After a successful beta phase, we’re proud to present the full release of our all-new Reports feature for MeisterTask. We’ve worked hard to implement your feedback, which in turn has allowed us to fine-tune this excellent feature: the best way to gain insights into your projects and make data-driven decisions to boost productivity.
This post should help you get to grips with some of the things we’ve added since the beta phase, as well as showcasing some of the ways you can use reports for your team. Specifically, we’ll be looking at the following:
- Why do project managers and their teams need reports?
- How does MeisterTask Reports help improve project productivity?
- What’s new in the latest version of Reports?
Why MeisterTask Reports?
Reports are a growingly important part of modern task and project management. The reason for this is simple: if you have more information to hand about how your project and team is performing, the easier it becomes to make intelligent decisions that will positively impact project outcomes. While Reports do not improve projects on their own, they give team members, project managers and other stakeholders the opportunity to do so.
In MeisterTask, certain types of information are “multi-purpose” and can be used to generate different types of statistics. Examples include which project a task belongs to, who worked on it, when, and for how long. However, the most valuable reports rely on context: pulling data from multiple sources across various timeframes and using this to form a big picture overview of productivity in which the role of each individual task can be clearly seen.
With MeisterTask Reports, we address this by helping to present your project data in an easily-accessible and easily-understandable way. As you may already have experienced during the beta version of the feature, the types of reports you can create and the applications of these reports are essentially endless. From quick reports that show you valuable project metrics in just one click, to customized reports that allow you to pinpoint specific types of data about projects, tasks and team members.
Read more about the development of our Reports feature, alongside some useful standard reports, in this article.
What’s New Since Beta?
Beta versions are all about gathering feedback: huge numbers of keen MeisterTask users tried out the all-new Reports and were pleased with what they saw. As user opinion was so positive, we’ve been able to focus almost entirely on improving the feature with new functionality. Here are some of the highlights that have been added in time for the official launch.
Filter and Group by Assignee
This feature is available to all users.
Filtering and grouping options provide users with the opportunity to customize their reports to show the insights that matter most. Previously, filters were available for Project, Date Range, Task Status and Tags. The addition of Assignees to these options means that the split of tasks within a project (or multiple projects) between its members is now more visible.
In the example below, we can see that in 2020, tasks in the project were split relatively evenly between two of the project’s members, while a third had fewer tasks. This may have been an indication that the work was not being distributed properly and that the third team member had the potential to relieve pressure on the other two. The situation appears to have been rectified in 2021, where tasks are split more evenly.
To filter by assignee, click the + in the Filters bar to add a filter. Then select Assignee. You can change the grouping settings for your report in the top-right corner of the bar graph view.
Additional filters on reports are available on MeisterTask Pro, Business and Enterprise.
In order to make our project filters even more usable, we’ve added further date range options to the list as well. New timeframes include: last week, last month and last quarter.
Selecting Projects in Project Filters
Selecting multiple projects is available to MeisterTask Pro, Business and Enterprise users.
In some cases, you’ll want to observe progress on a project-by-project basis. However, there is also value in gaining insights across your entire project portfolio, especially when it comes to monitoring workload for team members who work across projects. For this reason, we have added the option to select all projects in project filter settings.
If you’re selecting multiple projects, already-selected projects will now be moved to the top of the project list automatically.
Save Reports
This feature is available to MeisterTask Pro, Business and Enterprise users.
For teams and individuals using Reports in order to check key project metrics, the ability to come back to specific views to see progression over time can be invaluable. It is for this reason that we have added the option for users to Save Reports. This adds the current view to the Quick Reports menu and means that you can access it with one click: no need to rearrange filters, no need to set parameters again. Your Reports are also updated automatically.
To save a report, click the Save button in the top-right corner of the bar graph view. Give your report a name, then access it again by clicking on the Quick Reports dropdown.
Export Reports
This feature is available to MeisterTask Pro, Business and Enterprise users.
Reports enable managers to share insights on productivity and project progress with a wide range of stakeholders. However, as many people with an interest in your Reports may not use MeisterTask, we’ve added an export function to download report data in a .xls or .csv format.
Exporting from MeisterTask Reports allows you to recreate your reports with other software, such as Microsoft Excel. Exported information includes:
- Project name
- Task name
- Task creation date
- Assignee name
- Due date
Only the information contained in the report you have selected will be included in the export. To export projects and their tasks as a whole, you will need to use a different export option: JSON (for project templates) or CSV (for task information).
To export a report, proceed as follows:
- Select the report you want to export from Quick Reports, or apply filters to create a custom report.
- Click the export button at the top of the screen.
- Select the format you wish your report to be exported to and click Export.
- You will receive a notification when your export is ready. Click Download now to download it.
Updates and Additional Filters in the Task Overview
This feature is available to MeisterTask Pro, Business and Enterprise users.
The task overview table is an important part of the Reports interface, providing the opportunity to dig deeper into the data included in your selection and to access the tasks contained in its results.
The latest version of Reports gives you the chance to add even more information into the table, including: completed on, checklist items and tracked time. Click the ellipsis in the top-right of the task overview to see filtering options.
You can also toggle between full-screen mode (only the task overview) and split-screen mode (task overview and bar chart) by clicking on the arrows on the right hand side of the screen.
Migration of Statistics and Reports
Now that the new Reports feature is finally up and running, we’ve removed statistics and reports from the accounts area. This feature has been replaced (almost) in its entirety by the new Reports interface. However, time tracking data was not included in the migration and will remain accessible in the accounts area for now.
Report for Duty
We’re sure you’ll love our updates to Reports: the brand new home of productivity insights.
Although the Beta phase is now officially over, we would still love to hear your feedback about Reports and indeed MeisterTask in general. If you have any comments, questions or feature requests, let us know on Twitter @MeisterTask!
The code REPORTS20 provides a 20% discount on your first payment and can be used for either the monthly or yearly subscription to MeisterTask Pro or Business. The code cannot be used in combination with other discounts. Valid until 5/31/2021.