Hand over work that comes back finished

Choose Chat or a task

A task is a job your squad tracks on Tasks and finishes with a report.

A bigger job takes research or several steps, belongs in Docs, keeps running, or needs another squad member. For example: an article, a plan, a report, or a campaign.

Hand over work in Chat

1. 1

   Open the chat

   Select Chat, then the squad member. To let your lead pick who does it, choose your lead, the first in the list.

2. 2

   Describe the job

   Write what you want back. Type # to tag the docs it should read. See Write a brief that comes back right.

3. 3

   Confirm the task

   The squad member replies with who does it, the task's title, and what you will get. Reply yes, or say what to change. If your message already asked for a task, it skips this step. If you say no and ask for the work in Chat, it does it there.

4. 4

   Read the receipt

   The squad member replies with the new task's title and who picks it up. The task is now on Tasks.

Create a task yourself

1. 1

   Start a new task

   On Tasks, select New Task. A panel opens.

2. 2

   Write the request

   In What needs to be done?, describe the result you want in up to 15 lines and 2,400 characters. A counter shows the lines, such as "6/15 lines". Type # to tag docs from the 100 changed most recently.

3. 3

   Set the priority

   Under Priority, select Low, Normal (the default), High, or Urgent.

4. 4

   Create the task

   Select Create Task. The panel closes, and the new task shows in Queued with your lead on it.

   The task's title is your request's first sentence, up to 80 characters. Your lead may rewrite the title and short description when it hands the task on.

What your lead does with a new task

Before work starts on a task from New Task or your lead's chat, your lead does one of three things:

A task you agree to in another squad member's chat stays with that squad member.

How a big job gets done

The squad member who has the task stays responsible for the whole result, and the task stays one card. In its panel you see:

• A first comment: in 35 words or fewer, what it is making. Reply to guide it.
• A plan: up to 10 steps, marked done as the work moves, with the face of whoever owns each step. See Read the plan.
• Help from the squad: up to 3 other squad members at a time. Each makes a part only it can make, such as a check, a number, or an image. Each part is a plan step, and the report names the helpers, such as "With Quinn and Scout".
• Child tasks: smaller pieces, such as a draft or a review. While one is open, the task can't finish, and its card says "Waiting on" and the child task, or "Working on 2 subtasks". They show under Child Tasks in the panel, not on the board.
• A handoff: a next step for another squad member becomes its own task, marked "From" and the first task's title. It can wait for a start time, such as "Starts Tue 27 Oct, 10:00". The first task lists it under Handed on.

Write a brief that comes back right

Your brief is the request you write in Chat or New Task. Cover these parts, in a few lines each:

Copy this template into Chat or New Task:

[The result, in one sentence].
For: [who it is for].
Start from: [#Docs to read, and what you already know].
Limits: [length, tone, what to leave out].
Ask me before: [the decisions you want to make yourself].
Done when: [what I get, and where].

To save a round of changes:

• Say what you want back, not how to work. Its skills already hold how it works.
• Tag docs with # instead of pasting their text.
• If the job means trying a product, say which products it may try and what it may spend. Otherwise it uses public sources only: docs, pricing pages, published reviews.
• Put every answer you already know in the brief. Each later question stops the task in Blocked until you answer.

What happens after you hand off

What a finished job returns

Every finished task, except a child task, ends with a report: a last comment on what is ready and what happens next. It shows on the task, under Latest outcomes on the Dashboard, and in your notifications.

A report can include:

• Docs: the articles, plans, tables, and images made, under Documents saved with this Report.
• A completed action: what was done, such as sending an email you approved.
• A short answer, when the job was a question.
• Suggestions: up to 3 ideas for more work, waiting in Tasks > Suggestions until you start one. See Start or dismiss a suggestion.

To read it, see Read the report.

Change or stop the work

Words you type in Chat, comments, and ticket answers can be saved to Memory. For a correction that should apply to every job, say it as a rule, such as "Always write in UK spelling."

What handing over doesn't do

• You can't pick the squad member on New Task. To give a job to one squad member, ask in its own chat.
• New Task has no file upload and no due date. Add files in Docs and tag them.
• A squad member doesn't start a bigger job in Chat. It offers a task first.

If something goes wrong

You seeDescribe what needs to be done.

Cause

The request box is empty.

Fix

Write the request.

You seeKeep the request to 15 lines or fewer.

Cause

The request runs over 15 lines.

Fix

Join or cut lines.

You seeThis request references too much material. Remove a few Docs and try again.

Cause

Your request and its tagged docs add up to more than a task can hold.

Fix

Remove a few tags and try again.

You seeThis Task could not be created. Please try again.

Cause

The task didn't save.

Fix

Select Create Task again.

The result is not what you meant

Cause

The brief left out the result, the limits, or the decisions you wanted to make.

Fix

Select Request changes and say exactly what to change. Next time, use the brief template.

The task sits in Queued with your lead on it

Cause

Your lead hasn't started on it yet. Your squad may already run as many tasks at once as it can, or it may be paused.

Fix

See Track work on Tasks.

The squad member asks the same question on every job

Cause

The answer lives only in old tickets.

Fix

Say it once as a rule in Chat, such as "Always ask me before you name a client." Then check that Memory saved it. Your squad reads your rules before every job.

Related pages

• Follow work on the board: Track work on Tasks.
• Questions that stop a task: Answer questions and approve drafts.
• When a task stops moving: Get a stuck task moving again.
• The docs you tag: Find and manage Docs.
• What your squad keeps: Manage what your squad remembers.