Five task scheduling tips to keep your team coordinated

Managing a team entails overseeing their diverse tasks, a pivotal role in achieving collective success. However, coordinating everyone's schedule comes with a lot of challenges. Without a good plan, team members might experience frustration, miss deadlines, and projects may not get finished.

The good news is there are scheduling strategies you can implement to keep workstream chaos at bay.

This article will provide five actionable tips to help you optimise planning so your team stays coordinated from start to finish. With a little forethought and the right systems in place, you can master the art of efficient task scheduling.

Tip one: use a centralised task management system

To get your team's scheduling off to a good start, set up a central task management system.

Think of it like a headquarters where all the planning comes together. Rather than using scattered spreadsheets, emails, and whiteboards, plan work assignments efficiently with papershift or other centralised scheduling tech solutions. 

A centralised task management system helps you coordinate projects by keeping track of tasks, assigning them to team members, and tracking their progress. Here's how to take advantage of centralized task management:

●      Set up projects and break down goals into defined tasks in one place everyone can access.

●      Assign tasks to individuals or teams, and they'll receive instant notifications when it's time to get started. No more confusion about who is doing what.

●      View real-time status updates as team members tick off tasks.

●      Manage deadlines, priorities, and dependencies in a shareable calendar view.

When you consolidate task management into a shareable system, you gain the transparency, communication, and coordination needed for the task to succeed. It's like getting the whole team on the same page – quite literally.

Tip two: break down larger tasks

Once your centralised task management system is set up, it's time to start mapping out tasks. Large, complex projects can quickly become overwhelming to schedule and track. The key is to break down big goals into smaller, digestible steps.

For example, if your goal is to launch a new website, instead of listing "launch website" as one big task, break it down into: 

1. Finalise website design and text

2. Develop necessary web pages

3. Configure backend database

4. Test the website and fix bugs

5. Migrate content from the old site

6. Set up hosting

7. Perform security audit

8. Promote launch

See how much more manageable that is? Now, individuals can be assigned smaller pieces that play to their strengths. And progress is easier to track when tasks are well defined.

Other tips for decomposing big goals:

●      Outline high level stages first, then break those down further.

●      Assign due dates and priorities to sub-tasks.

●      Identify dependencies between tasks.

●      Build in review checkpoints between stages.

Taking the time to decompose tasks prevents getting overwhelmed later. And it sets up your team for scheduling success.

Tip three: set clear priorities and deadlines

Now that you've broken down project goals into distinct tasks in your management system, the next key step is to set clear priorities and deadlines. This gives your team visibility into what needs to get done for coordinated scheduling.

Start by assigning due dates to every task. Having concrete deadlines drives action and keeps things moving forward. When setting deadlines:

●      Allow enough time for each task based on the effort required. Don't shortcut timelines.

●      Factor in dependencies between tasks. Set deadlines accordingly.

●      Schedule review checkpoints between major milestones. 

Equally important is defining task priorities. Flagging high priority tasks helps individuals focus on the most critical work. Ways to indicate priority include: 

1. High/medium/low priority labels

2. Due date (higher priority tasks have nearer due dates)

3. Assigning effort values like point scores

4. Colour coding priority in your management system

With defined deadlines and priorities, your team can work efficiently from a shared reference point. And you have objective ways to re-prioritise if timelines slip.

Tip four: build in buffer time

According to Murphy's Law, anything that can go wrong will go wrong. When it comes to work scheduling, no matter how well you plan, unexpected hiccups are inevitable. That's why building buffer time into task deadlines is critical for keeping your team coordinated.

Buffer time refers to the extra time you intentionally add to the schedule to account for unexpected delays, interruptions, or emergencies. This extra cushion in the timeline helps keep your projects on track even when the unexpected arises. 

When building in buffer time:

●      Add at least 10-20% more time to complex task deadlines

●      Have larger buffers for higher risk tasks

●      Schedule periodic checkpoints for reassessing timelines

●      Shorten buffers for tasks on the critical path

●      Limit buffers for tasks with fixed deadlines

The right amount of buffer time gives your team flexibility to handle surprises smoothly. Too little buffer risks throwing off dependent tasks. Too much can lead to complacency.

Aim to have just enough slack in the schedule to maintain momentum when the unforeseen strikes. And remember that buffer time should complement strong planning, not substitute proper coordination for any business.

Tip five: use reminders and notifications

When juggling multiple projects and tasks, it's easy to let things slip through the cracks. That's where automated reminders and notifications come in handy. 

Setting up reminders and alerts in your task management system helps proactively keep work on track by:

●      Notifying assigned users about upcoming deadlines

●      Sending reminders when tasks are coming due soon

●      Pushing alerts when priorities or schedules shift

●      Creating daily/weekly recaps of pending work

Automated nudges bring pending work back to the forefront, keeping your team's focus where it needs to be. Just be careful not to overuse notifications or risk alert fatigue.

Find ways to make reminders actionable, like including relevant task details. The right balance of reminders reinforces coordination rather than causing distraction.

Conclusion

As a manager, you know it takes work to keep your team's tasks on track. But with the right scheduling strategies, you can optimise workflows and align work like a pro. Make a habit of the tips in this article to help you coordinate teamwork seamlessly.

Your people will be equipped to execute tasks efficiently. Projects will run smoother from start to finish. And you’ll prove that with some planning forethought, it is possible to tame the chaos of clashing schedules.