About Tasks

The Tasks page displays three kinds of tasks assigned to the current user:

• Inbox. Inbox tasks are tasks assigned to you in a route. If you are assigned a task in a route, it will not be listed until the prior route tasks are completed and it is your turn to complete your task.
• VPLM. Tasks defined by the VPM Program Central integration.
• WBS. Work Breakdown Structure tasks are required to complete a project. As a project member, you are assigned WBS tasks by your Project Lead. WBS tasks can be part of a Project task created in Program Central or belong to a PQP (Part Quality Plan) for a supplier. Suppliers who are assigned a WBS Task will also see their Tasks listed.
• Workflow. Workflow tasks belong to a specific workflow and are passed among participants according to a defined set of rules that achieve an overall business goal.

Each task listed on the Tasks page has a Status icon indicating whether the task is on time or late. Furthermore, a Status field shows whether the task is Not Started, In Process, or Complete. You can complete or reject only inbox tasks.

When you first open the Tasks page, only active tasks are listed but you can see completed tasks using the filter list. Tasks assigned to you can be deleted and if they are, you are notified. The owner of the task's context object can delete tasks. Another reason tasks are deleted is if the owner defines several tasks to be assigned at once and specifies that only one needs to be completed.

A sub-route for a task is a route that the task assignee creates to help complete the task. For example, suppose a task requires that you approve a document, but you want other people's feedback before you enter your approval. You can create a sub-route to gather information from the other people and then complete your task. If needed, you can create multiple sub-routes for a task. A task cannot be completed until its sub-routes are complete.

If you have Create Route access, you can create one or more sub-routes for any task that you are assigned. The steps for creating a sub-route are very similar to the steps for creating a route, with the following exceptions:

• The sub-route creator can choose whether the sub-route is displayed to other people who have access to the parent route (the parent route creator, other members of the parent route, and Workspace Leads). The Sub-Route Visibility options are available on the last page of the Create Route wizard and on the Create Route page when not using the wizard.
• The due dates for tasks in sub-routes cannot be later than the due date for the parent route's task. When you start the sub-route, the system notifies you if any task due dates are later than the parent task's due date. Similarly, if a task assignee sets a due date that is later than the due date for the parent route's task, the system displays an error message.
• The scope for sub-routes is always the parent route's workspace, even if the parent route's scope is more limited. So even if the parent route's scope is a folder, the task assignee can add members and content from the entire workspace to a sub-route.

Also note these characteristics of sub-routes:

• If a task that has sub-routes is deleted, the sub-routes and all of its tasks are also deleted. People who have current tasks assigned are notified. A task might be deleted because the route owner deletes it or because another task of the same order was completed and the tasks were defined with the Any completion option.
• If you delegate a task for which you have created a sub-route, you remain the owner of the sub-route, not the delegate.

To create a sub-route for a task, navigate to the Routes category for the Task and follow the instructions in Creating a Route with Only Basic Information, Creating a Simple Route, or Creating a Route Using a Wizard.

After the task assignee completes a task that is marked as Needs Owner Review, the task is promoted to the Review state and the route owner reviews the task. If the owner approves the task, the system promotes the task to Complete and notifies the task assignee. If the owner rejects the task, the system demotes the task back to Assigned and notifies the assignee. The task assignee must complete the task again based on the review comments the route owner entered. Furthermore, if a Task is rejected the task is not restarted. The Route owner must create a new Task if further information is needed for the Task.

When rejecting a task, the route owner may reassign the task to someone other than the original assignee. The new assignee receives the notification and must complete the task. This means you might receive a notification about a task that is rejected even though you didn't work on the task originally.

You complete a rejected task in the same way you complete a new task, as described in Completing a Route Task. The only differences are:

• You, the task assignee, will receive a Review Complete notification about the task and can click the hyperlink in the message to access details about the task. Alternatively, you can click the task's Name from the Tasks pages as you would any Assigned task.
• Review the information on the Properties page for the task, focusing especially on the Review Comments. These are comments the route owner entered to explain how the task should be completed. Also look for updated information in the other fields, such as new Instructions, a new Due Date/Time, and a different Action.