Subtask: What Is It And How To Use It

Subtask is an easy way of breaking down different components in a project into smaller, individual tasks. All subtasks are related to the larger, main project but have respective assessment areas of their own. Each subtask has its start date, completion deadline, and priorities.

Furthermore, each subtask can be vastly different from the rest but needs to be connected to the parent task to maintain relevance. Creating a subtask is thus an easy way of managing your project and ensuring the most significant attention to detail.

To run a business successfully, you want as much clarity in each project as possible. Success doesn’t come without being detail-oriented and micromanaging to the highest degree.

It may sound intensive and absorbing, but once you focus on all aspects of a project, you can ensure no loopholes anywhere. If you keep your focus on just the parent task or the larger picture, you may lose sight of the finer details that make any project stellar.

 

However, it can be challenging for one person to have such a detail-oriented approach and oversee all aspects of any project. Even the most thorough workers can accidentally overlook some details, which may cause issues later on. to save yourself the hassle and to ensure that you excel on each aspect of the parent task, it can be helpful to organize your work into various subtasks.

 

The more you have, the greater control you’ll have over multiple aspects of the work.

 

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If you’re interested in learning how to use subtasks to manage your business, keep reading below.

 

Benefits of using subtasks

There are various benefits of using subtasks.

Faster project completion

One of the most significant benefits of using subtasks is that it allows you to complete your projects much faster. When you delegate different subtasks to different people, you can achieve greater efficiency. Each individual can work on completing their subtasks as soon as possible, leading to you finishing the parent task sooner than expected.

Without subtasks to divide up the workload, you can face delays in completing the parent task, setting you back financially. Furthermore, you’ll have to face the embarrassment of explaining to your executives and shareholders why the job hasn’t been completed yet. Missing deadlines can be a shortcoming that can cost you heavily in terms of your reputation and financials, and using subtasks can help you significantly.

Identify any issues

Often, looking at the bigger picture can mean that you overlook many of the more minor details. Not only does this mean that the final product isn’t as detailed as it should’ve been, but it also means that you overlook any issues. Without using subtasks, you will devote most of your focus to getting the biggest tasks accomplished first. This means that you may miss any inefficiencies on a smaller scale until it’s too late. By the time you begin to address these bottlenecks, you may be running short on time, and fixing the issues will require money.

By dividing your parent task into subtasks, you can identify any bottlenecks and problems earlier and address them much sooner. You can make the necessary arrangements before starting the project instead of when you’re in the final stages.

Greater clarity    

Even the smallest businesses have several tasks underway simultaneously. Product launches, marketing ventures, deals, and other projects go hand in hand to ensure that the company can keep expanding. However, with so much going on at once, it can be challenging for executives to get clarity on each project. Subtasks make it easy to see every minute detail of each project without being overwhelming. It helps the employees have a better outline of their tasks and to improve workflow.

Increased transparency

Transparency in the process is vital for any project for various reasons. It allows higher-ups to address inefficiencies faster and keeps the project on track. Furthermore, it will enable employees to record their progress at each step of the way, which can be immensely beneficial. The increased transparency can help shape future endeavors by helping the company assess the efficiency of each step and how they can improve it further.

These small records can go a long way in shaping better company policy and helping it expand in the long run. any software that has subtasks is collaborative, and thus all employees can stay updated on the progress.

Employee independence

Adding subtasks to your projects is an excellent way of micromanaging tasks without making your employees feel stifled. If you act as a traditional micromanager, your employees can quickly become resentful. Furthermore, it will stifle their progress and keep them from developing essential skills on the job, improving their performance.

Instead, a subtask allows you to outline clearly tasks for your employees and give them the independence to achieve them on their own. Employees can employ whatever strategies they see fit to accomplish the goals at hand. The transparent process allows you to monitor their progress without interfering too much and causing any friction. Through subtasks, your employees learn how to achieve tasks independently and develop essential skills that make them valuable workers.

Better brainstorming

All businesses are familiar with mind maps. They can help flesh out even the vaguest ideas to the most remarkable detail and are deceptively simple to use. Subtasks work on the same principle and let you divide a more extensive project into more detailed portions. When you’re outlining your various subtasks, you will better understand your project and have better brainstorming.

You can plan much better and creatively analyze how you can approach various problems from new perspectives.

How to use subtasks

There are numerous ways you can develop subtasks, and you can do them at each step of the way. Ideally, it would be best if you had your subtasks ready in the planning stage. However, if you’ve overlooked some areas, you can easily adjust at each step of the process. Much cloud-based collaborative software comes with the option to make subtasks. Based on which collaborative software you use, there are different ways to create subtasks.

Jira

Jira is a popular task management software that can allow you to create detailed subtasks for any parent project. Parent projects on Jira are called ‘Issues’, and you can add different summaries to define the project further. Once you have an issue defined out, you can start adding subtasks. You can create subtasks to assign various aspects of an issue to different group members or split the entire issue into different subtasks. Furthermore, if you feel that the whole issue is a subtask in itself, you can easily convert categories. When you make a subtask in Jira, it inherits the issue’s security level and project type. Once you have a subtask, you can assign it to group members, set a completion date, and monitor progress.

Subtask

Substask is dedicated to subtasks and allows you to create and order your various subtasks ideally. It will enable you to prioritize visually, which can make the organization much more manageable. You can group multiple tasks to make for easier completion. Furthermore, you can also break down more significant tasks into subtasks or larger subtasks into smaller tasks.

The organization is accessible through the effort/value matrix, where you can drag and drop items based on priority. The matrix makes it easy for your team to understand which tasks they need to complete first, and they can learn to work with short deadlines. Furthermore, you can establish an interactive timeline, which shows you the links between various subtasks and the parent task, and lets all group members view completions.

ClickUp

ClickUp is yet another software you can use to make subtasks. It allows you to identify the various layers that ensure a project’s success and allow them to be different employees. You can add details like assignees, priorities, due dates, and any special features to all subtasks. You can easily convert an existing issue to a subtask by clicking on the menu and assigning it to a parent task. You can also make subtask a parent task through the various options in the toggle-down menu.

A unique feature of this software is that it allows you to create nested subtasks, which are subtasks within subtasks. This additional hierarchy level can qualify you for even more significant expertise when working and can let you refine your projects. No matter which software you pick, making subtasks is incredibly simple and helps improve your organization on various levels.

Takeaways

If you’re a conscientious business owner who wants to do your best, subtasks are probably going to be your favorite organizational tool. Using subtasks won’t just benefit your company but will allow your workers to develop greater independence and hone their skills. You can also complete projects before the set deadlines and work with greater efficiency than ever before. Creating and using subtasks is deceptively simple, and they make for an effective collaboration tool for any business. You can get started today by using any software you click with.