Delegating Tasks in Outlook

Do you use the task function in Outlook to help keep your work organized? Sure, Post-It notes stuck on your monitor are quick and easy. But you may be missing out on a powerful way to keep you organized and on track. Not only does the task function provide reminders for you, it allows you to delegate the work and track its progress toward completion!

This feature has been in Outlook for many years, so anyone who uses Outlook with Exchange server can try it.

First, let’s clear up a common misunderstanding—what’s the difference between a to-do and a task? Any item marked for follow up is considered a “to-do”. That can be an email, a contact or even an appointment. A task is something that’s tracked until it’s marked as complete. Since tasks are automatically marked for follow up, they are also to-do items.

Although we’ll describe the process using Outlook 2003, the process is similar with all Outlook versions.

Let’s say you need new line cards printed for the business and you want it done so it’s ready by a specific date. But, you want your assistant Paul to work on it for you. Let’s create a task and delegate it to Paul.

Start by clicking on File and then New from the menu. Select Task and the new Task box will appear.

Look to the right of the Recurrence button on the toolbar and you’ll see the Assign Task button. Press it and you’ll see the Task box change, adding fields to let you delegate the task.

We’ve added the subject and the due date and Paul’s name. You can also add notes or other instructions as needed. Click OK and the task will appear in Paul’s email for his acceptance. When he accepts the task, you’ll receive an email acknowledgement. The item will now appear in both of your task lists.

As Paul works on the task, you may want him to provide updates to you based on his progress. This can be easily accomplished by using the notes area of the Task window and by changing the % Complete field.

You can see the status of the task is now listed as In Progress.

When Paul completes the task, he can indicate this by changing the % Complete field to 100 or by changing the Status field to Completed. If you accepted the defaults when creating the task, you’ll receive an email stating the task is now complete. The task item in your task list will also show that it’s been completed.

There are many more options that can make the process of delegating tasks simpler and more efficient for you. Since the goal is making your work more effective and productive, give it a try instead of using that Post-It note!

Can’t try this Outlook feature because you don’t have Microsoft Exchange handling your email? You’re in for a pleasant surprise as it’s now much less expensive to get started. Call us at (949) 481-1232 for details.