Tasks Tasks are the discrete work activities that make up a project. Tasks can stand by themselves, or be grouped within one or more phases. Tasks can be categorized according to project task type. Modify | Delete | Copy or Move tasks Attachments feature | Assigning users to tasks Predecessors To create a new Task: 1. Click on the Projects tab, and then on "All Projects." 2. Click on the name of the Project to which you want to add a task. 3. Select "Task" from the "Create..." drop-down menu. (Note: You can also create a project milestone, which is a task that does not have any planned hours or users assigned to it, by selecting "Milestone" from the "Create..." drop-down menu instead of "Task." Once a milestone has been saved, and you open it for editing, you can turn it back into a normal task if needed.) 4. Change the task ID and enter a name (these fields are mandatory, and the task ID must be unique). 5. Enter as desired the task priority level and the project phase of which it is part. 6. Enter the number of planned hours to complete the task. This will be used to calculate the project plan and in reports comparing planned versus actuals, including the "Planned vs. Actual Hours" summary report. 7. Estimate the percent of the task that has been completed. The percent complete provides a picture of how the project is progressing relative to the initial estimate of planned hours. If your account has "hours remaining" enabled, the task percent complete is automatically calculated based on approved hours divided by estimated hours. The task percent complete can be overridden at the task level, unless your account also has percent complete set to be read-only. 8. Enter a start date if desired. If you enter a start date, Projects will use this date instead of the calculated date based on the project start date and/or dates entered in predecessor tasks or phases. The duration of the task is automatically calculated based on the start date, the number of planned hours, and the schedules of the assigned resources (or the company schedule if no resources have been assigned to the task). For example, a task with 40 planned hours will take longer to complete if the resource assigned to the task is scheduled to only work 5 hours a day rather than if the resource is scheduled to work 8 hours a day. 9.Both FNLT and task end dates are features enabled by an internal switch; please contact OpenAir support if you want to have them turned on for your account. 9a. If you have enabled FNLT (finish no later than) dates for tasks, you can enter the date by which the task must be completed. If a project is updated and Projects calculates that the task is projected to finish after its FNLT date, the percentage of Users' time allocated to this task will be increased so the task is finished on time if possible. Note that there is no upper limit on the percent allocation, so users' allocations will exceed 100% if necessary to meet the end date. 9b. If you have enabled task end dates, you can enter an end date for the task. If the system-calculated finish date is March 1, but you want the task to extend until March 31, entering the end date of March 31 will cause the user assignments to be spread out over the full duration of the task. The user allocation percentage will be automatically reduced so that the task will not end sooner that the end date selected. 10. If you have selected to assign Cost centers to tasks, select the appropriate Cost center from the dropdown menu. 11. If you have enabled the setting to manually override cost and billing projections, specify whether to use the system-calculated values (based on assigned hours, the assigned users’ loaded costs and default hourly billing rates), or enter your own projections for cost and billing for the task. 11. Assign the task to team members. Uncheck the "Use project assignments" box if you wish to assign the task to other users. You can assign multiple users per task. Note: There is an option to alert project managers to over-assignment of users across projects. With this feature enabled, if the manager assigns a user to a task, and the assignment would cause the user to be assigned over 100% of his/her available schedule, the manager receives a warning (for example “On 10/16/04 [User] is scheduled for 8 hours and is assigned 16 hours”). For each day the user is over-assigned, the error message links to a popup window showing all the tasks and assigned hours that caused the error to be generated. The alert does not preclude making the assignment, but is designed to notify the project manager of possible conflicts. To enable this feature, please contact OpenAir support. 12. Include any notes if desired. 13. Create any necessary Predecessors. 14. Split tasks: Click the Create/save button to split one task into several parts, with interruptions between the parts, if any contingency is to interrupt the flow of work on a task. In the "Split the task" popup window, enter dates for one or more blackout periods, along with the reason for the split. If you use the calendar to select dates for the blackout period, the calendar date picker shows the calendar for the user who is logged in; however, if there is only one resource assigned to the task, the calendar date picker shows the calendar of the assigned user. No hours are assigned during the blackout periods; this will be reflected in the utilization chart for the project (Projects > Projects > [select Project ID] > Utilization), or confirmed in a task assignment detail report (Reports > Detail > Projects >Task assignments). You can include the splits (dates and descriptions) in the project task detail report (Reports > Detail > Projects > Tasks) as well. 15. If you have enabled the feature to limit time types by the project task, select the allowed time types. The timesheet grid layout will show dropdowns for client:project, task and time type, in that order. When the user selects a client:project, the contents of the task dropdown changes to display the assigned tasks. When the user selects a task, the time type dropdown will also change to display only the available time types for that task. Please note that this feature is not currently supported by OffLine, Palm or Pocket PC applications. To enable the feature, an administrator should contact OpenAir's support department. 16. If desired, set it up so you can repeat the task multiple times. 17. Check the "closed task" box if the task is complete. 18. Select the default Service to appear with this Task on timesheets. Note that this field is required if you have selected "Get the service from the task if not selected" or "Always get the service from the task" in Company Settings. 19. Check the "non-billable task" box if you do not want to bill time associated with this task. (This box appears only if "project billing rules" is selected from the "Get the billing rate from" dropdown at the bottom of the Company Settings form.) 20. Click on "Save" or "Save & create another task." Note: When you create, modify or delete a task, the project automatically recalculates when the task is saved. To modify a task: 1. Click on the Projects tab, and then on "All Projects." 2. Click on the name of the relevant project, and then on the "Edit tasks/phases" link. 3. Click on the the name of the task you wish to modify or delete. (Note: Tasks are indicated by normal type; phases are indicated by boldface type.) 4. Make your changes to the "Edit task" dialog, and then click on the "Save" button. Note: When you create, modify or delete a task, the project automatically recalculates when the task is saved. Note: There is an alert if there are late tasks on the project. A late task is defined as one that has a start date prior to the current date, has planned hours greater than zero, has no worked hours and is zero percent complete. If there are late tasks on the project, the user will be alerted by a hint at the bottom of the outline and the edit tasks/phases views (provided s/he has the required permissions to edit tasks on the project). A hyperlink in the hint allows the user to adjust the late tasks, selecting which tasks to adjust and how to adjust them. The tasks can be adjusted either by moving the start date forward, or by putting a blackout period at the start of the task; the latter option preserves the original task start date. The task is adjusted so that assigned hours begin on the date entered. The manager can also choose whether or not to adjust the task end date by the same amount of time. Note: If this project has a baseline, there will be a link in the hints to a report that compares the current task stage to a baseline. To delete a task: 1. Click on the Projects tab, and then on "All Projects." 2. Click on the name of the relevant project, and then on the "Edit tasks/phases" link. 3. Click on the the name of the task you wish to delete. (Note: Tasks are indicated by normal type; phases are indicated by boldface type.) 4. Click on the "Delete" button. Note: You cannot delete a task that has been assigned to a user or which has been associated with billed time or expenses. Note: When you create, modify or delete a task, the project automatically recalculates when the task is saved. To close a task: Note: A closed task will not show up in new timesheets or timebills but will remain in timesheets or timebills that used it before it was closed. Note: Automatic update to 100% complete for closed tasks: There is an option to update the percent complete of tasks to 100% automatically when a task is marked closed. To enable this feature, navigate to My Account > Company > Settings > Projects options > "Mark closed tasks 100% complete". Note: Automatic deactivation of project when all tasks are closed: There is also an option to inactivate a project automatically when all tasks are marked closed. To enable this feature, navigate to My Account > Company > Settings > Projects options > "Inactivate project when all tasks are closed". 1. Click on the Projects tab, and then on "All Projects." 2. Click on the name of the relevant project, and then on the "Edit tasks/phases" link. 3. Click on the the name of the task you wish to close. (Note: Tasks are indicated by normal type; phases are indicated by boldface type.) 4. Check the "Closed task" box at the bottom of the form. To copy or move a task into a different project: 1. Click on the Projects tab and Projects sub-tab, and then on the relevant Project phase tab. 2. Click on the name of the relevant project. 3. Click on the the name of the task you wish to move. (Note: Tasks are listed in regular type; phases are in boldface type.) 4. Click on the "Copy/Move this task ..." link near the bottom of the form. (Note: If users have already logged time against this task in the Timesheets module, this link will not appear, and you will not be able to move the task to a different project.) 5. In the "Copy/Move task [name of task]" dialog, select the appropriate actions (copy or move) and the Client: Project to which you want to copy or move the task. 6. Click on the "Save" button. You will return to the originating project task list. Note: When copying, moving, duplicating tasks and phases, custom fields associated with the task or phase are also copied/moved. Attachments: You can upload scanned or created documents to attach to your task by clicking on the "Attachments" link at the bottom of the "Create/Edit task" dialog. To add an attachment, click on the "Create new attachment" link in the upper left corner of the attachments window. Enter the file pathway in the "New attachment : task [name]" dialog, and click on "Save." The file name is saved and can be accessed by clicking on the "download" icon (paper with down arrow), or the file pathway can be edited by clicking on the pencil "Edit" icon, or the attachment can be deleted by clicking on the trash can icon. You can attach as many documents as you need to your task; when finished, click on the "Close" button to return to the main "Create/Edit task" dialog. To assign one or more users to a task: You can assign one or more resources to a task by using the "Assigned to" drop-downs or pick list. Company settings determine which resources appear as available for assignment. Options are: Booked users or all users if none are booked/Booked users/All users. Generic resources, regular resources and assignment groups can be assigned to tasks. The resource substitution feature will allow you to find matches for any resources assigned to tasks, and to substitute the matching resources for the original resources. For example, if you have assigned a task to a generic resource, you may eventually want to replace it with a real user. See Substitution of resources assigned to tasks for more information.