Notifications to start a task

[JillAc]

Hi I am pulling my hair out about Notifications. I've been through the list a dozen times and I can't find what I want to do. I know this is simple, I just can't find the right combination of Notifications. I'm wondering if my problem is in the personal setups vs the system setups. I can't figure it out. Nobody has yet adjusted their own notifications, so they are set to the default. #1 We are getting notifications when a task is complete and it shows the dependent tasks, whether they are "my tasks" or someone else's tasks. Nobody cares about other people's tasks, only which of MY TASKS are now due? We are not getting a notification that the dependent task is complete and now MY TASK has to start. What am I doing wrong? #2 The second thing is that when a project goes "current" every task is sent out in a separate email, even those that have due dates in a long time, and still have to wait for dependent tasks. I can't figure out how to turn those off. What should go out is a summary of all the MY TASKS that will be coming up. Then, when the dependent task is done, a new notification should go out that says you are ready to start your task. (see #1)#1 As usual, thanks for your help!! Jill Jill Ackerman

[MichaelMa9]

Hi Jill, Are you the project owner on these projects? I am the Superuser of the department and open up most of the projects so I have my notifications set to be alerted on EVERYTHING. I know it sounds like a lot but I just delete out what I don't need. If you are the project owner (and your notifications are set up this way) you will get notified when a task is complete on a project you own. Are you saying the team members are not getting notified that the predecessor of their task is complete? They should go into "information about work assigned to me" and make sure "A predecessor of one of my tasks is completed" or better yet...."all predecessors of my tasks are completed". Yes, for #2 all the due dates go out to the team for their tasks. I don't see where you can turn those off. Normally our team here just deletes their emails and works off their dashboard for the tasks. They will go into their work requests, click "work on it" to bring all the tasks into the "working on" queue. Then they will look for the notification "the status changes on a task I'm assigned to" and sync up their dates on their dashboard manually. Does that help at all or make it more confusing? Thanks Mike Mike Marando Excelsior College

[VicAl]

OK I'll take a crack at it. I'm not sure I'm clear on what you don't like about the notification you are getting. But you can look up the notification that's being triggered by looking at the contents of the email itself. In your notifications settings you can trace what's in the email to see which setting is causing this and you can turn it off if you wish. Let me know if you need more help on how to do that. If you're not getting notification when a predecessor to your task is complete, then there are two possibilities: i. You don't have the setting turned on in the Setup (see screen shot for the one you need to turn on) – OR – ii. Your Task is assigned to a Team and not an Individual. This is a quirk we noticed that when a predecessor Task is complete the notification goes out to only an Individual assigned to the successor Task. If there's only a Team assignment, the whole Team doesn't get a notification. Thus it's not like when you assign a Task to a Team and the whole Team is notified. You are correct, when a project goes Current, the team members should only receive 1 email stating a project they are on is now "Active" and it would contain a Summary. If they're getting an email for every Task, there's either a bug (in which case call support), or they're getting an email notification that is different than you think. I would research the email and trace it to the notifications in the Settings like I mentioned above to verify which notification it truly is. And then perhaps turn it off. Hope that helps. Vic Alejandro, PMP, CSM | IT | Sr. IT Project Manager Denver Water | t: (303-628-7262) | c: (303-319-6473) "http://www.denverwater.org/"> http://www.denverwater.org INTEGRITY | VISION | PASSION | EXCELLENCE | RESPECT

[JillAc]

Thanks Vic. I've narrowed down the issue to wanting a notification that a predecessor has finished and a new task assigned to ME is ready to START. Right now, when a predecessor is finished, one email goes out to everyone who has a predecessor task (they all receive the same email) and it shows ALL the tasks that are starting. The recipient has to figure out which are their tasks. If there are many tasks starting, it doesn't list them all and there is a link to the Project, also not useful. Also, sometimes (and I can't figure out when or how but sometimes) the Assignment on this "predecessor is complete" notification shows the role instead of the person's name, which is even more confusing. Jill Ackerman

[VicAl]

Are you sure it's not this setting (attached) that is sending those Task/Issue Completion notices. You can tell by the Subject line of the email. Vic Alejandro, PMP, CSM | IT Program Manager Denver Water | t: (303-628-7262) | c: (303-319-6473) "http://www.denverwater.org/"> http://www.denverwater.org INTEGRITY | VISION | PASSION | EXCELLENCE | RESPECT

[JillAc]

Positive. Those aren't checked. Jill Ackerman

[MartyGa1]

I think Vic nailed it earlier in this thread. The key notification you want is "All Predecessor Task Completion to Task Dependents", which tells the assigned user that his or her task is ready to start. The other notification, "Task Completion to Task Dependents"https://amway.my.workfront.com/notification/view?ID=58990ddf0011b6bc5f01fdd0264c5918" class="objectlink " ng-non-bindable=""> " will send a notification to ANY task downstream of a task that has been completed, even if they aren't ready to start. Marty Gawry - CapabilitySource

[JillAc]

Hi I have both those checked and all I get are those "bundled" emails that have all subsequent tasks listed at the bottom, not just "my tasks." And to make matters even more complicated, it appears that when someone is assigned tasks via the Staffing tool, they get different notifications than when a Project is created and they are already assigned tasks (via the template). 1. The person who was assigned via Staffing got five separate emails, one for each task in the project (five emails in a row! -- the first is ready to start, but they weren't sent in order so in fact the first email she got was the 3rd task due...sigh...), 2. Another person on the same project, with 5 tasks, only got "A Project You are On is Now Active" and it listed her tasks at the bottom, even though they aren't due for 2 months. I just have no idea how to explain this to people, or to let them know what to expect. I asked my implementation manager if there is documentation but he said there wasn't any. Why isn't this driving everybody else crazy!? Jill Ackerman

[JillAc]

And to make matters even worse the email generated from "A Predecessor of One Of My Tasks is Complete" lists ALL the subsequent tasks, and not the person who was assigned, only the role, so the person who is seeing this email doesn't realize it's meant for them, their name isn't on it! (Note I changed the subject line to see if that would be clearer; it's not). I don't think there is a solution here, so I can stop complaining now. I just wanted to close the loop on this. There's not a good "Your task is ready to Start" notification in the system. See attached. Jill Ackerman

[Doug_Den_Hoed__AtAppStore]

Hi Jill, Thanks for the update. In the absence of a "your task is ready to start" email, may I suggest you consider creating your own reports, and either use the "http://store.atappstore.com/2010/06/switchback-workflow/">Switchback Workflow concept to track Task Progression, and/or the "http://store.atappstore.com/2011/02/as-soon-as-impossible/">Handoff Date concepts to confirm when Tasks are Ready to Start, then using Workfront's "https://support.workfront.com/hc/en-us/articles/217285057-Setting-Up-Report-Deliveries">Report Delivery functionality to filter for any Handoff Dates that occurred within the past 24 hours (sent daily)? Regards, Doug Doug Den Hoed - AtAppStore Got Skills? Lend a hand! https://community.workfront.com/participate/unanswered-threads

[TaraJa1]

I am having a similar dilemma with notifications in my WF instance. When users are converting a project from "planning" to "current", the summary email you mentioned above doesn't seem to be going out to everyone assigned a task on the project? Any insight on that? Do I not have my notifications set up correctly? Additionally, is there a way to send an email when someone is assigned a task, even if the task is added after the project is set to "current" - or perhaps if the summary email you mentioned is working properly, there is no need for this notification as well? I feel like sometimes people are getting notified, and sometimes people are not, but everyone is ALWAYS complaining about something :) And lastly, are people getting way to caught up with notifications, and perhaps I should just tell them to pay closer attention to their dashboards and my work tab? Thanks for your help! Tara Tara Jacobus Verisk Corporate Marketing

[VicAl]

Hi Tara, It could be your settings, but you have a lot of scenarios here so it's tough to tell without seeing the settings and the examples. If you haven't already it would certainly be worth the time to thoroughly review the email notification settings. As you can see it can be confusing if you don't know what is turned on and what isn't. We did our at implementation with our WF consultant and that was extreeeeemely helpful as not all the settings are intuitive. So you might walk through them with a WF person to ensure you get what you want. On the scenario when the Project email (Planning to Current) is not getting to some people (even though they're assigned), could it be that those people have a Reviewer license. Reviewer's don't get assignment emails in WF. And yes, when you assign a task after it is Current, the assignee should be notified (unless they're a Reviewer or you don't have that setting turned on). Hope that helps a little. Vic Alejandro, PMP, CSM | IT Program Manager Denver Water | t: (303-628-7262) | c: (303-319-6473) "http://www.denverwater.org/"> http://www.denverwater.org INTEGRITY | VISION | PASSION | EXCELLENCE | RESPECT

[JillAc]

After I went through this a few months ago I can update you as to what we are now doing. Notifications are very limited in customization. People can turn theirs off and so you never know who's getting what. Some people get so many they stop paying attention, and the "ready to start" notification is the worst one of all, it lists the role instead of the name of what tasks are starting (this is by design, not a mistake) and in big giant font and the headline says which predecessor task was complete, but the task that's ready to start (and the reason why you are getting the notification) in tiny small font at the bottom. Plus, if there are many tasks ready to start, they are all lumped together so people are getting start notifications that include other tasks that they don't care about one whit. Plus plus, yours may not even be listed on the notification ("click for more"), so it's not intuitive, especially for visual people, to easily absorb the meaning. I've been advising that if they see notifications they don't understand, instead of trying to decipher, go to Home to find out what's what. That seems to have helped encourage them to go to Home more frequently and start using it as their primary source. But now that Home is about to change with the next release, I'm bracing myself for a revolt because it's going to look different. What they like is was how clean it is in the left rail, super easy to understand, but the new release is separating tasks by week so you have all this noise instead of a simple list in due date order. Sigh ... Jill Ackerman

[Sheri_Whitten]

This Idea Exchange idea looks like something that would help - needs a few more votes! Create or customize email templates for any notification type to include custom form data Sheri Whitten Gordon Food Service

[AmyYo]

i'm new to using workfront and we have whittled down the notifications and i find it not very helpful. as mentioned above...the title of the email is "Your task is ready to start: ((the task just completed is shown here))" the majority of the emails refers to the task just completed and it's in large type. then at the bottom is what the recipient cares about...their task that is ready to start. is there any way to change this notification? it's super confusing and not helpful.

[LauraO_1]

My organization just met with Workfront reps about this last week after being very frustrated. They confirmed there is NO way to get the notification you're looking for. They don't allow custom templates to be used for event notifications, which is what you're looking for, based on completion of all predecessors. You are able to have a reminder notification, but the rules can only be based on the task being late, and these are sent out every 24 hours, not immediately. Our tasks need to happen a lot quicker than that so this approach wasn't an option. See below for the screen on how to do this if it could work for you. but please continue to upvote this!! Clearly people want this and the logic is there, they're just not using it correctly (or that email template needs to just be switched in hierarchy/size of the text! Laura O'Malley Operations Manager precisioneffect Boston, MA