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How to track team tasks

One shared list where every task has an owner, a date and its discussion, synced through a folder your team already uses.

About 30 minutesMac and WindowsNeeds Pro

To track team tasks, keep one list the whole team works from, where every task has an owner, a due date and its discussion attached. In PrimeTask that list is a Space shared through a folder your team already uses, such as Dropbox, OneDrive or a NAS. Everyone works in their own copy, and changes sync through the folder.

Updated · Checked with PrimeTask 1.0.5 · PrimeTask Team

PrimeTask

The team's SpaceOne list, synced through a folderThe workEvery task with an ownerWhere you lookWho has what, and what changedShared folderDropbox, OneDrive or a NASTeam SpaceCollaboration, one ownerMembersEach on their own computerTasksAn owner and a due dateCommentsDecisions and blockersTask listGrouped by assigneeDashboardRecent Activity widget

How it fits together

Select a part, in the drawing or here, to see what it does and what it feeds.

What flows

Every change, both ways

Team Space to Shared folder

Grouped by assignee

Tasks to Task list

Every member's changes

Tasks to Dashboard

Part ofLinkedTravels through the folderShown on
Every connection, in words
  • Members is part of Team Space.
  • Tasks is part of Team Space.
  • Comments is part of Tasks.
  • Team Space is linked to Shared folder.
  • Tasks is linked to Task list.
  • Tasks is linked to Dashboard.
  • Every change, both ways: Team Space to Shared folder.
  • Grouped by assignee: Tasks to Task list.
  • Every member's changes: Tasks to Dashboard.

How the parts of tracking team tasks connect, from the shared folder to who has what

The problem

Team tasks slip between chat, email and a spreadsheet nobody keeps up to date. Who's doing what, by when, and what was decided end up in different places, so people ask again or guess.

A tracker only helps when the whole team works from the same list, every task has an owner, and the reasons stay with the task.

What it uses

Five parts, one connected system

Each card opens its docs article in a new tab, for the detail behind the steps.

File Sync Collaboration

Pro

A shared Space in a folder your team already uses

Docs for File Sync Collaboration (opens in a new tab)

Joining a Shared Space

Pro

Each person joins from their own computer

Docs for Joining a Shared Space (opens in a new tab)

Task Details Page

Every task with an owner and a due date

Docs for Task Details Page (opens in a new tab)

Task Comments

Decisions and blockers kept on the task

Docs for Task Comments (opens in a new tab)

Task Filters & Sorting

Each person's work, one filter away

Docs for Task Filters & Sorting (opens in a new tab)

Steps

Set it up in seven steps

  1. 1Pick a folder the whole team can reach
  2. 2Turn on Collaboration for the team's Space
  3. 3Have each person join from their own computer
  4. 4Give every task an owner and a due date
  5. 5Keep decisions and blockers on the task
  6. 6See who has what
  7. 7Know how changes travel

Step 1

Pick a folder the whole team can reach

File Sync (opens in a new tab)

Choose a folder every member can open on their own computer: a shared Dropbox or OneDrive folder, a shared iCloud Drive folder, or a folder on the office NAS. Share it with the team through that provider's own sharing.

The provider decides who can reach the files, so its sharing is where access starts and ends.

Step 2

Turn on Collaboration for the team's Space

File Sync Collaboration (opens in a new tab)

Open Settings → Spaces, open the Space or create one, and set its sync to File Sync in the shared folder. Under Who uses this Space?, choose Collaboration and enter the name your team will see. Turn on Password Protection if the folder's provider shouldn't be able to read it.

Important. Whoever turns Collaboration on becomes the owner for good. Ownership can't be passed on later.

Step 3

Have each person join from their own computer

Joining a shared Space (opens in a new tab)

Each teammate opens Settings → File Sync, clicks Join Shared Space and picks the shared folder, where the Space shows as Team. They enter its password if it has one, and the name the others will see.

They join as a Member. Make someone an Admin in the Space's Members list if they'll manage who's in it.

Step 4

Give every task an owner and a due date

Task details (opens in a new tab)

Open a task, click its assignees and pick the teammate who owns it, then set a due date.

When their copy syncs, they get a notification with the task's name, and clicking it opens the task. Take someone off a task and they get a note too, so nobody's surprised.

Step 5

Keep decisions and blockers on the task

Task comments (opens in a new tab)

Write what was decided, what's blocking you and what changed in the task's comments, and mark each one as a Decision, a Blocker or Progress. Pin the one everyone must read first.

Type @ and pick a teammate from the list to mention them. Every comment shows who wrote it.

Step 6

See who has what

Filters and sorting (opens in a new tab)

In the task list, group by Assignee to see each person's tasks under their name, or filter by Assignees to see one person's work.

Show the Comments column and sort by it to bring the tasks with the most discussion to the top.

Step 7

Know how changes travel

Sync modes (opens in a new tab)

Each person can keep working offline. Their edits wait and go out when the folder is reachable again, and changes usually arrive within seconds, as fast as the provider syncs the folder.

It's sync, not live co-editing. If two people change the same task at once, PrimeTask settles it automatically, so check the final version afterwards.

The checklist

The whole list

Before the team starts:

  • A folder every member can open, shared through its provider
  • One owner, chosen on purpose, since ownership can't move
  • Password Protection on if the provider shouldn't read the Space, with the password in a password manager the team shares
  • Everyone joined through Join Shared Space
  • Admin for whoever manages members, and Viewer plus read-only folder access for anyone who only looks
  • An owner and a due date on every task
  • Decisions and blockers in the task's comments, not in chat
  • When someone leaves: removed from Members and from the folder

Variations

Make it yours

Four ways to change the setup to fit how you work.

Clients who only need to look

Give a client the Viewer role and read-only access to the folder itself. The role says what they're there for; the folder permission is what enforces it.

An office NAS instead of a cloud folder

Put the shared folder on the office NAS or a network share. On a local network it's usually even faster than a cloud folder.

Macs and Windows PCs together

One Space can be shared between Macs and Windows PCs, as long as the folder syncs on both.

Your Dashboard

The Recent Activity widget shows the latest five changes in the Space, each with who made it, as your teammates' work syncs in. If it's hidden, turn it on from the Layout Editor button in the Dashboard header.

Reuse

Save it for next time

Set it up once, and start the next one from it.

A starting point for every team Space

Set up one Space with your team's tags, statuses and priorities. Create each new Space with Copy from space to start from it, then turn on Collaboration.

Questions

Common questions

Yes. Turning Collaboration on and joining a team Space are both part of Pro, so the owner and each person who joins need it. The free trial includes Pro, so the team can set this up before anyone buys.

Usually within seconds, as fast as the shared folder syncs. You'll see a teammate's comment appear in an open thread, but you won't watch them type it. It isn't made for two people editing the same field at the same moment.

No. PrimeTask doesn't run a server your tasks pass through. Each person's copy of PrimeTask reads and writes the shared folder, and your folder provider moves the files. With Password Protection on, the provider can't read them either.

The Space's Members list shows when each person was last active, such as "5m ago", and anyone active in the last few minutes shows as online.

Remove them from the Space's Members list, then take away their access to the folder in Dropbox, OneDrive or your network share. The folder's sharing is what decides who can still reach the files.

Related

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