What I Learned in Consulting and Foreign Firms: How Writing Tasks with 'Action Verbs' Boosts Productivity

It is often said that "he who controls the schedule controls the work," but I would dare to say "he who controls the tasks controls the work."

You might think that "how to write tasks" is something you can just figure out on your own. It is not something that is taught, and there is rarely an opportunity to compare how you write them with others.

However, that is precisely why it is easy for differences to emerge. You may have picked up bad habits without even realizing it. If you master the way of writing tasks that I am about to share, your productivity and that of your team will definitely increase. Please read to the end and give it a try.

Write tasks using action verbs

When writing an English resume (CV), you are always advised to use "action verbs"

Are you familiar with the term "Action Verb"?

Translated into Japanese, it means "verbs that describe action." When writing a resume in English, you are persistently told to always use "Action Verbs."

Since a resume is a document to promote yourself, you want to say, "I did something amazing!"

To achieve this, you aim to create a powerful impression by using Action Verbs instead of commonly used verbs.

For example, suppose you write on your resume that you led a project (it is common in English resumes to write "did X" rather than "I was a project leader"). In this case, you might write:

• Led a project

Of course, this conveys the meaning well enough, but it is a mediocre expression and won't catch anyone's eye.

That is where action verbs come in.

• Produced a project

• Orchestrated a project

• Redesigned a project

By switching to these action verbs, you emphasize that you acted proactively, which communicates your achievements more effectively.

In fact, you can apply this way of thinking when writing down your tasks.

Writing tasks using action verbs

When writing tasks in Japanese, I think we often tend to write them as nouns rather than verbs.

• Contact Company A

However, I recommend writing them with verbs instead. I will explain the reason for this later.

• Contact Company A

It is a subtle difference, but by writing with verbs, you become more conscious of the action, and it becomes easier to lead to action.

Since you are writing with action verbs rather than just any verbs, these very common examples are actually not good.

• Consider XX

Because this isn't an action, is it? It doesn't feel like your hands are moving. That's because it's not written with an action verb. So, how about this?

• Organize XX

Hmm, maybe you are moving your hands. But it's a bit questionable. You might just be doing it in your head. Let's take it one step further and make it sound more like an action.

• Organize XX and summarize it on one slide

Now that's an action. You definitely can't do this without moving your hands. In other words, 'considering' (in this case) specifically meant the task of 'organizing and summarizing on one slide'.

Of course, other forms are fine too. 'Create a proposal for improving XX by the next meeting' or 'Decide whether to do XX and inform the stakeholders' are also fine. The point is to write it so that it is specifically clear what you will actually do with your hands.

When creating tasks, mentally challenge yourself and 'rephrase' them as you write

By the way, didn't you think that the example we just saw, as well as the 'led a project' example from earlier, changed the nuance or meaning?

• Led a project

• Produced a project

• Orchestrated a project

• Redesigned a project

Indeed, these have slightly different meanings. Actually, this paraphrasing is also a key point when writing down tasks.

When writing a resume, I write it while asking myself, 'What did you actually do in the end?' or 'What was the main point?'.

• Like, I built a project from scratch, or

• I brought a fragmented team together, or

• The original structure was flawed, so I rebuilt it from there, or

By asking, 'What is it, really?' or 'What is the point?', what you did becomes concrete, and you can find good action verbs to express it.

The same applies when writing down tasks.

'What does that actually mean in terms of what you need to do?' By asking this, tasks become concrete and broken down.

Taking the example from the beginning,

• Contact Company A

The moment I try to write that, I ask myself in my head, 'What does that involve? What is the point?'.

Then,

If it turns out that it basically means sending an email, but this client is a bit tricky so I should have my boss look at it beforehand,

then the task can be 'paraphrased' like this.

• Draft an email to Mr./Ms. X at Company A

• Have the boss review the draft

• Once approved by the boss, send the email to Mr./Ms. X at Company A

What I thought was one task has revealed itself to be multiple tasks. I also realized it's not something I can complete on my own. I also feel like it might take more time than I initially thought.

Consider 〇〇 → Organize 〇〇 and summarize it on one slide / Create an improvement plan for 〇〇 by the next meeting / Decide whether to do 〇〇 and inform the relevant parties

By adding mental commentary to the previous example and rephrasing it, you can see that it is actually quite a demanding task. Depending on the situation, it seems like groundwork and scheduling might also be necessary, which would likely take a significant amount of time.

Write tasks using action verbs, and further rephrase them by adding mental commentary.Just by doing this, it becomes much clearer than before who needs to do what.

What is the benefit of writing with action verbs?

Some of you reading this might have thought, 'Isn't it a hassle to go that far just to write down a task?' or 'If I'm going to think that much about how to write it, wouldn't it be faster to just do the work in that time?'

Unfortunately, that way of thinking is exactlythe enemy of your and your team's productivity.

Actually, let me share three reasons why doing this will increase your productivity.

Reason 1: Energy consumption is reduced

A task is a memo for future action. Can your future self or team members look at your memo and act immediately without hesitation?

Are you consuming energy trying to remember or rethink the content of the task, wondering what it meant or what you were supposed to do in the end?

The energy here refers to what is known aswillpower*. It is said that the willpower available in a single day is limited, andthat depleting it leads to fatigue anddecreased decision-making ability.

If tasks are written specifically, you can avoid wasting energy on remembering and insteaduse that energy for execution.

Reason 2: Time estimates become more accurate

The estimated time for a task changes depending on whether it is written vaguely or specifically. Let's look at the previous example again.

Contact Company A

Just looking at this, it seems like it would be finished in about 5 or 10 minutes. Even at most, it seems like it would be done in 30 minutes.

• Draft an email to Mr./Ms. X at Company A

• Have the supervisor review the draft

• Once confirmed by the supervisor, send an email to Mr./Ms. X at Company A

What happens now? It doesn't feel like something that can be finished in 30 minutes. If things go poorly, it could take about two days just waiting for the supervisor's confirmation.

Between a vaguely written task and tasks that have been specifically broken down using action verbs, the difference in which one provides a more accurate estimate of work time is clear.

If the "supervisor" in this example were to change to "the supervisor's supervisor," "another department," or a "partner company," it is immediately obvious that the time required would likely increase even further.

By writing out tasks in specific, broken-down detail, the estimate of the total time for the work, including waiting time, becomes much clearer.

Reason 3: Communication within the team becomes smoother

When you write tasks by breaking them down specifically with action verbs, communication within the team, such as approvals, decision-making, and reflecting feedback, becomes smoother.

If there is a task like "have the supervisor check the draft" as in the previous example (and if that task is assigned to the supervisor), the supervisor can also prepare and get ready.

Furthermore, if the subordinate's task of "once confirmed by the supervisor, send an email to Mr./Ms. X at Company A" is visible ahead of time, it becomes immediately obvious that "if I don't do this, subsequent work will be delayed".

By breaking down tasks specifically, you are giving a heads-up to your supervisor (and other members). People around you can adjust their schedules more easily, and approvals and decisions can be made faster.

Also, since it becomes easier to grasp the overall picture of the work, it becomes easier for new members to quickly understand the work and the organization. It also becomes easier for seniors and supervisors to check the progress of new members, making it easier to provide detailed follow-up. Furthermore, if it is known that someone is busy or work is stalled, it becomes easier to ask for help and to provide help.

In this way, by writing tasks specifically broken down with action verbs, communication within the team becomes smoother, and as a result, the team's productivity increases.

If you work in a team, make your tasks visible

This time, I shared how to write and utilize tasks to increase your and your team's productivity.

When writing tasks, "write them using action verbs"

If you put this into practice, your and your team's productivity should increase.

And, as we saw in Reason 2 and Reason 3, tasks written with action verbs demonstrate their value when made visible within the team. If you make tasks visible, coordination with stakeholders becomes smoother, and there will be more opportunities to leverage the opinions of experienced people.

It is meaningless to just keep notes for yourself on hand. Just making tasks (work) visible and sharing them will increase productivity, but if you master this way of writing tasks, there is no doubt that your productivity will increase even further.

By the way, rephrasing tasks to clarify what needs to be done using action verbs (breaking them down into specific steps) can be applied in various situations, not just when writing down tasks, but also when delegating work to someone, writing a project proposal or pitch, or writing meeting minutes.

Please give it a try!

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If you have any questions or feedback, such as 'What should I do in this situation?' or 'I tried it but it didn't go well,' please send them via Marshmallow! I will use your feedback to improve future articles.

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