Even those well-seasoned in handing out assignments could benefit from spending less time communicating the details. It can be exhausting to keep track of everything you’ve discussed in emails, messages, and meetings—especially when you lose track of an attachment, detail, or question.
In this article, we’ll walk you through how to make a project request board in ClickUp that makes delegating quick and painless.
What Columns Will You Include on Your Project Request Board?
When creating a project request board in ClickUp, the goal is to save time. You’ll want to make it clear who you’re assigning the project to, when you’d like them to get it done by, and the priority level, as well as who is making the request. You can quickly do so by adding the columns assignee, due date, priority, and created by to your board.
If you’re wondering why the created by column is important, it is for two reasons. It helps your teammates know who to ask if they run into a question. It also lets them know who they’re reporting to if you have multiple people assigning projects.
You can’t change who appears in the created by column, so if you’re creating the task on behalf of someone else, you can make a note of that in the description.
Additionally, you may notice the assignee column holds one name by default. If you want to put more than one person on a task, you can turn on multiple assignees. To do so, click your profile icon in the bottom-left corner, go to Settings, select ClickApps, and toggle on Multiple Assignees in the options.
If you want to bring someone else in on the project who isn’t actively working on it, you can add them as a watcher, or if you want your teammates to claim tasks themselves, you can simply leave the column blank.
In addition to the four columns mentioned above, ClickUp offers many others that will help you communicate project specifics. For example, if your tasks are time-sensitive, you could use the date created column to show how long it’s been sitting. You could also use the time estimate column to give your teammates a heads-up on how long the project could take.
To figure out which columns you’d like to use, take some time to think about the way your team already hands out assignments, pick what works, and customize your board to meet your needs.
How to Set Up a Project Request Board in ClickUp
The first step in making a project request board is creating a new list in your workspace. To do so, hover over the name of your workspace in the sidebar and click the add button. Name your list accordingly.
Next, insert the columns you’d like to use if they’re not already there. You’ll find a long list of them when you select the add option in the top right corner of your list. Keep in mind, less is more. If you add too much information to your board, it may end up confusing your coworkers—especially those new to project management software.
You’ll also want to take a minimal approach with statuses. To edit your statuses, hover over the To-do or any status tab on your board, click the three dots on the right, and go to Manage Statuses. Select custom and create the ones you’d like to use to communicate with your team.
The example uses to-do, in progress, and complete, but you can get more creative if you’d like. If you’re using the board for claiming projects, you may want to use open instead of to-do and have an assigned status to let yourself and others know someone else is on it, even if they haven’t started working yet.
You could also use options like stuck to communicate a teammate needs help, or on hold to quickly share that a project is neither in progress nor complete.
How to Work Within a Project Request Board
The idea behind the project request board is to limit communication when delegating tasks. Not that you won’t be sharing details or answering questions, but you’re doing so all in one place, so you and your team know where to find the information.
The details in the columns give the assignee a quick overview of the project expectations. Additionally, you can put detailed notes inside the task by clicking its name.
Here, you’ll find a place where you can describe the task to your teammate, attach files, and communicate back and forth in the comments.
You can also add a watcher to the project by clicking the eye symbol in the top right corner. Doing this is much like CC’ing someone in an email.
Once your teammate starts to work on the task, they change the status to in progress to show it’s underway and complete when they finish. ClickUp automatically hides completed tasks, but you can view them anytime by clicking show closed in the top right corner.
Keep in mind, anyone can assign projects in ClickUp, so your project request board will work both ways. That way, if you have a coworker who needs your help with something, they can create a task for you as well.
If you work with a large team and find your project request board is too busy, you may want to create separate ones for each department. You could also create project request boards for individual people if your company has a lot of tasks or someone needs the extra bit of one-on-one focus.
Additionally, if you find you have some visual folks on your team, you may want to add a board view that uses a card system in place of a list.
Get Focused With a Project Request Board
Making a project request board is a quick project that both beginners and experienced ClickUp users can take on. Using one will not only help to limit jumping between emails and messages when delegating tasks, but it can also reduce the amount of time you spend in meetings, scheduled or not.
Just be sure to explain to your team how it works, and let them know that they too can request help from you or each other when they need it.
