Working With Tasks and Events

How to Work with Tasks

Tasks are one of the primary ways users keep track of the work they're doing on Noosh 5. To learn more about tasks generally, refer to What are Tasks?

The following steps describe the general process you'll want to follow for managing tasks assigned to you:

1. Find out what tasks are assigned to you.
2. Review the task's details.

This ensures that you have all the necessary information you need to execute the task.

3. As you execute the task, make sure to edit the task details and log any important information, such as the amount of the task that has been completed or any change in the task's priority. There is also space to add any additional notes you'd like to make regarding the task.
4. When you've completed your work on the task, you'll want to do one of the following:

• Reassign it: If the task needs to be passed on to someone else, you should reassign it.
• Mark it complete (user-specified tasks only): If the task is finished, you should mark it complete. That way, anyone looking at that task -- you, a task contributor, the project owner, or a workgroup manager -- will know it's finished.

Note: You can only mark user-specified tasks as complete. Noosh automatically completes system tasks.

• Delete it: If you want to get rid of the task altogether, you can delete it.

Note: You should only delete a task if there is no need to track it in the system anymore. Once you delete it, it will no longer appear in anyone's Noosh account.

If you simply want to put the task aside while still keeping track of it in the system, you can change its status to On Hold or Cancelled. To do this, follow the same steps for marking a task complete.

How to Create a Task

The system automatically tracks certain fundamental tasks on every project, such as "Create RFE" or "Create Estimate". These are called system-tasks. However, you might want to track other tasks as well. For those, you'll need to create individual, user-specified tasks.

Who can create a user-specified task?

Anyone who is a member of a project can create a task for that project.

It is not possible to create a user-specified task that is not attached to a particular project.

To create a user-specified task:

1. Navigate to the Project Home page.
2. Click Tasks in the Project Menu.
3. Click Create Task... in the Task drop-down menu.
4. Choose a Task Type.  If there aren't any types specified, simply choose Other and then enter the name of the task in the field on the right.

Note: Task Types are created by workgroup managers to help the workgroup keep track of commonly executed tasks. For more information, refer to How to Create a Task Type.

5. Fill out the task details as necessary. All the fields, other than the Task Type, are optional. However, some of the most important details are:
• Assignee: Use the  Contact card next to Assign To to choose the person responsible for the task. You can also leave the task unassigned if you prefer.
• Contributors: Anyone else who is working on the project and needs to be able to keep track of it in Noosh 5 should be added to the project as a Contributor. The only exceptions to this are project owners and workgroup managers. These people will already be able to see the task.
• Workgroup Task Status: The Workgroup Task Status lets workgroups track tasks according to milestones that are important to them. If there aren't any statuses listed in this menu, your workgroup hasn't entered any into the Noosh 5 system. In that case, you can skip this field. For more information, refer to How to Create a Task Status.
6. Click Create Task.

How to View, Edit, and Delete a Task

To view a task's details:

1. Find the task in one of your task lists:

• Task Manager: Click My Desk, then click Tasks.
• The project's Tasks page: Go to the Project Home page. In the Project Menu, click Tasks and select List from the Task drop-down menu.

The Tasks page appears.

Remember that the Task Manager might have several pages of tasks. Use the arrows or pull-down menu at the bottom of the Task Manager to find your task.

You can also use the pull-down menus in the Filters section at the top of the page to limit the tasks displayed in the Task Manager.

2. Click the  Edit icon next to the task.

For user-specified tasks, you can also simply click the task's name. (Clicking the name of a system task will not display the task's details. Instead, it will take you to the place where you can execute the task.)

To edit a task:

1. Follow the steps above to access the task details.
2. Edit the appropriate details.
3. Click Update Task.

To mark a task complete (user-specified tasks only):

You can only mark user-specified tasks as complete. The Noosh system marks system task as complete only when the required action is executed.

1. Follow the steps above to access the task details.
2. Select Completed in the Status menu.
3. Click Update Task.

To delete a task:

1. Go to either the Task Manager or the project's Tasks page.
2. Check the box to the left of the task you want to delete. If you want to delete more than one task, check the boxes next to the tasks you want to delete.
3. Click Delete.
4. Click OK to confirm your deletion.
5. Click OK on the confirmation page.

How to Reassign a Task

Reassigning a task transfers primary responsibility for the task to another user. The new user's name appears in the Assigned To field next to the task. This lets assignees, contributors, and project owners -- as well as workgroup managers -- know who is responsible for it.

To reassign a task:

1. Navigate to the task's details page. You can get there via the:
• Task Manager: Click My Desk, then click Tasks. Click the  Edit icon next to the task; or
• Project Home (if you are a member of the project): Select List from the Tasks drop-down menu in the Project Menu to display the Tasks page for the project, then click the  Edit icon next to the task.

The Update Task page appears.

2. If a task is a system task, you'll see a pull-down menu next to Assign To. System tasks may be executed only by certain people on the project team. The pull-down menu includes a list of those people. Choose one of the people in the menu.

If the task is a user-specified task, you'll see a  Contact card next to Assign To. Click the card, and choose anyone from the address book that pops up. Click Done. Alternatively, if you don't want the task to have an assignee, click the  Unassign icon. The current assignee will be removed and the task will be unassigned.

3. Click Update Task.

Email Notifications

If you selected to receive the Task Re-Assigned email notification in your Preferences (see How to Change Your Notification Preferences), you will receive an email anytime:

• You reassign a task.
• A task is reassigned to you.
• A task on which you are a Contributor is reassigned.
• A task for a project where you are the owner is reassigned.

How to Create a Project Milestone Task

You can designate key project tasks as milestones.

To create a project milestone task:

1. Click the Admin tab, then click the My Group sub-tab.
2. Click the Tasks link in the Collaboration Options section.
3. Click Create Task Type....
4. Enter a task name and check the Yes radio button beside Milestone.
5. Click Create Task Type.

How to Find Out What Tasks are Assigned to You

If a task is assigned to you, you have the primary responsibility for completing it, or at least for moving it on to the next stage. To do that, you'll need to know what tasks you have. There are two places you can find your tasks: inside Noosh 5 or in your email inbox.

Inside Noosh:

To get a list of all your tasks for all your projects:

1. Go to the Task Manager by clicking My Desk, then clicking Tasks.
2. In the Filters section at the top of the page, select your name in the assigned to pull-down menu, then click Update List.
3. The Task Manager displays all tasks assigned to you.

Note: Remember that the Task Manager might have more than one page. Use the arrows at the bottom of the Task Manager to click through the pages and find all tasks assigned to you.

To get a list of all your tasks for a specific project:

1. Go to the project's Project Home page.

Note: You must be a member of the project to access its Home page. If you are not a member of the project, you can still be assigned a task for it. The task will appear with all your other tasks in the Task Manager under My Desk.

1. Select List from the Tasks drop-down menu.
2. In the Filters section at the top of the page, select your name in the assigned to pull-down menu, then click Update List.
3. The Tasks page displays all tasks assigned to you.

By Email:

You can tell the Noosh system to notify you by email any time a task gets assigned to you. You do this by selecting to receive certain email notifications (to learn how to do this, refer to How to Change Your Notification Preferences). The ones you'll want to choose are:

• Task Assigned: This tells you when you've been assigned a task.

Note: You will also get this email notification when you create a task, even if you assign it to someone else. And you'll get it if someone adds you to a task as Contributor.

• Task Re-Assigned: This tells you when a task that has been assigned to someone else gets re-assigned to you.

Note: You will also get this email notification if you are the creator of the task, even if someone else is the new assignee. And you'll get it if you are a Contributor on a task.

How to Enter an Event

You can use Events to inform an entire project team of things that have occurred within a project and aren't automatically tracked by Noosh.

To enter an event:

1. Navigate to the Project Home page.
2. Click Events in the Project Menu.
3. Select Enter... from the Events drop-down menu.
4. Select an event from the Event Type pull-down menu.
5. Choose the audience for your event:

• As a buyer:
• Check Everyone to share the event within your buying project team and all project team suppliers.
• Uncheck Everyone to share the event with your internal (buying) team members (not Project Team remains checked by default; you cannot add an event and not include your internal team members).
• Uncheck Everyone to check individual supplying team workgroups to share your event with your internal project team and selected supplier workgroups.
• As a supplier:
• Project Team is checked by default; you cannot enter an event and not share it with your internal project team.
• Check the buyer team to share the event with both your internal workgroup team and the buying project team.

6. Enter additional information about your event in the Comments section, then click Save.

How to Create a Custom Event Type

Noosh 5 provides workgroups with a pre-defined set of event types that commonly take place on projects. You can choose to use these event types or remove them so that they don't appear as options when creating events. You can also create custom event types for events that commonly take place on your projects.

Only workgroup managers can add event types. These event types can then be used by all workgroup members. In addition, custom events created by buyer workgroups can be used by all workgroups on a specific project, including the supplier workgroup.

How to add a pre-defined custom event type:

1. Click the Admin tab, then click the My Group sub-tab.
2. In the Collaboration Options section, click Events.
3. In the Action pull-down menu, select Add pre-defined event types, and click Go.
4. Select the events to add.
5. Click Add.

How to create a new custom event type:

1. Click the Admin tab, then click the My Group sub-tab.
2. In the Collaboration Options section, click Events.
3. In the Action pull-down menu, select Create new event type, and click Go.
4. Enter an Event Name.
5. Click Create.

How to Edit and/or Delete a Custom Event Type

Only workgroup managers can edit and delete custom event types.

To edit a custom event type:

1. Click the Admin tab, then click the My Group sub-tab.
2. In the Collaboration Options section, click Events.
3. Click the   Edit icon next to the custom event you want to edit.
4. Enter a new name, if desired. Any change to the name will appear in any project where the event is currently in use.
5. Click Update.

To delete a custom event type:

1. Click the Admin tab, then click the My Group sub-tab.
2. In the Collaboration Options section, click Events.
3. Click the   Delete icon next to the custom event you want to delete.
4. Click OK to confirm the deletion.

Note: You cannot delete event types that are in use.