Configuring Tasks (WBS)
Combining a general Work Type with a specific project creates a task. Every time a value is entered into a timesheet, a value is also entered against a task.
A task is unique; it is a particular work type completed for a specific project. Each project consists of several work types to be completed in order to meet project demands. Combining a general work type with a specific project creates a task. The application tracks time and expenses associated with the project at the task level.
All time spent working on a task and all expenses are a cost to the company. In some cases, however, these costs are billed to the client. With this information accurately tracked, a manager may easily generate a progress report for any project in order to see all associated costs and billable sums. In effect, all actuals are tracked by tasks.
A task profile contains a lot of important information. As with clients, projects and work types, tasks may also have cost, billing and expense rules associated with them. Once configured the application automatically calculates the accumulation of cost, billable sums, and expenses for the project.
In order to use a task, a user must be assigned to it. Once assigned, the user can then enter time and expense entries for the task. These entries are then tracked according to the cost, billing and expense rules previously configured.
Let us consider a scenario where a food company, Foods Are Us Inc., decides to market a nutritious drink. We call this project "Mission Nutrition" (alias = MN). In order to accomplish Mission Nutrition, the company needs to conduct market research, feasibility analysis, product design, promotional campaigns, etc.
Let's also consider that Foods Are Us have signed a contract with you to get this project under way. Then, your client is Foods Are Us Inc., with whom you have a project called "Mission Nutrition", for which the following work types have been assigned:
- Market Research
- Feasibility Analysis
- Product Design
- Promotional Campaigns
Work types in the application are generic in nature, and can be associated with any project, whenever appropriate. The association of the work type to a project creates the task. The project alias and the full task name make up the task name.
However, if the Enable Work Type Uniqueness check box is selected under the Defaults screen (Setup > Work > Clients), then users won't be able to associate the same work type to the same project more than once, thus allowing the task's unique identifiers to be the project/work type combination.
Suppose you are working on a similar project for another product line, possibly with the same corporation, many of the work types assigned to the "Mission Nutrition" project might also be assigned to this project. Linking a specific project to a specific work type creates a task. Let's suppose this other project is called "Improved Nutrition".
The following table shows how a task is created based on the examples above:
Project Name & Alias PLUS | Work Type EQUALS | TASK |
---|---|---|
Mission Nutrition (MN) | Market Research | MN Market Research |
Improved Nutrition (IN) | Market Research | IM Market Research |
Mission Nutrition (MN) | Feasibility Analysis | MN Feasibility Analysis |
For further details refer to: