What are Collection Routines?
Many data collections need to happen on a recurring basis: store opening checklists, safety inspections, equipment checks, weekly or monthly reports. In these cases, having a good form is not enough — you need to make sure it is answered at the right frequency, by the right collaborators, and to know, without chasing people manually, what was and was not executed.
Collection Routines solve exactly this problem. A Routine groups forms into Tasks with a periodicity and assigns these tasks to Collaborators of the workspace. From then on, the system automatically tracks each period: collaborators see their pending activities, every submitted response is counted and, when something is left undone, it is recorded for the manager.
Main concepts
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Routine | The main grouping. A routine has a name, a start date and a list of responsible collaborators. The tasks live inside it. Learn more about how to create a routine. |
| Task | The unit of work within the routine: a form + the expected number of collections + a periodicity (Daily, Weekdays, Weekly, Fortnightly or Monthly). Learn more about tasks and periodicities. |
| Collection | Each submitted response of a form. It is the collection that "counts" toward fulfilling a task. |
| Window | The time period defined by the task's periodicity — for example, one day (Daily periodicity) or one week (Weekly periodicity) — within which the expected collections must happen. |
| My Activities | The collaborator's view: lists what is pending, what was executed and what was not executed, in the web portal and in the mobile app. Learn more about My Activities. |
| Monitoring | The manager's view: shows all the activities of the workspace's routines — executed and not executed — with filters by routine, form, collaborator and period. Learn more about Monitoring. |
How it works in practice
- The manager creates the routine, chooses the responsible collaborators and adds the tasks (form + number of collections + periodicity);
- In each window, collaborators see their pending activities in My Activities — in the web portal and in the mobile app — and answer the forms;
- Each valid submission counts as an executed collection for the task in that window;
- At the end of each window, if the expected collections did not happen, the system automatically records the activities as "not executed", and they become visible in Monitoring.
Recording what was or was not executed is done automatically by the system at the end of each window. The manager does not need to chase people manually or check form by form: just follow Monitoring.
Plan requirements
The Collection Routines module depends on the contracted plan: it only works in workspaces whose plan has the Routines feature enabled.
When the feature is not available, an informational screen is displayed in place of the routines pages — both in the web portal and in the mobile app. In that case, contact the account owner or the Hashdata sales team to enable the feature.
Permissions
Access to the routines features is controlled by three distinct permissions:
| Permission | What it allows |
|---|---|
| Manage routines | Create, edit and delete routines and tasks, manage the routines' collaborators and also access Monitoring. |
| View routines | Access to Monitoring only, without being able to create or edit routines. For those who have only this permission, the routines menu item leads directly to Monitoring. |
| Collect data | See and execute their own activities in My Activities, answering the forms of the assigned tasks. |
The workspace owner already has the routines permissions automatically.
Learn more about how to grant permissions to the collaborators of your workspace.
Where to find it
In the web portal, access is through the Routines item in the Main Menu — it appears according to the permissions described above: those who can manage access the routines configuration screen; those who can only view are taken directly to Monitoring.
In the mobile app, the collaborator accesses their pending activities through the My Activities tab. Pending activities remain available even without an internet connection, and collections made offline are counted when the app synchronizes.
Next steps
- How to create a Routine? — create your first routine, choose the collaborators and set the start date;
- Tasks and Periodicities — configure forms, number of collections and windows;
- My Activities — track and execute your activities as a collaborator;
- Monitoring — track routine execution as a manager;
- Use Cases — practical routine examples for everyday use.