Assignee, participants and watchers

A shared task has three distinct roles, all set when you create or edit it. Using them properly is the difference between a task list people trust and one everyone ignores.

Assignee

The one person accountable for the task being done. Keep it to one. The moment two people are equally responsible, the task quietly becomes nobody's responsibility, and it is always the first thing to go overdue.

Participants

Participants are people doing part of the work with the assignee. They are involved, they can contribute, and the task is genuinely theirs too. Use this when work is shared rather than delegated.

Watchers

Watchers are people who need to know, but are not doing anything. A manager who wants to see it land, a colleague waiting on the outcome, the person who asked for it in the first place. Adding someone as a watcher rather than a participant is a small kindness: it keeps them informed without implying they owe you work.

Most task clutter in a team comes from getting this one wrong. When everyone is added as a participant, nobody can tell what is actually on their plate.

Taking people off

Each role can be undone from the task with Remove assignee, Remove participant or Remove watcher. Removing a watcher when a piece of work stops being relevant to them is good manners, not a snub.

Two more actions live alongside these and are worth knowing early. Postpone moves a task out rather than leaving it sitting overdue and lying to you. Change goal or Link Goal connects the task to the goal it actually serves, which is what makes goal progress meaningful later.