6 Task Tracking Software That Simplify Work Management

From budding startups to large organizations, team leaders of all kinds struggle with the complexity of managing multiple projects. 

Fortunately, there are a number of task management software that help you stay on target while keeping team performance high and project costs below budget.

Your task management tool needs to be a trusty partner in organizing your team’s work. It can help you manage a multitude of projects, responsibilities, and deadlines. Time tracking also lets you gain insight into how much time you’re spending on all of your projects. This lets you make sure you’re spending the most time on the projects that also drive the most value for your business.

To be able to understand how you spend time, read about how to do a time audit.

What to look for in task tracking software

Choosing the right tool for your business is not easy, even though you’ll never really run out of possible options. When looking for a tool, keep in mind that more features doesn’t necessarily make for a better experience. Your team has its own unique needs, and that’s what your priority should be.

How are its features implemented?

If you put all the features of the most popular task management tools together, you’ll notice an overlap between several of them. This doesn’t mean that all of them can provide a good experience for you and your team.

Having multiple features are great, but they can make your work even more difficult if they aren’t built well. What you want is an app that not only has the features you need, but also functions easily so you can accomplish your tasks smoothly.

Does it have mobile apps?

While many teams will be using computers most of the time, there are lots of instances where mobile apps are necessary. For example, if you’re always on the road for meetings, it’ll be much easier sending updates through your mobile device instead of carrying a laptop around everywhere you go.

If you want to make sure your mobile apps will perform smoothly, then go for an app that has both desktop and mobile versions. Using one app for desk teams and a different one for field teams will only cause confusion and waste time.

How much does it cost?

In most cases, you’ll need to pay to use the full range of an app’s features. The good thing is that a lot of the options today have free plans that are enough for some smaller teams. However, settling for free plans only may not be enough — especially if your business is growing.

And growing your business is what this is all about. 

That said, you should carefully review your business’ finances, and the apps that you’re choosing from. You don’t necessarily need to go for the cheapest. Your primary concern is which one works best for you, but also ask yourself if the app is worth every cent of its price.

There are hundreds of task tracking tools out there. And while a lot of them share several features, each one has its own unique characteristics that can make it perfect for your team. Here’s some of the best task management software out there.

1. Hubstaff Tasks

If you need a work management software that can make the process smooth and easy, look no further than Hubstaff Tasks. It has a Kanban interface that makes dealing with several tasks hassle-free, plus more features designed to take your productivity to the next level.

Hubstaff Tasks has Agile sprints that lets you focus on the right tasks at the right time, beat deadlines, and optimize your workflow. You can move tasks from one phase to the next with just a click. All the assignees and task followers will automatically be notified so everyone stays in the loop at all times.

The app has a simple visual interface that lets you quickly see task statuses from one location. Each task has its own Kanban card, and the column it’s in represstandents its current project stage.

With Hubstaff Tasks, you don’t have to worry about teams missing progress updates. You can create checklists within Tasks that teams can use to quickly see what’s going on, and put customized labels on each task to keep them organized.

Hubstaff Tasks is an excellent productivity and task tracker app no matter your team size or industry. Streamline your workflow, get everyone involved, and take the trouble away from task management.

It also integrates with Hubstaff, a time tracking app with activity tracking and timesheet features. You can use Hubstaff Tasks for both tracking work and personal task management.

Hubstaff Tasks has two pricing plans: the free plan for up to 5 users, and the paid plan for more users and storage capacity. Both support unlimited projects. So you’re set up for unlimited success.

2. MeisterTask

MeisterTask is task tracker software that lets you closely follow your team’s progress with the help of a colorful and intuitive user interface.

Task management is done via task cards that contain all the necessary details. Within each task, you can communicate with team members via mentions. This can ease up collaboration on projects.

MeisterTask integrates with third-party apps like Dropbox and GitHub so you can easily embed it in your current workflow. It has a free plan with basic features, and paid plans starting at $8.25 per user monthly.

3. Google task management with Gmail

While Gmail is intended for sending and receiving emails, Google also has a feature called Google Tasks that has been nicely implemented into its email platform. If you’re looking for a free task management app and are dealing with emails most of the time, Google Tasks might be perfect for you.

All you have to do is mark emails you need to work on, click on the “More” button, and hit “Add to Tasks.” This creates a list of Gmail tasks that you can use to record your to-dos or future follow-ups. Easy as that.

4. PinTask

Pintask is a project management tool that structures your work with boards and cards. Its task management system allows for flexibility and full visibility on projects’ progress.You can add checklists, documents, assignees, and deadlines to cards. In Pintask, you can also nest lists within cards and set email reminders to improve efficiency.

Pintask offers a few useful extensions like mirroring tasks and hands-free time tracking. You can develop your own extensions and add them to the basic board, too.

5. Jive

Jive is an easy task management platform that provides support for team communication and collaboration. It arranges your tasks within projects that are then nested inside your organization’s network.

Besides basic functionalities such as to-do lists, you can create tasks that host all needed information for their completion. You can use filters to further enhance task tracking according to project and priority level.

6. Wrike

Wrike is a project management tool with solutions tailored to the needs of marketing, creative, and product teams. It helps you get full visibility on your team work via timelines and a workload view of projects.

Wrike is structured around projects that contain folders, tasks, and subtasks. You can set recurring tasks and duplicate project templates to improve efficiency. Then you’re good to assess productivity and profitability by tracking time on projects and tasks.

You can communicate directly within tasks by mentioning team members. It synchronizes with your email and calendar so your work gets streamlined in a single place.

Start tracking tasks better

Tracking tasks is a vital element of successfully managing your team’s workflow. Depending on your team’s needs, try out the tools mentioned above for a solid start in project management task tracking.

What’s your favorite task tracking tool that simplifies project management? We’d love to hear from you in the comments.

This post was originally published in December 2016. It was updated by the Hubstaff Blog Team in September 2019.