Planning to hire a remote team of developers?
Organized and clear task creation is a must for successful remote team management and software development. In this article, we’re going to explain how to set tasks for project managers, product owners, and other stakeholders.
You’ll know how to:
- Make task assignment clear before work starts
- Write each task description in a language understood by everyone
- Create a template for common web development task descriptions
- Prioritize tasks for a more organized workflow
- Keep task-related communication open.
Let’s begin.
1. Define Task Assignment Process
The tasks in web development projects often come from different stakeholders - project managers, product owners, business owners, analysts, and clients. In some cases, misunderstanding and miscommunication happen.
If a business analyst writes a task for a development team, they might not communicate it in an easily understandable way. The developers might not entirely understand the business domain or industry vocabulary. As a result, the task assignment becomes a complicated process
The project manager should clearly define steps to avoid such situations. In most cases, either the product owner or project manager needs to play their role as the link between “the business side” and developers.
2. Decide on Task Assignment Language
“We need a value stream mapping tool to track WIP during manufacturing.”
Understanding web development tasks from clients might be challenging even for the most experienced developers. Often, they use a lot of business jargon, terminology, and complex concepts to describe tasks, forgetting to consider the team's knowledge.
The best way to minimize misunderstandings is to agree that tasks should be written in the language that everyone understands. Ask the client to avoid business language as much as possible and agree on the vocabulary acceptable for all project stakeholders.
Also, allow developers to send clarification inquiries to the client. Keep the communication mutually respectful, trust-based, and open - no side should feel inferior due to not understanding something.
Related: How to Build Trust on a Remote Team?
3. Write a Task Structure Template
Tasks that follow one structure can be easier to understand, so why not have a template? It’ll help to avoid chaotically written, hard-to-follow task descriptions.
Before writing a template, define all task types you’re going to use (new feature development, bug fixes, etc.). Each type must have a unique task structure template.
Here are templates for two just-mentioned tasks:
- New feature development
- Bug fixing.
Feel free to copy these.
“New Feature” Task Description Template
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Title. A one- or two-sentence description that answers the questions What? And Why?
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Description. The main description featuring task goals and intended benefits
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Assignee. The person responsible for the task completion
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Priority. Low, medium, high
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Additions. Useful materials for developers:
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Files and screenshots
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Links to similar features on other sites, etc.
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Dependencies
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“Bug Fix” Task Description Template
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Title. The name of the bug
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Occurrence. Description of how the bug happened and during which process
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Intended Result. How the software product should have performed without the bug
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Actual Result. How the product actually performed
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Priority. Low, medium, high
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Assignee. The person responsible for the task completion
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Additions. Useful materials
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Error screenshots
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Bug frequency (if applicable)
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Dependencies.
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Ask every project stakeholder to use templates for each task. They can add them to JIRA or another task management tool later. By writing tasks this way, you’ll focus on the most important information and reduce misunderstandings.
4. Decide How to Prioritize Tasks
Labeling every single task “urgent” leads to confusion, work overload, and frustration in developers. They might pick some tasks they consider important, which undermines work organization and sets the overall progress back.
Prioritize all tasks from the offset:
- Indicate the most important features
- Potential development effort to complete each task
- Consequences of not finishing a task.
One good way to prioritize tasks is to assign a number between zero and ten. Such a technique can express prioritization more clearly to remote developers.
In case of priorities change, notify your developers on Slack and make updates in a task management app. The best way is to have a meeting and send “a change summary” containing the list of changes and reasons.
Pro-tip. Developers should work on one feature or bug at a time. Assigning more tasks might lead to work overload, poor organization, and delays.
5. Let Everyone Know When You’re Available
The project manager should help all stakeholders to avoid misunderstanding related to tasks. A timely interference can help keep developers work on the right tasks. To ensure that, project managers need to encourage communication within a team.
Ways to encourage communication:
- Tell everyone to write you whenever someone has a question
- Make sure your Slack profile has updated work hours
- Let everybody know about your availability in the morning (during the daily sync)
- Ask if the tasks are clear on frequent one-on-one meetings with team members
Another good option to help avoid misunderstandings is to ask for task updates regularly. You can do so during the daily syncs or using a shared “reporting” doc.
Ultimately, these tips will help you manage your time and prevent issues with frequent and open communication.
How to Set Tasks for Remote Teams: Summary
Clear task creation makes successful web development projects. A project manager plays a key role in ensuring a clear understanding between the client and the remote team of developers.
If you’re in charge of managing web development projects involving remote teams, use these tips help to set clear and on-point tasks:
- Define how tasks will be assigned and communicated clearly from the offset
- Ensure that task description language is clear to all stakeholders
- Use a standard task structure to reduce irrelevant information and focus on important details
- Decide how to prioritize tasks before and during web development projects
- Encourage constant communication within the team to clarify things quickly.
It all comes down to clear communication. If everybody is involved, then the project will avoid many hurdles such as badly explained tasks and vague requirements.