What is a shared task list?
A shared task list is a personal list made visible to somebody else, appearing on their screen labelled with the name of whoever shared it. Lists carry day countdowns, overdue flags, a completed count and an archive. Shared lists sit apart from project boards on purpose, and the two are not interchangeable.
Work arrives in two shapes, and one tool for both serves neither well.
Some work belongs to a project. It has a board, a column, a tag and a place in a delivery sequence that other people are reading.
Other work is a handful of things between two people. A manager and a report agreeing on four items before Friday does not need a board, and putting it on one buries it among the delivery work.
So lists stay personal and shared, with a name on them. Seeing the sharer's name matters more than it sounds: a list from your manager and a list from a colleague carry different weight and you can tell at a glance.
Each list keeps its own counters. Items show a countdown in days and flag as overdue once past. A completed count sits on the list, with a toggle for showing finished items.
The archive is what stops the screen filling up. A finished list goes away without being deleted, which is the difference between a tidy screen and a lost record.
Today's agenda and upcoming work are separated on the page, because a list of everything is a list nobody reads on a Monday.
Project boards stay per project, each with its own tags and progress counts. The dashboard panel is where work across projects comes together for one person.
Put anything a third person needs to see on the project board instead. A shared list is a conversation between two people, and it stops being the right home the moment a third needs it.
Related questions
Can a list be shared with several people?
Lists appear labelled with whoever shared them. Once more than a couple of people need the same work visible, a project board is the better home.
Do shared lists appear on the dashboard?
The personal panel gathers pending work across checklists, tasks and projects with an overdue count, which is the quick read.
What happens to a completed list?
A list can be archived rather than deleted, and completed items can be hidden with a toggle. The record stays available.