Tasks: forms, periodicities and windows
Within a routine, each task links a published form to a periodicity and to an expected number of collections per window. The task determines what must be answered and how often.
A single routine can have several tasks, but each form can only appear in one task per routine.
To add tasks, you need a routine already created. If you have not created yours yet, learn more about how to create a routine.
1. Add a task
With the routine selected, click the option to add a new task and fill in the information:
- Choose the form that must be answered. Only published forms can be chosen, and forms already used in another task of the same routine appear as unavailable in the list;
- Set the expected number of collections for each window (minimum 1). Learn more...
- Choose the task's periodicity (Daily, Weekdays, Weekly, Fortnightly or Monthly). For the Weekdays periodicity, also select the days of the week on which collection will be allowed. Learn more...
- If needed, adjust the additional options All collaborators must send and Accept extra collections;
- Save the task.
The created tasks are listed in the routine, sorted by form name. Each task has a menu with options to edit or remove the task.
Learn more about how to create a form before setting up your routine's tasks.
2. Periodicities and windows
The window is the time interval in which the task's collections must happen. At the end of each window, the system automatically checks what was done: collections recorded within the window count toward the task's goal and, if the goal is not reached, the missing activities are recorded as not executed. Learn more...
The chosen periodicity defines the size and behavior of the windows:
| Periodicity | How the window works |
|---|---|
| Daily | One window per day. Each day, the configured number of collections is expected. |
| Weekdays | You choose the days of the week on which collection is allowed (for example, Monday, Wednesday and Friday). Each chosen day is a window. Collections sent on unselected days are rejected at submission. |
| Weekly | One window per week, starting on the week start day configured in the workspace. |
| Fortnightly | Two windows per month: the first goes from day 1 to day 15 and the second from day 16 to the end of the month. They are not 14-consecutive-day periods. |
| Monthly | One window per calendar month, from the first to the last day of the month. |
Windows follow the workspace owner's time zone and the week start day configured in the workspace. This ensures that the whole team works with the same deadlines, even if collaborators are in different time zones.
3. Number of collections
The number of collections is the amount of form responses expected in each window. For example, a task with Daily periodicity and a number of collections of 3 expects 3 form responses per day.
By default, the count is global: any collaborator in the routine can contribute, and what matters is the sum of the team's collections reaching the configured number within the window. If the All collaborators must send option is turned on, the count becomes per collaborator, as explained below.
4. All collaborators must send
This option changes the count from global to per collaborator: each collaborator in the routine must, individually, reach the number of collections within the window.
See the difference in an example with a routine of 4 collaborators and a number of collections of 1:
| Option | Collections expected in the window | Who must send |
|---|---|---|
| Off (default) | 1 collection in total | Any collaborator in the routine; the team's first collection already meets the goal. |
| On | 4 collections (1 from each collaborator) | All collaborators, individually. One collaborator's collection does not count for the others. |
This option also changes the tracking: with it on, the not executed activities are recorded per collaborator, identifying exactly who did not send. With the option off, the not executed record belongs to the team, without pointing to a specific collaborator.
5. Accept extra collections
By default, when the window's number of collections is reached, new form submissions through the routine are rejected at the moment of submission — the collaborator receives a notice informing that the window's limit has already been reached.
With the Accept extra collections option turned on, collections above the limit are accepted and recorded normally, without blocking.
Use this option when exceeding the goal is desirable. For example: the goal is a minimum of 2 visits per week, but additional visits are welcome and should be recorded.
6. Rejected collections
There are two situations in which the submission of a form linked to a routine is refused:
- Submission on a non-allowed day: with the Weekdays periodicity, collections sent on days of the week that were not selected in the task are refused;
- Submission above the window's limit: when the window's number of collections has already been reached and the task does not accept extra collections, new submissions are refused.
In both cases, the refusal happens at the moment of submission and the collaborator is informed of the reason, so they can adjust to the periodicity or consult the routine's manager.
7. A published form is required
A routine's tasks only work with published forms:
- When creating or editing a task, only published forms can be chosen — it is not possible to save a task with a form in Draft;
- If a form stops being published after the task was created, the task is deactivated automatically: it stops generating activities and follow-ups, and is displayed in the task list with a visual alert indicating the problem;
- When the form is published again, the task is reactivated automatically and tracking resumes from that point onward — the period during which the task was deactivated is not charged.
Those who have permission to manage forms see, right in the task list, a shortcut to edit the form that stopped being published.
Unpublishing a form automatically deactivates all tasks that use it, in all routines of the workspace. While the task is deactivated, no activity is generated and no pending item is recorded. When the form is published again, the task is reactivated and tracking resumes from that moment.
8. What happens at the end of each window
When a window ends without the expected number of collections being reached, the system automatically records the missing not executed activities:
- With the All collaborators must send option turned on, the record is made per collaborator, indicating who did not complete the window's collections;
- With the option turned off, the record belongs to the team: one record is created for each missing collection in the window, without pointing to a specific collaborator.
These records are visible:
- To the collaborator, on the My Activities page, with the status Not Executed;
- To the manager, on the Monitoring page, with the status Not answered.
The system does not record not executed activities for windows prior to the routine's start date, nor for periods in which the routine was disabled or the task was deactivated (for example, while the form was not published). Tracking always starts — or resumes — from that point onward.