Friday, 9 a.m. Ola from the Pixelo agency opens the “September campaign” task and immediately sees that two of the five items are still outstanding: the landing page and adverts. She does not read 40 chat messages or ask the team for a progress update. The checklist in the task shows the work status in one place. You only need to decide what belongs on the list and what should become a separate task.
A checklist prevents simple omissions
A short list of specific items reduces the risk of your team overlooking an obvious step when working under pressure. A checklist does not replace knowledge or decisions, but it ensures that an agreed process does not get lost between a phone call, a message and the next task.
This was demonstrated by a study of the WHO surgical safety checklist. The list had 19 items, and in a study involving 7688 patients, mortality fell from 1,5 to 0,8 per cent, while the complication rate dropped from 11 to 7 per cent. The aim was not to teach surgeons how to do their job, but to ensure that repeatable steps were carried out at the right time.
The stakes are different in a small business, but the principle is similar. A proposal is sent without its attachment, a new employee still cannot access their email on their third day, or an article is published on the website without an image. Obvious things are easiest to overlook when you have ten of them to deal with at once.
How a checklist works in a Task Manager task
A checklist in a task works as a to-do list in its description. You tick off items directly in the card, and the progress bar below the list shows a status shared by the team.
On Monday, Ola opens the “Website project” task. In the description, she enters four lines: copy, design draft, coding and deployment, then turns them into a to-do list in the editor. Once the first two items are complete, the bar shows “2 of 4 completed”.
Ola does not need to open the task editor to do this. Each completed item shows the name of the person who ticked it off, so the team can see not only the progress but also who marked it. Task details such as the due date, priority and assignees still apply to the task as a whole.
To-do lists also work in messages within task and chat threads. After a meeting, you can enter the agreed actions in a single message - checklists in messages have a status shared by the whole team and show who ticked off each item.
You will find the same type of list in Task Manager Notes. A note can serve as a procedure template because it remains private until you choose to share it. However, ongoing work is better managed in a task with a due date and assignees.
The AI Assistant creates a list from the task description
The AI Assistant can turn the task description, messages and attachments from the thread into a proposed checklist. However, it cannot decide which steps are actually necessary or who should be responsible for the work.
On Tuesday, Marek receives half a page of requirements for a new website from a client. Instead of manually breaking down the description, he asks the AI Assistant in the task thread to prepare a checklist. The Assistant has access to the description, messages and attachments in that thread, so it can base its answer on materials related to the specific work.
The answer has an “ONLY FOR YOU” badge. Only Marek can see the question and result, so once he has reviewed it, he moves the necessary items to the task description. The list then becomes visible to the team.
If a procedure is repeated every month, keep its template in a note and select it as a knowledge source. The Assistant only uses the sources you select and the data you can access. You can find more examples on the page about checklists created with the help of AI and in the description of Company Knowledge for the AI Assistant.
The AI Assistant is optional. Task Manager works without it, and you can create the list yourself. If you enable the AI Assistant, you use your own OpenAI, Google Gemini, Anthropic Claude or xAI Grok key. The content of your request and the context needed to answer it are sent to your chosen provider.
Checklist, separate task or note
If you have one outcome, one due date and one area of responsibility, record the steps as a checklist. Create a separate task when a step needs its own due date, assignee or discussion, and choose a note for a private list or procedure template.
| Situation | Format | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Steps within a single task completed on the same day | To-do list in the task description | Progress is visible in the card, while small actions do not take up separate entries on the task list |
| A step has its own due date, priority or assignees | A separate task in the Workspace | The task has its own fields, thread and attachments, and its due date is visible on the list, Board and Calendar |
| Agreed actions after a meeting | A to-do list in a message | The list remains with the conversation context, and its status is shared by the team |
| A procedure repeated every month | A note as a template and a list in the task | The template remains in one place, while the current copy shows the progress of the specific work |
| A private list for today | Note | It remains private until you share it |
The simplest test is this: if someone might ask, “When is this due?” or “Who is doing this?”, create a task instead of a list item.
A Workspace organises the work area and controls who can see it. A Task brings together a specific outcome, due date, people and conversation. A checklist item describes one step towards that outcome.
Five checklist templates you can copy
The templates cover onboarding an employee, publishing an article, sending a proposal, closing the month and preparing for a trade fair. You can shorten each one to include only the activities that actually take place in your company.
1. Onboarding a new employee
Ania Zielińska starts work on Monday 6 October, and three people share the preparations between them.
- Add the contract as an attachment in the thread
- Set up accounts and access
- Create an account in the application and assign a role and Workspace
- Prepare the equipment
- Plan the first day
- Add a meeting after one week to the Calendar
Names next to completed items help you check who ticked each item without having to ask in the chat.
2. Publishing an article on the website
Kasia is publishing a guide for a client on Wednesday, but first she checks five elements.
- Approve the copy
- Add the main image
- Add the search title and description
- Check the page on a phone
- Paste the published URL into the thread
3. Sending a proposal to a client
Marek is completing the task “Proposal for client Nord” on Thursday and wants to avoid sending a message without the correct file.
- Add the scope and price to the description
- Ask someone else to review it
- Add the PDF as an attachment
- Send the proposal
- Set a reminder to follow up after sending it (using a command to the AI Assistant)
4. Month-end close
On the last Friday of the month, Marta gathers the documents for the accountant and records the outcome in a single thread.
- Check sales invoices
- Collect expenses from the team
- Check overdue payments
- Send the documents to the accountant
- Add the report to the thread
5. One week before the trade fair
Ola prepares the team for the trade fair and splits larger activities into separate tasks.
- Confirm the shift schedule
- Pack the materials
- Test the contact form
- Check the list of people staffing the stand
- Create a task called “Trade fair follow-up”
Start with five to eight items. If the list grows, check whether it contains several separate tasks in disguise.
The AI Assistant can set a reminder, including one linked to the task due date. If the due date changes, the reminder will move with it. Sending emails in the background while the application is closed requires a CRON job on the server.
One progress bar replaces a series of questions
In a marketing team, one progress bar can replace several messages asking for a status update. It does not change the number of tasks or people, but it brings the current status into the place where the team does the work.
Pixelo is a nine-person agency preparing a campaign for a client in the furniture industry. Previously, Ola asked about copy in the chat, Kasia replied an hour later, and Marek searched for files on the drive. Everyone knew their part of the work, but no one could see the full picture.
The team creates a task called “September campaign” in the Marketing Workspace, sets the due date to 1 September, and adds the brief and five items to the description. On Wednesday, Kasia ticks off the copy, so her name appears next to the item. On Friday, the owner opens the task and sees “3 of 5 done”.
Campaign attachments are available under the “Files” paperclip in the thread header. Clicking it opens a window with all attachments from the task, including those in older messages that have not yet been loaded. The paperclip in the thread header shows attachments for that task - it is not the same as the Files module, which is the application's shared drive available in Pro.
If decisions in your company still move between several channels, you should also read why teams lose track of decisions.
Four rules keep the checklist aligned with the task status
An up-to-date checklist shows the team the actual state of the work. When you tick off the last item, change the status of the entire task to “done” so that the list and status communicate the same information.
- Add five to eight items. Split a longer process into stages or separate tasks.
- Name the outcome, not the topic. “Add the images as attachments to the task” says more than simply “images”.
- Tick items off straight away. If the team only updates the list at the end of the day, the progress bar no longer answers current status questions.
- Close the entire task. When the last item is complete, set the status to “done”.
Tomorrow morning, choose one task that you repeat every month and add five items to it. Do not create a company-wide library of procedures straight away. For two weeks, check whether the team ticks off the list and whether questions about the status of this one matter disappear. See how it works in the Demo.
Frequently asked questions
Does a checklist in a task have the same status for the whole team?
Yes, the to-do list status is shared by the whole team. You can tick off items directly in the task card without opening the editor.
How can I tell who ticked off an item?
Each completed item shows the name of the person who ticked it off. This lets you see who marked each specific item.
Can a checklist item have its own due date or assignee?
No, the due date, priority and assignees apply to the task, not to individual list items. If a step needs its own due date or assignee, create a separate task.
Is a checklist created by the AI Assistant immediately visible to the team?
No, only the author can see their question and the AI Assistant's answer in the thread. The answer has an “ONLY FOR YOU” badge, so move the finished list to the task description.
Do checklists work without AI?
Yes, to-do lists are an editor feature and work without AI. The AI Assistant is optional and requires your own key from your chosen provider.
Sources
- Harvard Gazette, “Surgical safety checklist drops deaths and complications by more than one-third”
- Haynes A.B. et al., “A Surgical Safety Checklist to Reduce Morbidity and Mortality in a Global Population”, New England Journal of Medicine 2009; 360: 491-499
- WHO, “Safe surgery: Tool and Resources”
- Atul Gawande, “The Checklist Manifesto: How to Get Things Right”
- Task Manager, resources: Tasks
- Task Manager, resources: AI Assistant
- Task Manager, resources: Notes
The Task Manager Team - we write about teamwork, AI in business and keeping tasks organised, using examples from Task Manager, software installed on your own server. Task Manager has been developed by Blue Creation Group (Piotr Łącz) since 2013 and is used by organisations including Neonet, the Military University of Technology and Polpharma - read customer reviews. We check our articles against the user guide and the latest version of the software.
