Task management (or appointment management, event management, etc.) is the foundation of planning. Therefore, it is essential that the approach is flexible and intuitive.
Creating a task: a simple double-click
By double-clicking on a cell, a new task properties window opens. In this window, you can merely create a label, though we recommend that you also apply a color so that you can visually find it later!
Several other pieces of information can be added to the label, such as the customer concerned or even a requisite skill.
Add a Comment
If the title is not enough to describe an event, it could be helpful to add a comment which allows you to add a longer description to the task. In addition, a file or a link can be included with the appointment:
It makes for a much better user experience to be able to visualize the essential information of the task by hovering your mouse over the label to show the details of the event:
When a task is frequently repeated, one tends to think about copy/pasting either a section of the planning or an entire week from one employee to another. There are many ways to simplify this operation (See Automation).
Creating a task list: saving time
It is natural to come up with an initial list of tasks created with the appropriate style and color, and then to simply recall one of these tasks, thus avoiding the need to re-enter the description which would be quite tedious! :
Then wouldn't it be nice if I could be reminded of my appointments even without needing to open my favorite planning software:) The [Alarm] tab allows you to set a period of time for the reminder as well as the user who needs to be reminded
A small plugin called SodeaSoft Reminder then needs to be installed on the necessary computers.
Besides this intuitive use of planning, one might imagine having a list of tasks to plan: a kind of notepad where we we can store the information that needs to be added to the schedule. We can find this list on the right side of the screen. This list can be minimized so that it does not constantly clutter the screen. It is also possible to define the urgency, or priority, of the task, as well as the customer concerned, the deadline, etc. Then, with a simple drag-and-drop, we can add the task to the schedule at which point it is created:
This list can also be edited by your collaborators and employees from their computer via a small plug-in called SodeaSoft Task Sender, to request leave, for example.
Summary of task-related features
- Ability to stretch out a task over several days using your mouse
- Move tasks via drag-and-drop
- multiple tasks per cell
- hour-by-hour details possible
- Ability to choose a fill style such as criss-crosses, diagonals, etc.
- Ability to attach a file, email, or link to each task
- Ability toadd a higher priority score to each task.
- Task List: Using task codes to save time
- Ability to add reminders
- Automatically synchronize tasks via Outlook calendar