Production and Costs

Production tasks hold the work needed to deliver a project. Each task has a description, due date, assigned person, project, status and completion date. The Production Lead can follow open, in-progress, review and completed work on a board. The Editor can inspect the same work when judging whether an edition is ready to move through review.

Create concrete tasks for a supplement, such as laying out the feature pages and checking the final page sequence. Assign each task to a person and set its due date before the project’s delivery date. The task should be linked to the same project as the content item it supports. That connection lets the team review story progress and production work in the context of one edition.

• Task ownership. Each task names the person who will do the work and the project it serves.
• Progress. Open, in progress, review and completed states distinguish work waiting, underway and finished.
• Cost record. Each project cost has a category, date, amount and draft, approved or paid state.

The publication workflow closes related production tasks when approved content is published. Before using that action, the Production Lead should inspect task assignments and project links. A task attached to the wrong project could disappear from the intended edition’s work view, while a task that is still under review needs an explicit operational decision before release.

Agree who creates tasks and who marks them ready for review. Decide whether a task describes one layout deliverable or a larger block of work. Use due dates that leave room for the Editor to make the final publication decision. Set a consistent cost category vocabulary so the Finance Manager can compare expenses within and across projects.

The project budget is a planning number. Costs are separate dated records with their own approval and payment states. Decide who may approve a cost and who records payment. A paid state should follow a recorded decision, rather than being inferred from the existence of a cost attachment or a completed production task.

Add layout and proof tasks to the supplement project. Assign a Production Lead and a second staff member, then move one task into review. Enter a draft printing cost and approve it after comparing the amount with the project budget. Open Production Board and Cost Ledger to see both sets of records against the same project. When the Editor publishes the approved content, check the related task outcome and its completion date.

Rehearse a cost correction before payment. The Finance Manager should be able to identify the date, category, amount, project and approval state of the corrected record. Review the project register before marking the edition delivered so budget and work status remain visible to the decision maker.

• Production Board — Scan tasks by state, assignee and project.
• Project Register — Compare the edition’s budget and status with its tasks and costs.
• Cost Ledger — Review dated expenses and their approval or payment state.

Follow production and costs and the publication handoff.