It can be argued that the greatest weakness in workplaces is the inability of relevant people to keep shared tasks and To Do’s synchronised. This inability wastes a lot of time and effort, causes stress, strains interpersonal relationships, and constrains productivity.
To Do’s are the working level actions done to complete a task. They are generally managed by individuals who personally make lists to keep track of their To Do’s from plans, meetings and other communications. It doesn’t take long for personal To Do lists (even when maintained) to get out of synch with other peoples’ To Do lists, plans and agreed meeting actions.
There are many software solutions that look like they keep tasks and To Do’s synchronised. However these solutions usually rely on timely manual intervention that is difficult to achieve and sustain in a real-world situation.
For example, project management software relies on people managing their own To Do’s and estimating the progress of project tasks. Working level To Do’s required to complete project tasks are coordinated through meetings and ad hoc communications (like emails, phone calls, instant messaging, wikis, chat rooms). Some synchronisation occurs, but it is inconsistent and not recorded or tracked.
Most people do their best to keep shared tasks and To Do’s synchronised, but they are quickly overwhelmed with complexity. For example in a seemingly simple situation where four people are doing five tasks with a total of 30 actions/To Do’s, 60 shared relationships need to be tracked and synchronised ..
Unfortunately the real world is even more complex, because more people, more tasks, more To Do’s, and changes are the norm. The table below shows how the number of shared relationships escalates when indicative workplace situations are considered.
These figures are based on a conservative estimate of only six To Do’s/actions being required to complete a task and each person only being involved in a percentage of tasks.
Tasks To Do's/ People Involvement Shared
actions in % of Tasks Relationships
5 30 4 50% 60
10 60 4 50% 120
10 60 8 50% 240
100 600 8 50% 2,400
100 600 16 33% 3,168
1000 6000 100 25% 150,000
10,000 60000 150 15% 1,350,000
100,000 600000 10,000 1% 60,000,000
A tool that can concurrently handle thousands of people doing thousands of tasks and To Do’s/actions in a changing environment is needed. Each person needs to be able to see tasks that are relevant to them and the To Do’s/actions they need to do. This applies even if they are only involved in a small number of tasks, especially if the tasks are part of a larger project.
Just like networked computers need to be synchronised to work together, so does the work people are doing to get tasks done. Web and mobile connectivity and collaboration tools provide a good start, but they still rely on people to keep the required number of shared relationships synchronised.
TASKey has developed and validated a web and mobile software engine that can easily keep the required number of shared relationships synchronised. Easy access over web and mobile devices allows people to receive synchronised To Do lists that are easy to understand and manage.
Simply ticking To Do’s as complete updates progress. People are kept informed of changes that affect them in real-time, so they can make timely adjustments to what they are doing without the requirement for meetings or other communications. Consequently tasks can be completed more productively with minimum training, because the engine replaces a lot of the processes that are currently applied manually.
TASKey’s work synchronising engine enables people to manage their time in a way that keeps work flowing more efficiently and records what has been done for future decision making. This saves a lot of time and effort, reduces stress, improves interpersonal relationships, and optimises productivity.
The work synchronising engine facilitates; distributed management; positive personal accountability; cultural change; working level participation; and productivity that are beyond the capabilities of other methods and tools.