The Master Task List

For several years now, I have profited from using a “Master Task List.” This is a way to group your work-related activities so that you do what you were hired to do and keep from getting side-tracked by “trivial pursuits.”

I first learned this technique from Todd Duncan, whose book, Time Traps, is a must read. (In the interest of full disclosure, my company, Thomas Nelson, publishes the book.) It is subtitled, “Proven Strategies for Swamped Salespeople,” but don’t let this put you off. Even if you aren’t in sales, this book has news you can use. Every page is loaded with time-saving tips and techniques for managing your workflow.

“Master Tasking” is the process of identifying your five to seven most productive, most important work-related tasks. A Master Task List is similar to a job description but more useful. It answers the question, “What was I really hired to do?” Here are some characteristics of master tasks:

• They are usually important but not urgent.
• They spell the difference between success and failure.
• You have a hard time getting to them.
• They are things you usually do on your own.
• They can be scheduled but usually aren’t.

The purpose of developing a Master Task List is to enable you to focus more easily on those activities that really add value to your department, your division, and your company. Once you have a Master Task List you can measure your performance against it. More importantly, you can schedule these activities so you accomplish the most important tasks related to your job.

Master Tasking will enable you to become more productive, more successful, more confident, less frustrated, and less stressed. It is one of the major reasons why I have gotten as far as I have in my career. Others who have practiced it have reported similar results. It’s a high pay-off activity for a relatively small investment of time.

Your Master Task List should be written down and periodically reviewed. Each Master Task should be stated as a broad activity area; for example, “Manuscript Development,” “Copywriting,” “Travel Planning,” “Financial Review,” etc. Then, you should list three to seven bulleted subpoints that represent the specific activities related to that particular Master Task.

For example, I have a master task called “Investor Relations.” Here are the activities associated with that Master Task:

• Co-leading the quarterly earnings conference calls
• Making presentations to prospective investors
• Returning phone calls to investors
• Overseeing the creation of the Annual Report
• Returning calls to analysts and answering questions

Notice that each Master Task list activity begins with a gerund (i.e., a noun formed from a verb). The idea is to make these action-oriented. These are things you do.

To give you a real-life example, here’s my current Master Task List:

Master Task List

1. Managing Up
1. Meeting with the Chairman
2. Responding to the Chairman’s requests
3. Providing the Chairman with agreed-upon reports
4. Preparing for Board of Directors’ meetings
5. Making presentations to Board of Directors
   
   
2. Business Planning
1. Casting corporate vision
2. Defining corporate strategy
3. Reviewing Group and Divisional Strategic Plans
4. Reviewing Group and Divisional Annual Plans
   
   
3. New Business Development
1. Identifying new internal growth opportunities
2. Commissioning plans for new internal growth opportunities
3. Identifying new acquisition opportunities
4. Meeting with and courting prospective sellers
5. Evaluating acquisition opportunities
6. Recommending acquisition opportunities
   
   
4. Employee Development
1. Coaching my direct reports
2. Challenging my direct reports to think bigger
3. Preparing for and chairing weekly Publisher Roundtable Meetings
4. Meeting weekly with my direct reports
5. Preparing for and conducting direct report reviews
6. Recruiting and hiring new executive team members
   
   
5. Author Relations
1. Monitoring the performance of our top ten authors
2. Visiting each of our top ten authors on an annual basis
3. Building relationships with our top ten authors
   
   
6. Customer Relations
1. Monitoring the revenues of the company's top ten customers
2. Visiting each of our top ten customers, in-person, on an annual basis
3. Building relationships with our top ten customers
   
   
7. Investor Relations
1. Co-leading the quarterly earnings conference calls
2. Making presentations to prospective investors
3. Returning phone calls to investors
4. Overseeing the creation of the Annual Report
5. Returning calls to analysts and answering questions
   
   
8. Media Relations
1. Overseeing corporate publicity
2. Representing the company to the local and trade press
3. Returning calls to the press and answering questions
4. Building relationships with the press
   
   
9. Financial Oversight
1. Chairing monthly financial review meetings with group and division leaders
2. Reviewing and approving financial decisions that exceed the approval level of my direct reports
3. Providing direction and guidelines to the annual budget process
4. Reviewing and certifying 10Ks and 10Qs prior to filing
5. Insuring that we exceed our financial objectives

Once you have completed your Master Task List, you can begin scheduling these on your calendar. This is a process Todd Duncan calls “Time Blocking.” It ensures that you schedule your priorities and make time to do the things that are truly important. I will elaborate on this in a future post.