# Hand over work that comes back finished > Give work in Chat or as a task, and write a brief that comes back right. See what your lead and squad do with a big job, what a finished job returns, and how to change or stop the work. ## Choose Chat or a task A task is a job your squad tracks on **Tasks** and finishes with a report. | You want | Use | What happens | | -------------------------------------------------- | --------------------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | A quick answer, a short edit, or a lookup | Chat with any squad member | It answers in the reply, with no task. | | A bigger job, and help deciding who does it | Chat with your lead | It says who should do it, a task title, and what you will get, then waits for your yes. | | A bigger job in one squad member's area | Chat with that squad member | It offers to take the job as its own task, and waits for your yes. | | To write the request yourself and set its priority | **New Task** on **Tasks** | Your lead hands the task to the right squad member. | 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 ### Step 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. ### Step 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](#write-a-brief-that-comes-back-right). ### Step 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. ### Step 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 ### Step 1: Start a new task On **Tasks**, select **New Task**. A panel opens. ### Step 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. ### Step 3: Set the priority Under **Priority**, select **Low**, **Normal** (the default), **High**, or **Urgent**. ### Step 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: | Path | When | What you see | | ----------------------------- | --------------------------------------------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | Hands it on | One squad member's role fits the whole job | The task moves to that squad member and goes back to **Queued**. | | Does it itself | No role fits, and the job is small and happens once | Your lead keeps the task. | | Asks about a new squad member | No role fits, and the work will come back | A ticket asks whether to add one. If you approve, it is created and gets this task. See [Add a squad member from a task](/docs/squad#add-a-squad-member-from-a-task). | 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](/docs/tasks#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: | Part | What to write | Example | | -------------- | ------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------- | | The result | What you want to hold at the end, in one sentence | "A 1,000-word article on why our clients switch from spreadsheets." | | The reader | Who it is for | "Owners of design studios with 5 to 20 people." | | The sources | Which docs to start from. Tag them with # | "Start from #Client interviews and #Pricing notes." | | The limits | Length, tone, and anything to leave out | "UK spelling. No discounts or prices." | | Your decisions | What it must ask you before deciding | "Ask me before you name any client." | | Done | What you get and where | "A draft in Docs I can edit." | 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 | When | What you see | | ------------------------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | The squad member starts | The task moves to **In Progress**, and its card shows what is happening. | | It needs an answer from you | The task moves to **Blocked**, and the question shows in **Tasks > Tickets** and **Needs you**. | | It saves a doc | The doc shows under **Attachments** on the task and in **Docs**. | | The run shows no progress for an hour | The card says "No progress for 1h". | | It finishes | The task moves to **Done** with a report, and you get a notification. | > **Note:** A task runs on your AI account, not on credits. Credits pay only for paid research lookups, at most 900 on one task. See [What SquadRoom costs and what uses credits](/docs/costs). ## 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](/docs/tasks#start-or-dismiss-a-suggestion). To read it, see [Read the report](/docs/tasks#read-the-report). ## Change or stop the work | When | What to do | | ---------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | | While it runs | Comment on the task to guide it, or tag it with # in Chat. See [Comment on a task](/docs/tasks#comment-on-a-task). | | To stop it | Pause it, or archive it to stop it for good. See [Pause, retry, or archive a task](/docs/tasks#pause-retry-or-archive-a-task). | | After it is done | Open the task in **Done**, write what to change, and select **Request changes**. The same squad member takes it back and writes a new report. See [Ask for changes to a finished Task](/docs/tasks#ask-for-changes-to-a-finished-task). To do it from Chat, see [Send changes to a Task from Chat](/docs/chat#send-changes-to-a-task-from-chat). | 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 ### "Describe what needs to be done." **Cause:** The request box is empty. **Fix:** Write the request. ### "Keep the request to 15 lines or fewer." **Cause:** The request runs over 15 lines. **Fix:** Join or cut lines. ### "This 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. ### "This 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](/docs/tasks#a-task-stays-in-queued). ### 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](/docs/tasks). - Questions that stop a task: [Answer questions and approve drafts](/docs/tickets). - When a task stops moving: [Get a stuck task moving again](/docs/stuck-tasks). - The docs you tag: [Find and manage Docs](/docs/docs). - What your squad keeps: [Manage what your squad remembers](/docs/memory).