Task Management System

Summary PaT can be set up as a task management system. You can assign tasks to yourself or to other team members and track them all in one place, so nothing falls through the cracks. As well as helping people organise their workload, PaT's task management is designed to encourage accountability and transparency, and every user has an Integrity Score. This module shows how to complete a task, ask to postpone a task, and decline a task that was given to the wrong person. Other modules cover specific task features in more detail.

Steps

Step 1

Your tasks are on the Task Wall; its name shows at the top left of the page. With To Do selected in the row of tabs at the top right, your tasks are set out in columns by when they are due, from Overdue and Today on the left to over 30 days on the right. Each task is a card showing its name and due date.

Step 2

Your Integrity Score is at the top centre of the screen: the percentage labelled Integrity, to the right of your profile picture. It reflects how well you manage and complete the tasks assigned to you. It stays healthy when you complete tasks on time. It starts to drop when tasks become overdue with no communication or action.

Completing a task

Step 3

On the Task Wall, click the card of a task you have finished. A panel opens on the right of the screen with the task's name, Assignee and Deadline, and a row of four icons: a pencil, a red cross, an orange question mark and a green tick.

Step 4

Click the green tick, the last of the four icons. A Confirm box opens in the middle of the screen, asking you to confirm that you want to complete the task.

Step 5

Click OK. The task is marked complete and leaves your Task Wall. Completed tasks can be tracked through reporting and dashboards, so the work is recorded and progress is visible across the business.

Postponing a task

Note. Asking to postpone a task before it becomes overdue is not poor performance. It shows good planning and communication: you have spotted a problem early and are managing expectations. Postponing again and again may point to workload or time-management problems, and managers may use this to see who needs more support, more resources or changes to their workload. The Integrity Score is not there to punish anyone. It is there to build ownership, accountability and early communication.

Step 6

If you can't finish a task by its due date, ask to postpone it rather than let it become overdue. On the Task Wall, click the task's card. Its panel opens on the right.

Step 7

Click the orange question mark, the third of the four icons, just left of the green tick. A box opens headed PLEASE DETAIL WHY YOU WISH TO POSTPONE.

Step 8

In the text box under that heading, type why you need more time. A red note under the box reads "This action will close all escalating tasks for this task."

Step 9

Click the please select a new deadline date box, under the red note. A calendar opens. Choose the new date, and the time in the boxes at the top of the calendar if needed, then click OK at the bottom of the calendar.

Step 10

Click PRESS TO POSTPONE, at the bottom of the box.

Step 11

If another team member assigned you the task, they receive your postponement request and can approve or decline it. If you assigned the task to yourself, the request is approved automatically, and the task's card shows the new due date.

Declining a task

Step 12

If a task has been assigned to the wrong person, decline it so that it can go to the right one. On the Task Wall, click the task's card to open its panel.

Step 13

Click the red cross, the second of the four icons.

Step 14

If you assigned the task to yourself, a Confirm box asks you to confirm that you wish to reject your own task. Click OK. The task leaves your Task Wall.

Step 15

If another user assigned the task to you, you can give your reason for declining: that you are unable to do it, or that you are not the right person for it. They receive your decline request. They can accept it and reassign the task, or reject it and keep the task with you. Declining this way keeps tasks with the right owners.