Key Takeaways
- Task scheduling tools can reduce time spent manually balancing workloads from hours to minutes using automation.
- Key features like visibility into team availability, one-click task assignment, and centralized request portals streamline coordination.
- Advanced solutions also provide features like automated notifications, progress reporting, and more to help managers.
Spending hours manually balancing your team’s workload and matching talent to tasks is frustrating and time-consuming. As a task manager, staying on top of dynamic workloads while keeping your team happy and feeling challenged seems impossible on spreadsheets or whiteboards.
Thankfully, advanced task scheduling software leverages automation and real-time visibility into individual workloads, skills, and availability to help streamline the most tedious parts of team coordination.
This guide will explore the key capabilities, limitations, and considerations for choosing a task scheduling solution. First, we will define task scheduling software and outline their overall value proposition for task managers. Next, we will provide a high-level framework for evaluating solutions based on team maturity, collaboration needs, and desired time savings.
What to Look for in Task Scheduling Software
Effective task scheduling solutions should provide robust task management capabilities, foster team collaboration, and enhance productivity through automation. As a task manager, understand your team’s key needs within these areas:
a. Task Management Capabilities
The core value of a scheduling tool comes from streamlining task coordination. Prioritize these features:
1. Task Scheduling
- Schedule tasks and set due dates based on team availability and workloads
- One-click assignment considering skill sets and capacity
2. Task Prioritization
- Tools should automatically prioritize tasks based on dates, dependencies, and importance tags
3. Task Assignment
- Match tasks to suitable team members or roles based on categories like skills, location, or workload
4. Task Tracking
- Have real-time visibility into task status like “in progress”, “pending review” , etc.
5. Task Reporting
- Create reports and digests showing outstanding work, completed tasks, etc.
b. Collaboration Features
Look for features like:
1. Team Collaboration
- Message boards for task-related questions and clarifications
- Commenting functionality within tasks
2. Workflow Management
- Standard request templates team can submit tasks through
- Tools to create multi-step workflows around key processes
c. Productivity Enhancement
Advanced solutions provide automation like:
1. Recurring Tasks
- Streamline repetitive assignments with templates
2. Task Notifications
- Keep the team updated on changing priorities via email and in-app notifications
3. Task Dependencies
- Automatically schedule subsequent tasks after initial items complete
Task managers can maximize efficiency gains and cost savings over manual scheduling by choosing a platform aligned to these categories. Reach out for custom platform recommendations suited to your team processes and use cases!
The 13 Best Task Scheduling Software
1. Nifty
Nifty is an all-in-one task management platform that enables users to build automated workflows for task creation, prioritization, assignment, and reporting.
Nifty provides a centralized hub for task coordination while leveraging customizable rules and triggers to streamline scheduling.
Best Features
- Custom views like Kanban boards, Gantt charts, calendars, and swimlanes
- Task scheduling based on assignments, dependencies, and date ranges
- Create multi-step approval workflows
- Recurring tasks and schedules
- Real-time overview of team workloads and availability
Limitations
- Initial custom configuration requires more effort upfront
- Less project portfolio management capabilities
Pricing
- Free trial available
- Paid plan starts at $5 per user/month
Reviews
- G2: 4.7/5 (431+ reviews)
- Capterra: 4.7/5 (416+ reviews)
2. Weekdone
Weekdone enables managers to align tasks to organizational objectives and review progress in weekly sprints.
Weekdone connects work tasks to planning frameworks like OKRs, providing recurring summaries and reports to enhance transparency.
Best Features
- Links tasks to overall company goals
- Schedule weekly reviews of progress
- Custom categories for tasks tied to objectives
- Summary email digests to managers
Limitations
- Mobile experience needs polish
- Steep learning curve for some
Pricing
- Free trial available
- Paid plan Starts at $108 per month
Reviews
- G2: 4.1/5 (37+ reviews)
- Capterra: 4.5/5 (61+ reviews)
3. Hive
Hive provides robust productivity features and flexible task views for individuals and enterprise teams.
Hive leverages custom Kanban boards, Gantt charts, and tables to track and schedule tasks.
Best Features
- Assign/schedule tasks from meeting notes and emails
- Calendar heat maps of team availability
- Workload management across pools or individuals
- Mobile app for iOS and Android
Limitations
- Steep learning curve around advanced features
- Extra cost for portfolio views
Pricing
- Free trial available
- Paid plan starts at $5 per user/month
Reviews
- G2: 4.6/5 (124+ reviews)
- Capterra: 4.2/5 (94+ reviews)
4. ClickUp
ClickUp brings robust task management and scheduling to agile teams with customizable workflows.
ClickUp enables sprint planning while tracking task statuses like “in development” or “pending approval” on flexible Kanban boards.
Best Features
- Visual Kanban boards
- Locale-based task assignment
- Custom statuses for granular tracking
- Calendar view with assignments
Limitations
- Potentially overwhelming interface
- Steep learning curve
Pricing
- Free trial available
- Paid plan starts at $7 per user/month
Reviews
- G2: 4.7/5 (9,406+ reviews)
- Capterra: 4.7/5 (4,020+ reviews)
5. Trello
Trello empowers flexible task management through customizable Kanban boards.
Trello’s cards-on-boards interface allows teams to create task pipelines for workflows such as content creation, software dev sprints, and more.
Best Features
- Intuitive drag-and-drop Kanban task boards
- Interactive checklists within cards
- Calendar view of due dates at a glance
- Great for visual thinkers
Limitations
- More manual task scheduling/prioritization
- Limited automation and custom fields
Pricing
- Free trial available
- Paid plan starts at $5 per user/month
Reviews
- G2: 4.4/5 (13,489+ reviews)
- Capterra: 4.6/5 (23,107+ reviews)
6. Infinity
Infinity excels in flexible views and automation for task management.
Infinity enables creating the perfect workspace through tables, calendars, and Kanban boards tailored to any use case.
Best Features
- 6 different views to display data
- Folders and subfolders for tasks
- Rules-based automation
- Zapier integration
Limitations
- Mobile experience still developing
- Steep learning curve
Pricing
- Free trial available
- Paid plan starts at $9 per user/month
Reviews
- G2: 4.7/5 (115+ reviews)
- Capterra: 4.7/5 (32+ reviews)
7. Smartsheet
Smartsheet brings robust project scheduling and Gantt charts together for managers.
Smartsheet offers advanced scheduling capabilities like milestones, dependencies, and custom fields within broader portfolio tracking.
Best Features
- Gantt charts with resource allocation
- Group assign tasks
- Forms/templates to standardize intake
- Dependency scheduling
Limitations
- Steep learning curve on a broader platform
- More PM-focused
Pricing
- Free trial available
- Paid plan starts at $7 per user/month
Reviews
- G2: 4.4/5 (14,790+ reviews)
- Capterra: 4.5/5 (3,161+ reviews)
8. Teamwork
Teamwork aims to streamline task coordination inside and outside organizations.
Teamwork provides an array of interactive features to centralize scheduling across departments, partners, vendors and more.
Best Features
- Custom-branded client portals
- Integrated invoicing
- Unified third-party calendar
- Approval workflows
Limitations
- Interface can feel cluttered
- Mobile experience needs polish
Pricing
- Free trial available
- Paid plan starts at $9.99 per user/month
Reviews
- G2: 4.4/5 (1,075+ reviews)
- Capterra: 4.5/5 (853+ reviews)
9. ProProfs Project
ProProfs delivers easy-to-configure templates and views for streamlined scheduling.
ProProfs enables managers to visualize tasks through Gantt charts and Kanban boards with color-coding for simplified status tracking.
Best Features
- Interactive Gantt charts
- Customizable workflows
- Project, task, and subtask views
- Color-coded status indicators
Limitations
- Mobile experience still developing
- Lightweight time tracking
Pricing
- Free trial available
- Paid plan starts at $39.97 per user/month
Reviews
- G2: 4.4/5 (32+ reviews)
- Capterra: 4.7/5 (76+ reviews)
10. Wrike
Wrike brings enterprise-grade scheduling and customization together.
Wrike enables managers to set task workflows, assignees, and dependencies and track them through Gantt charts – with the ability to tailor everything.
Best Features
- Interactive Gantt charts
- Custom statuses for tasks
- Automation rules engine
- Dependency scheduling
Limitations
- Can be overwhelming to configure fully
- Steep learning curve
Pricing
- Free trial available
- Paid plan starts at $9.80 per user/month
Reviews
- G2: 4.2/5 (3,6340+ reviews)
- Capterra: 4.3/5 (2,588+ reviews)
11. Hitask
Hitask provides an intuitive central dashboard for task visibility.
Hitask consolidates tasks, calendars, and assignment details into straightforward action boards.
Best Features
- Unified overview of outstanding work
- Calendar integration
- Easy configuration
- Email task capture
Limitations
- Lightweight timelines and dependencies
- Reports need polish
Pricing
- Free trial available
- Paid plan starts at $5 per user/month
Reviews
- G2: 4.4/5 (97+ reviews)
- Capterra: 4.0/5 (42+ reviews)
12. Notion
Notion drives flexible tables, docs, and scheduling in one portal.
Notion allows creating custom tables, toggleables, and properties to build a task-tracking database—no coding required.
Best Features
- Adaptable workspace via no code tables/databases
- Toggle key properties as checkboxes
- Interactive calendars
- Rules-based notifications
Limitations
- No native Gannt charts
- Steeper learning curve
Pricing
- Free trial available
- Paid plan starts at $8 per user/month
Reviews
- G2: 4.7/5 (5,202+ reviews)
- Capterra: 4.8/5 (2,212+ reviews)
13. Scoro
Scoro provides mature scheduling within broader business management capabilities.
Scoro features project planning profiles, assigning tasks, and setting durations, dependencies, and corresponding deadlines across projects.
Best Features
- Real-time schedule visibility
- Financial reporting
- Custom forms
- Role-based plans
Limitations
- Very robust platform = less intuitive
- High learning curve
Pricing
- Free trial available
- Paid plan starts at $19 per user/month
Reviews
- G2: 4.5/5 (395+ reviews)
- Capterra: 4.6/5 (233+ reviews)
Final Thoughts
The landscape of task scheduling tools available provides robust options for automation, collaboration, and productivity gains. As a task manager, thoughtfully evaluate solutions against critical capabilities:
- Task scheduling/assignments matched to team availability
- Centralized request intake and one-click task creation
- Custom rules and triggers like dependencies and notifications
- Real-time progress visibility through custom boards
Leading platforms like Nifty, ClickUp, Wrike, and Smartsheet enable the creation of the perfect automated workflows for your team’s needs and maturity.
Consider the complexity of your processes, integration needs, mobile requirements, and learning curve for users. Most offer affordable plans to get started and trial periods to evaluate first-hand. Partner together to achieve more efficient coordination and happier team members, and be a more data-driven task manager leveraging the next generation of scheduling software solutions.
