It is Tuesday morning, and Ola from Nord, a nine-person company, is searching in three places for Friday's decision: whether the website mock-up should be sent to the client with a dark background. Marek remembers a different version, while Magda, who leads the project, is on leave. Good task management software for a small business should eliminate this situation, not create a ninth place to search.
Task management software for a small business should shorten the path to completion
Task management software for a business should shorten the path from a decision to completed work. As soon as you open the application, you can see your tasks, due dates and new messages.
With five people, a spreadsheet and a shared chat may still be enough. With nine, work passes between people more often, and a single day's absence can cut the team off from the context.
At Nord, Ola runs marketing, Marek handles sales and Magda manages website projects. Each of them needs a different view of the work, but the company does not want to maintain three separate records.
You can check all eight criteria during a week-long test using Nord's project. Do not just read the vendor's feature list. Move a real project into the software and observe whether people can find information without additional instructions.
1. A Task should contain everything you need to know about the work
A name and due date alone are not enough. A Task should keep the description, assigned people, Priority, Status and conversation about the work together.
In Task Manager, a Task can have one of these statuses: no status, in progress, done or cancelled. You can change the Status from the list or menu without opening the entire Thread. Find out how it works on the Tasks in Task Manager feature page.
Separate system messages record changes to the Status, Priority and name, as well as adding or removing a person. Editing the description itself does not create a system entry - “(edited)” appears next to the person's name.
The description can include an interactive To-do list. Ola ticks off “copy”, Magda ticks off “project draft”, and the bar shows “2 of 4 done”. The avatar next to an item shows who ticked it off, and all Task participants can see the list's status.
The test is simple: create one Task and use it to manage the work for a week. The following Monday, try to reconstruct the decisions, due date changes and current status without checking your email.
2. Separate projects without rebuilding your company structure
A single shared list stops being useful when it mixes dozens of tasks from different areas. Divide the work so that everyone can see the projects they need while the whole company can still be reviewed from one place.
A Workspace is a space that groups together tasks and chats for a project, team or topic. The “Everything” view shows items from all spaces, so you can still see what’s happening across the whole company. Find more examples of how to organise things in the Workspaces overview.
Nord creates Workspaces called “Marketing”, “New website” and “Sales”. Marek only sees the website project once he has been assigned to it. If you handle many short jobs, a Workspace can represent a department; if you have several large projects, it can represent a project.
The number next to a Workspace name shows unread tasks and chats. It disappears once you have read everything, while the tooltip that appears when you hover shows the total number of items. When the project is complete, you archive the Workspace - it disappears from the list, but the data remains.
3. See overdue tasks and tasks due today without opening them
The due date and counter let you immediately identify work that is overdue, due today, due in the future or closed. You do not need to open every Task to complete your first review of the day.
In Task Manager, red indicates an overdue Task, blue a Task due today, green a Task due in the coming days, and grey a Task without a due date or a closed Task. These indicators work in the same way in the list, on the Board, in the Calendar List panel and in an open Task.
If you do not specify a time, the Task remains “due today” until the end of the day. It only turns red the following day. Completed and cancelled tasks are not counted as overdue.
At 8:50 on Thursday, Ola opens the morning briefing. She sees “Website project” due at 15:00 and one overdue Task. The circle on the card shows the number of days, the orange dot indicates high Priority, and the message counter shows an unread conversation.
Four tiles above the list - Due, Today, Overdue and Chat - act as counters and filters. The Notification Centre can remind you one hour before a task is due, 15 minutes before an event and when it starts. Notifications are sent through three independent channels - in the app, by email and as browser notifications - and you can choose the event types separately for each one.
4. Three views should show the same data
The List, Board and Calendar should all use the same cards. Switching views should not require you to copy the task or re-enter its due date.
Marek manages sales from the list, Magda organises work on the Board, and Ola checks the day's schedule in the Calendar. Each of them opens the same “Website project” thread.
On the Board, the columns are Workspaces, not classic Kanban statuses. Each column contains Favourites, Tasks and Chats sections. You can reorder columns and cards, while Ctrl+Z undoes the last move.
The Calendar offers 1, 2, 3, 5 and 7-day views, as well as a List panel. It shows tasks with due dates, events, reminders and team absences. Dragging a task changes its due date in 15-minute increments, Esc cancels the move, and Ctrl+Z lets you undo up to 20 changes.
During the test, ask three people to complete the same scenario: find a task, check its due date and add a note about what was agreed. Each person should use a different view. If the result is the same, the tool does not split the team into separate information flows.
5. Keep the conversation with the relevant work
A chat is for questions without their own status or due date, while a task records the commitment, person and completion date. This distinction lets you turn an agreement from a conversation into work without searching for it in a private messenger.
In Task Manager, a chat belongs to a Workspace and has its own participants. Messages work in the same way as in a task thread. The team chats page explains how this works.
On Friday, Marek writes in the chat that Magda will prepare the mock-up by Thursday. The team adopts one rule: if a conversation creates a commitment, a task with an assignee and due date is created within the same minute.
Enter sends a message, Shift+Enter adds a new line, and messages from one person sent within five minutes can be grouped into a single block. The “New” line marks the oldest unread message. A failed send does not delete the text you entered.
6. Test the software from a regular user's perspective
Test the software using the account of an employee who is not an administrator and only has access to some projects. This will show you whether the permissions reflect how the team actually works.
Task Manager has two global roles: administrator and user. Access is set separately for each Workspace by assigning a Workspace administrator and permissions to add tasks and chats. See the Users and Roles page for details.
A new user receives an invitation by email and sets their own password. When they leave the company, you deactivate their account instead of deleting data, and the licence seat becomes available again.
On Monday, log in as Marek, not as an administrator. Give him one minute to find the task, its due date and the reply field. Also check that he cannot see a project to which he has not been assigned. Notes and conversations with the AI Assistant remain private, even from the administrator.
7. Ask directly where the files and database are stored
Task Manager stores its PHP files and MySQL or MariaDB database on the customer's server. All you need is standard shared hosting with PHP 8.1+ and the pdo_mysql, openssl and mbstring extensions.
The answer to where the data is stored should be brief and unambiguous. If the vendor cannot provide it, record this as a risk before choosing the software.
The installer guides you through five screens. The technical requirements are described on the Installed on your own server page.
The browser loads libraries, fonts, icons and avatars from the customer's server, so the application can run on a network without internet access. Tasks, chats, Workspaces, the Board, Calendar and notifications work without AI.
If Nord enables the AI Assistant, the request and the necessary context will be sent to the selected provider using the company's key: OpenAI, Google Gemini, Anthropic Claude or xAI Grok. The company pays the provider directly, with no Task Manager mark-up.
The administrator starts the update in Settings → Updates, provided the licence is valid. The app downloads and installs it, usually without FTP, meaning no manual file transfer to the server. CRON, i.e. the server's task scheduler, is optional and is used to send emails in the background when the app is closed.
8. Calculate the cost over three years, not just the first month
Compare the cost for your current team, a team with three more people and a full three-year period. Record the initial fee, renewals, how seats are counted and the cost of upgrading to a higher plan separately.
Task Manager charges a one-off fee based on the number of seats and comes with a perpetual licence. The price includes 12 months of updates. After that, you can renew access to new releases or continue using the installed software without any further fees.
Starter covers up to 8 people and costs 690 zł, Classic covers up to 20 people and costs 1 490 zł, while Max covers up to 35 people and costs 2 290 zł for the Standard version. Teams of more than 35 people require Enterprise, with individual pricing.
The initial cost is 1 490 zł. After one year, the company can pay 447 zł for another year of updates or continue using the software without renewing. Three years with two renewals costs 2 384 zł.
The Pro variant adds Mail, Files, Automations, AES-256 content encryption and the AI Company Knowledge base. The Classic plan in the Pro variant costs 3,990 PLN. Remote installation costs 299 PLN in Starter, and is included from the Classic plan onwards.
Staff turnover does not require you to buy a new seat because deactivating an account frees it up. If the application does not have a valid licence, it switches to read-only mode: you can view the data but cannot save changes. The Perpetual licence page explains the payment terms.
Selection worksheet: eight questions for each tool
The worksheet turns a sales presentation into eight verifiable questions. You assess each criterion using real data rather than claims from the vendor's website.
| Criterion | Question to check | Expected result | Warning sign |
|---|---|---|---|
| Task | Can you reconstruct the description, people, due date, status and conversation from a single card? | The complete history of the work is in one place. | You still have to search for decisions in email and chat. |
| Work organisation | Can you separate projects and assign the right people to them? | Each employee sees only the Workspaces they need. | Everyone browses a single shared list. |
| Due dates | Can you identify today's and overdue work without opening the task? | Colours, counters and filters show the day's schedule. | The due date is only visible in the details. |
| Views | Do the list, Board and Calendar show the same data? | Switching views does not create a copy of the task. | Each view requires a separate entry. |
| Communication | Does the conversation stay with the task or project? | You can find what was agreed alongside the completed work. | Decisions exist only in the messenger. |
| Permissions | Does a regular user see only their own Workspaces? | Access reflects the user's role in the project. | Everyone has access to everything. |
| Data | Can you identify the server, database and route taken by AI data? | The answer is brief and unambiguous. | It is unclear where the data goes. |
| Cost | Can you calculate the cost of your current team over three years? | You know the upfront fees, renewal costs and pricing tiers. | The pricing does not show how costs will change as your team grows. |
Tomorrow, start a week-long trial with a project that currently lives in emails and chats. In 15 minutes, move five tasks, three people, two due dates and a few messages. The day after tomorrow, take the next step in the same trial: try to check the status of the work using only the software. You can start with the Demo.
Frequently asked questions
Which task management software should a small business with 5-15 employees choose?
Choose software that keeps the task, people, due date and conversation together, lets you separate projects and gives you a clear three-year cost. Assess everything else using the eight questions in the comparison sheet.
Is a spreadsheet with a task list enough for a small business?
A spreadsheet is enough for a dozen or so simple cases. It stops being enough when you need conversations linked to tasks, notifications, permissions and a record of due date changes.
Does every employee need to see every task?
No, in Task Manager, users see the Workspaces they have been assigned to. You set permissions for adding tasks and chats separately in each Workspace.
Does Task Manager work without AI?
Yes, tasks, chats, Workspaces, Board, Calendar and notifications work without connecting a model. You can enable the AI Assistant later using your own key from your chosen provider.
How long does it take to test the software in practice?
A week is enough to test one real project with five tasks, three people, two due dates and a conversation in a Thread. The next day, try to use the software to reconstruct the current status of the work.
Sources
- Task Manager, Tasks
- Task Manager, Workspaces
- Task Manager, Chats
- Task Manager, Board
- Task Manager, Calendar
- Task Manager, Notification Centre
- Task Manager, Users and Roles
- Task Manager, Installed on your own server
- Task Manager, Your model, your key
- Task Manager, Perpetual licence
- Task Manager, Updates
- Task Manager, Tasks (guide)
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.
