Task Management
New project stages workflow, use of tags
Current Stages: New/Waiting Info/On Deck/In Development/Under Review/Waiting Deployment/General Support/Done
Proposed Stages: Backlog/New/In Progress/In Review/Done/Cancelled
Employ use of tags for: Needs Internal Feedback/Needs Client Feedback/Needs Prod Deploy
Backlog (folded stage): A new task comes in and is created in Backlog until details are filled, and the task is ready for scoping or assignment. Assign as needed for scoping/discussion, and log notes or send message depending on whether we need customer details or not, tag as needed if waiting on feedback. Once task is ready it moves to New and is assigned for work.
New: New tasks would be the client’s current requests-anything old or without description stays in Backlog, tasks stay in New until they actually begin getting worked on. Tasks in new should not have any tags on them, as all questions should be answered by the time a task is in this stage.
In Progress: Tasks move to In Progress when work actually begins. We could potentially have an automated action that begins the timesheet timer when the task is moved by the “Assigned To” at time they begin work on this task. Support Tasks would have their own folded stage would stay in the In Progress stage.
In Review: Task moves to In Review when Dev work is completed and if the task is simple, straightforward, or otherwise urgent, it could potentially be deployed directly to staging then prod, and task is then reassigned to the consultant moved to Done. Otherwise, when a dev or consultant moves the task from In Progress to In Review, it would be assigned back to the consultant for QA and Testing. Task stays in Review until shown and tested to/by the customer. Once customer approves task, we leave In Review, assign to dev, and tag it for Needs Prod Deploy.
Done (folded stage): Once prod deploy is complete, tag is removed, task is assigned back to Consultant and moved to Done
Note: Cancelled would be its own stage, placed to the right of Done, and should be folded to cut down on clutter stage could be eliminated and a cancelled tag be used, putting the task in Backlog in case it needs revisited in the future. Cancelled tasks should have a log note detailing when the task was discussed and agreed to be cancelled by the customer.
Note: Saved Favorite filters/default filters could be used to quickly show grouped by selections, or to include/exclude specific tags.
I believe using this workflow, and listed stages and tags, and “Assigned To” would keep tasks moving quicker, reduce clutter when viewing project pipelines, and clear up any confusion about who or what a task is waiting on in order for it to move forward.
Mock up: