Tasks management - what software do you use?

Hi everyne!

I have recently thought about how many people use Excel to schedule their tasks and synchronize the efforts of so many people..even in companies which are not that small!

It's true that Excel has some sharing options, but overall it provides quite a simplified way to order and schedule tasks, has limited search options, there are always chances that someone overwrote something..
I searched for various workflow management software that provides both simple and efficient (web-based) interface for task management, have worked with google docs and tada lists - but generally...nothing that seems useful enough..

Would you share what task management software you use and why? Or is the good old Excel still your favorite

Will be glad to try anything you recommend, looking forward to your opinions!

Rgds

Chi

Microsoft Outlook 2003

I was about to say the same thing Atno, pretty sure most companies & IT users have outlook & outlook calendar.

Hi again!

Well, perhaps I didn't make it clear I mean organizing the tasks of a small team altogether, not just a few personal tasks..

Lets say you have to do some big task as a team of 3-4 people, but this big task consists of 50 small tasks. Some of the small tasks are done by one person only, but others need to be first done by one person, then taken over by another, then by a third one..

How would you monitor the status with each single task in an easy manner, so you could filter for example all done tasks, all pending ones, all tasks with owner XX, all tasks which have some problem..In other words, you have to be able to see the big picture as well as peak into each small problem if you like to..

Apologize if the post sounded like managing just your personal calendar...

If you had any experience (positive or negative) with a software that does the above - let me know!

rgds

chi

BTW I edited the post title a bit so it sounds more clear..

In that case Microsoft Office Project.

I am a Web Programmer, probs like most people in here.

I organise my work the old fashioned way.
Pen and Paper.

The reason being is I sit down for a bit, and just go through what I need to do,.
OK, I might go through loads of paper, but, it means things I need to work out, I can take my pad and go for a smoke or something, and work while I am smoking. (I dont smoke in the same room as the machine, it fills the machine up with crap)

A combination of testtrack, sharepoint and Exchange (read, Outlook) and Bugzilla. I'm not thrilled with any of them, though bugzilla is good at what it does, and the calendar facilities of Outlook are great.

If it's something I'm working on by myself, I'll use Pen and Paper, but it's not viable for a project with more than a couple of people (especially if you're not all in the same room).

I ought to say also, having multiple systems is a very bad thing as it can lead to confusion. We tend only to use one system per project, or pick the best facilities for the job (Bugzilla for bug tracking, sharepoint for document collaboration) etc.