Work Structure

Work is organized into the following conceptual entities:

  1. Project - A project is at the top level and is used to group similar tasks. In some cases, a project will contain a finite number of tasks, that when completed, the project will be complete. In other cases, the project will be on going and tasks will be completed and new ones will be added. Projects will either be for an individual client or internal for Software Logistics.

  2. Task - A task is a unit of work that can be clearly defined that have expected outcomes which identify what should be accomplished for this task.

  3. Subtask - Subtasks are individual steps that need to be accomplished to complete this larger task. This is generally helpful to help organize and plan the work. Some tasks don’t necessarily have to have subtasks but this might be helpful to understand what needs to be done.

In addition the following can be associated with a task:

  • Additional Information - Area where any additional and helpful information can be added to the task. This might be information such as which repository contains the source code that needs to be modified or which branch should be used.

  • Issues - Issues are used to track missing information or questions that come up with doing task work.

  • Expected Outcomes - Area where what should be accomplished by completing this task.

  • Attachments - Files can be added and associated with a task. These can be images, PDFs or other related information that may be helpful in completing the task.

  • Risks - Risks should be identified early and often so they can be addressed before they impact project schedule.

  • Help Resources - Help resources can be added to a task. They can either be links to web pages or notes. If files need to be added, they can be added as an attachment.

  • Notes - Discussions that can be added to the task to document findings, decisions or other important information.

  • History - The history tab shows an list of key events that have taken place on this task such as it changing status, verification steps being completed and other important milestones.

  • ToDo’s - You can think of a ToDo as a light task. Sometimes it’s really overkill to go through the entire process of creating a task and its workflow. However, we still want to make sure we capture things so they don’t fall through the cracks. ToDo’s are a very light-weight mechanism to track things that are assigned to someone and need to get done.