Best Tools For Tracking Action Items

At Less Meeting, we’re huge fans of getting things done. But there’s a real problem hiding in most teams’ meetings. Creating action items is easy; finishing them is the hard part.

While over 63% of professionals create to-do lists, a paltry 11% actually finish the tasks they plan to do each day. You just ran a great meeting and the team walked away with a solid list of to-dos. But two weeks later, at best half of them are done.

Before we get to the tools, it’s worth understanding why action items stall, and what actually gets them across the finish line.

Why action items don’t get done

1. Procrastination. Why do today what you can put off until tomorrow? When people get overwhelmed by tasks, they keep pushing them off.

2. Forgetfulness. People forget — it just happens. A lot of the time, it’s the to-dos they owe you that slip their mind.

3. Prioritization. There aren’t enough hours in the day, and people will inevitably prioritize differently than you do.

How to actually get action items done

1. Simplify the task. Make the action item as small and specific as possible. “Plan next month’s sales conference” is overwhelming; “Pick a date for the sales conference” is something someone can knock out today.

2. Remind the person. It’s fine to send a nudge. Don’t email every hour, but a gentle reminder after a few days is fair game. Better still, get a tool to do it for you. If someone owes you an action item, Less Meeting automatically reminds them in their Daily Digest.

3. Own the prioritization. Be crystal clear about when you need it done and why it matters. That’s what turns a vague request into actionable accountability.

One more thing: a to-do list is the right home for assignments and action items specifically. With an action item, you don’t really get to decide whether it’s important once it’s been agreed on, so a list is a must for keeping it on the radar even when it’s not top of mind.

The best tools for tracking action items

Once you’ve got the habits down, the right tool makes tracking effortless. A few worth a look:

1) Google Tasks

• Free
• Integrates with Less Meeting

2) Outlook Tasks

• Most large companies already run Outlook for email, calendar, and to-dos
• Integrates with Less Meeting

3) Basecamp

• Best for project managers

4) Salesforce

• Best for sales reps

Meetings are largely about actions, but they only pay off if those actions actually get done. Keep these tips in mind next time someone owes you a to-do, and you’ll clear a lot more than 11% of your list.

If you’re specifically evaluating action item tracking software rather than a general to-do app, see what to look for in action item tracking software, including how carry-forward across recurring meetings and automated follow-up compare to the tools above. And if the same items keep resurfacing meeting after meeting rather than actually stalling out, that’s a carry-forward problem rather than a to-do-list problem. Here’s how to actually carry action items forward across recurring meetings.