What a task is, and what to do when you are stuck

What a task is

A task is a piece of work one person can do from start to end without waiting for anyone else. It is done, for that person, when they hand it over with Finish. Checking the result is the reviewer's work, not part of theirs.

That one sentence decides most questions about tasks:

One person. If two people must each do something, that is two tasks.
Start to end. If the work will stop halfway for somebody else, split it at that point.
Nothing else holds it. A repair, an order or a move is not a task: it has its own record, and it is worked there.

Cut well, cut badly

"Fit the inverter in container C-12": a good task. One person, one result.
"Electrical": not a task. That is a discipline. Split it into the things people actually do.
"Get a quote for the cable and install it": two people, so two tasks. Procurement gets the quote; the installer's task starts after it (use Starts after, or Set order on a milestone).
"Fix the crimper": not a task. That is a repair, with its own RO- record.

When a new task's title names a record (a number such as RO-000123 or WO-001697), or the task is linked to a repair, work order, order, move or shipment, myWork warns you and offers to open the record instead. You can still create the task, but think twice.

Stuck? Pick the way out

Sometimes a task stops anyway. When it does, the rule is simple: a stopped task always says why, so somebody can see what it is waiting for and who must act. A task left in progress or paused with no word is how work gets forgotten.

Something more urgent came up

Just press Start on the urgent task. myWork asks whether to pause the one you are on (if your company allows only one task in progress at a time, it always pauses it). The time you already worked is kept. When you come back, open the paused task and press Resume.

The brief is unclear, wrong or impossible

Press Hand back and say what is missing. The task goes back to its manager, who fixes the brief and sends it again. It is not cancelled, and the time you already worked stays yours. Do not guess, and do not sit on it: a task you cannot do as written is the manager's to put right.

The rest of the work is someone else's now

You did your part and someone else must do the rest. Hand the task over so your time stops and you are free:

Delegate, and in the window choose I hand it over: it waits for this sub-task. That is the default.
If the sub-tasks already exist, press Wait for sub-tasks.

Your task then shows Waiting on sub-tasks and closes by itself when their work is done. There is no way back to working on it yourself, so use this only when nothing is left for you. More in Sub-tasks & delegation: how work rolls up the tree.

Someone else must do something before you can carry on

You still have work to do, but a colleague has to do something first: a measurement, an approval, a part from stores, an answer from a supplier.

Press New sub-task and make it for the person who must act. Say exactly what you need and by when.
If they are not in the list, make it for your manager instead and say who must do it. The list shows yourself, your own manager and the people you manage, so a colleague in another department is passed on by your manager.
Press Pause on your own task and write in its chat what you are waiting for, for example: "Waiting for TASK-000812 (pressure readings from the lab)."
The sub-task's progress shows in your task's chat. When it is done, press Resume and carry on.

Do not use Wait for sub-tasks here: it would close your task as soon as the sub-task is done, and you still have work to do. If New sub-task is greyed out for you, ask your manager in the task's chat; they can create it.

You are waiting for a repair, an order or a move

That work already has its own record, so do not make a task for it. Write the record's number in your task's chat, for example "Waiting for RO-000123, the crimper is in repair", then press Pause. If you do not know the number, ask whoever is handling it.

You are waiting for a date

Nobody has to do anything; a day has to come. The site visit is on Thursday, the customer is only free next week, the delivery is booked for the 4th. Press Pause and write in the chat when you will be back on it: "Back on this Thursday 30 Oct, after the site visit."

Nothing restarts by itself. On that day, open the task (the paused chip on the Tasks page finds it) and press Resume.

What not to do

Do not leave a task In progress while you wait. The clock keeps running, and the time is counted as work on the task.
Do not pause without a word. A pause nobody can explain cannot be chased.
Do not keep a task you cannot do. Hand it back with the reason.
Do not make a task for work that has its own record. Write the record's number in the chat instead.

Paused tasks do not disappear: the Tasks page shows them under the paused chip, and the Task Orchestrator posts a reminder in the task's chat when one has sat paused for days.