How do you assign tasks and keep track of them?

Why tasks get lost in chat

A task often gets assigned in a single line: “We need to update the partner deck by Thursday.” Three likes show up under the message, and on Thursday morning the deck is still the old one. The designer was waiting on copy from the copywriter, the copywriter was waiting on numbers from the analyst, and the analyst just marked it as read.

In a chat, a task like this looks like any other message. An hour later, the only person who remembers it is the one who posted it. So all week you end up asking “so, where are we?” because there's no other way to find out how the task is going.

What to include when you assign a task

To keep a task from slipping through the cracks, spell out right away:

• who owns it;
• the deadline, with a date and time;
• what counts as done: a file in the thread, an email to the client, a published post.

How to run tasks in Pachca

One task, one message. Post each task as its own message in the team's chat and @mention the owner right away. Questions, files and edits go into the thread under that message, so everything about the task lives in one place.

Reactions instead of “so, where are we?” Agree on what each reaction means: 👀 means on it, ✅ means done, ❓ means there's a question in the thread. A like can keep meaning “seen it.” If the standard emoji aren't enough, add custom reactions to your workspace.

The result lives in the thread. The owner drops the final file or link in the thread under the task and adds ✅. A month later, you'll find the final deck in the same place, along with every round of edits.

Need someone from another team? Loop them into the thread. Tasks often hinge on someone who isn't in the chat: a lawyer, an accountant, a developer. Pachca has cross-chat threads for exactly this: you can bring a teammate into a thread with an @mention, even if they're not in the chat.

Where an AI agent can help

You can hand off some of the routine task work to an AI agent. You @mention it in a thread just like a teammate, and it sees the same conversation the team does. An agent can:

• create a task in your tracker from the thread discussion and carry over the context: decisions, links, files;
• find open tasks in the tracker and put together a short summary for the manager;
• close the task in the tracker once the result is in the thread.

Where to start

Start with one team chat and agree on what each reaction means. Post every task as its own message: @mention the owner, set the deadline and say what counts as done. Ask people to drop the final file or link in the thread under the task. Write these rules up in one message and pin it in the chat.