In the Project Management Framework, task groupsare folders in SmartBPM projects that represent areas of development or functionality within a project.

In the Project Management Framework, task groups are folders in SmartBPM projects that represent areas of development or functionality within a project. They contain tasks, issues, bugs, and other task groups related to the group.

Tasks are the units of work in a task group assigned to a project resource.

This example shows the relationship between task groups and tasks when displayed on the Tree tab of a project.

• Database Setup is a task group in the Hardware Sizing task group.
• Database Hardware and Database Design are task groups associated with Database Setup. These task groups contain the tasks that are assigned to project resources.

Task groups and tasks can be dragged and dropped on other locations in the tree to reorder and restructure the branches.

This article includes the following topics:

Creating Task Groups

Managing and Updating Task Groups

Creating Tasks

Managing and Updating Tasks

Other SmartBPM Project Articles

Creating Task Groups

Task groups can be added to SmartBPM projects from:

• project or task group templates
• the Add Top Level, Add Task Groups, Add Sibling and Add Sub Item actions on a project or task group Tree tab
• importing use cases and and requirements from an Application Profile
• clicking on the toolbar to copy an existing task group

This task group was entered by selecting the Add Siblingaction from a task group on the project tree.

* indicates a required field.

1. 1. Select the Task Group as the sub item type.
   2. Optional. Select a template if you want to prime the task group with an existing structure of task groups and tasks.
   3. Name the task group.
   4. Enter a description to provide additional detail about its purpose and content.
   5. Enter the target start and end dates.
   6. Associate the group with a project milestone and a theme.
   7. Enter a priority value from 1-100.
   8. Select whether the task group should be routed to a workbasket, a resource, or yourself.

If routed to a workbasket or resource, a field displays to select the routing value. If you select a workbasket and leave the destination blank, the task group is routed to the workbasket associated with the project's product release.

1. 1. Click Add to add the task group to the tree and redisplay the window for another entry. Click Cancel to cancel entry and close the window.

The task group is assigned a unique ID prefixed by GRP-.

Managing and Updating Task Groups

You can open and display task groups from:

• the Tree tab of a project or task group
• an operator's worklist or a workbasket
• a product backlog
• results of a search

The header of the task group displays its name, ID, status, priority and last update date and operator. The tree branch containing the task group displays as a breadcrumb trail of links to each parent item up the chain from the task group. Tabs labeled Details, Tree, Reports, Bugs/Issues, Team, Notes, and Attachments display.

Click the name of the operator to open the operator's profile. Click the Product or Release links to view their detail.

The Details Tab

The Details tab displays a real time view of the task group's health status, target dates and effort, and dependencies.

• Assigned To - defaults to the next scheduled action; right click to display and select an action
• Details - describes the task group
• Dates & Efforts - a high level roll up start/end dates and target/actual hours (including hours spent and remaining) for work linked to the task group; click View Change History to display an audit trail of changes
• Dependencies - lists the task groups and tasks that have dependent relationships with the task group; click Export to Excel to export details of task and task group dependencies to a spreadsheet.

The Tree Tab

The Tree tab displays the portion of the project tree containing the task group and its branches. These can be tasks or other task groups. Bugs and Issues linked to the task group are displayed on a separate tab.

For each task group and task in the task group, the display lists the name, priority, ID, status, target start and end dates, remaining effort, assigned operator, and dependencies.

• Use the Display to Level field to select the number you want to expand in the tree.
• Select the View Bugs? check box to display bugs associated with the task group.
• Click Add Top Level to add a new top-level task group to the project.
• Click Add Sub Item to add a sub item to the selected row in the tree. A sub item could be a task group or a task.
• Click Refresh to reload the contents of the tree.
• Click Bulk Processto display an actionable list of open task groups for the project. From this list, you can select one or more task groups to perform any of the following options:
  • Add New Note
  • Move to Different Project/Task Group
  • Reassign
  • Withdraw
• Double-click a row to open a modal pop-up where can you update the details of the item.
• Right-click a row to display additional processing options for the item.
  • Open – opens the selected item in a new tab
  • Add Sub Item – adds a new task or task group to the selected node.
  • Add Sibling – add a new task group or task at the same level as the selected node
  • Add Note – adds a note to the selected mode
  • Edit Dependencies – allows you to link other items to a node as predecessors or successors
  • Import From Application profile – imports the contents of an application profile to the selected node of the tree
  • View Bug/Issues – displays a list of bugs and issues associated with the node

Reports Tab

The Reports tab contains a selection of project reports including a Remaining Effort Burndown chart that tracks the amount of remaining effort by day throughout the project lifecycle.

The Additional Reports section links to other reports that display in a pop-up window when selected.

• Rule Updates by Resource and Task/Bugs – reports the actions taken on work performed in the development environment
• Late Tasks – lists tasks with a target end dates in the past
• Work Pending Verification – lists work that is currently in a Pending-Verification status
• Open Bugs by Severity – pie chart of open bugs in the project by severity
• Weekly Bug Throughput – trend chart showing the rate of new vs. resolved bugs for the past 6 weeks

Bugs/Issues Tab

The Bugs/Issues tab lists the open bugs and issues currently linked to the task group.

From each list you can:

• Select a row to review and/or update it
• Add, remove, and sort the content of the list columns
• Click Export to Excel to export the list to a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet
• Click All Bugs to display a list of open and resolved bugs associated linked to the task group
• Click Refresh to update the list

Team Tab

This tab lists the name, role, phone and email of operators identified as stakeholders of the task group.

• Use the Manage Stakeholders action to add members to the list.
• Click the team member's name to display operator detail in a pop-up window and display additional project and organizational information.
  • Click Reporting Structure to drill down into the member's organization
  • Click View Worklist to display the member's worklist.
  • Click View Project List to see the member's project list.

Notes Tab

The Notes tab displays notes, questions, and responses added to the task group. A check mark appears in the Release Notes column when the content is flagged for inclusion in release documentation.

• Click a row to display a note, question or the response to a question.
• To add notes and questions, select Add Note, Add Question or the Respond to Question action.

The Attachments Tab

The Attachments tab displays a list of attachments added to the task group and a count

• Click a row to display an attachment.
• Click to delete an attachment.
• Click New to add a new attachment.

Creating Tasks

Tasks can be created from:

• the option of the Actions menu
• the Add Sub Items action from the project or task group tree tab
• clicking on the toolbar to copy an existing task

This task was added using the Add Sub Item action from the task group tree tab.

* indicates a required field.

1. 1. Select Task as the Sub Item.
   2. Enter the name of the task.
   3. Enter a description for the task to provide additional detail about the work that is to be performed.
   4. Enter target start and end dates and the initial target hours.
   5. Select a milestone.
   6. Assign a priority from 1-100.
   7. Select whether the task should be assigned to a workbasket, a resource, or yourself.

If routed to a workbasket or resource, a field displays to select the routing value. If you select a workbasket and leave the destination blank, the task is routed to the workbasket associated with the project's product and release.

1. 1. Click Create. Click Cancel to cancel entry and close the window.

When created, the task is assigned a unique ID prefixed by TASK- and is inserted in the Tree of the task group and project. The target hours are rolled up into the task group and the project to provide a consolidated view of project work estimates.

Managing and Updating Tasks

Tasks can be opened from the Tree tab of a project or task group. You can also select a task from a worklist or find it using the search gadget.

The header of the task displays its name, ID, status, and priority. The tree branch containing the task displays as a breadcrumb trail of links to each parent item up the chain from the task.

Click the name of the operator to open the operator's profile. Click the Product or Release links to view their detail.

Processing tabs that can display are: Details, Notes, Attachments and Related Updates.

The Details Tab

The Details tab displays a real time view of the task's health status, target dates and effort, and dependencies.

• Assigned To - defaults to the next scheduled action; right click to display and select an action
• Details - describes the task group
• Dates & Efforts - a roll up start/end dates and target/actual hours (including hours spent and remaining) for work linked to the task; click View Change History to display an audit trail of changes
• Dependencies - lists the task groups and tasks that have dependent relationships with the task; click Export to Excel to export details of these dependencies to a spreadsheet

The Notes tab

The Notes tab displays notes, questions, and responses added to the task. A check mark appears in the Release Notes column when the content is flagged for inclusion in release documentation.

• Click a row to display a note, question or the response to a question.
• To add notes and questions, select Add Note, Add Question or the Respond to Question action.

The Attachments tab

The Attachments tab displays a list of attachments added to the task and how many.

• Click a row to display an attachment.
• Click to delete an attachment.
• Click New to add a new attachment.

Related Updates Tab

The Related Updates tab displays when updates are performed to resolve the task by resources working in the development application and pushed back to the framework through the project management link.

For each rule change made in the development system that is associated with the task, you can see:

• Date/Time of Change
• Resource who made the change
• Rule Type (Property, Harness, Activity etc)
• Rule Name and Key
• RuleSet and Version
• Notes associated with the update

This article links to following articles about working with SmartBPM projects in the PMF 6.1.1 release.

Building SmartBPM Project and Task Group Templates

Creating SmartBPM Projects

Return to About the Project Management Framework