Task List

Purpose

As the name implies, the task list is the list of tasks or discrete work elements that must be performed to generate the project deliverables. The actual work is defined in sufficient detail such that resources may be allocated to specific efforts to produce specific outputs.

Application

The task list is used by the project manager to allocate specific work and by the team members to understand their individual responsibilities associated with the project. It can be used in support of network diagramming as the foundation elements for such diagrams, and it may also be used to generate a highly detailed element-byelement cost list in support of budgeting or budget tracking. In its simplest form, it may simply be used as a checklist to indicate what work has been completed and what has not.

Content

The content in the task list is the list of tasks to be performed on the project. The list may be derived from the work package level of the work breakdown structure or (in some organizations) may be the work package (lowest) level of the WBS. Which type of list is chosen is largely a matter of organizational application. Because the task list is strictly a list of the work to be performed, it may be generated in a tabular format with owners, due dates, and/or degrees of completion .

Because the task list includes tasks to be performed (rather than strictly deliverables), the tasks included therein should be expressed as verb-object (e.g., “Paint walls”). The verb-object format encourages clarity in task descriptions and helps to ensure that they are, indeed, discrete elements of work to be performed.

Approaches

Different organizations delineate tasks differently. Some see them as the point at which project responsibilities transition to functional organizations. Others see them as clear, simple, discrete work elements to be performed. The definition on the level of detail associated with the task list is critical. Tasks should, ideally, be roughly of the same scope and size. At the very least, they should all be oriented toward a specific level of accomplishment and reporting.

Considerations

Some task lists are generated in hopes of “dummy-proofing” a project by ensuring that work is detailed in such granularity that no one will miss a step. Often, such efforts focus so much on discrete detail that larger scale deliverables are overlooked. The task list should be defined down to a level where the project manager is truly interested in the outputs and needs to know when those outputs are accomplished. The task “Stir paint” may need to be carried out, but it is not something most painting project managers would care to know if/when it is accomplished.