heritage
• Asian, Pacific Islander Heritage
• First Generation
• Indigenous/Native American Heritage
• International
• LatinX Heritage
• Non-Traditional Student
• Students with Disabilities
• Undocumented
• Arts, Media, Marketing & Communications
• Business Management & Administration
• Education, Training, Non-profit & Social Justice
• Finance & Accounting
• International Affairs
• Health Sciences
• Human Services
• Information Technology, Systems, and Computer-Related Fields
• Languages & Cultures
• Law, Government, Policy & Public Administration
• Sustainability
• Undecided/Exploring
• Explore Your Interests, Majors and Careers
• Create a Resume / Cover Letter
• Prepare for an Interview/Negotiate an Offer
• Networking/Career Fairs
• Search for a Job / Internship
• Apply to Graduate School
• Community Service
• Center for Leadership and Service
• Internships for Academic Credit
• Study Abroad
• May 2020 Outcome Data
• May 2021 Outcome Data
• May 2022 Outcome Data

Assignment: Career Readiness using Focus 2

• Share This: Share Assignment: Career Readiness using Focus 2 on Facebook Share Assignment: Career Readiness using Focus 2 on LinkedIn Share Assignment: Career Readiness using Focus 2 on X

Focus2 is a free online assessment tool for all UAlbany students.  It includes several career assessments that help students choose careers and majors.  It also has an assessment of the student’s Career Readiness based on the NACE Career Competencies. This assignment focusses on assessing and developing a student’s career readiness.

• SI SWIMSUIT
• SI SPORTSBOOK

Injured Houston Astros Outfielder Continues Rehab Assignment

Matthew postins | may 15, 2024.

• Houston Astros

Injured Houston Astros outfielder Chas McCormick continued his injury rehab assignment in the minor leagues, as he joined the Double-A Corpus Christi Hooks on Tuesday.

McCormick batted second and played center field against the San Antonio Missions. He went 0-for-2 at the plate, driving in a run. He left the game after five innings as Rolando Espinosa replaced him defensively.

The Astros intend to have McCormick play the outfield again on Wednesday.

The 29-year-old McCormick started his rehab assignment on Sunday with Triple-A Sugar Land, where he went 2-for-5 as a designated hitter. He reported no issues running the bases.

The right-handed hitting McCormick has been on the 10-day injured list since May 1 with right hamstring discomfort, a move that was retroactive to April 28. He first injured it against the Kansas City Royals .

McCormick is eligible to be activated when he’s ready.

While McCormick is versatile enough to play all three outfield positions, his bat has not been where it was last season. In 16 games he slashed .236/.325/.278/.603 with three doubles and eight RBI. He hasn’t hit a home run this season and has hit at least 14 home runs in each of his first three MLB seasons.

In 2023 he blasted a career-high 22 home runs and 70 RBI in 115 games.

McCormick is one of two Astros on the 10- or 15-day injured list and the only outfielder. Without him, Houston has six listed outfielders — Yordan Alvarez, Trey Cabbage, Mauricio Dubon, Joey Loperfido, Jake Meyers and Kyle Tucker.

Alvarez also plays designated hitter and Loperfido can also play first base.  

MATTHEW POSTINS

Matthew Postins is an award-winning sports journalist who covers the Texas Rangers, Philadelphia Phillies, Chicago Cubs and Houston Astros for Sports Illustrated/FanNation. He also covers he Big 12 for Heartland College Sports.

Follow postinspostcard

• CBSSports.com
• Fanatics Sportsbook
• CBS Sports Home
• Champions League
• Motor Sports
• High School

Football Pick'em

College Pick'em

Fantasy baseball, fantasy football, fantasy basketball, fantasy hockey, franchise games, 24/7 sports news network.

• CBS Sports Golazo Network
• PGA Championship
• UEFA Champions League
• UEFA Europa League
• Italian Serie A
• Watch CBS Sports Network
• TV Shows & Listings

The Early Edge

A Daily SportsLine Betting Podcast

With the First Pick

NFL Draft recap

• Podcasts Home
• The First Cut Golf
• Beyond the Arc
• We Need to Talk Now
• Eye On College Basketball
• NFL Pick Six
• Cover 3 College Football
• Fantasy Football Today
• My Teams Organize / See All Teams Help Account Settings Log Out

LOOK: Cleveland Guardians become latest team to unveil their City Connect uniforms

The guardians will wear the new uniforms for the first time on friday against the twins.

The Cleveland Guardians have become the latest MLB team to unveil their City Connect uniforms for the 2024 season. The Guardians will begin wearing their themed uniforms on Friday when they take on the Minnesota Twins .

The franchise recently changed its name to the Guardians, and the uniforms pay homage to that new name. The main theme of the uniforms is the Guardian of Traffic statues that can be seen on the Hope Memorial Bridge.

We always rep the CLE. 🔥 #ForTheLand pic.twitter.com/SwAS1iUJBC — Cleveland Guardians (@CleGuardians) May 13, 2024

The jerseys contain the letters "CLE" written across their chest, which is a phrase that Cleveland residents constantly refer to the city with. 

While some teams like the Boston Red Sox and Philadelphia Phillies have chosen non-traditional colors, the Guardians are still utilizing the red and navy blue that have become synonymous with the franchise for decades.

The color of the Guardians' pants is sandstone, which draws inspiration from the Berea sandstone that can be found on the Hope Memorial Bridge's pillars. "EST 1901" is also showcased on the collar of the jersey to honor the founding of the franchise. In addition, the phrase "THE LAND" also appears on the player's waistbands, which is a nickname for the city of Cleveland.

The style of the "CLE" on the jerseys also is inspired by the look of the pylons that support the Guardians of Traffic.

According to MLB.com , the Guardians began working on the concept for the City Connect uniforms back in Dec. 2021. The Guardians now will join the Detroit Tigers , Los Angeles Dodgers , Minnesota Twins, New York Mets , Philadelphia Phillies, St. Louis Cardinals , Tampa Bay Rays , and Toronto Blue Jays as the teams that have introduced City Connect uniforms during the 2024 season.

The Guardians will wear the new uniforms for every Friday home game.

Our Latest MLB Stories

Dodgers' Emmet Sheehan has season-ending elbow surgery

Matt snyder • 1 min read.

Astros' Ronel Blanco suspended over sticky stuff

R.j. anderson • 2 min read.

Yankees sweep Twins in rout not seen since 1999

Mike axisa • 1 min read.

Mets owner denies team is planning to sell at deadline

Mike axisa • 2 min read.

MLB DFS picks, May 16, 2024 strategy, lineups, advice

Cbs sports staff • 3 min read.

Yankees vs. Twins odds, picks, prediction, best bets

Share video.

Guardians unveil their City Connect uniforms

First-quarter grades: Orioles, Phillies get 'A'

MVP, Cy Young, Rookie of the Year so far

How Judge turned his season around

What's the best team in the AL Central?

Dodgers' Sheehan has season-ending elbow surgery

Orioles extend regular-season sweepless streak

Missed Team ’24? Catch up on announcements here .

Ask a question, start a discussion.

• Jira Service Desk Jira Service Management
• Confluence Confluence
• Trello Trello
• Opsgenie Opsgenie

Community resources

• Announcements
• Documentation and support

Atlassian Community Events

• Atlassian University
• groups-icon Welcome Center
• groups-icon Featured Groups
• groups-icon Product Groups
• groups-icon Regional Groups
• groups-icon Industry Groups
• groups-icon Community Groups
• Learning Paths
• Certifications
• Courses by Product
• Live learning
• Local meet ups
• Community led conferences

Get product advice from experts

Join a community group

Advance your career with learning paths

Earn badges and rewards

Connect and share ideas at events

• Jira Service Management

Wrong assignment of customer to organization

You must be a registered user to add a comment. If you've already registered, sign in. Otherwise, register and sign in.

Suggest an answer

Still have a question?

Get fast answers from people who know.

Was this helpful?

Deployment type, product plan.

• jira-service-management
• jira-service-management-cloud
• Community Guidelines
• Privacy policy
• Notice at Collection
• Terms of use
• © 2024 Atlassian

• Emmet Sheehan Undergoes Tommy John Surgery
• Pirates Trade Roansy Contreras To Angels
• Jung Hoo Lee Leaves Game Due To Dislocated Shoulder
• Matt Brash Undergoes Tommy John Surgery
• Angels Acquire Luis Guillorme, Transfer Anthony Rendon To 60-Day IL
• Pirates To Promote Paul Skenes
• Hoops Rumors
• Pro Football Rumors
• Pro Hockey Rumors

MLB Trade Rumors

Pirates Designate Josh Fleming For Assignment

By Darragh McDonald | May 14, 2024 at 5:10pm CDT

The Pirates have recalled right-hander Ryder Ryan and designated left-hander Josh Fleming in a corresponding move.  Robert Murray of FanSided reported Fleming’s DFA prior to the official announcement.

It’s an unfortunate early birthday present for Fleming, who will turn 28 years old on Saturday. The southpaw signed a split deal with the Pirates in February and has been primarily working out of the club’s bullpen. He technically made one start but went just 2 1/3 innings as the first guy in a bullpen game on April 24.

The results have not been great for the lefty, who has a 5.68 earned run average in 19 innings over 17 appearances. His 15.1% strikeout rate is subpar but right in line with his career rate of 14.9%. He’s still getting ground balls at a good rate, with his 57.1% mark this year just barely below his 58.9% career clip.

The baseball gods have seemingly played a role, as Fleming has a .344 batting average on balls in play and 56.3% strand rate this year, both of which are on the unlucky side. But he also hasn’t done himself any favors with the free passes, as his 10.5% walk rate is above league average and well beyond the 7.1% rate he carried into this season.

Fleming is out of options, so the Bucs didn’t have much choice but to remove him from the 40-man entirely if he’s worn out his welcome on the active roster. They will now have a week to trade him or pass him through waivers. Fleming’s deal pays him $850K in the majors and $240K in the minors, per the Associated Press .

He has more than three years of service time and would have the right to reject an outright assignment if he were to clear waivers. However, with less than five years of service time, exercising that right would involve walking away from the remaining money on his deal. Per the recent collective bargaining agreement for minor league players that was signed last year, the minimum salary for a Triple-A player is just $35.8K.

That would be a moot point if another club wanted to acquire Fleming. His career numbers aren’t far off what he’s done this year, as he had a 4.88 ERA with the Rays from 2020 to 2023 before being non-tendered by that club and signing with the Pirates.

47 Comments

I hope the poor guy found out before we did.

the 6 man rotation idea has come to an end with Priester being optioned back to Indy today

The Bucs are 16-3 when they score 4 or more runs and 3-21 when they score 3 runs or less

And they have the worst record over the last 31 games in baseball

He’s pitched better then 2 to 3 guys in the pen this year

except for last night’s game when he almost blew the lead and the game That said, going with a 6 man rotation, they were already down one reliever. Who’s going to replace Fleming on the roster? I wonder if Tellez can pitch. He certainly can’t hit

I felt pretty bad for him last night. Hate to get let down with that many errors. He should have gotten out with a lot less damage. He’s not a big loss as he just had fringe average stuff but he made the best of it. Still, this seems to have Ortiz as the only multi inning guy.

Except for last night? Fleming was one of the bozos responsible for those 6 two-out bases loaded walks on Saturday, that wiped out the 6-1 lead Skenes left with. Last night, he turned a 7-1 laugher into a one-run game. By all rights, Nicolas should’ve been the one optioned. He can’t throw strikes!

I’m old, last Saturday seems like years ago

He’s pitched OK this year but had two bad outings although the defense imploded behind him yesterday. He saved some arms the first two months of the season for the Pirates going multiple innings

Totally misused by Shelton. He has always been a reliable innings eater. Never was a good crunch time guy. His best success was when he followed an opener in Tampa. He doesn’t have the stuff to get himself out of his or someone else’s jam. Why Shelton left him in is beyond me. His best attribute is weak contact and DPs.

They had a big lead though and the defense crapped all over themselves. Not all on him.

My point was that he’s not a stuff guy. The ball will be put in play. I think that he should stick around. His era was around 3 only until recently.

Pirates could have signed Bauer before the season started. Too bad they blew their hot start, seems to be a yearly thing.

Rotation clearly isn’t the issue for them, not yet at least. Afraid luck will catch up to Falter and not sold on Priester as an mlb starter, and Jones/Skenes will be somewhat limited.

Priester doesn’t belong in the majors, has already given up 7 hits and 4 runs and we’re only in the 2nd inning

We’re going to strike out tonight again in double digits

Bauer offered to take a contract at league minimum with the Bucs, Cherington said no. So they really didn’t have a chance since they didn’t want him And starting pitching isn’t the problem Scoring runs is

This move should fix that offense right up.

Thus move should have been made before Contreras was DFA’d. Tellez needs to go next!

I agree about Rowdy but outside of Joe, we don’t have another first baseman

Word on the street is that he is headed to the whitesox. Saw him eating tacos at a stand close to the park so I believe he is looking for a reasonable apartment to move into . You heard it here first baseball fans

Except that he was still in Pittsburgh this afternoon Nice try

Ashcraft!! Jesus’s christ let him throw! These guys running show blowing it. Everyone in the show making 6 figures for making stupid judgments. I’ll do for 95,ooo and turn it around! Ben give me a call you need help!

I’ll do it for $94,000 and use punctuation.

Ok your in!

Should DFA the manager for sending him out for a second inning after he struggled through the first one. What game was he watching?

I heard this Pittsburgh manager isn’t quite the creme of the crop or the sharpest knife in the drawer yet they stick with him. Must be one of those “nice guy” managers and everyone’s best friend. Which isn’t bad, but you need acumen as well.

Only reason why SKELTON is still the manager, is that he flushes Nuttings toilet in the off season. Toilet flushers are hard to come by.

no mention of the lackluster performance by the offense, striking out 13 times, partially against a pitcher not known for strikeouts THIRTEEN TIMES!

This stat is a testament of how awful the hitting coach’s inability to teach the basic fundamentals and mechanics of the game to the players Swinging at pitches nowhere close to the plate is a reflection of how ineffective this coaching staff is

Cruz trying to make it to 3rd base from 2nd after a grounder to the shortstop is also a reflection of the discipline of these players

Discipline is one of the fundamental qualities of a good team We aren’t a good team and if things don’t change soon, we’ll be looking at yet another fire sale at the trade deadline

Yep. DFA this guy but keep Chapman. Perfect sense. The guy is a bum but they spent $10M for his “services”

Chapman, like Rowdy, Taylor and even Oliveras to a certain extent are major disappointments. Everyone praises Taylor’s speed playing center field yet he can’t resist swinging at every pitch thrown in his direction, regardless of the location

Rowdy hasn’t had a hit since May 5th and a home run since the beginning of April

Chapman has a serious issue with location of his pitches, has 3 losses and isn’t the feared pitcher he was in his prime

Oliveras doesn’t know how to hit the ball in the opposite direction, he pulls everything, and more often than not, grounds out as a result, He has power but isn’t the player Cherington thought when he was traded for

I imagine, using Shelton’s lineup today, Gonzalez will sit in favor of light hitting Williams, Rowdy for Joe, and Bart for Grandal Will we score enough runs to win or will we strike out in double digits again and lose?

Not sure how Shelton uses Chapman in close games at this point. He’s seriously a train wreck and as you said, can’t find the strike zone. You have Holderman to set up Bednar, who himself is trying to work out kinks. I’d even take Hernanzez as a better left handed option over Chapman

I don’t see how he uses him either but knowing Shelton, Chapman will continue to be the setup man because Derek will want him to work out his location issues He’s already said that he would continue to use Rowdy against right handed pitchers so he can work out his problems

Shelton and his coaching staff are the worst in baseball

One gets the idea there’s a bottom line here: Yes. We paid for Chapman. Tellez. Grandal. Taylor. Let’s “give them opportunities” because if they somehow show something, they’re soooo valuable at trade deadline time. Shelton is a puppet, I’m convinced. There likely is some understanding about line ups with the front office

Oliveras is yet another example of the failure of Cherington’s tenure as General Manager He’s a platoon player who has no business being in the starting lineup on any given day

I get sick of hearing Kevin Young claim that the hitters are “ just missing “. Popping up on the infield isn’t “ just missing “.

Question is, will we be able to overcome a 4 run , despite it being only the 3rd inning? My answer is no

With an off day tomorrow why is Shelton allowing Perez to continue to pitch? Down 5 runs going into the bottom of the 5th, having given up 3 homers, Perez gives up another homer

Shelton is really a horrible manager

When they cut ties with Rowdy, they should include Taylor and look for another 3rd baseman who can actually hit and a first baseman who can hit an occasional homer We are losing to a 24 year old rookie who’s only making his second career start How pathetic

I admit I’m watching less and less I’m limiting myself to seeing Jones and Skenes are refraining from the idea that hey, contending is just a step away You mention broadcast teams and it’s a reason I’ve tuned out. Again, they essentially tell me to not believe what I see Their jobs are to continue the hype, nothing more. But then, this has always been the idea. But seeing games on various outlets,it’s all become PR. No McCarvers or Kubeks, although I like Smoltz, just a good old boys club that give me insights into players’ golf games and plans for dinner I love the game I grew up with, but not the arrogance of millionaire players or their broadcasting buddies

Alkka pinch hit for Cruz and struck out swinging which begs the question of why is he here and Bae at Indy? I am tired of hearing about how good his ( Williams) defense is when he can’t hit. Oliveras struck out three times today

Imagine, the oldest player on the team had the best day at the plate including a home run

So, the question is again, why leave Perez in to pitch the 6th? Answer, so he could give up another home run

I am – – close to never watching another Pirates game again until Shelton and Haines are fired There’s no excuse for leaving Perez in the game with an off day tomorrow and the hitting of this team is downright awful

They should have DFAed Ortiz not Contraras

The man..I haven’t been able to follow today’s game. Are you saying that Akyho Williams pinch hit for O’Neil Cruz??? If so SKELTON needs sent far far away

yes, Alika Williams pinch hit for Cruz and struck out swinging on 3 pitches

Hard to fathom how awful this team’s offense is this year, especially considering the rebuilding was over and this was the year that they were supposed to be competitive

This is absolutely unbelievable. A walking match stick williams pinch hitting for Cruz. I never thought I’d say this, but I’m not going to follow the buccos, like you a fan since 1966, until this horrendous excuse of a manager is fired. He does nothing for the betterment of the pirates. He’s like small hands, who obstructs justice. Skelton obstructs the pirates progress

21 hours ago

Williams came in as a defensive substitution in the bottom of the seventh, not a pinch hitter. Suwinski also came in for Reynolds. More like Pirates conceding the game with twi innings to go.

13 hours ago

Regardless he struck out on 3 pitches in his only plate appearance

they conceded the game when Shelton decided to keep Perez in the game for the 6th inning when the score was 6-1 and he had already given up 4 homers Perez then proceeded to give up homers #5 before he was finally pulled for Ortiz

Face it, they aren’t competitive and at the trade deadline, they will again be in rebuild mode, an annual tradition Pirates fans are becoming accustomed to

23 hours ago

He was bad in Tampa and was another questionable pick up. If Tampa lets you go you either make to much money or are no good.

22 hours ago

Wasn’t so much a defense of him but rather, there is so much deadwood on this team.

3 hours ago

They should have designated Shelton for assignment Cutch, who had 3 hits including a homer yesterday isn’t playing in this tonight’s game but Jack is and against a lefty and so is worthless Williams

Buccoprojectory certainly won’t be pleased

20 mins ago

Jack shouldn’t be in the lineup against a lefty and Williams shouldn’t be on the major league roster

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Please login to leave a reply.

Log in Register

• Feeds by Team
• Commenting Policy
• Privacy Policy

MLB Trade Rumors is not affiliated with Major League Baseball, MLB or MLB.com

Username or Email Address

Remember Me

Current time by city

For example, New York

Current time by country

For example, Japan

Time difference

For example, London

For example, Dubai

Coordinates

For example, Hong Kong

For example, Delhi

For example, Sydney

Geographic coordinates of Elektrostal, Moscow Oblast, Russia

City coordinates

Coordinates of Elektrostal in decimal degrees

Coordinates of elektrostal in degrees and decimal minutes, utm coordinates of elektrostal, geographic coordinate systems.

WGS 84 coordinate reference system is the latest revision of the World Geodetic System, which is used in mapping and navigation, including GPS satellite navigation system (the Global Positioning System).

Geographic coordinates (latitude and longitude) define a position on the Earth’s surface. Coordinates are angular units. The canonical form of latitude and longitude representation uses degrees (°), minutes (′), and seconds (″). GPS systems widely use coordinates in degrees and decimal minutes, or in decimal degrees.

Latitude varies from −90° to 90°. The latitude of the Equator is 0°; the latitude of the South Pole is −90°; the latitude of the North Pole is 90°. Positive latitude values correspond to the geographic locations north of the Equator (abbrev. N). Negative latitude values correspond to the geographic locations south of the Equator (abbrev. S).

Longitude is counted from the prime meridian ( IERS Reference Meridian for WGS 84) and varies from −180° to 180°. Positive longitude values correspond to the geographic locations east of the prime meridian (abbrev. E). Negative longitude values correspond to the geographic locations west of the prime meridian (abbrev. W).

UTM or Universal Transverse Mercator coordinate system divides the Earth’s surface into 60 longitudinal zones. The coordinates of a location within each zone are defined as a planar coordinate pair related to the intersection of the equator and the zone’s central meridian, and measured in meters.

Elevation above sea level is a measure of a geographic location’s height. We are using the global digital elevation model GTOPO30 .

Elektrostal , Moscow Oblast, Russia