Marta runs a six-person agency. On Tuesday morning she types “Flyer for Nord”, and by midday she's got three questions back: by when, in what format, and who'll approve the design? If you're wondering how to describe a task for an employee who wasn't in the meeting with the client, start with five fields and test them against a real example.
How to describe a task for an employee so they know where to start?
Answer five questions in the task: what needs doing, by when, how urgent it is, who's doing the work and who should be tracking it. Attach materials in the same thread, because that's where the person doing the work reads the instructions.
Marta could just reply to Kasia in a chat: “A5, by Friday, Tomek will approve it.” But a month from now, someone will open the task and still see only “Flyer for Nord”. The question comes back whenever the answer stays outside the place the team actually works in.
In Task Manager, you start by choosing a Workspace in the left-hand column and clicking “+ Add task” in the middle one. You enter the subject, description, priority and due date, then choose the assigned people. See how tasks and their threads work, and below, treat each field as the answer to one specific question.
The subject should say what's being made and for whom
A good subject names the outcome and the recipient: “A5 flyer for Nord” says more than “Flyer”. In Task Manager, the subject is the only required field, but being able to save a task doesn't mean anyone will understand its scope.
So Marta puts the client's name and the format straight into the title, instead of burying them in the fifth message. When a colleague copies the link via “Copy task link”, the recipient will recognise the matter by its name. The link itself doesn't grant extra access: someone without permission will see a “No access” message instead of the task's content.
This rule also comes in handy when you're splitting a bigger job between several people. “A5 flyer for Nord” and “Print quote for Nord's flyer” are two different outcomes; if you're not sure where to draw the line, read how to split tasks within a small team.
The description should be workable, not just readable
In the description, state the conditions for completion and break the work down into checkable steps. In Task Manager, the “To-do list” is there for exactly that: once the task is saved, everyone involved can tick off its items without opening edit mode.
On Tuesday, Marta types a single sentence: “Prepare an A5 flyer for Nord; send the design for approval before passing it to print.” Underneath, she adds five items: check the content from the client, prepare the first version, gather Tomek's comments, make the revisions, hand over the approved file. That's not five separate tasks with separate due dates. It's five steps leading to one outcome.
When Kasia ticks off the second point, the bar below the list shows progress, for example “2 of 5 done”. The state is shared between everyone involved, and a ticked item shows the avatar of the person who checked it off. Kasia can also add a missed step via “+ Add item” without having rights to edit the whole task.
Several pasted lines will turn into separate items, and you can later reorder the list by dragging.
If you're planning out a bigger piece of work, also check when to use a checklist instead of another task. A quick rule of thumb for Marta: if a point needs its own due date or responsible person, it probably deserves its own task.
A due date without a time means the whole day
Enter the due date as just a date when the day is what matters, or add a time when the outcome needs to be ready before a specific event. In Task Manager, the due date is optional; a task with a date but no time stays marked as “due today” for the whole day and only becomes overdue the next day.
Marta has a call with Nord on Friday at 1pm, so she sets Friday, 12:00 for the flyer. For the task "Review client comments", she could just give the Friday date if finishing it by end of day was enough. On the list, Board and in the Calendar, a blue due date colour means "due today", and red means "overdue".
On a task card with a due date you'll also see a circle with a number of days; hovering over it shows the exact date. If Marta moves the due date, the thread will log the change along with the previous value. There's no need to reconstruct it from memories of Tuesday's call.
Priority should highlight the exception, not every assignment
Set a high priority only when a task should genuinely stand out from the rest. Task Manager offers two values: normal and high; the latter appears on the list as an orange dot in front of the status ring.
On Tuesday, Marta marks the flyer as high priority, because Friday's client meeting has a fixed time. She leaves the other current projects as normal. If everything is urgent, colour alone will stop helping Kasia decide what to tackle first.
You won't find a scale from 1 to 5 here. For Marta's team, two values are enough to tell ordinary work apart from a task that needs to take precedence; she can add a detailed justification in the description. A priority change, like a due date change, will be logged in the thread.
Assign people according to the work they're meant to do
Assign the person doing the work, and add anyone who just needs to follow the conversation as a Watcher. A Watcher sees the task and the thread and can write messages, but can't edit the task or change its status.
Marta creates the task and assigns it to Kasia, who will prepare the flyer. She adds Tomek, responsible for approving the design, as a Watcher. She does this in "Selected people" mode, because watchers can't be set in "All people in the Workspace" mode. Tomek will get a notification for the @ mention, but the watched task itself won't appear in his "Overdue / Due today" counters or in his morning task summary.
Decide who needs extra permissions. Next to an assigned person there are toggles for "Administrator" and "Change status". The first grants the right to edit and delete the task, the second allows changing its status. Don't turn them on for someone just because they should read the brief - a Watcher is the right tool for keeping track of something.
Keep materials next to the brief, not in a separate conversation
Attach the file from the client to the task's thread, where Kasia reads the brief and asks questions. In Task Manager you can use the paperclip in the message editor, drag the file into the window, or paste it from the clipboard with Ctrl/Cmd+V.
Marta adds the flyer text and the previous version of the design. A screenshot pasted into the editor becomes part of the message content, while a file pasted outside the editor becomes an attachment. When someone asks about an earlier file on Thursday, the "Files" paperclip icon in the task's top bar will also show attachments from older messages.
If she needs to point out a layout on an image, Marta can use "Draw" to insert a hand-drawn sketch into the content. The separate Files module and the "From Files app" option are available in the Pro plan; adding attachments from a computer, by dragging, and from the clipboard also works in Standard. This is an important difference if files from the client are all you need for the brief.
A good brief doesn't remove questions - it gives them the right place
Save clarifications under the task, so the next person sees the question together with the answer. Task Manager's thread shows the task card with its description and attachments, and below it the participants' conversation.
On Wednesday, Kasia asks: "Does Nord also want a version for email?". Marta replies in the same thread, mentioning Tomek with @ if he's the one who knows the arrangements. She can use "Quote in reply" to link her answer to a specific message. Tomek, who is just looking into it, picks the "Looking into it" reaction instead of writing a separate "ok".
Marta then moves any arrangements that change the scope of work into the description or a to-do list. Editing the description alone doesn't create a system message, though an "(edited)" mark appears next to the name. That's why she doesn't leave an important change solely in a casual reply. You can read more about choosing where to record decisions in where to record team decisions.
AI can improve the wording, but it won't define the scope for you
The AI Assistant can help edit a brief you've written or build a checklist from the steps you give it. It won't replace your decision about the flyer's format, the due date, or the approving person if that information isn't in the request.
Marta types the description in her own words and chooses "Enhance text". The magic wand fixes typos, grammar and style while keeping paragraphs and lists; it doesn't add new facts. If she doesn't like the edit, the message "Text enhanced - click to undo" restores the previous version. The button only appears when the administrator has configured AI and Marta has permission to use it.
She can also ask the AI Assistant for a checklist from a list of steps. If she does this using the "AI Assistant" button in the task's thread, the question and answer will be private, marked "ONLY VISIBLE TO YOU". Such a list stays in the private reply rather than in the task description - steps meant to be shared with the team should be copied into the to-do list in the description. Similarly, asking it to create a task opens a form with pre-filled fields, but the task is only created once "Save" is clicked.
The AI Assistant in Task Manager is optional: the program also works without it. If you turn it on, you use your own key with OpenAI, Google Gemini, Anthropic Claude or xAI Grok and pay the provider directly, without a middleman's margin. Keep in mind that the question, along with the supplied context, is sent to the chosen model provider.
Brief template: five fields and one place for materials
You can transfer the brief template into five task fields: name the outcome, break down the steps, set the due date and urgency, and indicate the people involved. Add materials to the thread instead of looking for another field for them in the form.
| Field | What to enter | Marta's example |
|---|---|---|
| Subject | Outcome and recipient | A5 flyer for Nord |
| Description | Scope, approval condition and list of steps | Design for approval before printing; check the text, prepare a version, gather feedback, make corrections, hand over the file |
| Due date | Date, and a time too if needed | Friday, 12:00 |
| Priority | Normal or high | High, ahead of Friday's meeting |
| Assigned people | The person doing the work and those following the matter | Kasia is preparing the design, Tomek is a Watcher |
You can use the same layout for an offer, website copy, or a service request. The fields can't be extended with your own "budget" or "client" fields, so put such information in the description; the client's name can also go in the subject.
Tomorrow, review the first task through the eyes of the person doing it
Before assigning tomorrow's task, read it as if you hadn't been at the meeting: do you know the outcome, the steps, the due date, the urgency and your role? Add any missing information, and put materials in the thread.
In a company of anywhere from a few to several dozen people, Task Manager lets you keep the brief, the conversation, the checklist and the attachments all in one place. The application's data sits on the company's own server; a standard shared hosting plan with PHP and MySQL is enough to install it.
The licence is perpetual and paid once for the number of seats, with no per-person subscription; it includes 12 months of updates, with renewal afterwards being optional. The Standard variant in the Starter plan costs 690 PLN for up to 8 people, and in the Classic plan 1,490 PLN for up to 20 people. Create one task following the table in Demo.
Frequently asked questions
How do you describe a task for an employee who wasn't in the meeting?
A task brief should include the subject, a description of the steps, the due date, priority and assigned people. In Task Manager, these correspond to form fields; you attach materials to the task's thread.
Can the person doing the work add a step to the task's list?
Yes, anyone who can tick off an item can also add one via “+ Add item” without having edit rights to the task. An added step shows the avatar of the person who added it.
How do I add someone to a task who should only track progress?
Choose “Selected people” and switch on the “Observer” toggle for that person. They can see the task and post in the thread, but can't edit the task or change its status; they're only notified about @mentions.
Do you need to set a time for a task's due date?
No, you can enter just a date. Without a time, the task stays marked as “due today” for the whole of that day, and becomes overdue the following day.
Will AI write the task brief for me?
The AI Assistant can help polish your text or build a checklist from the steps you give it, but it won't settle the client's missing requirements for you. It works once you've set up your own key with an AI provider; Task Manager doesn't require AI to work with tasks.
Sources
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.
