A task does not have to reach its person the moment you create it. It can wait: for another task to be finished first, for its project milestone to start, for a date and time, or simply for its person to arrive at work. While it waits it is a draft that only its owner sees - the person it is for does not find it in their list and is not notified. When everything it waits for is clear, it goes out by itself.
That keeps everybody's list honest: what you see in your tasks is work you can actually start now.
What a task can wait for
- Another task - "paint after welding". The waiting task goes out when the task before it is handed over: finished and sent for review. It does not wait for the review itself, so the next person is not held up by the reviewer.
- Its milestone - a task on a project milestone that has not started yet waits for the milestone (see Milestones or tasks? Planning a project).
- A date and time - when you choose Publish at a date and time.
- Its person's next clock-in - so a task planned on a Sunday reaches them on Monday when they arrive, not at home. A task for a team goes out at the first member's clock-in; someone who does not clock in gets it at 08:00 on the next weekday.
A task can wait for several of these at once. It goes out only when all of them are clear.
Making a task wait for another
On the task page, under Depends on, choose Wait for a task... and pick the task that has to be done first. The other task shows this one under Required for, so both sides can see the link.
- A task that has not been published (a draft) stays Waiting and goes out by itself.
- A task that is Ready to start but not started goes back to Waiting - its person stops seeing it until its turn. Its chat says why.
- A task that is already started is never taken away from its person. It keeps going, and its chat notes what it now depends on.
You cannot make two tasks wait for each other - that would be a loop nobody can finish, and myWork refuses it.
If the task before it is sent back for changes after the next one has already gone out, the next one stays with its person; its chat says the work before it has reopened.
Planning on a weekend or an evening
When the person a draft is for is not at work, the Publish button changes to Publish at their clock-in: the task goes out when they next arrive, and nobody is notified at home. Use the arrow next to it for Publish now (for something urgent) or Publish at a date and time....
Releases that happen by themselves follow the same rule. If a task becomes free while its person is away - the task before it was finished at 18:00, or a milestone started on a Saturday - it waits for their next clock-in.
Cancelling a task that others wait for
Cancel a task that other tasks wait for and myWork asks what should happen to each of them:
- Release it - it no longer waits and goes out (at its person's next clock-in if they are away).
- Make it wait for another task - pick the task that replaced the cancelled one.
- Cancel it too - with the same reason. If others wait for that task, they are added to the list.
Nothing is cancelled until every waiting task has a choice. Tasks that already reached their person are left as they are, and their chat is told. Every choice is written into both tasks' chats, so anyone can trace what happened.
Where you see it
- The task page shows the status Waiting with the reasons underneath, for example Waiting for TASK-000495 (in progress) or Publishes at Johnathan's next clock-in.
- Your task list shows the Waiting chip on your drafts that are held back.
- On a project milestone, each task card shows its Step and why it waits.
The person the task is for sees none of this: for them the task simply appears, ready to start, when its turn comes.