The Task Dashboard is one of two ways to assign tasks, or units of work, in BigTime. You can also assign tasks using the Task Editor, located in the Project Dashboard. This article explains how to assign tasks on the Task Dashboard.
Note: Instead of “tasks,” your firm may refer to these units of work as “budget items,” “phases,” “work items,” or “engagements.” It’s easy to update the lexicon settings in BigTime so that the verbiage is firm-relevant.
How To Assign Tasks on the Task Dashboard
You have several options when it comes to assigning tasks on the Task Dashboard. You can assign:
- New tasks to one or more staffers,
- Existing tasks to one or more staffers, or
- Multiple tasks to one or more staffers.
We’ll discuss each option below.
Assign a Single New Task
Follow the steps below to assign a new task to one or more staffers.
1. Click WORKFLOW...TASK BOARD from the navigation menu.
2. Click ADD TASK, located near the top-left corner of your Task Dashboard. This will cause a new window to pop up.
3. Find the ASSIGNED TO field on the new pop up window, and click on the GRAY ARROW. A picklist with your staffers’ names will populate. Click the box next to the name of each staffer who you want to be assigned to the task.
4. Click ADD to add the task and assign it to your staffers.
Assign Existing Tasks
Say you have several existing tasks that need assigned. Once you’re inside your Task Dashboard (WORKFLOW...TASK DASHBOARD), follow the steps below.
1. Click on one of your tasks located under the TASK column on the Task Dashboard. This will cause a new window to pop up.
2. Find the ASSIGNED TO field on the new pop up window, and click on the GRAY ARROW. A picklist with your staffers’ names will populate. Click the box next to the name of each staffer who you want to be assigned to the task.
3. Click SAVE to save your work.
Handle Multiple Task Details at Once
You can apply multiple actions to tasks at once by using the Bulk Actions feature on the Task Dashboard. For example, you can re-assign several tasks or remove several task assignments all at one time.
The remainder of this article will explain the functions available within the Bulk Actions feature.
Note: To activate the Bulk Actions feature, you need to check at least one checkbox next to a task on your Task Dashboard.
Assign Multiple Tasks to a Staffer
Follow the steps below to learn how to assign multiple tasks to a staffer.
1. Check the boxes next to the tasks you want to assign.
2. Click the GRAY TRIANGLE next to BULK ACTIONS, near the top-left of your Task Dashboard window. A picklist will populate and you’ll select REASSIGN. This will cause a new window to pop up.
3. Click the GRAY ARROW on the new window, and a picklist with your staffers will populate. Select the staffers who you want to assign the tasks to.
4. Click RE-ASSIGN to assign the tasks to the selected staffers.
Other Bulk Edit Features
To get started with the other Bulk Action features, check the boxes next to tasks that you want to amend on the Task Dashboard. Then, click the GRAY TRIANGLE next to BULK EDIT, near the top-left corner of your window, and choose from several options included in the picklist.
Here’s a summary of each Bulk Edit option:
- Archive: BigTime will save the information associated with the selected tasks, but the tasks will appear crossed out on your Task Dashboard. When you choose this option, BigTime will prompt you with a question box to make sure you want to archive the selected task(s).
You can “un-archive” an archived task. To do so, click on the archived task. Then, when a new window pops up, click BUDGET/DATES, and uncheck the box ARCHIVE (100% COMPLETE). Remember to save your changes. - Update Status: update the task status, such as “not started” or “in process.” A new window will pop up; click the red triangle under UPDATED STATUS to generate a picklist and select a status from this list. On the same window you can also update assignments. Click the UPDATE ASSIGNMENT hyperlink and you can make the change.
- Remove Assignment: remove a staffer(s) from one or more tasks. A new window will pop up and you can remove staffers currently assigned to a task.
- Delete: eliminate one or more tasks from your Task Dashboard. When you click DELETE, a dialog box will open asking whether you are sure you want to delete your task(s). Remember that deleting a task is a permanent action and cannot be undone.