Increase Productivity with Effective Task Scheduling

It should be understood that scheduling tasks effectively will have a distinct impact on your business’ productivity. Think of an automobile assembly line. You wouldn’t put the doors on before you’ve got a frame on which to install them, would you? So, why would your business schedule tasks without setting the pipeline up in such a way that achieves milestones in the proper order. This is why proper scheduling of tasks can result in the most efficient workflow for your projects.

Consolidating your workflow in the most efficient manner can yield real results in no time. One of the worst ways to affect productivity is to allow workers to schedule tasks based on how they feel it suits them best. Such scheduling can disrupt workflow beyond their own office desk by holding up other employee’s workflow and even bringing an entire department’s efforts on a campaign to project to a standstill if severely mismanaged.

Implementing a system that assigns tasks to employees in a logical and precise way will eliminate waste, keep smaller tasks to their deadlines, and allow larger tasks contingent on smaller milestones to stay on target.

Harvard’s Task Queuing Case Study

Research has proven time and again that we aren’t as good as we think at picking the most efficient path to take when attempting to complete a series of tasks. Robert S. Huckman, Technology and Operations Management Professor at Harvard, authored a study with several colleagues focused on exactly this. The subject of the prioritization of tasks was management of queuing in relation to radiology diagnoses. The study incorporated 2.4 million such diagnoses from physicians, each of which believed their own paths to diagnoses and task management were the most efficient. The data revealed otherwise. In fact, productivity declined as much as 13%, or about 2,500 hours per year, which translates to 3% of annual profit, when doctors were left to prioritize tasks on their own.

If we follow this case study’s results, it should be clear that business benefits when tasks are streamlined and what may appear to be the best course of action could actually be costing businesses a lot in the long run.

The Case for Taking Control of Task Scheduling

Allowing project managers to implement task managing software can save big over time. Going through painfully long email threads, losing important info in the back and forth, and sifting through updates and QA notes from multiple sources from can all hamstring productivity efforts by wasting precious time.

This is why having all the important info in one organized place is essential to keep your workflow assembly line well-oiled and functioning at peak performance. Don’t hamper your workforce by giving it more to worry about. Let the data do the talking and schedule tasks based on what’s best you’re your business and its clients.

Beyond the benefits of superior control over task scheduling, these specialized platforms allow your workforce to process project requests, launch projects, allocate and utilize resources, track tasks and their deadlines, prioritize and pivot on workloads, and take control of analytics with indispensable reporting tools.