Tasks

Tasks are the unit of assigned delivery work. Each task belongs to a work package and can name an assignee, project, priority, dates and estimated hours. The team can move it from Backlog into active work, review or a blocked state. A project manager can use that movement to see what is actually progressing before the next milestone conversation.

• Assignment. The assignee is a named team member; the package gives the task its project context.
• Status. Backlog, in progress, in review, Blocked and Done describe the current work state.
• Hours. Estimates and actual hours support a conversation about remaining effort and overrun.

Agree what qualifies as one task and who owns its status. A task should be narrow enough that the assignee can explain its next action, but not so small that a manager loses the project story. Decide when in review is appropriate and who checks the result before Done. The record has a description and percent complete, yet a status change should still reflect actual work rather than an optimistic progress figure.

Set priorities with a shared rule. Critical and High should mean that someone will act on them, not simply that the request matters to its author. Put start and due dates on tasks that affect a milestone. Confirm that the assigned team member has capacity before promising the date. The team member record shows weekly capacity and assigned estimate hours, while the project manager remains responsible for interpreting that comparison.

Create a task for an implementation change within a release work package. Give it an assignee, estimated hours and a due date. Open Task Board by Status and move it from Backlog to in progress. Log time against the task and inspect actual hours. If an issue blocks verification, mark the task Blocked and create an issue against the project with severity and owner. The manager can then see the task in Blocked Tasks and the issue in Open Issues.

After the issue is triaged and addressed, return the task to in progress, move it into in review and finally Done. Check that the associated package and milestone still reflect the real schedule. If time exceeds the estimate, use the task hour fields and package totals to explain the variance. This rehearsal should include a real owner handing off to a reviewer, even if the task status is updated by the assignee.

• Task Board by Status — Teams move through the saved board by current work state.
• Tasks In Flight — Managers inspect work under way or in review, with assignee and due date.
• Blocked Tasks — Leads find work that needs a decision or intervention.

Use delivery control for status changes and time approval for booked hours.