Not all work is code. A task is a work item for something a person does: ring the customer back, renew the certificate, write the announcement.
A task is an ordinary work item, so it appears on the board, in My work and in every list. What makes it a task is its type, which ships set up like this:
- it does not cut a branch
- it does not go through triage
- it does not ship in a release
- raising one asks who it is for and when it is due
Raise a task#
- Open Create and choose New task.
- Say what needs doing.
- Choose the team it is for, and optionally a person.
- Set when it is due.
- Save. The task starts straight away.
Team, and optionally a person#
Name somebody and they get the task. Leave the person empty and the team’s own rule picks: in turn, whoever has least on, always the same person, or nobody. See Teams.
Doing a task#
A task runs on a manual stage, called Do it in the stock Task workflow. The person does the work, then marks the stage as done.
If the stage is held for approval, marking it done sends it to the approving team. If they reject it, it comes back to the person who did it, with the reason.
When a task grows#
A task that turns out to need several steps across several teams is a workflow. An administrator can build one with as many manual, approval and agent stages as it needs, and attach it to a work item type. The form for raising it stays the same. See Workflows.