Body
Introduction
This article describes the difference between a ticket and a ticket task, when to use tickets versus ticket tasks, and how to work with ticket tasks.
Tickets versus Ticket Tasks
Tickets are the mechanism to satisfy a service request or incident, and a ticket encapsulates the efforts required to fulfill the customer request. Ticket assignment is about getting the ticket to the correct group that satisfies the request.
A ticket task is a unit of work that needs to be completed to resolve a ticket. If the solution to a ticket involves more than one action, procedure, or process, consider dividing the solution into separate tasks. Dividing the solution into individual tasks can help manage the request as it moves toward a resolution.
If a ticket requires several groups to provide some level of support for the ticket, breaking the work up into ticket tasks is a good option. Ticket tasks pull in people/groups who need to work on some aspect/component of the request, but these people/groups do not own the overall requests.
Creating a single ticket with tasks encapsulates all the work efforts into a single location, which allows the responsible person/group to manage the steps to fulfill the request.
Check the options below for details on ticket tasks
Once you are assigned a task, no matter the source or how you access the task, you manage the task the same way.
- Selecting Update allows you to set the percent complete, provide comments, and, more importantly, notify contacts on the ticket. It is recommended that you use an update to notify the responsible person/group.
- Selecting Mark Complete allows you to quickly update the task to 100% complete without providing any details. When you select this option, no email notifications are sent.
- Selecting Edit allows you to edit all the items of the task.
If you are using the My Work application to view your tasks, notice that you can mark a task complete or update the task without opening the ticket.
Ticket tasks can be generated through:
- Ticket workflows
- Task templates, which are a predefined list of tasks
- Manually assigning tasks to the ticket (select Tasks/Activities > Add task)
- Project plans (we don't currently use projects)
When a task is created (by various methods) the following information is provided:
- Title (required): short descriptive statement
- Predecessor: a task that must be completed before the current tasks can start, which allows for sequencing
- Start date: when work on the task should start
- Due date: when the work on the task should be completed
- Estimated hours (required): once the work starts, how long will it take to complete the task
- Complete within: the duration, in operational hours between the start and due dates of the tasks. For example, the task may only take one hour to complete, but the responsible person has five business days to complete the tasks. When a ticket task is activated or reactivated, the start date for that task is set to the time/date of activation. The due date reflects the new start date plus the number of hours specified for the task to be completed within.
- Responsible: the person or group responsible for completing the task (but not responsible for the ticket--just the task).
- Description: specific task directions.
When you are assigned a ticket task, you will be notified via email once the task becomes active (when the start date is passed and any predecessor tasks are complete). You will also get an email notification when any task assigned to you is updated or commented.
There a couple of ways to find tasks assigned to you or your group.
First, you can use the My Work application:
- Go to TDNext
- Open the Application Menu
- Click on My Work
Once the My Work applications is open, you will find several options to display and group your work. If you are interested in only seeing tickets tasks set the following:
- Group: Work Type
- Sort: Start Date
- Page size: set a larger number to show more items
Your assignment will then be listed by type, and you can work with each task (or other types) directly from the MyWork application (no need to go anywhere else).
The My Work application is a built-in hub for all your work assignments, including tickets and tasks, no matter the source. See Getting Started with My Work for more information on how to use the My Work application.
You can view all "active" tasks in a ticket (when the start date is passed and any predecessor tasks are complete) in a ticket by opening the ticket. You will see the active tasks will be located on the right side of the ticket
You can view ALL tasks associated with a ticket (or add new tasks) by opening the ticket and selecting Task/Activities:
If you are comfortable creating reports, you can create a ticket task report by:
- Open the IT Tickets application
- Select Add a report
- Select Ticket Task Report
- Chose the fields you would like to display, for example:
- ID
- Ticket
- Title
- Due
To view only active tasks assigned to you or your group, set the following filters:
- Resp Person is one of (Current User)
- Resp Group is one of (List your group or groups)
- Active is true (this means the task has passed the start date)
- Percent Complete less than 100
Open up the advanced tab and provide the following logical expression:
Set the ordering to your needs (Due Ascending is recommended).
If you would like a TDX Admin to help you build a report, submit a TeamDynamix Change Request and select Create/Update a Report.
Summary
Ticket tasks are a valuable tool to help Service Owners manage the fulfillment of their services. The TDX Administrators recommend using ticket tasks whenever several groups have some responsibility to fulfill a request or when a ticket is being re-assigned several times to complete the service.
If you have any questions on creating or managing ticket tasks, please submit a request at TeamDynamix and UO Service Portal Support.