Excel templates for monitoring deadlines. Handy tools in the assistant's arsenal. How to Create a Project Management Dashboard in Excel

To begin with, let us recall the rules for monitoring the execution of orders, which we will later begin to automate using standard MS Excel capabilities.

There is control over the essence of resolving issues and control over the deadlines for completing tasks.

Substantive control

Control on the merits is an assessment of how correctly, successfully, and completely the issue has been resolved. Such control is exercised by the head (of an institution or department) or a specially authorized person. Responsibility for the correct and timely resolution of issues reflected in the documents lies with the heads of structural divisions and employees entrusted with the execution of the document. The performer usually:

• indicated in the manager’s resolution on a document (for example, on an incoming letter, on an employee’s application) or
• is written directly in the text of the order (usually in the order/protocol, individual instructions are drawn up as independent paragraphs of the text and formulated in such a way that it is immediately clear what, to whom and when needs to be done; accordingly, each item - task / instruction is put under control separately) ,
• when the performer is not directly specified, he is determined in accordance with the distribution of responsibilities in the organization.

If several executors are indicated in the resolution/instruction of the manager, the person first indicated in the resolution is responsible for the execution of the document/instruction and, accordingly, organizing its execution.

Instructions can follow from the text of the document, or they can be “independent”, i.e. undocumented and yet subject to control of their execution. If the order is created on the basis of a document, it contains a link to the basis document (see filling out the first four columns in the table in Figure 1). Instructions are issued by managers at all levels. However, each organization decides for itself which documents/instructions to put under control. Usually these are all instructions from the head of the organization and his deputies. The greater the number of documents in an organization, the more important it is to streamline the work of monitoring the execution of documents and the more selectively the organization approaches the solution to the question “what will we control” - the golden mean is important here. So, control is usually placed on the execution of instructions from the first person; this is done by the preschool educational institution service or the secretary.

Instructions must be clearly and unambiguously formulated:

• the order itself;
• period of execution;
• executor (it is possible for several persons to carry out an order, then one is appointed as the responsible executor, and the rest are considered co-executors).

When forming instructions, it is advisable to adhere to simple rules: the wording should be brief, succinct, eliminating ambiguity of interpretation, and have a clearly defined and measurable result.

While the order is being executed, the following actions are possible:

• the author can change the deadline for completing the order;
• the author can change the responsible executor of the assignment;
• performers create reports on the results of execution;
• the author has the opportunity to return the order for revision or approve the result of execution.

If the task was divided between co-executors, then the responsible executor receives their performance reports. It is he who generates the final single report on behalf of and sends it to the author.

Control over deadlines

Control over the deadlines for the execution of documents/orders is carried out by the management documentation support service (DOU), and in a small organization - by the secretary.

The technology for monitoring deadlines can be divided into the following procedures:

• recording of all documents, instructions, instructions, and management assignments put under control;
• checking the timely delivery of the document to the executor;
• adjustment of data on controlled documents when deadlines for execution change, documents are transferred from executor to executor, from division to division (we record this in the “Execution Status” field, see Figure 1);
• reminder to performers and heads of departments about the presence of unfulfilled documents and instructions;
• informing managers (divisions and organizations) about the status and progress of execution of documents;
• entering data on the execution of documents;
• analysis of the state of affairs and the level of performance discipline for the organization as a whole, by structural divisions, specialists, types of documents and other aspects.

Deadlines documents can be defined:

As you can see, the deadline for executing an order is usually set by its author. It is accepted that orders containing instructions "urgently", are subject to execution within 3 days. The instruction “promptly” provides for a 1-day period for execution of the order. If the execution date is not specified in the order, it is subject to execution within 1 month from the date of its signing (until the corresponding date of the next month, and if there is no such date in the next month, then until the last day of the month). If the last day of the order execution period falls on a non-working day, it is subject to execution on the previous working day.

For documents containing a complex task, you can set long terms execution (several months, six months, a year). In this case it is necessary divide the assignment into stages and monitor the completion of the task step by step.

Term control includes:

• current control,
• helpful and
• final control.

The main types of control are current and preventive.

Under current control understand the daily preparation of information about documents that expire today. Current control is carried out by daily checking the progress of the document and reminding the contractor about the expiration of the execution period and the need to complete work on the document. Those responsible for execution control (in a small company - a secretary) daily, usually at the beginning of the working day, identify and compile a list of documents whose deadlines expire today.

Current control helps to create a work plan for the day. It immediately shows what tasks must be completed today (resolving an issue at a meeting, signing a document, sending a fax, etc.). Therefore, control over the deadlines for the execution of documents is a function that is necessarily provided for in job description manager's secretary. Every day, identifying documents whose deadlines are about to expire, the secretary finds out the possibility of resolving the issue in a timely manner, and if the deadlines are missed, reports this to the manager.

During preventative control reports are compiled and executors are notified regarding documents whose deadlines expire in 2-3 days (in our organization we do this 4 calendar days in advance). And then the employee still has time to resolve the issue in a timely manner.

The control position is very important. Only the orientation of control to helping employees, and not to identifying shortcomings, the desire to help, remind, and not incriminate, can ensure the greatest efficiency of the control service.

A systematic check of execution, skillfully and correctly carried out by an employee who tactfully reminds that the document is needed on time, that the prosperity of the company depends on the timely resolution of the issue, etc., emphasizes the need for this employee and his efforts. In addition, the “time card index” helps in planning the manager’s working day, since it reflects the events and tasks for a given date.

If upon receipt of a document or during its execution by the contractor it becomes clear that it is impossible to execute it on time, this is reported to the manager (the author of such an order), who has the right to postpone the deadline for execution of the document. If the manager extends the deadline, the secretary, in accordance with his instructions, enters a new deadline in the registration form.

The question of postponing the deadline for the execution of a document must be raised no later than 1 day before the expiration of the target date. Postponing the deadline retroactively is not allowed and, as a rule, is impossible in principle in automated systems.

For documents with a long (several months) execution period, intermediate stages of execution can be monitored by recording information about the progress of execution (we do this in the “Execution Status” field of the document registration card).

Often, resolving an issue requires sequential work on a document by several executors or coordination of the document with several departments. In these cases, the length of time the document is held by each executor must be controlled. When transferring a document, the fact of transfer must be recorded. Registration is usually carried out by the secretary of the unit transmitting the document. We reflect the movement of the document and the date of its transfer in the “Execution Status” field.

When documents with expired deadlines appear their list is printed out on the same day and reported to the manager.

If the right to register documents can be granted to a wide range of employees, then changes reflecting the progress of its execution, as a rule, are carried out by only one responsible employee: the secretary-assistant or a preschool educational institution specialist.

Removing a document from control carried out only after complete execution of the document: execution of the manager’s resolution, preparation of a response document, receipt of a response to the outgoing document or other documented confirmation of the fact of execution. The result of the execution of the document must be recorded in the registration card (for example, “an invitation was sent”, “a letter was sent from... No....", etc.). The registration card also contains information about the date of execution of the document and indicates the case number according to the nomenclature in which the executed document is filed.

TO final control include analytical work to summarize performance discipline and the performance results of employees of a department or organization as a whole. Final control is carried out by employees (service) responsible for monitoring execution, or by the secretary of the organization at a given frequency (weekly, monthly, quarterly). The results of subsequent control are reflected in the final quantitative and list reports of the status of execution of tasks (controlled documents). This allows management to know what a particular employee (division) is doing and how things are going in a specific area of ​​activity (resolving a particular issue).

Final control, in mandatory combination with preventive control, is a stimulating factor in increasing employee discipline.

Example of order control using MS Excel

Now we will show what can be automated using standard MS Excel capabilities. To begin, open new book MS Excel and create a table in it with the fields/columns/graphs shown in Figure 1. This is the main table that displays information on timely control of the execution of orders in our organization.

Next, in a separate cell, enter a formula so that when you open this MS Excel sheet, it will always be above the table. the current date was displayed(indicated by number 1 in Figure 1). Then it will be useful to us in everyday work with the table. You can do this in two ways:

Figure 2

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In this table, you can filter rows (i.e. controlled orders) according to various criteria. But to do this you need to enable the filter:

Figure 3

On-screen button for enabling a filter in MS Excel 2007 and 2010

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Figure 4

Criteria for filtering table rows by column contents in MS Excel 2007 and 2010

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The filtering criteria shown above appeared as a result of clicking on the gray square filter button in the “Artists” column (marked with the number 1). The cells of this column are filled with text, so the program offered us the following choices:

2 - firstly, we can filter one or more performers, leaving “checkmarks” only for them; we can also select only empty lines, leaving a “checkmark” only in the last item in the list; if we leave the checkbox in the “Select all” position, then there will be no filtering by this criterion (this is now shown in the Figure);

3 - secondly, you can filter by the text contained in the column cells, however, this criterion is more suitable when working with the “Summary” column of a document, etc. For example, if we don’t exactly remember the title, but we remember the keyword that should be in it, then we need to select the “contains...” item and type this word without its ending, then as a result of the filter, only lines that have in the “Summary” field there is a word we typed with different endings.

You can remove the filter by selecting the command of the same name - indicated by the number 6. If you filtered rows by specifying different selection criteria in several columns, then selecting this command once will remove the filter only in the column where you selected such a command, with the remaining filters in other columns will remain valid - each of them must be removed individually. In those columns in which the filter is enabled, the filter call button changes its image to the enabled filter button.

If the column by the contents of which we want to filter the table rows is filled with dates, then instead of a text filter the program will offer us another one - special for dates - indicated by the number 4: we can select not only a specific date, but also later or earlier than some date or limited period of time, yesterday, today or tomorrow, etc.

Our table has 3 columns with dates.

The numeric filter (indicated by the number 5) is specially designed to work with columns whose contents are numbers (in our case, this is the document registration number).

Figure 5

Criteria for filtering table rows by column contents in MS Excel 2003

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In MS Excel 2003, a filter by column content is called up by the same on-screen button as in later versions of the program, but clicking it opens one general list for selecting a specific cell value or setting more difficult conditions filtering, which is already customized individually for text, dates or numbers - it is launched in a separate screen window after selecting the “(Condition...)” item in the list.

Figures 4 and 5 clearly show What criteria can we now filter by? table rows in MS Excel of different versions. We will be able to filter orders by executor, their authors, deadlines, controlled document data and any other information entered into a spreadsheet. Moreover, it will be possible to filter simultaneously by several criteria, for example:

• For which orders does the deadline expire today for a specific contractor:
  in the “Performers” column, select the required employee (see number 2 in Figure 4), and in the “Due Date” column, filter the rows whose date meets the “today” criterion (number 4 in the same Figure) or
• To whom did our chosen leader give instructions this month:
  in the “Author of the order” column we select the manager we are analyzing (number 2 in Figure 4), and in the “Execution Deadline” column we filter the dates that fall under the “This month” criterion (number 4), etc.

Now we’ll teach you how you can configure the program so that when you open a file automatically receive information about which orders must be completed, for example, after 4 days, to notify performers about this in advance. To do this, we provided a special column in the table, which we called “Distribution period”. Now let's configure it:

• select cell I6 (in the first line of the custom column) and type the “=” sign in it;
• click the mouse on the adjacent cell J6 (in the same row, but in the “Due Date” column) and you will see that it is included in the formula for calculating the contents of cell I6;
• then continue bookmarking the formula by typing “-4” from the keyboard;
• At this point, filling out the formula is completed (its current state can always be seen in the formula bar located above the Excel sheet, see symbol 1 in Figure 7, we get “=j6-4”). Now press on your keyboard Enter- and the result of calculating the embedded formula will appear in the table cell;
• after this, the formula can be copied to subsequent rows of the table, and then in them in the “Distribution Deadline” column the date will always be 4 days earlier than in the “Due Date” column: point the mouse at the lower right corner of cell I6 (while the pointer "mouse" should take the form of a black bold cross), click left button"mouse" and, without releasing it, drag down to the end of the column, then release the button. In Column I you will see the dates of all required warnings (number 2 in Figure 7);
• Then you can make sure that in the “Distribution period” column the cells with the current ones are automatically highlighted in color, i.e. today's dates (October 1 these will be some cells, and October 2 - different ones, etc.). To do this, you need to use the conditional formatting function. In MS Excel 2007 or 2010 this is done like this:
  • select all table cells in the “Distribution period” column located below the “header”;
  • click the button Conditional Formatting in Group Styles on the tab home(see Figure 6), select the command Cell selection rules, and in the panel that opens on the left or right, select the command date. A dialog box of the same name will open, in which there are two lists (Figure 8): on the left you need to select a position Today, and on the right - a way to format cells that satisfy this condition, for example, Light red fill and dark red text. Next click Ok.

Figure 8 shows what the finished table looks like with conditional formatting. By opening this table, for example, on August 13, 2012, a specialist can easily determine which notifications are sent out.

You can provide for the presence of the last “technical” column in the table; in it, in each row you need to place the number 1. Then, when filtering by any one or more criteria, you will always quickly count the number of filtered rows. To do this, select the remaining cells on the screen with the mouse in this column - MS Excel will calculate the sum of their values ​​and write it in the bottom reference line under the Excel sheet.

Figure 6

Conditional Formatting

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Deadlines for the execution of documents can be interpreted differently. For example, at what point should the term begin to be calculated (from the day the order was issued or the day after it)? Should it be counted in calendar or working days? What to do with documents whose deadline falls on the weekend? What if the deadline is not specified at all? All these questions are answered in detail, and much is explained with examples (16 in total) in the article “How to determine deadlines? "on page 12 of magazine No. 8" 2011

It is unrealistic to control the execution of all documents of the organization. Therefore, recommendations for determining the list of documents subject to execution control will help you. You will learn what deadlines are usually set and how this is done, as well as how you can control verbal orders. See the article “What will we control? "on page 30 of magazine No. 7" 2011

Simplify the process of keeping track of your projects with ready-to-use project management templates in Excel. The value of any template is that it is your starting point and can be used again and again. You don't have to create a framework from scratch every time you need to send a report to stakeholders, communicate a status change, or track tasks. The foundation will already be created, and you will only need to add project data.

In this article you will find a description of the main templates for project management in Excel, which you can download for free. We will also look at Various types templates and tell you when it is better to use each of them. Plus, you'll learn how to create a project management dashboard template in Excel from scratch.

We'll also show you how to use project management templates in Smartsheet, a tool for managing all your work with a spreadsheet-like interface. Smartsheet gives you more collaboration than Excel and makes it easier to keep track of your projects.

Project Gantt Chart Template

The project Gantt chart template is one of the most popular templates used by project managers. A Gantt chart takes the data you have about task titles, start dates, due dates, and task durations and transforms it into a cascading horizontal bar chart. This way, you can quickly visualize the order in which tasks need to be completed, and also determine how tasks depend on each other. The Gantt chart is especially effective when managing complex projects with dependencies.

Smartsheet's interactive Gantt chart capabilities make it easy to visualize your project. You can personalize your chart with different colors and symbols to indicate status, or use conditional formatting to highlight tasks assigned to specific team members. Activate the critical path feature to identify dependencies between tasks and find out which tasks directly affect the project completion date. Share your Gantt chart with your team or clients so they stay on top of what's going on.

Project Tracker Template

Gather all your project data together so that anyone associated with your project always knows where to find important information. With a project tracker template, you can add tasks, change status and priority, specify deliverables, due dates, costs, time spent, and other important data for your project. If you have major project, a project tracker template will help you keep everything organized.

Using Smartsheet makes it easier for your team to collaborate in real time and stay informed about project progress. You can make changes to the project, assign new people to tasks, change dates and perform other actions thanks to the intuitive and clear interface.

Agile Project Plan Template

An agile project plan is based on functionality. The plan estimates how long it will take to implement each functionality, but does not detail how each functionality will be implemented. Since project plans focus on functionality, you can group similar functionality into sprints.

The agile project plan is constantly changing. Once the plan is developed, the project team should monitor it and update the status and timelines as necessary.

This template (also known as an Agile project schedule) allows you to add your tasks, assign responsibility, start and due dates, and status. The duration for each task will be calculated automatically. This template also includes a Gantt chart (a visual representation of a project's timeline) that automatically resizes as you add your data to the table.

Smartsheet offers a project template designed for basic agile projects. Plan and manage sprints, product features, and tasks, and use the built-in Gantt chart to view your project as a timeline. Your team can update progress, track deliverables, store files, and set alerts, all in one shared spreadsheet.

Project Budget Template

Always stay on top of how your project is on budget by tracking labor costs, material costs, fixed prices, and actual costs. A budget template gives you the ability to keep a close eye on your spending and allows other team members to see whether you're staying within or over your budget. This template can be used for any project, no matter its size.

Track project progress and budget usage in one place in Smartsheet. This project template includes a project status summary, budget variance and schedule, and a Gantt chart with dependencies. You can easily compare estimated and actual labor, materials, and other costs.

Task List Template

Since there are so many constantly changing components in any project, a task list allows you to focus on the most important tasks. You can change due dates every day or even every hour and view your highest priority tasks for the week ahead. Use a task list template when you need to organize individual tasks.

Create a centralized way to view all your responsibilities across multiple projects at once with this to-do list in Smartsheet. Share the spreadsheet with your team to create the level of transparency you need, track task status with custom symbols, and flag high-priority items so nothing gets missed.

Project Timeline Template

A timeline helps you visualize complex information in a convenient, easy-to-understand way. You can track progress, identify potential delays, monitor the actual time remaining to complete each project task, and much more. A timeline is great for a project of any size, especially if you need to communicate status changes to external collaborators or stakeholders.

Smartsheet offers a timeline template designed for simple plans project with tasks, subtasks and timeline in Gantt chart view. Your team can easily update progress, track deliverables, and check status anytime, anywhere.

Issue tracker template

Often, potential problems in projects can easily go undetected for some time. However, if left unresolved, these issues can ultimately delay the completion of the entire project and negatively impact the final results. For project tracking purposes, using an issue tracker template can help you quickly identify issues and assign who is responsible for resolving them, so you can fix problems as they arise. Use this template if you have a medium to large project with a lot of changing data.

Track issues and errors using the Smartsheet Issue and Error Tracker template. Create a custom web form for maintenance staff, testers, or customers to log issues and manage error history in one central location. Then prioritize and close requests.

Project Timesheet Template

Get a quick snapshot of resource allocation with a timesheet template that allows all team members, as well as stakeholders, to view each team member's level of commitment to the project. Track resource availability for the week ahead so you always know who has it free time to work on a project, and who are very busy. Time sheet – effective method managing a large number of resources in a large project.

Manage your workforce in real time with Smartsheet's simple resource management project template. Assign specific performers for tasks and easily identify shortages or excesses of labor resources.

Project Risk Tracker

By their nature, projects are full of hidden risks. The reasons for the occurrence of risks are different: the scope of work is incorrectly determined, dependencies are incorrectly established, etc. The key is to identify such risks in the early stages of the project, before they have time to affect the cost and timing of completion. Project Risk Tracker collects all potential risks in one table, making it beneficial for any medium to large project manager.

Dashboard for project management

You can create a dashboard to manage your project in Smartsheet using Smartsheet Sights dashboards. Sights dashboards give teams unprecedented visibility into the work being done by concentrating data from key project tables. Share your Smartsheet dashboard with your company's employees or share it with external stakeholders, giving them an additional level of insight when viewing key metrics and statuses.

How to Create a Project Management Dashboard in Excel

Here's how to create a project management dashboard in Excel.

Create your Excel spreadsheet

Project management dashboard mainly includes graphic images, but at the same time, the full data on which these images are created should also be stored somewhere in your Excel file. To do this, you need to work simultaneously in two tabs of your Excel spreadsheet. One tab will contain the graphic images, while the second tab will contain all the data from which these images will be created. One tab will contain the graphic images, while the second tab will contain all the data from which these images will be created.

1. At the bottom of your file, double-click on the tab "Sheet1" to rename the table. We recommend changing the name to "Project Dashboard".
2. Then click the plus sign (+) icon to the right of the tab to add another tab.
3. Double click on the tab "Sheet2" and rename the table to "Notes".

Add your design details

You can now add your design data (all your "numbers") to the Notes tab. This data will be used to create graphs, which you can then move inside the Project Dashboard tab.

Create a project task table and Gantt chart

1. Inside the Notes tab, create a task table. Add column headers “Tasks”, “Executor”, “Start date”, “Due to completion”, “Number of days” And "Status".
2. Add your design data to the table. List all the tasks in your project, the person responsible for completing them, the start date, the due date, the number of days allocated to complete each task, and the status (use the options "Completed", "Overdue", "In Progress" And "Not started").

1. Then use this data to create a Gantt chart.
2. Once you have created a Gantt chart, right-click on the chart and select "Cut out". Go inside the Project Dashboard tab, right-click and select "Insert". You can also cut and paste specific parts of your task name if you want to display them on your dashboard.

Note. We have added a column to the tasks table "A priority" and used star symbols to indicate the importance of completing tasks. To add symbols, click on the cell and on the right side of the tab "Insert" select "Symbols".

Add charts for task status, project budget, and pending items.

Now think about what other information you would like to put on your project dashboard. In our example, we will add a graph for the overall status of tasks, budget, and pending items.

1. Go to the Notes tab and create a mini-table for each set of data you want to visualize. For example, we wanted to display how many tasks have the status "Completed", "Overdue", "In progress" and "Not started". We have placed these statuses in one column and next to each other. We also indicated how many projects are in this status as a percentage or share. On the budget chart we showed how much money was budgeted and how much was actually spent.

1. Then, after you have added your data, select the table and go to the tab "Insert". In Group "Diagrams" Select the chart types you would like to use (pie charts, bar charts, bubble charts, etc.).

1. Repeat the previous steps for all other data sets.
2. Once you have created charts for all data sets, cut and paste them into your Project Dashboard tab.

Set up your project dashboard

1. To change the background color of your task table, click on the cell and in the tab "Home" In chapter "Font" Click on the paint bucket icon to select the color you need.
2. To change the colors of your Gantt chart, double-click on the taskbar and select the option "Format Chart Area". Click on the paint bucket icon, select "Fill" and then at the bottom of the window select the color you need.
3. To change the color for your graphs, double-click on the entire graph or any part of it. A window will appear on the side "Data series format". Click on the paint bucket icon and select the option "Fill", and then at the bottom of the window, click on the paint bucket icon again to select the desired color.

Make better decisions with Smartsheet Sights dashboards

The Smartsheet Sight dashboard helps you visualize, summarize, and share important aspects of your work, such as project status or task progress, through key performance indicators (KPIs). Sight's dashboard will also help teams stay organized by giving them a central place for resources, such as collections of tables or reports.

• Dashboards provide real-time visibility into key information from project tables.
• Customizable interface suitable for use in any department of your organization
• Simple widgets help you get started quickly.

Sights dashboards offer enhanced visibility for any number of projects, activities and information across your organization. By centralizing workflow information into Sights dashboards, users gain additional insight into complex processes, can better anticipate gaps in a project, and get to critical information faster.

Use Smartsheet to manage the details of individual projects, then access Sights dashboards to get a high-level view of the status of your project portfolio and provide unprecedented visibility into the work in progress for colleagues and managers. Contact the Smartsheet team to learn how Sights dashboards can benefit your organization.

Excel Templates for Project Management: For Projects Large and Small

A project management template is an effective tool for managing any project: large or small, simple or complex. There is a common misconception that a project must be large and very detailed in order to use templates. In fact, the template can be just as useful for smaller projects. Even if the deliverables are small in size and not very labor intensive, you will still need to estimate how long each task will take, determine the resources needed, and assign tasks to each team member.

Smartsheet is a spreadsheet-based work management tool with powerful features for communication and collaboration. With a wide range of smart views—Grid, Calendar, Gantt, Sights, and Cards—Smartsheet works the way you want. Learn how to easily create a project management template. Try Smartsheet free for 30 days.

Would you like to know more about best practices and basic recommendations for project management? Head over to our to access the latest articles, templates, videos and more.

Learn more about Smartsheet premium project management solutions

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Use Smartsheet Project Portfolio Solution to:

• Save time by automating the setup of a new project.
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• Improve real-time visibility into project portfolio performance.
• Conduct an in-depth analysis of the project portfolio with using Microsoft Power BI.

Project managers can use Smartsheet's project portfolio management solution to easily and quickly get a standard set of Sights tables, reports, and dashboards for their new projects. Every new project By default, inherits pre-existing access rights set by the Project Management Manager to ensure visibility of all projects in their portfolio. Finally, the solution automatically consolidates project metadata into a single data file that can be accessed using the Smartsheet Sights dashboard or Microsoft Power BI for portfolio-wide reporting.

As you know, the functionality of an assistant or personal assistant (no matter what this position is called in the work book) in different companies varies depending on the specifics and size of the organization, the corporate culture adopted in the company, and the personality of the manager. However, there are responsibilities that any personal assistant simply cannot do without, regardless of his place of work. Among these is control over the execution of orders.

In many organizations, failure to fulfill orders and lack of control over their timely execution is a problem, the so-called. " bottleneck"(from English) bottleneck- bottleneck), i.e. a serious obstacle that greatly slows down the company’s business processes. A lot really depends on the assistant here! However, not everything is as obvious as it seems at first glance. We often encounter situations where an irreplaceable assistant suddenly gets sick or goes on vacation or for once goes on a business trip, and during his absence... work has stopped, orders are not recorded, deadlines are missed, and those responsible are unknown. As a rule, this speaks not so much about the indispensability of the employee, but about the absence of a system. So, the assistant’s task is to build a system for monitoring the execution of orders. And the system, as we know, is largely capable of maintaining its performance on its own. And you can’t handle this alone! But let's deal with everything in order.

Control and its types

An elephant, as they say, should be eaten in parts. And it’s worth starting with terminology.

Control- this is a comparison of the plan with the actual state of affairs. Control reveals even small deviations from the planned results and actions of people and makes it possible to change the situation.

The following types of control are distinguished:

1. Preliminary. Carried out by the manager before the actual start of work on the assignment. Preliminary control is used taking into account human, material and financial resources, i.e., before giving an order to work, the manager must make sure that the performer has the resources to carry it out.

2. Conceptual (incoming). Used to clarify:

Does the performer know that he has an assignment;

How did the person who will solve it understand the problem?

How exactly will he do this?

This type of control is carried out by the assistant manager, and immediately after setting the order. The goal is to check the executor’s understanding of the essence of the order and the timeliness of its implementation. At this stage, the assistant’s task is to draw the executor’s attention to the availability of the assignment, the timing and priority of the task, and to make sure that the assignment has been accepted for work. In this case, the assistant needs to “highlight” urgent and important assignments (remember the Eisenhower matrix), for example, as follows: “Please note that this assignment is important and urgent!” This magic phrase, pronounced at the right time, will help to avoid many misunderstandings and unforgivable loss of time - it is unacceptable to let the process of ranking tasks by priority take their course, because the opinion of the performers does not always coincide with the opinion of the manager. Don't forget that what is obvious to you may not be so to other people.

3. Current (intermediate, process control). The goal is to evaluate the current process of activity: how the work is being done, what has already been done, what difficulties have arisen. This type of control is carried out by an assistant when the work is already underway, but the deadline for completing the order has not yet arrived. The task of control is to promptly identify deviations that arise during work and inform the manager about them for possible correction. given parameters. Current control is based on feedback.

4. Final (final, control of the result). It is used to assess whether a goal is being achieved by a given date.

The actual results obtained are compared with those previously established. Despite the fact that it is too late to interfere with the work at this stage, this control is necessary. It shows what results the performers have achieved and reveals omissions and shortcomings in their work. Helps to learn lessons for the future. As a rule, at this stage the manager and assistant work together, because The assistant’s qualifications may not be sufficient to determine the completeness and correctness of the assignment.

What and how to control

The distribution of responsibility for ensuring control in key areas depends on the size of the organization:

To control	Company size	Responsiblefor ensuring control
Legal norms and requirements	Up to 100 people Up to 500 people More than 500 people	Head of the organization Lawyer, accountant Legal service, accounting Legal service and heads of areas
Leader's orders	Up to 100 people Up to 500 people More than 500 people	Head of the organization Head Secretary Assistant Manager Assistant and heads of areas
Requirements of local regulatory documents	Up to 100 people Up to 500 people More than 500 people	Head of the organization Head Secretary Assistant Manager Heads of activities
Individual orders of the manager	Up to 500 people More than 500 people	Head of the organization Head Secretary Assistant Manager
Instructions received from the corporate center	Up to 1500 people Up to 2500 people More than 2500 people	Assistant Manager Assistant Manager and Secretariat Case Management

“Control” and “monitoring” are different things!

To finally understand what’s what, it’s worth paying attention to another term that is often found in modern management - “monitoring”. Often in the literature, the concepts of “control” and “monitoring” are used as identical, but these are fundamentally different things! To apply a systematic approach to managing the execution of orders, this difference must be understood. If monitoring- this is monitoring the parameters of an object with recording and saving data, then control- this is an obligatory observation impact on the object in case of parameter values ​​exceeding acceptable limits. In relation to assignments, this means that the assistant must have a monitoring tool, i.e. maintain a certain database where he records instructions, deadlines, responsible persons and execution status (completed/not completed). However, to build an effective control system, simply keeping statistics is not enough - control implies active management of the situation, adjustment and influence, i.e. purposeful conscious influence in order to achieve positive dynamics in the performing discipline.

How to ensure that orders are carried out?

In order for orders to be carried out, an integrated approach to solving this problem is necessary. The order execution control system will operate subject to the following principles:

1) High priority from management. The manager must demonstrate that strict compliance with his instructions is important to him and the company.

2) Joint discussion of approaches to solving the problem. In order to take into account all the risks and consider the issue comprehensively, it is necessary to involve all participants in the process in the discussion - both the manager giving instructions and the assistant supervising them, as well as managers who will be directly responsible for execution. Agreements should primarily concern methods of obtaining information about instructions and deadlines, the format of the execution report, the procedure for rescheduling, approaches to rewards or punishment in case of non-fulfillment of instructions. The manager should also inform his subordinates about the powers of the assistant in terms of monitoring the execution of orders (if you are a new person in the team and have not yet earned authority, ask your manager about this).

3) Informing all company employees about the implementation of a system for monitoring the execution of orders. It is necessary to ensure transparency of approaches, i.e. the rules must be formalized in the company’s local regulatory document.

4) Consistency and regularity. Executive discipline will increase if employees are confident that every assignment is recorded, that every assignment must be accounted for, that none of them will be missed or forgotten, and that failure to carry out instructions from management will inevitably be punished. (It is immediately worthwhile to provide for the procedure for informing, because instructions may be impracticable a priori or have compelling reasons for failure to comply on time. Each such case must be considered individually.)

Looks like a task for, you say. This is partly true. What is the role of the assistant? An assistant is exactly the same employee of the company who must inform the manager that a problem exists, that it carries specific risks, that you are trying to keep your “finger on the pulse” (and so far it is succeeding largely thanks to your personal qualities), but the absence the system will sooner or later make itself known and it worries you.

The main thing is not to forget to say that you have a specific proposal on how to organize a control system (i.e. it should not just be a problem served on a silver platter, but a problem and options for solving it).

Even if you are a new employee of the company, you should not be afraid to approach your manager with such a proposal. If so far nothing fatal has happened in your company due to an unfulfilled/overdue/unaccounted for order, your manager will still not turn a deaf ear to your proposal. There is probably no person in the entire company more interested in solving this problem.

The importance of effective communication

Let's say your proposal is accepted: the manager outlined the importance of the task, announced your role in this process, approved the local normative document regulating the process, all company employees are informed. What's next? The published document risks remaining a soulless piece of paper if you give up at this stage. How to make all this work?

The answer lies primarily in the assistant's effective communication skills. Yes, this is the same phrase that we so often see in resumes for administrative positions. Having such skills is vital for an assistant. In a narrow sense, in relation to monitoring the execution of orders, effective communication is a way of quickly transmitting information without distortion and receiving feedback on the correct understanding of the “message”.

Effective communication is built:

Effective or ineffective?

Ineffective communication is arguing with others, aimed at protecting your goals and plans. It implies the presence of winners and losers. This style of “communication” is categorical: there is “right” and “wrong”, “victory” and “defeat”, “good” and “bad”, without taking into account intermediate states. There is only one correct opinion, so we can neglect the views and experiences of people who can enrich our knowledge of the world and form a holistic picture. Instead, we constantly defend our narrow views. A pause in the conflict is considered a success when the defender temporarily retreats. Eventually, disagreement results in resistance, loss of team effectiveness, and even sabotage until a balance of power and respect prevails.

Effective communication, in turn, aims to understand the views, feelings and opinions of others. When two sides listen to each other, both win. Mutual understanding and respect become the basis of cooperation, interdependence and loyalty. Success will be achieved if each side says: “Yes, that’s exactly what I meant. Do you understand me".

Effective communication is undoubtedly necessary for the successful implementation of organizational goals. Distorted, misinterpreted messages often cause defeats for large companies, armies and nations.

Effective communication skills allow opposites to coexist—the ultimate ability to understand another point of view and find compromise. Why argue about who is right and who is wrong? The goal of effective communication is to establish and maintain mutually beneficial and, therefore, long-lasting working relationships.

In terms of monitoring the execution of orders, the assistant must show effective communication skills at all stages of the “journey” instructions:

1) Interaction with the manager when setting instructions. The assistant’s task is to correctly record the assignment, trying to adhere to a specific goal-setting scheme, for example SMART. This will allow subordinates to understand what is required of them. The wording of the order must be clear, in verbal form (answer the question: what to do?), the order must have a specified deadline, and a responsible executor must be identified for each order.

After the order has been properly recorded, the assistant must ensure that there are no inaccuracies and provide final version protocol or register of instructions to the manager for approval, or verbally ask: “Did I understand you correctly? Ivanov I.I. must develop and submit for approval a project implementation schedule by May 11, 2015?”

What's happenedSMART?

SMART is a mnemonic acronym used in management and project management to define goals and set objectives.
A goal or task established according to SMART criteria has the following characteristics:
. S- specific (specific) - clear, precise, clearly described;
. M- measurable (measurable) - having established outcome indicators by which one can understand that the goal has been achieved. They can be both quantitative and qualitative. Without these criteria, it is almost impossible to evaluate the completion of the task;
. A- achievable (achievable) - realistic, but requiring some effort, which serves as an additional motivating factor;
. R- relevant (appropriate) - coinciding with the broader goals of the department or organization;
. T- time-bound (limited in time) - deadlines for achieving the goal must be determined.

2) Interaction with performers when transferring orders to work. The key task at this stage is to make sure that the contractor is informed about the assignment and accepted it for work. If the organization is small, then the assistant or secretary contacts directly with the performers through Email or by phone. In large organizations, such interaction is difficult to carry out, so the assistant transmits the order and directly interacts with the deputy heads of the organization, and when transferring orders, the cascading principle applies, for example: EEdepartment directorEDepartment headEdirect executor.

3) Information about the execution of the order is transmitted via the reverse route: CEO/AssistantBDeputy General DirectorBdepartment directorBDepartment headBdirect executor.

The assistant plays the role of an intermediary in transmitting information about the order. At the same time, to reduce the time of data transfer to the assistant, it is advisable to provide the use information resource, which allows you to post summary information about orders in general access, for example, to the internal corporate portal of the organization, where any employee can quickly see what assignments he has and send comments to the assistant.

4) When carrying out intermediate control, it is necessary to clarify the forecast from the contractor: whether it meets the deadline or during execution it turned out that the volume of work is greater than previously expected, or the contractor’s resources are insufficient and the involvement of employees from other structural divisions is required, because the task turned out to be cross-functional. The assistant must conduct a continuous constructive dialogue with the responsible manager/performer to obtain prompt and reliable information about the progress of execution, and if serious problems arise, inform the manager about it while something can still be corrected. At the same time, you should not go too far and become intrusive, disturbing the performer and distracting him over trifles. All participants in the process must clearly understand that they have common goals and respect each other's work. To do this, you should agree on an acceptable communication format.

5) Upon receiving information about the execution of an order, the assistant, together with the manager, evaluates the completeness of the data presented and makes a decision on accepting the order or returning it for revision. The assistant must notify the executor of the decision made.

6) When generating analytical reporting. Strict accounting implies regular reporting and analytics based on statistical data. At a certain frequency, for example once a month, the assistant must analyze the accumulated statistical data on assignments and generate a report on performance discipline (Fig. 1). Such a report may contain information about how many instructions there were, how many of them were completed on time/late/not completed, which departments are leaders and which are anti-leaders in terms of timely execution of the manager’s instructions. The manager can dispose of this information at his own discretion. However, it is desirable that the approach to reward and punishment be predictable and uniform for everyone.

Rice. 1

Handy tools in the assistant's arsenal

There are a great variety of such tools, but it is important to follow the key principle - all instructions of the manager must be materialized and entered into a single repository, where it is possible to regularly monitor the execution of orders in accordance with their priority.

The ideal technical implementation is Microsoft Outlook , because it contains flexible settings mechanisms so-called. "user views". In addition to the standard views “By executors”, “By categories”, “By deadlines”, you can configure any others - “By plants”, “By committees”, “Only overdue tasks, the deadline for which expired from 5 to 20 days ago” and etc. Once configured, the view becomes available in the future with one click of the mouse. We will not dwell on this in detail, because... A series of articles have already been devoted to this tool.

Sometimes similar system configured on base electronic document management systems, for example Lotus Notes, Documentum or Directum, where key information about the order is recorded in the registration and control card (RCC). However, EDMS is an expensive program that not all organizations can afford.

One of the most universal and accessible tools for monitoring the execution of orders is Microsoft Excel. This program can be used in addition to existing ones if you work in large company, and as an independent tool. The beauty of it is that, based on this technical solution, you can create a single database of orders with flexible settings of fields and filters at your discretion. Such a consolidated register of instructions can be made publicly available, and each employee can clarify the wording, deadlines and track the status of their instructions. You should first configure limited rights to edit the file to avoid accidental corruption or deletion of data.

In MS Excel, you can not only enter instructions manually, as in the case of verbal orders from the manager, but also download instructions from the EDMS (if these are instructions from protocols or instructions coming from outside, for example, requests from regulatory authorities or government bodies or a corporate center).

By setting the fields in a certain way, you can set color coding in the “Order execution status” column. For example, an order that has not yet arrived will be automatically indicated in blue; an order completed on time is green (for this, the dates in the “Due to Execution” and “Actual Execution” fields must match); an order for which the execution period has expired and no confirmation of receipt of the execution report has been received will be automatically displayed as unfulfilled and marked in red.

Setting up a register of orders inMS Excel

Fields in the registry are configured by writing a macro. For such fine tuning It is best to involve an IT specialist.

If there is no IT specialist and you do not have programming skills, you can use another simpler and more accessible method.

You can customize table cells yourself using conditional formatting features.

To configure the cell fill, select the cell in the table for which we will configure the formatting (in our case, this is the cell G10 ), on the tab home - Conditional Formatting, in the proposed context menu - Create a rule(Fig. 2).

Rice. 3

In the formula bar of the dialog box under the title, you need to set a rule that will be considered true (Fig. 4).

Rice. 4

For our registry, it will be necessary to sequentially configure four rules for the same cell G10 , and then “extend” their action to the entire column G.

• To indicate an unfulfilled order, set up rule 1. In the dialog box Create a formatting rule using the key Format select the fill color. The first rule will correspond to the color red.

Next, enter the following description of the rule in the formula bar: =IF(F10>0; F10<СЕГОДНЯ();"") (Fig. 5). This means that provided that in the cell F10 the due date is indicated and it has already expired, the cell will automatically turn red.

Rice. 5

Press the keyOTO.

• To indicate an order that is in progress, set up rule 2. We repeat the sequence of actions described above: select the cell G10 , let's go to Conditional Formatting, select Create a rule And Use a formula to determine which cells to format.

In the already familiar dialog box Create a formatting rule using the key Format choose a different fill color. The second rule will correspond to the color blue.

=IF(F10>0;F10>TODAY();""). This means that if in a cell F10 a deadline is indicated and it has not yet arrived, the cell is automatically colored blue.

Press the key OTO.

• To indicate an order that was completed on time, we set up rule 3. Again we repeat the sequence of actions described above, only this time in the dialog box Create a formatting rule using the key Format select a green fill color to indicate that the order was completed strictly on time or ahead of schedule.

Enter the description of the rule in the formula bar: =IF(F10>0;IF(F10<СЕГОДНЯ();ЕСЛИ(G10<=F10;G10>0;"");"");""). This means that if in a cell F10 G10 the deadline for actual execution is indicated, which coincides with the deadline F10 or precedes it, cell G10 will automatically turn green.

Press the key OTO.

• Finally, to indicate an order that was completed later than the specified deadline, we set up rule 4. In the dialog box Create a formatting rule using the key Format select a yellow fill color to indicate that the order was completed late.

Enter the following rule into the formula bar: =IF(F10>0;IF(F10<СЕГОДНЯ();G10>F10;"");""). This means that if in a cell F10 the due date is indicated, and in the cell G10 the date of actual execution is indicated, which is later than the date F10 , then the cell G10 will automatically turn yellow.

Once in the cell G10 all four rules are configured, we “stretch” the given formula down the entire column G and fill it in with the actual dates of execution of orders. The cells will automatically be colored in the specified palette.

The next step is visualization settings, i.e. diagrams for a more visual perception of the picture of the performing discipline.

To construct a diagram, we need quantitative data, i.e. the number of all orders and each type separately. Therefore, intermediate adjustment will be required. We can display quantitative data in a legend, where they will be automatically entered from our table (the legend can be placed on the same sheet, for example, above the table).

To collect statistics, you need to fill in one of the table cells, for example the adjacent cell H10 , in the following way:

1. Select a cell H10 , at the top of the formula bar, click the icon fx Insert function, select the category " logical», « IF».

We write the following rule in the top line of formulas: =IF($F10>0,IF($G10>0,IF($G10<=$F10;"Выполнено";"Выполнено не в срок");ЕСЛИ($F10<СЕГОДНЯ();"Просрочено";"В работе"));"") (Fig. 6).

Rice. 6

We extend the rule specified in the cell H10 , down the entire column H(Fig. 7).

Rice. 7

Then column H can be hidden, leaving only the necessary registry information visible.

• Setting up a legend. In order for data from a column H fall into the legend and are displayed in it in quantitative form, you need to configure the legend cells as follows:

1. Set a rule for a cell G3 : select this cell, click the icon in the formula bar fx Insert function, select the type of functions " statistical», « COUNTIF».

2. Then write the following in the formula bar: =COUNTIF(H$10:H$19,F3)(Fig. 8).

Rice. 8

3. “Stretch” the formula from the cell G3 before G6 respectively.

You can also customize visualization and upload data on orders for a given period of time in the form of a chart.

• WITHcreating a diagram. To do this, go to the tab Insert and select a chart, for example a pie chart, having previously selected the range it cells from G3 before G6 (Fig. 9).

Rice. 9

We insert the diagram and color its segments in the fill colors we have chosen by selecting the segment and calling the corresponding context menu with the right mouse button (everything is intuitive there). Our register is ready (Fig. 10).

Rice. 10

And finally

Creating an effective system for monitoring the execution of orders is quite difficult - it is necessary to take into account many different aspects and features that may be unique to different organizations. It's not easy, but remember that every riddle has a solution. When I am faced with a difficult problem that, at first glance, has no solution, I always remember the riddle of B. Verber:

“How to connect these nine dots with four lines without lifting the pen from the paper?

Often we cannot find a solution because our mind is limited to the area of ​​the drawing. But nowhere does it say that you cannot go beyond its limits.

There is a solution:

Moral: in order to understand the system, you must... get out of it.”

There are many ways to organize an effective system for monitoring the execution of orders. The main thing is to find exactly the one that will most organically fit into the work of your company and yours, to feel moderation in everything and not to cross the line beyond which comes manic hypercontrol.

M.A. Suchkova, Assistant General Director of Ryazan Oil Refining Company CJSC (subsidiary of NK-Rosneft OJSC)

Every organization sooner or later faces the problem of monitoring the tasks set by management. Everyone solves this issue differently: some implement an electronic document management system, some put marks in registration books, others set up a file cabinet the old fashioned way. In this article we will look at the problem of monitoring orders issued by the manager regarding incoming and internal documents of the company, and will present you with one of the options for organizing a control system using MS Outlook.

What is task execution control?

An order from a manager usually begins with a resolution placed on an incoming or internal (for example, an internal memo) document. The resolution, as is known, must indicate the executor, the content of the task and the period during which the order must be completed.

If the organization does not have a control system, then, as a rule, the manager finishes his work on the document with a resolution, and the execution of the assignment remains entirely on the conscience of the executor. In the best case, the director will make a note for himself in the diary so as not to lose sight of the most important matters, but when the volume of incoming documents reaches several tens or hundreds per day, no diary will save him.

As a result, the responsibility to monitor execution falls on the fragile shoulders of the secretary (or, alternatively, one of the office employees). One way or another, the controller’s task is to familiarize himself with the resolution, bring the order to the executor and ensure that it is completed on time.

Are all documents put under control?

At the very beginning, when a document control system is just appearing in your organization, it is better to control only part of the documents. Which ones - let the leader decide personally. Firstly, it will be easier for the controller, and secondly, the negative (as always happens with changes) reaction of employees will be smoothed out. In the future, the list of documents sent for control will gradually expand. Let’s say that at the first stage a decision was made to monitor the execution of instructions regarding complaints received from individuals and any requests from government authorities.

However, if a company immediately switches to electronic document management, there is no problem of choice: EDMS programs automatically track the path of each document.

Create a task inMS Outlook

Outlook is primarily an email client that can replace an electronic document management system only in terms of communications between users; it successfully performs all the necessary functions, in particular, monitoring the execution of tasks and generating reports.

An indispensable condition for organizing control inMS Outlook: The manager’s resolution must one way or another be embodied in electronic form. The controller must either scan the document with the resolution in order to attach this file to the task, or reproduce the text of the resolution manually in the body of the task.

To create a task for a user, launch MS Outlook and select commands in the top menu File, Create And Order(Fig. 1), after which a new window will open - your future task.

Fig.1. Creating an order

Let's start filling out the fields. In the first of them ( To whom) enter the address of the executor appointed by the director.

If there are several performers, the task is created for each separately (a feature of the program; otherwise there will be difficulties in tracking the task).

Second field Subject you need to fill it out as correctly as possible so that it is already clear what the task relates to, for example:

Input-234 dated 01/29/2013.

This will be convenient for both the controller and the performer.

The next important field for us is Term. It is established based on the deadlines for execution of documents accepted in your company.

We remind you that the standard period accepted in the practice of business communication is 30 calendar days.

Near the field Term You can select the task importance level: low, normal or high.

Fields Start, State And Ready When creating a task, the controller usually does not touch it, because the executor has not yet started execution, and the start of the time allocated for work will be the moment the task is sent to the executor.

On the menu Options You can schedule a task to repeat by clicking on the corresponding button.

This is relevant for, for example, monthly reports or providing other information at a specified frequency.

Here you are asked to select a category (if you use it) and add a reminder for the performer.

It is convenient to set a reminder three days before the deadline: on the required day, the contractor will receive a letter with the corresponding content.

Options Keep an updated copy of this task in your task list And Send me a status report when a task is completed are turned on and off using a checkmark in the checkboxes.

On a note!

Checkbox (from the English check box) is a graphical user interface element that allows the user to control a parameter with two states - ☑ on and ☐ off.

The text field is entered in the letter field - the instructions necessary to complete the task. If there are none, you can enter the standard Please read the resolution and carry out the instructions.

Go to the menu tab Insert. Here we attach a file with a resolution letter to the task.

After that, click Send– and the task goes to the responsible person (Fig. 2).

Fig 2. Sending a task for execution

Performer's work on a task

The contractor will receive a letter with an attachment containing the task. Having opened the task, he will see a file with the manager’s resolution, the completion date and other information that you sent him (Fig. 3).

Rice. 3. Receipt of the task by the performer

to Fig - in this picture there is no dot after the order, but in the previous one there is

Having completed the assignment, the executor must draw up a report. To do this, in the task, as in a regular email, you need to select the option Answer, write the text of the report and send it to the controller.

The report must be correct and contain up-to-date information about the completion of the task, and not a simple unsubscribe Completed or, worse, OK.

Example of a report on the execution of an order:

A letter dated January 30, 2013 No. 323 was sent to the counterparty by mail.

Completing a task

After receiving the report, the controller marks the task as completed. To do this, right-click on the task in the list of tasks and select the command from the drop-down menu For execution, and then Mark as completed(Fig. 4).

Rice. 4. Completing the task

Reporting

Monitoring the execution of orders will lose all meaning if the controller does not periodically analyze the quality of the performers’ work. To do this, you need to generate a report based on the parameters that interest you.

To see the entire list of orders you have sent, click on the button in the lower left corner of the screen Tasks. A list of tasks will be formed in the central field, and in the left column Current view Any selection can be made. Typically controllers use views Detailed list, Overdue tasks And By responsible(Fig. 5).

Fig.5. Detailed list of submissions

Any list can be printed by selecting the appropriate command in the menu File.

Regulating the process and working with personnel

As is the case with any innovation, it is impossible to do without regulations for the process of monitoring the execution of orders. It is advisable to include rules for setting and completing tasks in the office work instructions. If you don’t have one yet, you can create a separate document, “Rules...” or “Instructions...”. One way or another, the process needs to be described in as much detail as possible, and it is advisable to provide the description with screenshots. The instructions must be approved by the General Director.

The transition to a new control system means the emergence of a number of new rules that are mandatory for everyone. However, compliance with these rules will not be much of a hassle for your colleagues.

Firstly, each employee will now have to keep MS Outlook constantly on. As a last resort, check your email at least twice a day.

Secondly, colleagues will have to remember: the task, the author of which is the secretary, is not his (the secretary’s) whim. This is nothing more than an order from the director, presented in electronic form. It was the director who appointed the executor and set the deadline for the task, and it is actually the director who will have to report on the implementation, and not the controller-secretary.

As you can see, the process of setting tasks in MS Outlook is quite simple and is quite suitable for a small company where up to 20 tasks are set daily. The main thing is that each of the instructions sent in this way is drawn up as correctly as possible: it has a specific addressee and deadline, and is sent in writing. The completion of work on a task is clearly recorded. The controller, in turn, is freed from calling the performers with reminders: he only has to make sure that the execution report arrives on time.

We considered only one of the options for automating the system for monitoring the execution of orders in an organization. Like any of the control methods we listed at the beginning of the article, this one has its own set of advantages and disadvantages. However, in our opinion, this is one of the optimal budget alternatives for a company that is just beginning to discover electronic document management.

Evgenia Kozhanova, specialist in preschool educational institutions and personnel records management

An automated control system easily allows you to view all tasks not only by deadline, but also by executor, and thus see the loading of each, and provide lists of unfulfilled documents with an expiring deadline that have not yet been taken into account by the executor. The program allows you to differentiate access rights, prepare the necessary reports for management...
The configuration is easily and quickly configured by the user.

The program includes the following reports:
- List of tasks due on a date
- Certificate of performing discipline
- Tasks completed in violation of deadlines
- Tasks under control

The Automated Task Execution Control program provides users with the following capabilities:
To managers:
. create (register) new task cards;
. monitor the summary status of current assignments for all performers and performance discipline statistics;
. control the progress of specific tasks for any of the performers, taking into account the postponement of execution deadlines;
. carry out text exchange of information with performers during the execution of the task;
. record the fact of completion (“close” tasks);
. search for tasks using various criteria;
. view the archive of closed tasks;
. print, export to MS Word and MS Excel a separate task;
. print, export to MS Word and MS Excel lists of tasks according to various criteria;

. generation of reports on the execution of tasks and performance discipline.

Performers:
. receive new tasks from management;
. monitor the summary status of your current tasks;
. carry out text exchange of information with management and co-performers during the execution of tasks;
. record the fact of completing the task;
. search for your assignments using various criteria;
. view the archive of completed tasks;
. automatic marking of overdue tasks;
. print, export to Word and Excel individual or lists of tasks according to various criteria.

For informational purposes you can, which has a time limit: 50 days, and has no functional limitations. At the end of the demo period, you will need to purchase a license. After payment you receive a personal license code for the program by email. It must be entered when starting the program in the "Activation" dialog box and your demo version will become the full version without time and functional restrictions, the license code is not limited in time.

Information for buyers:

1. By purchasing one of the offered licenses for the program, you can install the license code on an unlimited number of computers (workstations on the network).

2. Network license without restrictions, the ability to forever use the version and license that you purchased.

3. Possibility to download software updates for free for 1 year.

5. You can use the purchased program in your business activities.

Benefits of this program

Flexible database structure
You can create new tables and fields within them (stored and calculated), define drop-down lists, assign subtables, create views and reports, and much more. The system can be adjusted to any subject area without special knowledge.

Generation of office documents with data from the database using templates
You can create document templates in Word and Excel formats with static text, pictures, as well as bookmarks into which current data from the database will be inserted when generating the document.

Storing images in a database and links to documents of various formats
Each table entry can be linked to pictures stored in the database itself, as well as links to files stored somewhere on a file server, while all the necessary information will be located in the database for easy searching, filtering and classification of documents.

Convenient and highly customizable user interface
You can sort, filter, search for records by any field, change the order and width of fields, row heights, set color rules for rows and cells, formulas for calculating totals, and build a tree based on given fields. You can make entries either directly in the table (Excel style) or through a separate form, which is flexibly customizable.

Filters, sorting, calculated fields, views
Maximum flexible data filtering conditions, many preset values ​​("starts with", "contains", "today", "yesterday"...). Different sets of filters can be saved in files for reuse. The ability to set formulas for calculated fields (including SQL expressions) and build table views that display fields from different tables and calculated fields.

Creating and setting up reports and reminders for various conditions
You can set reminder rules according to which a reminder form will be shown to a particular user.

Network and multiplayer mode
When using multi-user mode, access rights are flexibly configured for each user according to the following parameters: visibility and availability of menu items, main tabs, tables, fields and records for viewing and editing.

Data import and export
Import of tabular data from Excel and Access files is supported. Export is possible in Word, Excel, HTML.

Standard DBMS Microsoft Access or Microsoft SQL Server
No "black boxes". We have a standard data storage format - MS Access or client-server MS SQL Server. Both of these DBMSs are highly reliable, are recognized standards and are leaders in their class. This provides advantages over closed formats: the ability to administer, refine, optimize, integrate with other systems... You can add custom buttons in the program, when selected, the necessary actions will be performed (for example, some work directly with the database, launching third-party applications, etc.).