What is new in tasks

In the latest version of the product, there were some major changes.  It might be that the greatest of the revolutions occurred in Tasks, if we measure according to the difference from the previous version.  Now we have Tasks 2.0 – a system of task management that has project management features built in with efficiency reporting for each employee, department, and for the whole company. 

Note that there is an informative video which you can find here.



This is a powerful instrument which is hidden within a simple interface.  The new tasks have many facets to them, here is a list of several of them:

• convenient and simple interface
  
• roles include creator, responsible person, participant, and observer
  
• company hierarchy is incorporated
  
• tasks can be copied to multiple employees
  
• unlimited subtasks and levels of subtasks
  
• time planning
  
• repeating tasks
  
• priority levels
  
• tasking within projects or workgroups
  
• calling up previous tasks
  
• quick-launch
  
• templates
  
• tags
  
• required approval
  
• filtering by status, tag, and role
  
• integration with Microsoft Outlook and Exchange, Export to Excel
  
• log
  

Before we go into greater detail, I’d like to talk about how existing clients can add this functionality to their intranets.

Installing tasks

Tasks used to be included in the Intranet module, but now they have their own module, called Tasks.  The update system lets you load this module into your system to the module page:  Desktop Settings System settings Modules:



After installing the module, the system will offer to convert the tasks of the Intranet module:



Since there are 2 versions of tasks in the product (the basic tasks function built into the Intranet module and Tasks 2.0), there is a check box marked Use Tasks 2.0 option in the Intranet module settings to allow you to choose between these options.

Convenient interface

Tasks are display pleasantly and clearly in a light and fresh design.





Creator, responsible, participant observer

The following roles are supported in tasks:

• Responsible Person – the employee who is assigned the task directly.
  
• Creator – employee who assigned the task (for example, a department head).  A manager may assign a task verbally and the employee can then start a new task for him or herself but from the name of the manager (put the manager in the Creator field).  The Creator can only be chosen at the time of creating the task.  The person named the creator will receive notification to accept the role and afterward Creator rights will be granted only to that person.
  
• Participant- employee who has been named in the task but not as the responsible person.  If, for example, a task is really assigned to an entire department, all of the members of that department will be co-responsible, and can be entered as participants.
  
• Observer – a user who receives updates concerning the progress of the task but is not participating and has no right to make changes (for example, the head of a department who needs to know the status of a task being processed in a different department.
  

Employees can view only those tasks in which they have one of the four roles above or which is assigned within a workgroup of which they are members.

The Expanded view of task allows view the tasks of subordinates for applicable users.

Support of company structure within tasks

Tasks can make use of the subordination system in Bitrix Intranet.  This comes into play not only in that supervisors can see the tasks of their subordinates, but also in that tasks which are assigned by a direct superior are automatically accepted.  If a task is assigned ‘horizontally’ (by an employee of equal or lower status or across departments) or ‘up’ the line of superiority, then it can be refused by the Responsible Person.

Duplicating tasks to multiple employees

Copy a task immediately to several Responsible Persons without creating a separate tasks for each person.  For example, if you need a similar report from 25 assistants, you can list them all in a single task and the system will create independent, identical tasks for each of them.  Each of these tasks may develop independently once it is created.



Unlimited nesting of subtasks

Now you can divide parts of a complex task to various employees, thus making work in groups smoother and more coordinated.  How can you do this?  Create a ‘master’ task and create subtasks inside it.  Each subtask can have its own Responsible Person and attributes – deadline, priority, tags, participants, observers, even attached files and the monitoring.  The number of level and the total number of subtasks are unlimited.



Repeated tasks

Now there is no need to re-create the same task every week or month or every third day of the working week or every other week on Wednesday from 12:00 to 17:30.  Just check the “Repeat Task” box and put in the criteria for how often the task should be assigned.



Time planning

The time spent completing a task can expressed either using deadline, start and end dates, or using the duration in hours or days field.  There is also an option that lets the responsible person change the timeframe of the task. 



Priorities

The importance of the task can be classified in 3 levels in the Priority field.



Tasks inside a workgroup or project

When creating or editing a task, you can indicate whether the task belongs inside the framework of a group or project.  If a group is not indicated, then the task is created as a personal task.



Previous tasks and parent tasks 

Using the Previous tasks links, you can indicate tasks that must be completed before starting the task which you are creating.  This option is useful for tracking the connections of tasks.



Quick tasks

The Quick Launch button lets you create a new task directly in the list of tasks.



Templates

For each recurring task, a template is created on the basis of which a new task is set according to the frequency desired.  This template can be modified, (for example, change the frequency or give the task a new name) and all of the consequent tasks will be created with the modified template.
Additionally, you can add your own templates and subsequently create tasks using them.



Tags

When creating tasks, tags can be added to them.  Filtering by tags then allows you to narrow the list of tasks in a convenient way.  Tasks 2.0 does not support dividing tasks into separate folders, but tags can readily fulfill this function. 



Monitoring results

If the task creator marks the “Require approval to close task” box, then the task can be closed only with the approval of the creator.  That is, the Responsible Person cannot formally close the task; the supervisor must check the result.

Extended filters by status, tags, and date

Tasks in the list are displayed according to the parameters in the filter. 

The filter has 2 forms – Simple and Extended.



Integration with Microsoft Outlook and Exchange, Export to MS Excel

Two-way integration of tasks with Microsoft Outlook and Exchange is supported.



Export of the task list to Excel is useful to users who want to build their own reports or graphs using the task data, or who wish to print the task list.

The generated .xls file contains all tasks which are displayed in the filter. 

Log

The log records when, what, and by whom changes were made to a given task, as well as status changes and added comments.

In the next post we'll see how to gather data from tasks to evaluate working efficiency at the company, department and employee level.