Section 6 Tasks As a Cordell Connect user, you can assign tasks to projects, companies or contacts. You can: Add tasks Search tasks Update tasks Add tasks to your Microsoft Outlook task list or Calendar Complete tasks Assign tasks to multiple users View tasks Delete tasks Print tasks There is also section, which is displayed immediately when you login to Cordell Connect. It contains hyperlinks to view the overdue tasks, tasks for today, tasks assigned to you, and tasks for active projects. Add Task When you create a task, it is stored in the Cordell Connect database but it can only be viewed by the users within the company that created the task. No user outside your company can view a task you have created. When you add a task, it can be assigned to anyone within your organisation. You can also assign task to yourself. The task can be shared between users if you assign it to more than one user. All assigned users can view a shared task. The default setup for Cordell Connect allows users to view only their own notes and tasks. However, the system can be setup so that all users within a company can view each others notes and tasks. To add a task: 1. Locate the project, company or contact that you wish to add the task to. 2. Click on the project title, company name or contact name to open the record in Detail View. 3. Scroll to the bottom of the screen and click on the next to TASKS. 83
4. Type a brief description of the task in the text box next to Subject. As a default, the word Follow up will appear as the subject. You can change the subject to a different one by typing it over. 5. Within the text box next to Task, you can type a longer description of the task. This should include as much detail as required (maximum of 1500 characters). 6. Next to Due Date, select an appropriate date for when the task needs to be completed (a calendar appears automatically as soon as you click on the text box). 7. Next to Due Time, select an appropriate time for when the task needs to be completed. 8. Next to Assigned To, your name will appear. If you want to assign the task to another Cordell Connect user within your company, choose their name from the drop down box. To assign the task to multiple users, hold down the Ctrl key while you select each name. 9. If the task you are creating relates to a specific project or company, you can select the project or company name from the drop down menu below the Assigned To, list box. If the task is not related to a particular project, you can leave None value in this field. 10. Click Save. The task will now appear at the bottom of the Detail View for the project you added it to. Assigning Tasks When creating a task, you can choose to assign it to another Cordell Connect user within your company. After creating the task, if you decide that you want to assign it to someone else, you can still do so. There are two ways to assign a task after it has been created: Assign a Task from the Edit Task screen To assign a task from the Edit Task screen: 1. Scroll to the bottom of the Project Detail screen and click on the Subject of the Task you wish to assign this will be the blue underlined link part of the task. 2. The Edit Task screen will appear. In the drop down menu next to Assigned To: choose the name of the Cordell Connect user within your company whom you want to assign the task to. 3. Click the Save button. The Tasks section of the Project Detail screen will now show the name of the user to whom you assigned the task. 84
Assign a Task from the Detail View To assign a task from the Project Detail screen: 1. Scroll to the bottom of the Project Detail screen and tick the box to the left of the task you wish to assign to another Cordell Connect user within your company. 2. At the bottom of the tasks listed, next to Assign selected task to, select the name of the Cordell Connect user within your company whom you want to assign the task to. You can assign more than one task at a time to a user by ticking the boxes next to each relevant task. 3. Once you have ticked the relevant box(es) and chosen the appropriate user s name, click the OK button that appears. The Tasks section of the Project Detail screen will be updated immediately and will show the name of the user whom you assigned the task to. Adding a Task to Microsoft Outlook Calendar You may want to add a task to your Microsoft Outlook Calendar based on the task s due date. This can be done using the following steps: 1. From the Add Task or Edit Task screen, click the button. 2. A pop up box will appear confirming that the task has been added to your Outlook Calendar. Click OK. The task will appear in your Microsoft Outlook calendar on the date the task falls due. (Please refer to the Essential Settings document for specific settings required for this function). 85
Add Tasks to Microsoft Outlook After adding a task to your Microsoft Outlook Calendar, you can also add the task to your Task list in Outlook. To add the Cordell Connect task to your Outlook Task list, do the following: 1. From the Add Task or Edit Task screen, click the button. 2. A pop up box will appear confirming that the task has been added to your Outlook Task List. Click OK. The task will appear in your Microsoft Outlook Task list. (Please refer to your Essential Settings document for specific settings required for this function). Note: When the task appears in your Outlook Calendar or your Outlook Task list, you will be able to see all the details that you added regarding the task in Cordell Connect, example company name, contact names, details etc. Add Tasks to Other Internet Calendaring Applications Integrating icalendar with Cordell Connect will now allow you to send tasks and contact details to different Internet mail applications (not only to MS Outlook). This means Cordell Connect is now even more convenient to use and is more flexible in fitting with your current business practises. icalendar is an Internet standard for deploying interoperable calendaring and scheduling services for the Internet. It allows users of different Internet mail applications to exchange calendar information. You will be able to send meeting requests and tasks to other users through email. icalendar is implemented and supported by a large number of products. You may want to add a task to your own calendar based on the task s due date. This can be done using the following steps: 86
1. From the Add Task or Edit Task screen, click the button. 2. Following pop up box will appear: 3. Click on Open and specify the application you wish to associate with the icalendar file. 4. Depending on your PC configuration, the file may opens up automatically using your default calendar application. 87
Edit Task If you created a task or were assigned a task - you can make changes to that task or complete the task. However, you are not able to update a task if you created it but then assigned the task to someone else. The following fields in a Task can be updated: Task Subject Task Description Project (only from project/company/contact details view) Companies (only from project/company/contact details view) Contacts (only from project/company/contact details view) Assigned to Due Date Due Time To edit a task: 1. On the Menu Bar, click on Task then My Task List. 2. A list of the Tasks that have been assigned to you will be shown. You can change the sort order of these tasks by clicking on any of the column headers. 3. Scroll through the list to find the task that you wish to edit. 4. When you have found the task, click on the Task Subject, which is the blue underlined text. 5. The Add/Edit Task screen will appear. You can change the details, including due date and time, and the user who the task is assigned to. 6. Click Save button. The task will be updated immediately with the changes you ve made. 88
Task Completion In addition to updating a task, you can also complete a task. When the task is completed, it will become a note, disappearing from TASK section & your task s list. Completed tasks are kept in the Notes section of the Project, Company or Contact record to which it is associated. Once a task is completed, Cordell Connect automatically inserts the date stamp when the task was marked as completed. You will then be able to view the completion date of the task. To mark a task as completed: 1. On the Menu Bar, click on Task then My Task List. 2. A list of the Tasks that have been assigned to you will be shown. 3. Scroll through the list to find the task that you wish to mark as complete. 4. When you have found the task, click on the Task Subject, which is the blue underlined text. 5. The Add/Edit Task screen will appear. Click button. The task will be automatically removed from your My Task List. To find the details of the task, locate the project/company/contact, which it was associated with, and scroll to the Notes section of that project/company/contact in Detail View. The task you completed will now be recorded as a note. Delete Task If you have created a task or were assigned a task, you can delete or inactivate that task. When you delete or inactivate a task it is removed from the Cordell Connect database. To delete or inactivate a task you need to be viewing the task details. To delete or inactivate a task: 1. Locate the project/company/contact, which the task is attached to. 2. Open relevant the project/company/contact in Detail View. 3. Scroll to the bottom of the screen until you reach the TASKS section. 4. Click on the Task Subject (the blue underlined text) of the task you wish to delete. 5. In the Edit Task screen, click the button. 6. A pop up box will appear asking you to confirm that you want to delete the task. Click OK. The task is inactivated and removed from view. You can also delete tasks in bulk (more than one at a time) from My Task List, which can be accessed by clicking on Task on the Menu Bar, then My Task List. Note: Once the task is deleted, it cannot be retrieved. 89
Task Reports A report showing your current tasks can be printed if required. The report will show the following information: Due date Task Subject Task Project Company Contact (if applicable) Contact Phone or Mobile number (if applicable) To print a Task Report: 1. On the Menu Bar select Task then My Task List (or Tasks for Today, Tasks Overdue, Tasks for Active Projects) 2. If you want all tasks to be included, tick the top box and click the Print All button. 3. To make a selection of tasks, place a tick next to the tasks you want to be included in the report. 4. Click on Add to Print List button when you finished your selection. 5. Click on View Print List button to get the refined task list 6. Click the Print All button. 7. Report Type box appears on the screen. You can either export Tasks to PDF or Excel. 8. Click on Generate Reportbutton and the tasks report will be generate in whichever format you have chosen. 9. To print the report, use the File and Print option. You can also add tasks to the Microsoft Outlook Calendar or Task list from this screen by selecting the relevant tasks and then clicking on the Add to Outlook button. My Task List Cordell Connect allows you to quickly access tasks that have been assigned to your username, either by yourself or by another user within your company. You can select those tasks from the Tasks Assigned to You hyperlink on the Welcome screen. 90
A complete list of all your tasks those you created for yourself plus those created by another user in your company and assigned to you can be accessed by clicking on Task on the Menu Bar then My Task List. In the My Task List, you can view and sort columns such as: Due Date Assigned By Assigned To Task Title & Description Project Title hyperlink related to the Task Company related to the Project (if applicable) Contact Name Phone or Mobile Search Tasks Cordell Connect now allows you to search tasks based on who they are assigned to, the task subject, the task content or the task due date. To search for a task: 1. Click on Task on the Menu Bar. 2. Select Search Tasks from the menu displayed. The following screen will appear: 3. Enter the appropriate criteria that you wish to search by (a wild card is embedded in those search fields). 4. Click the Submit Search button. The tasks matching your search criteria will be displayed. Tasks for Today Cordell Connect now allows you to quickly access tasks that are due on the current day. To do this: 1. Click on Task on the Menu Bar. 2. Select Tasks for Today from the menu displayed. The following screen will appear: 91
3. Only tasks due on the current day will be displayed. If you have no tasks due on the current day, the screen will display No records found. Tasks Overdue Cordell Connect now allows you to quickly access tasks that are overdue. To do this: 1. Click on Task on the Menu Bar. 2. Select Tasks Overdue from the menu displayed. The following screen will appear: 3. Only tasks that are overdue will be displayed. If you have no overdue tasks, the screen will display No records found. Tasks for Active Projects Cordell Connect now allows you to quickly access tasks that are related to your active projects. To do this: 1. Click on Task on the Menu Bar. 92
2. Select Tasks Overdue from the menu displayed. The following screen will appear: 3. Only tasks that are related to Active projects will be displayed. If you have no tasks assigned with active projects, the screen will display No records found. 93