For many users coming from the Exchange world the lack of a task management system in Google Apps is a large draw back. Google Apps provides a very simple task manager but is limited because you are unable to share tasks, delegate tasks, and unlike many new online task management applications you cannot assign Tags to tasks.  I had been a user of Remember The Milk because of its simple yet effective interface and the ability to manage tasks from within Gmail.  Remember the Milk also worked great on mobile devices such as Iphone and Android.

With the release of the Google Apps Marketplace it was only a matter of time before someone took advantage of this hole in the Google Apps offering.  GQueues is the answer for your day to day task management.  Unlike the other project management solution in the marketplace like Manymoon and Zoho Project GQueues works so well because it doesn’t offer every feature under the sun, only the ones that you need.  GQueues has a Simple and intuitive interface that looks very Google like.  You can organize your tasks by creating “Queues” which act like containers for groups of tasks that are related.  For example you can create queues for your each of your clients, by function (Accounting, Marketing, IT), or by type (Work/Personal).  Creating tasks is easy and can become even better when you start to learn the keyboard shortcuts.  For each task you can add features like tags, due date,  notes, and delegation.  GQueues also creates some Smart Queues out of the box which basically are lists of tasks which are organized usually by date.  You can look at your smart queue for Due Today, Overdue, and Due in a Week, etc.  This allows you one click access to overviews of what you have coming up.

Another great feature of GQueues is that when you take a look at that “Due Today” smart queue and realize you’ll never finish everything you can easily assign some tasks to a team member.  Assigning and sharing tasks is very straightforward and when you assign a task the user on the other end can easily catch up by looking at any notes you may have and what tags are on the task.  Google Calendar integration also makes keeping up with upcoming tasks much easier, most people on the go are always looking at their calendar so when you check your next appointment you can also be reminded of the client report you need to get together by tomorrow.

The final feature of GQueues that makes it a great task manager is its mobile device usability.  Using Gueues on your iPhone or Android won’t even cost you anything because they do not offer an app.  Simply go to GQuesues.com on your phone or iPod touch and it recognizes that you are viewing on a mobile phone.

GQueues is a great application for anyone looking to manage tasks without the need for a bloated project management system.  There is a free version of QGueues available but for the sharing and delegation of tasks features it will cost you $25/user/year.