How to Implement a Team Task Tracking System

I see (ambitious, well-meaning) agencies fall into these 5 pitfalls every day. And all of them are related to project management. 1. There is no single source of truth for their work. Tasks and commitments are spread across Google Docs, sheets, meeting notes, calendar slots, and PM software. It’s a simple recipe for chaos. Nobody’s able to keep track of everything they committed to, or realistically assess if they can get it all done. The fix: Set up a single source of truth. (For ZenPilot and our clients, we follow a simple rule: “if it's not in ClickUp, it didn't happen”.) 2. Work is not aligned with a realistic and detailed timeline. Deliverables may have due dates, but the particular steps (or subtasks) to get that deliverable done either aren’t there, or they don’t have information on when the steps will be completed. When you don’t know when each team member will complete each subtask, you won’t know who’s overbooked = they won’t get to their subtask on time = the whole project might be delayed. The fix: Prioritize work using due dates, and layout steps/subtasks in your process so that their due date falls on the day when it will be done. (Due Dates == Do Dates) 3. Processes/SOPs live separately from day to day work. If you’ve got your SOPs in a separate wiki or a set of Google Docs, that can hurt you in the long run. You’ll have your team hunting for SOPs outside of their day to day PM system. And if they find them, they’ll be scratching their heads whether the process is up to date. And even if it is up to date, now they need to create tasks for themselves to follow the process… The fix: Make your processes live where the work gets done. Ideally, turn them into ClickUp templates. 4. Ignoring project management habits. Your PM tool setup (hierarchy, folders, etc.) matters. The way your team uses the tool every day matters 10x more. If you’re not intentional about the habits you’re building, your tasks and projects will be updated inconsistently, with varying amounts of detail—leading to unclear data about where work actually stands. The fix: Set and train the team on uniform habits and standards around how often and in what detail tasks get updated. 5. Lack of consistency + accountability in their PM system. Typical scenario: An agency owner/director leads the charge implementing a new PM tool. It works great. They move on to their next goal. Without their supervision, standards fall apart. Nobody’s accountable for checking whether the system is being maintained. Team members end up updating the system “when they get around to it” (which quickly turns to “rarely ever”), making the data in the system unusable for decision making. The fix: Appoint a ClickUp Champion. Give them the task of checking the system daily, weekly, monthly, and quarterly. Have them remind/train team members who don’t follow the system. Fix those, and you’ll be a top 10% agency.

Running a business that supports over 30 Amazon brands at any given time has been an exciting challenge. 🙌 I’ve built a team that allows me to step back from a majority of the day-to-day tasks, focusing instead on higher-priority clients. But recently, one of my account managers went on vacation for six business days, and I stepped in to cover their accounts. This experience was great for me to analyze the business. 💡 It highlighted some gaps in how we manage our workflows and projects. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐛𝐥𝐞𝐦: 𝐀 𝐃𝐢𝐬𝐨𝐫𝐠𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐳𝐞𝐝 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐣𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝐌𝐚𝐧𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐒𝐲𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐦 The account manager role at my business is multifaceted. They’re responsible for delegating SEO, catalog, and design tasks while also managing PPC. It’s a lot to juggle, and our internal dashboards weren’t making their job any easier. Here’s what I discovered: 𝟏. 𝐈𝐧𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐍𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐃𝐚𝐬𝐡𝐛𝐨𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐬: Some were team-wide dashboards, others were individual, and a few were bare-bones. 𝟐. 𝐋𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐨𝐟 𝐕𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲: It was hard to track the progress of tasks—what was assigned, where it stood, and whether it was completed on time. When it comes to effective project management, having clear and functional dashboards is non-negotiable. They’re the foundation for ensuring deadlines are met and team members are aligned. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐨𝐥𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧: 𝐑𝐞𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐎𝐮𝐫 𝐃𝐚𝐬𝐡𝐛𝐨𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐬 While covering for the account manager, I realized just how much room there was for improvement. So, we immediately began restructuring and refining our systems. Here’s what we are changing to: 𝟏. 𝐂𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐳𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐇𝐢𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐃𝐚𝐬𝐡𝐛𝐨𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐬: ▪️ We eliminated redundant individual dashboards. ▪️ Created a central, overarching dashboard for the entire business, segmented by department (e.g., SEO, PPC, catalog). ▪️ Each department now links to individual account manager dashboards, making it easy to navigate between tasks and team responsibilities. 𝟐. 𝐄𝐧𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐝 𝐓𝐚𝐬𝐤 𝐓𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠: ▪️ Every task now includes critical details: the date of assignment, type of task, due date, and completion status. ▪️ Progress is tracked at every stage, ensuring nothing falls through the cracks. These updates are already making it easier to oversee workflows and hold team members accountable while giving clients the confidence that deadlines will be met. #Amazon #ecommerce #digitalmarketing #digitaladvertising #strategy

This is a role you MUST have at your agency. A ClickUp (or insert other project management tool) Champion. This is the person who's in charge of ensuring that your team is developing good habits within your project management system. Without them, there's a 95% chance your system will spiral out of control. So what exactly do they do? Once your project management system has been built, implemented, and launched, the ClickUp Champion will focus on four main work cadences—daily, weekly, monthly, and quarterly—to hold the system together. The daily and weekly tasks focus on activity/inputs into ClickUp—what goes into the system. The monthly and quarterly focus on the outputs—outcomes from the activity. This is what we assign our ClickUp champion to do ⬇️ ⚙️ The Daily Spot Check ➝ Review all overdue tasks ➝ Check for unassigned tasks, tasks that don't have a due date, and tasks missing time estimates ➝ Check time tracking ➝ Review unread notifications in the "Who's Behind?" report (ClickUp specific) and make sure everyone on the team is managing their notifications properly ➝ Check for updates to Due Dates that are missing explanations ➝ Escalate major issues and track recurring trends or minor issues for coaching follow-up ⚙️ Weekly Roundup ➝ Review all tasks in the "Planning" view and follow up to get as many as possible planned ➝ Review the account dashboard and make sure it is properly updated ➝ Pull this week's time tracked by team member report ➝ Review notes from the daily spot checks and identify trends ➝ Evaluate priorities for next week and follow up with team members as needed ➝ Share a quick report with the executive team based on the above ➝ Share any general productivity tips, insights from this week's usage, ClickUp tips, or new ClickUp updates with the team via the ClickUp Leaderboard dashboard ⚙️ Monthly Review ➝ Review time tracking by client and build a summary with effective hourly rates by client ➝ Review the most common task types, compare actual time tracked to the time estimates, and document proposed updates to time estimates ➝ Document the type of tasks that most exceed estimated time and review for process improvement opportunities ➝ Look back over weekly roundup notes to spot ongoing trends and address appropriately ⚙️ Quarterly Analysis ➝ Dive into monthly reviews and build a comprehensive analysis that impacts time estimates, project planning, recruiting and hiring, client relationships, etc. Your ClickUp Champion is the glue that holds everything together. They hold the team accountable and help the team build the healthy habits needed to build a gold standard, crazy efficient agency operation. ------------ Want to learn more about this role, how to hire a champion, and how they can perform each of these tasks in ClickUp?  Next week, we'll be doing a full ClickUp Champion training and workshop. Comment "Champion" below, and I'll send you the invite!