Basics of To-Do’s

Purpose:

A To-Do List in residential construction serves as a crucial organizational tool to manage tasks, prioritize activities, and ensure efficient workflow. It helps construction professionals break down complex projects into manageable steps, track progress, and maintain accountability across the team. For project managers, it ensures deadlines are met, resources are allocated effectively, and quality standards are upheld. On the field, it guides daily operations, resolves issues promptly, and fosters collaboration among workers and subcontractors. Overall, it aligns everyone involved toward timely project completion while minimizing delays, controlling costs, and meeting client expectations.

How to create a new To Do’s list?

There are a few different ways to create a To do’s list using Contractor Foreman. We will review in this article how to create a To Do’s list directly from the To Do’s Module.

At the top right corner of the screen you will see a “+ To Do” button. Click on it to create a new To Do’s List. Once you have done that, a side window will pop up. If the To-Do’s list is related to a Project, click on the empty space/blank right below the Project to select your Project. Despite it is not a required field, we suggest always populating this field if applies. In the event the To-do’s list is not related to a Project but to an Opportunity, the Opportunities will be shown on the Project’s drop down menu as well.

Task name is a required field, this means that if you do not type anything there, you will not be able to save and create your new To-do’s list. Due date (by when we want it done), Priority and the assigned to field. This last one is very important. All the people listed on the assigned to field will be subject to notifications if they are users of the Contractor Foreman. Please read this article to learn more about Notifications in Contractor Foreman.

Once you have clicked on the “Create To-Do'” button, it will take you to the screen below we will be able to provide more detailed information about the tasks we need our employees, coworkers or even ourselves to do.

On the left side of the screen you will find the sections of your To Do’s list.

Details

Task Name: also referred to as the To-Do’s Name, is a concise, clear, and descriptive title that identifies a specific task or activity to be completed. It should be short and easy to understand, providing enough detail to communicate the purpose of the task without unnecessary complexity.

Due: The Due Date on a To-Do List indicates the deadline by which a task must be completed, ensuring timely progress and accountability.

Assigned To: Specifies who is responsible for completing a task. Those listed will receive notifications via email, SMS, or push alerts based on system settings.

Tags: Tags are keywords or labels used to categorize To-Do’s for easy organization and filtering. For example, a To-Do for inspecting plumbing could have tags like “Inspection”, “Plumbing”, or “Phase 1”.

Description: The Description gives detailed information about a task, outlining its purpose and any specific requirements. For breaking the task into smaller steps, checklists are available right below, allowing you to track progress and ensure all subtasks are completed.

Adding a New Section in the Checklist area is very easy, just click on the “plus New Section” button and it will add a new section to add another checklist.

Custom Fields: allow you to tailor additional information for a task by creating fields with specific input types, such as dropdowns, checkboxes, or text entries. This flexibility ensures tasks capture all necessary details in a structured and easy-to-use format.

Files

In this section of your To Do’s list you have the ability to add pictures, sketches, drawings and any other document that will help your coworkers to understand better the tasks assigned to them. You can use the markup features for PDF files and Pictures. Click on the 3 dot menu located at the top right corner of the file and then click on Markup to start working with that file. For more details about marking files up, please watch this video at minute 9:35.

Notes

Notes in Contractor Foreman are great because you can add there proof of work done or completed, or even start or continue coordination on task items. These notes are time-stamped and who posted the comment. Also you can attach documents.