Ordering, scheduling, and assigning tasks

The assignment engine automatically assigns the task when the task is created according to how the administrator has configured the application. You can also manually assign tasks if needed. When a work order is set to In Progress and a task is not assigned, the status of that task is set to Pending. If the task is assigned, its status is set to Work in Progress. 

To order and schedule tasks

1. On the IT Home Page, select Service Request Management > Search Work Order, and click Search.
2. Select the work order, and click the Tasks tab.
3. To renumber the tasks, select a task, and click the arrow buttons to renumber the sequence.
4. On the Dates tab, provide dates for the scheduled start and end dates of the task.
   You can set the dates to be different from the dates of the parent work order. 
5. Click Save.

To assign tasks

You can assign tasks to the same person, to several people, or to a support group. The person or support group to whom the task is assigned is the task implementer. After a task or task group is assigned to a task implementer, the task implementer receives notifications to perform each of the assigned tasks. Task implementers can log their progress as they complete each task.

When you add or edit a task, you can quickly assign it to yourself by using the Assign to me link. You will see the Assign to me link only if you belong to the same support group to which the task is assigned.

• If you are part of only one support group, after you click the Assign to me link, the task is assigned to you without opening the Update Assignment pane.
• If you are part of multiple support groups, when you click the Assign to me link, the Update Assignment pane is displayed on the task profile. The system searches for support groups to which you belong across all support companies, support organizations, and support groups. You must select one of the search results and save the selection. For more information, see Information displayed on a ticket.

When a task is assigned to you, it appears in the Ticket Console as separate ticket. When you open the task, it has a link back to the parent ticket, which you can open to see the full context of the task.

Overview of task reordering

If there is a change in the priority of planned tasks, you can change the task sequence as required. BMC Helix ITSM provides the capability to change task sequences of Staged tasks by dragging them from within the task list or by manually updating their sequence number. BMC Helix ITSM allows you drag and move tasks in the Tasks section of the ticket. For Progressive Web App screens, you can change the task sequence only by manually updating their sequence number. Task sequencing is available for incident, work order, change requests, and activity (from release) tickets. Task sequence is not supported for Problem or Known Error records.

When reordering tasks, consider the following:

• A logged in user who can add tasks can also change the sequence.
• Only Staged tasks can be reordered.
  
• A task that is a part of a task group cannot be moved outside the parent task group. However, the entire task group can be moved as a single unit.
• A task cannot be moved above a task or task group that is closed or bypassed. 
• Child tasks with the Standard task group cannot be moved. Only child tasks with the Sequencing task group can be moved internally.
  
• Nested tasks are read-only and cannot be reordered. 
• Nested task groups can be reordered, but tasks within nested task groups cannot be reordered.
• For change management tasks, when task phasing is enabled, you cannot drag a task from its existing phase to another phase. The same rule applies to task groups.

To reorder tasks

Moving a staged task above an active task or task group, changes the sequence number of the staged task to the same as that of the active task and updates the status to Pending.
For example, you drag a staged task above an active task with a sequence of 3, the status of the staged task is changed to Pending and its sequence is updated to 3.

When you move a task group above an active task or task group, the status of the first task in the task group is changed to Pending, and the sequence of the task group is changed to the same sequence as the active task or task group.

You can reorder tasks by using two methods:

• Drag a task to the new location.
• Enter a sequence number in the input box displayed.
  

The drag-and-drop functionality allows you to drag the existing task and move it to the desired sequence in the task list. The sequence of all tasks is updated when you move the task. However, entering a number in the input box will only move that task to the logical location in the sequence. If your task sequence follows a progression, for example 10, 20, 30...n, tasks are renumbered in a regular numerical sequence, starting with 1. Do not use the drag and drop functionality to reorder tasks if the numbering follows a progression. 

The sequence input box allows you to manually update a task sequence by entering the new sequence number for a task. The task is moved to the logical place in the task sequence and the sequence numbers of other tasks are not changed. Use this method to reorder tasks if the numbering follows a progression because using the drag and drop functionality updates the sequence number to a regular numerical sequence of 1, 2, 3...n.

1. From the Actions menu, select Reorder tasks.
   A sequence number input box is displayed for each task. 

2. Click or tap the drag-and-drop icon and move the task to the desired place in the task list.
   When you drag a task to a new position in the task list, the sequence of all tasks is automatically updated.
   To run two tasks in parallel, manually enter the sequence number for the tasks in the input box provided.
   The Save and Revert options are enabled when you move any task.
   
   

   Important

   Reordering can move a staged task to an active state, for example, to the Assigned state. As long as you are in the Edit mode, you can continue to reorder this task. After you save your changes, you cannot reorder these tasks as they are now active.

3. Click or tap Save after you have completed reordering your task list.

To view the task flow

The task flow determines the sequence in which the task group templates and the task templates are generated at runtime. Click Task Flow to see a read-only view of the task and task group that is related to the template. If the task group template contains other task group templates, these likely already have flow established between the task group templates or task templates that they contain.

For you to view the task flow correctly, the administrator must specify the base URL for the mid tier from the Default Web Path field on the AR System Administration: Server Information form. For more information, see Configuring security options.

To add time information to a task

1. From the Tasks tab in a work order, select a task to modify.

2. Click the Financials tab, and enter values in the fields as shown: 

   Field	Description
   Calculation Unit Type	Select Flat Rate, Hours, or Minutes.
   Budget Estimated Total Time	Enter the time based on the unit type. You use this information to forecast the cost. For example, you might budget that the work will take 2 hours to perform.
   Actual Total Time	After the task is completed, enter the time according to the calculation unit type. For example, you budgeted 2 hours to complete the work, but it actually took 3 hours.
   Budget Cost	This field is not used with tasks associated with work orders, and so is read-only.
   Actual Cost	This field is not used with tasks associated with work orders, and so is read-only.

3. Click Save.

Instructions for classic interfaces