Project Task List: How to Create it

Tracking tasks is one of the most important activities in project management. Staying on top of your to-do list isn’t an easy task, though—no pun intended.

Everything begins with the creation of a project task list. You write out each individual task, assign tasks to stakeholders, give them due dates, and keep track of them.

Sounds easy? Well, it certainly is if you follow my step-by-step guide.

What is a project task list?

A project task list is a comprehensive document that outlines the individual tasks required to complete a project. Envision it as a roadmap that guides team members, stakeholders, and clients through each stage of the project lifecycle.

A well-structured task list should include:

• specific objectives for each task

• clear responsibilities and deadlines assigned to team members

• estimated time requirements for completion

• relevant deliverables, such as assets or reports

By maintaining a detailed task list throughout the project, teams can ensure that all necessary components are completed on time, within budget, and meet client expectations. This also enables better collaboration among team members, reduces errors, and helps to identify potential roadblocks before they become major issues.

Types of project task lists

There are several types of project task lists that can be used in marketing agencies, depending on the specific needs of your projects.

Task list

An online task management platform such as Service Provider Pro that allows teams to create and assign tasks, set deadlines, and track progress. Above, you can see a project task list example using SPP’s task feature.

Gantt chart

A visual representation of tasks and dependencies, often using bar charts or calendars.

Kanban board

A board (often in Trello) with columns representing different stages (e.g., To-Do, In Progress, Done), where team members can move cards to track progress.

Spreadsheet

A spreadsheet tool such as Google Docs or Airtable where you can freely design and arrange columns and rows.

How to create a project task list

Now that you’re aware of the different methods to stay on top of your tasks, let me show you step-by-step how you can create a task list for your projects in Service Provider Pro.

Identify project scope

In SPP.co, every project is linked to a service. When you set it up, you can define its value, if it’s a recurring service, intake forms, and of course, tasks.

Before you can create the latter, it’s important to know the scope of your project. What is the end result, who has to work on this service, and what are the deadlines for each task including the full project?

Also define what the deliverables are. For instance, social media management agencies might want to deliver a certain number of social posts every month.

Define each task

With the project scoped, it’s time to break it down into smaller chunks. Content agencies could break down the creation of a blog post into the following tasks:

1. Verify brief

   1. Please check if the brief contains all necessary information. If so, change status to Writing, and set the due date to 1 week from now.

2. Writing process

   1. Research topic and keywords in ahrefs.com.

   2. Outline an article structure.

   3. Write the content piece and let it rest for 1 day.

   4. Come back to it, read through it, and make changes if necessary.

   5. Change status to Editing & proofreading.

3. Editing & proofing process

   1. Edit the content piece in Google Docs.

   2. Use the Suggesting function for large edits.

   3. Apply small edits directly (punctuation, spelling mistakes).

   4. If too many changes necessary, assign back to writer.

   5. If content is ready, assign to manager.

4. Project delivery

   1. Write a short message to inform the client that the content piece is ready, and change status to Complete.

5. Revisions

   1. If a client requests a revision, the order status will change to Revision. Managers will assign the original writer the content piece, who will re-write according to instructions, and pass.

Write down detailed instructions and add supporting links, for instance, the tools used to check grammar and spelling, keyword research, etc.

Create & assign tasks with due dates.

Create tasks

Learn more

Create tasks that are small enough to easily handle by the team member, and that don’t take multiple weeks to complete. Making the tasks too small can quickly turn into a micromanagement issue.

Track time needed

If this is your first time fulfilling a task, you should ask your team members to use a time tracking tool and calculate the average time spent on it. The more precise you are, the easier it is to set deadlines you can uphold.

Keep tracking your time with tools such as Clockify and adjust the deadlines if needed in order to improve your accuracy.

Assign the tasks

Finally, you can decide who is going to be assigned to the tasks. Depending on the service rendered, your team can consist of internal agency team members, but also external collaborators. Make sure that everyone is aware of the tasks they have to fulfill and have the time to do so.

In SPP, you can keep an eye on assigned tasks by going to Reports → Assigned orders. Another report you can look at is the Completed tasks report. You can see how many tasks a team member has completed in a given time period.

Improve your project planning using tasks

To stay on top of your project completion timeline, it’s essential to have a list at hand that gives you a detailed overview. Use whichever method works best for your agency, be it a simple task list, a Gantt chart, kanban board, or spreadsheet.