Last Updated on July 23, 2024 by Owen McGab Enaohwo
It’s easy to lose track of what you intend to do if you don’t write these things down. In addition, the anxiety of wondering whether you completed tasks drains you from doing other important things. Hence, the need for checklists.
Checklists help you to perform tasks effectively by avoiding distractions.
Using checklists, you remember the crucial steps to follow to complete a business process and avoid skipping any.
They also help you become more productive by providing a clear and logical order of doing work so that you avoid errors, work faster and save time.
In this in-depth post, you’ll learn everything you need to know about checklists. We’ll also give you access to 55 free, editable, and downloadable checklist templates for Excel, Word, Google Docs, Google Sheets, and PDF.
Let’s get started.
Chapter One: What is a Checklist and Why Do You Need One?
Chapter Two: Excel Checklist Templates
Chapter Three: Checklist Templates for Word
Chapter Four: Checklist Templates in PDF
Chapter Five: Google Docs Checklist Templates
Chapter Six: Google Sheets Checklist Templates
Chapter Seven: How to Make a Checklist on Excel, Word, and Google Docs
Chapter Eight: Checklist Templates Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Chapter Nine: Assign and Manage Your Team’s Tasks Using SweetProcess
Chapter One: What is a Checklist and Why Do You Need One?
To maintain consistency and discipline with your work, you need a checklist to keep you on track. Irrespective of the type of business you do, completing and marking off tasks will increase the overall success of the project.
When things go wrong, checklists are great tools to help you retrace your steps, and boost your productivity. For instance, if you have a deadline to meet, it will weigh on your mind, but as you cross each task off your list, it becomes rewarding to see your progress, hence making it more likely for you to complete the task faster.
In this chapter, you’ll learn some basics about checklists.
What is a Checklist?
A checklist is a simplified activity log that helps you mark tasks as done. It is a proper acknowledgment given to set tasks that have been completed.
For instance, when you have ten activities to carry out in a day, you list them out and gradually check them off as done. This will give you a sense of achievement and the motivation to do more.
With checklists, you reduce human failures and errors as they compensate for potential limits of human memory and attention. A checklist also helps ensure consistency, on-time task completion and allows you to remember all steps in the workplace’s procedures and processes.
Why Use a checklist?
Checklists help you organize and manage tasks, eliminate errors, maintain consistency, boost efficiency and productivity, and ensure that all steps in a process are performed.
They’re useful for jobs that involve repetition. In larger projects, a checklist makes it easy to coordinate task implementation. It also assists in monitoring the activities that you carry out while ensuring that they are done.
As much as delegating and completing tasks is important in business management, using a checklist makes this powerful as your colleagues or subordinates can easily follow through and you can reach your goal faster.
What to Include in Your Checklists
Since checklists are important productivity documents, you should include items that help you identify tasks as important and urgent.
Here are some items that your checklist must have:
- Name of checklist
Give your checklist a label or name.
- Date or date range
Include the date or date range for using the checklist.
- Spaces to add tasks and task details
Include spaces where you’d add your tasks and details about the task. This could include who you’re assigning the tasks to and when the person should complete the tasks.
- Task urgency
Include an item that indicates the urgency level of the tasks to ensure quick execution of your most urgent tasks.
- Task completion/process tag
Ensure that you have a task completion column or process tag that shows if your project is done, in progress, or not done.
- Due dates
Include due dates in your checklists. This is to make sure that you complete one project before starting the next one.
As you consider these important items to include in your checklist, you should note that the checklist must be editable as this will make it easier to add new items and remove completed items from the list.
You should also create room for collaboration with your checklist. This introduces a level of inclusivity into your checklist so that whenever you’re not available, someone else can understand and edit it.
How to Make an Effective Checklist
A checklist makes your tasks trackable and ensures successful project completion. To make an effective checklist, you must start with an ultimate goal. Then create a comprehensive list of tasks that leads to achieving this goal.
After this, make sure you prioritize the list. With the checklist in hand, you can organize and order the tasks by importance. This action makes it easy to tick your task as done. When prioritizing, understand that there are no right or wrong answers—what matters is that you can determine the most urgent/important tasks and complete them first.
Also, make sure that you create an understandable list, meaning you know why you selected the items you did. This helps you put your tasks into a checklist after organizing and prioritizing them.
Now begin to execute the tasks one by one. As you do, cross them off your list or “check” them.
Not only will marking your checklist each time you finish a task encourage you to continue working on the project, but also help you keep track of what you’ve accomplished and what you still need to do.
The Differences Between a Checklist and a To-Do List
A checklist is a set of instructions that tells you what to do to finish a task. It is a detailed step-by-step set of instructions to complete a task. It explains the steps to follow when performing a specific task.
A to-do list is a collection of chores that tell you what you need to do. It is a written list of the tasks you intend to carry out daily, weekly, monthly, or annually.
Simply put: a checklist is a “how-to-do” tool while a to-do list is a “what-to-do” tool. A checklist focuses on an organization’s agreement on how to go about specific processes. It highlights the best practices for carrying out a task.
On the other hand, a to-do list only displays the time-specific tasks that you must complete.
Another major difference between a checklist and a to-do list is that a checklist is a tool for processes that you are likely to repeat every day, while a to-do list is a tool to reduce and eliminate feeling overwhelmed with tasks.
Chapter Two: Excel Checklist Templates
Microsoft Excel is a spreadsheet tool that allows you to record data in tables. It is a part of the Microsoft Office suite of programs that contains simple and advanced operations and functions.
In this chapter, we’ve compiled 25 free checklist templates in Excel format, which you can download, tweak and use to stay organized with your tasks.
- Baby Shower Checklist Template
Click here to download the Checklist Template
The baby shower checklist template is used to plan and execute baby shower activities. It involves fun and engaging interactions such as games, gift unwrapping, dining plans, and drink options.
- Babysitter Checklist Template
Click here to download the Checklist Template
The babysitter checklist template guides the babysitter on what to take note of when caring for a baby at any particular time. It contains activities that the babysitter is likely to forget when taking care of the child. This includes the meals, snacks, food allergies, screen time limits, bedtime and nap schedules, and parent set rules. This checklist ensures that babysitters feel confident that they have all the information they need to care for your baby.
- Chore Checklist Template
Click here to download the Checklist Template
The chore checklist template helps you keep track of the tasks to perform when doing your chores. This could include meal preparation assignments, what to do when entering the house each day, and how to put toys and groceries in the right place.
It could also include steps on how to clean the restroom, manage spills, and dispose of food leftovers.
- Compliance Checklist Template
Click here to download the Checklist Template
The compliance checklist template is used to analyze how well your organization conforms to government legislation, industry standards such as the policies and procedures of a bank, and internal company policies. It guides you to ensure that every activity is in place and you don’t overstep your boundaries.
- Daily Checklist Template
Click here to download the Checklist Template
The daily checklist template allows you to complete your work-related tasks within 24 hours. It lets you get a full view of what you need to do, and you can quickly tick each box once completed.
- Home Inspection Checklist Template
Click here to download the Checklist Template
The home inspection checklist template is used to achieve a thorough inspection of your home. It involves a visual evaluation of the entire structure from top to bottom. This could be the structure, roof, foundation, drainage, plumbing, heating system, central air-conditioning system, visible insulation, walls, windows, and doors.
- Housekeeping Checklist Template
Click here to download the Checklist Template
The housekeeping checklist template enables you to keep your house clean, sanitary, and safe for your family and visitors. It provides you with the things to pay attention to so you can avoid slips, trips, falls, and other domestic risks that may occur.
- Audit Checklist Template
Click here to download the Checklist Template
The audit checklist template allows you to conduct a systematic review of your company’s financials. It contains all the items that must be met to ensure that your organization is financially stable.
- Inventory Checklist Template
Click here to download the Checklist Template
The inventory checklist template allows you to record the products kept in a given location or department. It lets you track and control items in a systematic manner. With this template, you’re certain that your inventories are right and you can easily conduct inspections.
- Moving Checklist Template
Click here to download the Checklist Template
The moving checklist template provides you with a list of things you need, so that you can have a successful move. With this template, you can add or remove items from the list, depending on the kind of movement you want to have. It also keeps you in check so that you consider the weight, dimension, and complete listing of the contents in you’re moving.
- Packing Checklist Template
Click here to download the Checklist Template
The packing checklist template allows you to pack all your required suitcases the day before you travel. It notifies you to pack items like clothes, pajamas, toiletries, shoes, prescriptions, pet, and infant supplies.
- Party Checklist Template
Click here to download the Checklist Template
The party checklist template allows you to plan a successful party. It lets you visualize and start with the big picture to figure out what you’ll need at a party. It includes information like the number of guests, style of party, the type of beverages to serve, and so on.
- Real Estate Closing Checklist Template
Click here to download the Checklist Template
The real estate closing checklist template covers all the actions that you must check and accomplish during the pre-listing, active listing, and closing stages of your real estate closing transaction.
- Student Checklist Template
Click here to download the Checklist Template
The student checklist template allows you to collect data and make judgments about what students know and can accomplish in connection to the outcomes. It also provides methods for gathering data about certain behaviors, knowledge, and abilities systematically.
- To-Do Checklist Template
Click here to download the Checklist Template
The to-do checklist outlines everything you need to accomplish a certain task or project. It includes the most critical chores at the top and the least critical things at the bottom. This way, you know which tasks to act upon fast and which to complete later on.
- Vehicle Inspection Checklist Template
Click here to download the Checklist Template
The vehicle inspection checklist template is used to assess the condition of a vehicle. Its goal is to find mechanical flaws or problems in cars to guarantee that they are in excellent operating condition and safe to drive on the road.
- Weekly Checklist Template
Click here to download the Checklist Template
The weekly checklist template is used to plan and achieve your weekly tasks. It involves recording all your tasks by the week, then accomplishing them from simple to complex until they are completed.
- Monthly Checklist Template
Click here to download the Checklist Template
The monthly checklist template is used to achieve tasks according to the days and times of the month. It has a layout that corresponds with an individual’s or company’s monthly calendar and allows you to complete your activities and procedures in due time.
- Task Checklist Template
Click here to download the Checklist Template
The task checklist template allows you to complete nested subtasks with a simple structure. It helps you to differentiate items that are completed and lets you assign them to other people, if necessary. With it, you can arrange, label, and put your to-do items into groups.
- Project Checklist Template
Click here to download the Checklist Template
The project checklist template ensures that you don’t ignore the essential elements in an organization’s project management process. It serves as a reminder of what needs to be done and confirms what has been completed once the things on the list have been crossed off.
- New Hire Checklist Template
Click here to download the Checklist Template
The new hire onboarding checklist template helps you prepare adequately for the onboarding of a new employee. It is a guide that walks you through the process of helping new hires become productive members of the team.
- Product Launch Checklist Template
Click here to download the Checklist Template
The product launch checklist template is a list of tasks that must be done for a new product to be launched to customers. It assists you in considering the stages, procedures, and assets that you and your team must accomplish before launching any product.
- Due Diligence Checklist Template
Click here to download the Checklist Template
The due diligence checklist template allows you to systematically analyze the company that you want to do business with. This company could be purchased through a sale or merger. It allows you to learn about their assets, obligations, contracts, benefits, and possible difficulties before making the purchase.
- New Employee Onboarding Checklist Template
Click here to download the Checklist Template
The new employee onboarding checklist template allows you to provide employee orientation, role introduction, and on-the-job training for a new employee. As you go through your regular day-to-day activities, it’s easy to forget the essentials of bringing in a new employee. This template helps you with goal setting, introduction to company culture, and meeting other employees.
- IT Onboarding Checklist Template
Click here to download the Checklist Template
The IT onboarding process checklist allows you to benefit new workers by providing them with work devices and letting them know the applications they’ll be working with. This also includes helping them to set up business accounts, understand and adhere to security requirements, etc.
Chapter Three: Checklist Templates for Word
Microsoft Word is one of the Microsoft suite packages that lets you type and save documents. It has document-making features that you can use to create checklists from scratch. Here are 10 editable and downloadable checklist templates for Microsoft Word. You can download and tweak them to meet your company’s needs.
- Wedding Checklist Template
Click here to download the Checklist Template
The wedding checklist template is used to help plan your perfect wedding day. It guides you in choosing outfits and accessories for your wedding party as well as making a reservation for the ceremony and reception locations. Also, it helps you to manage and take care of photography, videography, catering, DJ/band, florist, and the event coordinator you hire.
- Event Checklist Template
Click here to download the Checklist Template
The event checklist template allows you to stay organized when planning and executing an event. It helps you to stay ahead of vendors’ promises and schedules while balancing all of the obligations that go into arranging a great event. With it, coordinating events becomes less of a struggle.
- Software Deployment Checklist Template
Click here to download the Checklist Template
The software deployment checklist template helps you to ease the process of deploying software on a server or client-side. It provides you with steps to follow when releasing a specific version of software code for testing and implementation. It also measures the dependencies that are made accessible for use.
- Project Management Checklist Template
Click here to download the Checklist Template
The project management checklist templates guide you to implement a project’s execution. It provides you with the method to plan, manage and accomplish project deliverables that will meet all quality standards and satisfy your clients.
- Printable Checklist Template
Click here to download the Checklist Template
The printable checklist template can be used when you have a list of things to perform at work and you write and check them off as you do them.
- New Client Onboarding Checklist Template
Click here to download the Checklist Template
The new client onboarding checklist is essential for anyone running a freelance, consulting, or agency business. It provides you with the ideal approach for moving ahead with a new client and ensuring that you don’t skip a step while building a solid foundation and developing a strong relationship with them.
- Vacation Checklist Template
Click here to download the Checklist Template
The vacation checklist template allows you to plan a vacation without hassle. It guides on the type of clothing to pack and when to wear each of them. For instance, you could wear one casual outfit per day of travel, accessories like caps, gloves, and water-resistant wristwatch, etc.
- User Acceptance Testing Checklist Template
Click here to download the Checklist Template
The user acceptance testing checklist template allows you to manage your software project beta testing process. It provides you with the testing standards to guarantee that the software fulfills the user requirements and that the strategy established prior to the program delivery stays intact.
- Maintenance Checklist Template
Click here to download the Checklist Template
The maintenance checklist template is a detailed list of discrete maintenance chores provided by the asset’s maker and/or other subject matter experts such as business process consultants.
- Business Startup Checklist Template
Click here to download the Checklist Template
The business startup checklist template is used to define your distinct selling proposition and provides you with essential items to put in place while building your startup. It involves how you can develop a business strategy, register domain names and trademarks, and create a business structure.
Chapter Four: Checklist Templates in PDF
PDF is a portable document format (PDF) that allows you to view documents in an electronic format regardless of the software, hardware, or operating system you’re using.
Here are eleven checklist templates in PDF.
- Office Move Checklist Template
Click here to download the Checklist Template
The office move checklist template is used to plan your office move. It shows you how moving components in an office transfer is done. It provides you with the strategy to guard everyone’s happiness, including setting up transitional workflows, restructuring processes, and adjustment periods.
- Construction Checklist Template
Click here to download the Checklist Template
The construction checklist template allows you to list tasks that a site supervisor must verify, examine, and inspect to ensure the successful execution of a project. It involves optimizing and organizing your construction project with ease.
- College Application Checklist Template
Click here to download the Checklist Template
The college application checklist template lets you make a list of the schools you are applying to, take note of the deadlines for submissions, your high school transcript checks, and ACT or SAT scores. It helps you to plan effectively and adhere to the required standards in your application essays.
- Work Checklist Template
Click here to download the Checklist Template
The work checklist template provides a simple method to communicate important job information to your field employees without having to write pages and pages of job descriptions. The template helps you to guide your team on what they should do as part of their responsibilities as employees.
- Homebuyer Checklist Template
Click here to download the Checklist Template
The homebuyer checklist template is used to determine how much house you can afford. It will guide you through the process of putting money aside for a down payment, finding a reputable real estate agent, obtaining a pre-approval for a mortgage, and selecting a lender.
- Offboarding Checklist Template
Click here to download the Checklist Template
The offboarding checklist template lists all the duties that must be completed when an employee leaves a firm. It is frequently conducted as a check-box activity so that line managers and HR team members may quickly determine which actions have been accomplished and which remain unfinished.
- Retirement Checklist Template
Click here to download the Checklist Template
The retirement checklist template guides you to make a list of assets and create an emergency fund when planning retirement. It also lets you determine the amount of money you’ll need in retirement. This includes your health insurance, retirement investing requirements, and how to withdraw and save money on taxes.
- Equipment Checklist Template
Click here to download the Checklist Template
The equipment checklist template guides you to identify the equipment you’ll be needing for any particular task in your workplace. This helps to manage the usage of equipment and track its location of use. For instance, the items that a firefighter or law enforcement officer uses are always on the equipment checklist for tracking purposes.
- Termination Checklist Template
Click here to download the Checklist Template
The termination checklist template is a blueprint that shows all the activities involved when an employee is leaving a workplace. This process begins when the employee sends in his resignation, through meeting with the line managers and HR representatives until his resignation is finally received.
- Training Checklist Template
Click here to download the Checklist Template
The training checklist template guides you through the process of planning and implementing an effective staff training program. It guides you to understand the problem and ascertain the need for training. Afterward, it helps you to create an instructional design model to conduct the training.
- Rental Inspection Checklist Template
Click here to download the Checklist Template
The rental inspection checklist template is used to check the rental process with your landlord. It involves your interaction with the landlord, the forms you filled out when you moved in, and when you’re likely to move out. It has a section where you document the facilities present in each room in the house and the outdoor space such as a garage or patio.
Chapter Five: Google Docs Checklist Templates
Google Docs is a free online word processor that allows you to create and format rich checklist templates. Here are three downloadable and editable Google Docs checklist templates to help you get started fast and save time.
- Direct Mail Campaign Checklist Template
Click here to download the Checklist Template
The direct mail campaign checklist template is used to determine the goals of your campaign. This could involve making direct sales, sustaining customer connections, or creating new leads. It also guides you to determine your target audience, rethink your budget, and review the worth of clients’ loyalty.
- Quality Control Checklist Template
Click here to download the Checklist Template
The quality control checklist template guides you in ensuring you create and deliver top-quality services and products. This could be the depth of your content, packaging style, method, color, barcode, appearance, potential flaw, functionality, and specific needs.
- Employee Checklist Template
Click here to download the Checklist Template
The employee checklist template helps you to maintain professionalism in your employees. It guides you as you observe how they perform their tasks and interact with colleagues. It also creates a learning plan for you to begin guiding new workers through their first days as part of a new team.
Chapter Six: Google Sheets Checklist Templates
Google Sheets is a web-based spreadsheet program that allows you to create and format spreadsheets as well as collaborate with others. You can use it to create checklists too.
Here are six editable and downloadable checklists templates in Google Sheets.
- Cleaning Checklist Template
Click here to download the Checklist Template
The cleaning checklist template allows you to identify what to focus on when you coordinate a cleaning exercise. It involves checking if the floor is polished, tables and chairs are clean, etc. With it, you pay more attention to often-overlooked tasks such as cleaning the cabinets, appliances, windowsills, countertops, backsplashes, and garbage cans.
- Grocery Checklist Templates
Click here to download the Checklist Template
The grocery checklist template is used to track your grocery shopping list so you can avoid missing goods and overpaying. It helps you with the purchase of your canned foods, grains, and cereals. It also guides your purchase of nutritious and quick supper items, stocking up on whole-wheat pasta like macaroni and cheese, spaghetti, and penne.
- Travel Checklist Template
Click here to download the Checklist Template
The travel checklist template assists you in deciding what to bring on your trip. With it, you’re certain that you won’t forget essential documents such as your passport and visa, bus or ferry tickets, and a valid driver’s license. It also guides you to bring other travel needs like travel aids, backpacks and suitcases, maps and instructions for the itinerary, a language manual and travel guide, and more.
- Medication Checklist Template
Click here to download the Checklist Template
The medication checklist template helps you keep track of your medicine intake. You use it to monitor your medicine intake over a certain period as your healthcare practitioner might need it for your medical history.
- Backpacking Checklist Template
Click here to download the Checklist Template
The backpacking checklist allows you to plan your outdoor activity. It helps you remember to bring all the materials you’ll need for your upkeep and to treat any emergency during the daily trekking and hiking that would likely last for months.
- Camping Checklist Template
Click here to download the Checklist Template
The camping checklist template is used to prepare for camping activities. It ensures that you bring along your table and chairs for camping, a mallet, extra pegs, and a puller. It also serves as a reminder for you to bring batteries, a portable charger, cables, paracord, gaffa tape, cable ties, and a sewing kit.
Chapter Seven: How to Make a Checklist on Excel, Word, and Google Docs
If you want to build your own checklist from scratch, there are free tools that you can use. Some of them are Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Word, Google Sheets, and Google Docs.
In this chapter, you’ll learn the step-by-step process of making your own checklist on Excel, Word, and Google Docs.
How to Make a Checklist in Word
Word documents are one of the tools you can use to make a checklist. Here are the steps to make a checklist in Microsoft Word.
Step 1: Open Microsoft Word document
Click on New, then blank document. After that, click on Create.
Step 2: Give your checklist a title
If you don’t want to mix up your checklist, make sure you design each checklist by starting with the title.
Step 3: Write your tasks into the document
Step 4: Add the checklist button in front of all your tasks
To do this, go to the File tab. Then click on Options, afterward click on Customize Ribbon.
Under the Customize Ribbon and Main Tabs, select Developer Check Box.
Once that is done, copy and paste the check box control at the beginning of each task.
How to Make a Checklist in Excel
In Excel, you can create a checklist that keeps you up-to-date with all the tasks in a project or event.
Step 1: Open your Excel spreadsheet
Open your Excel spreadsheet to start creating the checklist.
Step 2: Activate the checklist setting
On the File tab, go to Options, then Customize Ribbon. Under Customize Ribbon and Main Tabs, select Developer Check Box.
Step 3: Fill in your tasks
Fill in your tasks in the first column with a header titled “tasks.” Then use “status” as the heading for the second column.
Step 4: Insert the checkboxes in the column after each of the tasks
After listing each of the tasks, ensure that you place the checkboxes in front of each task so that you can tick them off as you complete each one.
Step 5: Right-click on the first checkbox and select Format Control to add more control to your checklist spreadsheet.
Right click on the check icon in column B, then click on the control.
Step 6: Under Format Control, go to Control and select Checked and give cell reference to C2 cell.
Step 7: Set to True or False
This checkbox has been linked to cell C2. If the checkbox is ticked, it will show TRUE as a result in C2, or else it will show FALSE as a result in the C2 cell.
Repeat the same task but keep changing the cell reference to the respective cell. For example, for the next checkbox, give cell reference as C3, for next cell reference as C4, and so on.
This video tutorial below shows you exactly how to create checklists in Excel:
How to Create a Checklist in Google Docs
To create a checklist in Google Docs, follow these simple steps below:
Step 1: Create a new Google Docs and title it
Open Google Docs by clicking on File, then Open. After that, give your checklist a relevant title.
Step 2: Activate the checklist icon
Click on the inverted arrow as shown in the image above. After that, click on the word Checklist.
Once you do that, the checklist icon will display where your cursor is.
Step 3: Type and fill in your tasks
Type and fill in your tasks right in front of the checkboxes. As you type and hit enter, it automatically creates the checkbox, and that happens as you continue.
Step 4: Complete your tasks
As you complete each task and tick it off, it automatically cancels it. This gives you a sense of winning and motivation to keep going.
This video tutorial below shows you how to create a checklist in Google Docs:
Chapter Eight: Checklist Templates Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Below are answers to some frequently asked questions about checklist templates.
Let’s get to it.
Does Excel have a checklist template?
In Microsoft Excel, there is no template for checklists. However, you can create one using the software.
How do I make a simple checklist?
Making a simple checklist is not difficult. Here’s how you can go about it:
- Give your list a title
This represents the purpose and use of the checklist.
- Add dates and date range
To establish the date or date range for each task performed or to be finished, this section can be created in the form of a column.
- Add tasks to your checklist
You can add a subtask or the status of the task if needed. (This includes completed, in progress, or not started.)
- Repeat this process for each task
Repeat these instructions for each task you need to finish.
Does Google Docs have a checklist template?
Google Docs allows you to create a template and save it for future use. However, there are no pre-designed templates to choose from, and unfortunately, Google Docs checklists don’t allow for too much creativity in their design.
What is a good checklist?
According to Atul Gwande, author of The Checklist Manifesto, a good checklist is precise, efficient, and simple to use even in the most difficult situations. Rather than trying to spell out everything, it should merely provide reminders of the most crucial tasks.
A good checklist should keep you in check about the progress of your projects and how productivity will be achieved for each of them.
Does Google have a checklist app?
You can get a checklist app from Google by using Google Tasks. It’s an easy-to-use app hidden behind a button in Gmail and Google Calendar.
How effective are checklists?
Checklists are an effective tool especially when it concerns business. They aid in productivity and make your work easier.
Checklists are effective in the following ways:
- Organization
It will help you ensure that you don’t miss any tasks. Checklists are simple to utilize and assist you in staying organized while performing various jobs.
- Productivity
It’ll help you make fewer or no mistakes and perform repeated chores more efficiently and quickly. You will be more productive as you’ll have extra time to do other critical chores.
- Delegation
It will also let you split your important tasks into smaller, more detailed ones. You’ll feel more at ease and certain that all duties will be completed correctly as a result of this, so you’ll be able to delegate more and become more productive.
- Motivation
It’ll help you be more effective, and encourage you to act quickly and finish your daily duties. When you are able to achieve minor successes, the brain releases dopamine, which is linked to motivation and pushes you to repeat the activities.
- Creativity
Using a checklist helps you reduce stress. You’ll focus more and channel your brainpower on creative tasks. Also, you’ll be able to think more clearly since you have less stuff on your mind.
What is the main purpose of a checklist?
The main purpose of a checklist is to reduce error, ensure consistency, increase efficiency and productivity, and make sure that any particular task is rightly done.
What is the format of checklist writing?
In writing a functional checklist, there is a required format. First, the checklist must have a goal. This will be the focal point of every other activity.
Then, do a brain dump by writing out all the steps that will lead to the achievement of the goal. Go through the list and put them in order of priority.
Then make actionable points from the prioritized list and add the check box beside it.
Finally, go through your list and make sure no step is skipped in order to achieve a level of perfection when performing the task.
What is the importance of checklists in the workplace?
In the workplace, checklists are powerful. They help in the coordination of workplace affairs and are proven to organize, manage and reduce human errors.
Chapter Nine: Assign and Manage Your Team’s Tasks Using SweetProcess
SweetProcess helps businesses and organizations to document their company’s policies, procedures, and processes.
If you want to organize and manage your team members and employees effectively, you can use our software to do so.
Take for instance, with SweetProcess, you can assign a task to your team members and assign a specific start and due date for it.
The assigned task automatically creates a checklist. Hence, as soon as the team member completes the task, they can mark it as done.
This feature keeps everyone in the company on their toes and ensures that they’re on the same page.
Here are some companies that have leveraged SweetProcess to manage their processes and achieve better results for their business.
MonteVista Homes is a second-generation, family-owned home building company based in the state of Oregon. It offers clients a complete home acquisition experience from choosing a suitable neighborhood to choosing their preferred design specifications.
MonteVista Homes offers homebuyers good value for their money with competitive pricing. Its homes are built with high-quality materials and sold to clients at affordable prices.
In running the business, Luke Pickerill, president of MonteVista Homes, says, “Construction work is highly technical. The intricate details can sometimes be complex even for an expert. It’s actually a very complicated process. From an operational perspective, it’s relatively complex.”
He added that the job is so difficult that it requires a lot of manpower and collective effort from everyone to achieve set targets.
“There are all of the day-to-day operations that go along with that, but then we employ about seventy-five to a hundred individual trade partners in order to get these homes built. Each trade partner may have anywhere between one to forty employees,” he said.
Luke lamented that the hardest nut to crack was that various trade partners work on different projects, and they all have to move at the same pace to complete the production circle. But there was a disparity in the knowledge base of workers that hindered a uniformity in operations.
“The most challenging part is the operational organizational side of it. You have, at any given time, fifty homes under construction. You have a certain number of trades that are involved in any given market group. As one trade gets ahead of schedule early or late, that can affect all other buildings simultaneously,” he stated.
However, the essence of documenting business processes is to simplify and improve workflow. A software solution misses the mark when the business processes are still complex afterward.
“We set out to find a software solution. We looked at a couple of different options and SweetProcess was the one that really caught our eyes for a couple of reasons: it’s really simple to use and to understand and to update,” he said.
Luke also had his doubts about SweetProcess initially. For one who had documented business processes manually, he was afraid that the processes documented online could be lost. But he soon realized that his files were safe and secure on SweetProcess.
One important point to note is that customer satisfaction is at the center of the services MonteVista Homes renders. Luke was scared that customers could see their flaws. He said, “Customers will come into our model homes, meet with one of our sales representatives, and really it’s about the sales representative working with the customer to find that floor plan, that color package that really fits their unique style and taste.”
But when he took the chance, the organization was able to finetune its workflow by using SweetProcess.
According to Luke, SweetProcess has been game-changing in all departments of his company including the sales department. His sales representatives are no longer unorganized because they now have a go-to document for all their work needs.
“It’s actually been game-changing in almost every department, to be honest with you, but specifically sales have been huge. We all know the typical sales stereotype. Salespeople are sort of unorganized. That’s what makes some great salespeople. Being able to document in a step-by-step process and have that reference that they can go back to online, they don’t have to carry around a pamphlet.”
Aizer Group is the product of a merger involving different businesses in the construction and building industry in Australia. Consisting of top players, it is a leading name in recurring and one-off services in the areas of commercial property and facility management.
The company operates in several independent trades including electrical, plumbing, carpentry, air conditioning, painting, plastering, roofing, and cabinet making. Each trade boasts of individual sector divisions spearheaded by a manager working closely with a dedicated team. These divisions include insurance rectification, general building, preventive and reactive maintenance, and facility services. It currently has about 110 employees, with more than 20 of them working remotely.
Like many modern businesses, Aizer Group understood the importance of documenting its processes. However, the company used a do-it-yourself (DIY) approach by creating documents with tons of pages to assist their employees in being efficient. Recounting the documentation process, Lisa Phillips, group general manager at Aizer Group, says:
“It’s just pretty much relying on us mapping out general procedures and policies in black and white, writing 20-page documents that really don’t get the behavioral effects that you need for people to do their jobs.”
It was not until they wanted to expand their offshoring staff that they discovered a large hole existed in their business processes all these years. Faced with the challenge of building an effective offshore team for its backend administration, the multiple pages of documents they created over the years did not help. They needed something more.
“We were looking at, what is the best way to actually get all the processes mapped out and used as a training tool as well? That was the driver for us to look at: okay, how are we going to do this so the guys know what they need to do and do it right?” she said.
Businesses often have a picture of their desired outcomes, yet are sometimes unable to actualize them due to bottlenecks. The result of this is a continuous circle of redundant processes. For Lisa, one of the bottlenecks their organization discovered was mapping out processes in a clear and easy-to-understand manner to get desired results. Without a clear go-to document for their offshore workers, onboarding and efficiency was a challenge.
“The biggest pain point particularly if you are trying to do offshoring is how to map things out quite simply and easily so it can be a step-by-step process that people can follow to get to the ideal outcome.”
SweetProcess offered the organization the following benefits:
- Simplicity when mapping out processes
What seemed like an insurmountable problem (the inability to build capacity in their workers) was resolved by one of the key features of SweetProcess—simplicity. Lisa and her team were able to map out their business processes in the simplest form by using various easy-to-use tools the system provides. This feature, according to her, is her favorite:
“It’s so easy to map out what you need to do and then put it in really simplistic terms particularly when you are dealing with people that are not in your office face-to-face every day.”
- Saving money and time
Employee onboarding is one area where businesses often waste money, especially if they lack a system to train new employees quickly. So much time and resources are spent on training, and in the end, the impact may not be felt due to the ineffectiveness of the methods used. When dealing with offshore staff, onboarding seems to take longer—but it doesn’t have to.
Lisa learned that with clear documentation and efficient onboard training, SweetProcess saved her company valuable money and time.
“Saving money is in looking at the ability to quickly onboard and train people so they can start delivering a lot quicker. The time again is in the training and onboarding of staff…. We have a team of 20 in an offshore location that I’m not sitting with face-to-face. I don’t see them all the time. [With SweetProcess] you can screen share [and] you take them through the processes.”
You too can get started with a 14-day free trial of SweetProcess to create and manage checklists at your organization. The best part? You do not need to add your credit card details to use the software for free.
Conclusion
To maximize productivity and avoid repeated mistakes, a checklist is your quick go-to tool. It allows you to delegate duties, have your entire team be on the same page, and achieve the major goals of the business. It also serves as documentation to ensure that tasks are done in uniformity.
In this post, you’ve learned what checklists are, and why it is critical to adopt checklist templates to make your work easier and faster.
We also showed you 55 checklist templates which you can download, tweak, and use for your organization.
Want to choose the checklist templates that are best for your company? Click here to download the templates relevant to your industry and get ahead of thousands of businesses that must build them from scratch.
