Summary

This article covers how collaboration tasks work including creating a task and responding and transitioning tasks. 

Table of Contents

• Visibility Permissions
• How Collaboration Tasks Work
• Create Task
• Respond to and/or Transition Tasks

Collaboration Tasks are field-level interactions that allow users to collaborate on how a field has been or should be populated. The function is similar to feedback or redlining tools. Tasks are ‘turned on’ at the form level in the workflow configuration process.

Visibility Permissions

Based on role and permissions, Collaboration Tasks can be viewed inline on a form or in the Collaboration Tasks Manager. Some roles may have the ability to view tasks at the form level, but will need to prompt that access by clicking the “Show Tasks” option in the Actions Menu. Tasks can be hidden again by selecting “Hide Tasks” in the Actions Menu.

How Collaboration Tasks Work

This is an example of a common task lifecycle, however they vary by user preference and design.

1. Identify need: Study teams determines if a form’s content is likely to require discussion using the collaboration task feature. Monitoring reports often require a feedback/update sort of interaction between authors and reviewers. Many forms are not likely to require that level of interaction between users, so study staff may choose to not initiate the tool on those forms.
2. Workflow assignment: Study team assigns at least one workflow to a form that would benefit from the task interaction. A workflow determines the users involved in the task process and the steps an interaction may take to fulfill its goal.

For example:

*Note that workflows can be designed to have backwards transition movement within the workflow.

3. Create task: User with permission to create tasks, identifies a collaboration need and creates task, selecting an ideal workflow.
4. Respond to task: User with permission to respond to tasks on this form reviews the task, takes the necessary action to resolve, then transitions the task to the next step in the workflow. This next step varies by workflow design, but is typically a final review or closure.
5. Task is closed: User with the permission to close transitions the task to a final status. If the task requires additional work and there is backward movement designed into the workflow, the task can be transitioned back to the responding role. If the task requires additional work and the workflow does not offer backward movement, the original task can be closed and a new one created.

Create Task

1. Click field-level caret to initiate task. When a user with the permission to create tasks on a form accesses that form, a caret is available at every field. Clicking that caret reveals the workflows available to them on the form.
2. Select workflow. If the feedback is simple, the creator may choose the workflow with the least interactions. Workflow naming conventions may reveal workflow steps or they may have labels that represent certain forms. If the steps are not revealed in the naming convention, the creator can select a workflow, then click the Show Workflow icon to reveal the workflow steps.
3. Once the preferred workflow is selected, enter feedback/comments in the Comments field.
4. Add.
5. Based on role and workflow design, after adding, tasks may be viewable inline on the form or from the Collaboration Tasks Manager. Additional actions are available after adding the task:
   • Edit: Click the Edit icon to add additional information to the task
   • Transition: Click the Transition/Update icon if available (based on workflow design) and appropriate
   • Review Transitions: Click the Audit Trail icon to review the transition steps for this task

Respond to and/or Transition Tasks

1. Based on role and workflow design, tasks can be transitioned (process includes Comment field) using the Transition icon from either the form (inline) or the Collaboration Tasks Manager.
2. Select next transition status.
3. Add additional information if available and click the Update button to transition the task to the next step.
4. Based on role and workflow design, after adding, tasks may be viewable inline on the form or from the Collaboration Tasks Manager. Additional actions are available after adding the task:
   • Edit: Click the Edit icon to add additional information to the task
   • Transition: Click the Transition/Update icon if available (based on workflow design) and appropriate
   • Review Transitions: Click the Audit Trail icon to review the transition steps for this task

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