Task List
   

About

During the course of a project, many tasks and improvement ideas will be generated.  The Task List is your tool to tracking and managing these items.

The Task List can be accessed by selecting the Project Management tab and then clicking on the Task List button.  This will open the Project Task List window.

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The Task List window contains three sections.  The Task Detail section appears in the upper left and contains the details for the task currently selected in the task list at the bottom of the screen.

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Adding and Removing Team/Departments

Tasks in the Task List are tracked by who they are assigned to.  Before any tasks can be assigned to a department or team, the department or team has to be added to the Project data file.
 
1.   Click the “Add Team/Department” button located on the right side of the screen with the Task List Controls to display the Edit Team window.

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2.   Enter the name of the team or department in the Team Name field. Optionally, enter the name of the person who leads the team.

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3.   Click the “Add” button.  This will add the team or department to the data file.


To delete a team or department,

1.   Click the "Add Team/Department" button on the Task List.

2.   Select the team/department to delete from the Existing Teams drop down.

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3.   Click the "Delete" button. 


Adding and Removing People

Individuals can be assigned tasks as well as departments or teams, once they have been added to the database.

1.   Select the “Add Person” button on the Task List screen.

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2.   Type in the name of the person and select the department or team the person belongs to.

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3.   Click the “Add” button.
 
Note It is not mandatory to assign people to teams.  It merely provides a way to organize tasks into groups.

To delete a person,

1.   Click the "Add Person" button on the Task List to display the "Edit Task List Names" button.

2.   From the Existing People drop down, select the name of the person to delete.

3.   Click the "Delete" button.


Creating Tasks

1    On the Task Management screen, fill in all the fields at the top of the screen as follows:

Problem / Task Statement:  This required field should be a concise description of the task or problem.  For example:

Relocate plumbing lines in Micro Lab per approved layout dated 4/18.

Actions Taken / Status Notes:  Track status notes and actions taken in the field.  A recommended approach is to add a line of text followed by the date and the entrant’s initials.  Separate lines with a semi-colon (;) and/or carriage return.  Add new lines to the top of the box so that new information is displayed first.  For example: 

Per Ray Martin, bids due back April 28 4/24 DASt;
Met with Ray Martin to review requirements  4/22 DASt;
Contacted Ray Martin with Facilities Engineering to set up bid process for task  4/21 DASt;

Note Carriage returns can be entered by holding down the <SHIFT> key and then pressing <Enter>.

Date Received:  The date that the task was received or generated.  This is a required field.

Date Assigned:  The date that the task was delegated to a team/department and/or the Person Assigned.

Promise Complete Date:  The estimated completion date that the assigned entity will have the task finished by.
 
Actual Complete Date:  The date the task was actually completed.

Team/Department:  Select the Team or Department this task is assigned to.  (See Adding and Removing Team/Departments if the desired department/team is not present.)

Person Assigned:  Select the person the task has been delegated to.  This person should be the point of contact for this task and is responsible for ensuring it gets completed.  (See Adding and Removing People if the desired person is not present.  Also note that if a team/department is selected, only people from that team will appear.)

Time Savings:  An estimate of the amount of time that can be saved per year by performing the improvement.  (Can be used to help prioritize improvements.)

Cost Savings: An estimate of the amount of money that can be saved per year by performing the improvement.  (Can be used to help prioritize improvements.)

Priority:  A priority level (with 1 being the highest) for the task or improvement idea.  (Can be used to help prioritize improvements.)

Task Grouping:  A tag field that can be used for sorting and grouping similar tasks together.  For example, a project may have multiple tasks for setting up a kanban system.  Each of these tasks could be tagged with “KANBAN”.

Task Source:  The source of the task.  This can be the name of a person or team/group/department who originated the task request.  If the Task Management screen was invoked by using the Improve button on a process or activity analysis, this field will be automatically populated with the title of the analysis (this can be overwritten if desired).

 
2    Click the “Add Task” button.

 

Note Double Clicking on a date field will display a calendar that can be used to select a date.  Navigate to the desired year, month, and date and then double click on the date to add it to the field.

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Note  Clicking on the ‘*’ next to the date field will enter the current system date.


 Viewing Task Information

1.   Click a column heading in the Task Details list to sort the task by that heading.

2.   Select the row of the task you want to view in the Task Details section.  When a row is selected, the task's information will appear in the Task Details section at the top of the screen.

Updating Task Information

1.   Select the task you want to update.  Selecting the task will place the task's information in the Task Details section.

2.   In the Task Details section, update the information.

3.   When finished, click the "Update Task" button to update the data file with the information in the Task Details section.  After updating, the Task Details section will be cleared.  A new task can now be entered or an existing task can be selected.