Tasks

Tasks

City Innovate helps teams keep track of progress for projects through the use of tasks. Creating and assigning tasks can be help organizations manage the many teams and projects in an efficient and streamlined way. Below we will walk-through the functionalities of a task list within the tool. Tasks can be created from multiple spaces within the solicitation, assigned to specific users, commented on, and tracked to keep your team up-to-date on pending items. The video below will provide you guidance on where to find and create tasks within the platform, and the sections thereafter (all hyperlinked in the Table of Contents above) will detail steps and functions in full.



Task List

Task lists can be found throughout a project and generally have the same visual format. Tasks can be  assigned to specific users, commented on, and tracked to keep your team up-to-date on pending items. 

Tasks can be associated with most any item in the system including:
  1. Projects
  2. Documents
  3. Sections and subsections within documents
  4. Questions


Let's breakdown the image Task List above:
  1. Within the SB project stage and within document view, you will have the option of using the Toc or Table of Contents to navigate directly to your task list. Simply select 'Solicitation Tasks' or ' Document Tasks' for quick transport.
  2. Each task list will have a toolbar. You can use this toolbar to sort your tasks based on the following categories:
    1. Task Name
    2. Status
    3. Associated project/document/section
    4. Labels, Assigned persons
    5. Due Date, and Last update made to a task
  3. To view, edit, or comment on a task, simply left-click the task name. A left-hand panel view will appear.

Task List Toolbar

Let's look more closely at the categories located in your task list toolbar. Please note any of these details can be changed throughout the solicitation process.
A list of tasks are automatically created when a new project is created.
Task Name: this is up to the discretion of the person that creates a task. 

Status: This can be changed to Completed, Incomplete, or Archived to help track task progress. Tasks cannot be deleted, only archived.

Associated With: all tasks are connected to a document , section, or project

Labels: this is up to the discretion of the person that creates a task. 

Assignee: You have the option of assigning any task to a specific team member with access to your project.

Due Date: when you'd like the item to be due

Last Update: list of timestamped updates

A list of tasks are automatically created when a new project is created or when sections have been marked for deletion.
The task view has features to help users find precise tasks and projects, quickly and effectively. You have the ability to add new tasks, sort/filter and export tasks via Unique Identifier number, Task Name, Due Date, and more.



Tasks can be associated with most any item in the system including:
  1. Projects
  2. Documents
  3. Sections and subsections within documents
  4. Questions

Adding and Assigning Tasks

When you create a new project, the system creates a number of tasks that is equal to the number of questions, documents and sections that need to be completed. Users can also create new tasks.

You can create a task from the task view, solicitation dashboard, document view, section view or with questions. When a new task is created, the assigned user can find it in their task box within the tool. For each task, you can fill out the appropriate details as you see fit.

Solicitation Dashboard: On the solicitation or project dashboard, you can use the left-side navigation panel to select ‘Solicitation Tasks’. The ‘New Task’ button can be found at the top of this section. 



Once all of the details have been filled in, select ‘Create Task’.



You can use the style features above the Description field to bold, italicize, cross out text; create a hyperlink; make headings; add code; make bulleted or numbered lists; increase or decrease indentations; attach files; and undo or redo changes.


Task View: From your Task View page, you can add a new task using the ‘New Task’ button. Please note that this option will not appear if you have a task(s) checked via the checkbox on the far left of the screen.



Document View: When you left-click the title of any document, it will bring you to document view. From this view, if you scroll to the bottom, you will find the 'Document Tasks' section. From here, you can create a new task associated with that specific document.


Section View: Similarly, if you select 'Edit Section' located in the three-dot drop down menu, you will find 'Section Tasks' at the bottom of this view.



To assign someone a task, such as completing a section, open the task, type their name, and select the colleague from the drop down menu.




That colleague will now see that task in their personal tasks. They will also receive a notification in their Inbox with a link to the section in question.



Email Notifications

Users will get an email for a task when:
  1. A new task is created and assigned to them.
  2. A task not generated by the system is reassigned to them.
Users won't get an email for a task when:
  1. A task generated by the system is assigned or reassigned to them.


Weekly on Tuesdays and Thursdays 10AM PST, the system delivers emails to users with the subject, "Past Due and Upcoming Solicitation Builder Tasks for [[Date]]."


Questions:

When a question is selected, you can assign it to a specific team member to answer. After inputting the person’s name into the appropriate field, select ‘Save’.


Filtering and Searching Tasks

Filtering and searching tasks is now more intuitive and streamlined. As you’ve seen above, you have the ability to filter using a number of categories like Due Date, Status, etc. When attempting to search for a specific solicitation, you can do so via project/document/section name, description, status, labels or assignees.



Solicitations with a status of ‘Complete’ and/or ‘Archived’ will not show up in your filter search.

If a task is associated with a document/section, you can select the hyperlink title located under the heading ‘Associated With’ to quickly transport you to the section in question. After selecting your desired task via the checkbox on the left, you’ll have the option to do the following using the blue boxes located at the top-right of the screen.
  1. Mark a task ‘Incomplete’
  2. Mark a task ‘complete’
  3. Archive a task
  4. Assign a task to a team member

Editing and Exporting Tasks

Tasks can have the following fields:
  1. Task Name
  2. Description
  3. Assigned user
  4. Associated solicitation/document/section
  5. Labels
  6. Due Date
To edit any of these attributes go to the Tasks page or the list for the associated solicitation / document / section. Click anywhere on the task in question and a right-hand panel will appear.  Select 'Edit' and proceed with updating any of the fields you wish to change and click 'Update Task'.



To export your task list, simply select the ‘Export Data to CSV’ button. An excel version of your task list should appear in your device's downloads folder.



Adding Comments

This feature is available within some of the areas mentioned above - task view, solicitation dashboard, document view, and section view. Begin by selecting the task in question. A right-hand panel window will appear. Next select the title ‘Comment’ and from here you can add comments, tag or message a specific person. After entering in your comment, click ‘Send Comment’ to save.


You can use @Name to have the message also appear in the person’s inbox. For more information on messages, refer to this article.

Completing and Archiving Tasks

You can mark a task complete by:
  1. Changing the status to ‘Complete’ using the drop down menu located in the ‘Status’ column
  2. Checking the task and selecting the button ‘Mark as Complete’ that appears in blue
  3. Selecting the task and clicking ‘Mark Complete’ from the right-hand panel window
If you reverse the steps above, you can reopen a task and change the status to ‘Incomplete’. Due to a new functionality, tasks can only be archived, not deleted.

You can archive a task by:
  1. Changing the status to ‘Archived’ using the drop down menu located in the ‘Status’ column
  2. Checking the task and clicking the button ‘Mark as Archived’ that appears in blue




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