Shared to-do list or request tracker? When your team outgrows Google Tasks

A shared to-do list is one of the best free upgrades a small team can make. Google Tasks, Microsoft To Do, Planner and kanban add-ons all turn "who's doing what?" into a list everyone can see.

But there's a moment when the list starts to strain, and it's usually not because the team got bigger. It's because the work started coming from other people.

What a shared to-do list does well

• Your team's own tasks. Order more bags, call the landlord, update the website.
• Simple assignments and due dates.
• Free or nearly free, and built into tools you already use.
• A board view if you add a kanban app.

If that's your work, keep using it. Seriously.

Where it stops working

Requests from outside the list. A customer wants a special order. A store manager reports a broken freezer. A tenant has a leak. None of them can add to your Google Tasks list, so the request arrives by text or email, and someone has to copy it over (or forget to).

Details that don't fit a title. A to-do has a title, notes and a due date. A repair needs the location, how urgent it is and a photo. A supply order needs items and quantities. You end up with notes like "Lamar store, urgent?? see Maria's text."

The person who asked never hears back. Lists don't email the requester when something is picked up or finished, so "any update?" messages pile up.

No rules. Anyone can tick "done." Nothing makes sure the cost was recorded or the manager approved the purchase.

No numbers. "How many repair requests did the south store send last quarter, and what did they cost?" isn't a question a to-do list can answer.

The difference in one sentence

A to-do list tracks what your team plans to do. A request tracker (or ticketing system) tracks what other people asked for, from the moment they ask until it's done.

Use both

Many teams keep their own to-dos in Google Tasks or Planner and send requests from everyone else into a request tracker. The trick is giving those requests a front door: a form link, a QR code on the wall or an email address, so they stop arriving in everyone's texts.

That's what TicketStacker is for. Each kind of request gets its own form and fields, every request gets a number and an owner, the person who asked gets updates, and reports add it all up. Your team signs in with Google or Microsoft, and requesters don't need an account at all.

Try it

Join the pilot. It's free while we build TicketStacker with a small group of businesses, and it works next to the to-do list you already have.