Taskstreams

What is a Taskstream?

Fluix Taskstream is a way to automate the daily routine work your team has. 

A Taskstream is a template for repetitive tasks and paperwork performed by your team members. The Administrator’s job is to model such a sequence of tasks to achieve a business goal, while users only need to follow the configured processes. This separation allows everybody to focus on their core competence according to their role in a company and current Taskstream step, and automate the technical routine of in-between transitions.

In other words, the Taskstream itself is a flow of tasks to be performed, forms to be filled out, and work to be reviewed and approved.

Through Taskstreams, field workers receive tasks on their mobile devices, with descriptions of jobs to be done, fillable forms, and attachments for review. Users can fill out data and eSign, add photos and scan barcodes, and submit tasks to the next step in the process.

Flowchart example

Below is the basic flowchart showing how Engineers fill out checklists, Supervisors review them, and send them to your company storage and office team. 

In terms of a Taskstream, it will look like a number of steps:

Team view

1) Engineer picks up a task on their mobile device, fills out the checklist form with all of the necessary information from the site, and submits it to the site Supervisor for review.

2) In case any rework is required, Supervisor returns the checklist to the Engineer for rework. If no corrections are needed, the site Supervisor signs the checklist and approves it. The completed checklist is automatically uploaded to your company storage and emailed if needed.

Starting points to model a process

Before you proceed with a Taskstream, here are the starting points to begin modeling your process:

1) Process 

• What is the business goal of the process?
• Do you know the precise flow of actions to achieve the goal?

2) Participants

• Who will work on each specific task?
• Can you organize users in groups to make Taskstreams role-based?
• Do you offer users to select the cases to work on, or directly assign them?

3) Forms

• Do you have digital or spare form templates that will be used in a flow?  
• Does your company currently use any cloud storage to store completed forms?

Do you know the answers to the above? Then we invite you to the next article.

In case you need our assistance, feel free to contact us at support@fluix.io, we are always here to help!

Two Steps Before You Start Creating a Taskstream

Prior to creating a Taskstream itself, please make sure to have the main elements ready:

1) User Groups that will participate in a Taskstream. Navigate to Admin tab -> Process Setup -> Participants section to create the Groups and add the users:

2) Cloud storage. In case you want to store the forms/documents that are completed in the Fluix app at a cloud storage and you already use certain service, you can connect it to Fluix in the Process Setup -> Integrations section:

If you don’t use any storage provider, you can use our Fluix built-in cloud storage while creating a Taskstream.

To start creating a Taskstream, let’s get familiar with its elements.

Need help building a process for your use case?

Our product experts are here to assist! Navigate to the Admin Tab -> Process Setup -> Taskstreams section and click New Taskstream in the upper right corner of your screen.

Click Map my Process in the upper right corner.

In the window that appears, describe the use case you want to build and attach any relevant files (such as forms or flow diagrams). Once you submit the form, our team will contact you shortly to guide you through the process.

Fluix Home page

The Fluix Home page is the start page of your Fluix account, where you can check a brief overview of your company’s latest activity.

Account section

Here, you may see the recent changes to the most crucial part of your setup: the number of added/deleted users, Forms, and Taskstreams in the account.

Task Status

Task Status reflects the current number of To Do, In Progress, Finished, Failed, and Overdue tasks so you can better understand your team’s current workload and progress.

Activity Feed

In the Activity Feed, you can track all the activities within your account, such as users’ last login date and the forms they are currently working on. For easier navigation, you may filter these actions by Tasks or Logins in the Activity Feed panel.

By clicking Details button, you may check more precise information about the user or the task he/she was working on.
For example, by clicking Details on the user login record, you will be redirected to the User Details page to see the current setup configured for this user, which devices he used to log in, etc.

By clicking Details in the record regarding the form the user was working on, you’ll be redirected to the respective Process Details page. Here, you can see how long it took the user to fill out and submit the form, to whom the form was sent, and its current status.

If you need our assistance, feel free to contact us at support@fluix.io. We are always here to help!

Building and setting up a Taskstream Chart

To start building a Taskstream chart, go to the Admin Tab -> Process Setup -> Taskstreams section and click New Taskstream in the upper right corner of your screen.

Here, you may create a chart from scratch or use the template of the preconfigured Taskstream, which you can later customize according to your business process.

Click Blank Template to map your process from scratch, name a Taskstream, and click Next. The abbreviation (ABBR) will be automatically generated and later displayed next to the user’s task name in the Fluix app.

Once your users start working on the recurring tasks, the respective number will be displayed next to the Taskstream’s abbreviation. For example:

• Your Taskstream name is “Installation checklists Approval”, the abbreviation is ICA.

• When your users start working on the first task from this Taskstream, it will obtain the name ICA-1, when the second process is started – ICA-2 etc.

In the Taskstream builder, you will see the menu of elements on the left. In the previous article, you can check what each element does.

Drag and Drop Process Start from the left sidebar to the chart. To create the first task, drag and drop the User task under Process Start and connect it.

Click on the User task to open the menu that will appear on the left. We’ll return to the Task details in the next article.

You will see blue “+” plus icons surrounding the task. You can add and connect any other Taskstream elements by clicking and dragging any of them.

You can use shortcuts to speed up the building of the Taskstream. By clicking on the blue “+” plus icon, you may connect or add elements of the Taskstream.

Example of the fully configured Taskstream setup:

Now let’s see how to configure User Task.

Taskstream Elements

Let’s get familiar with the list of taskstream elements available in the menu on the left-hand side of the taskstream builder:

• Task – a task that should be performed by the Assignee – Group of users. A task consists of a description of the job to be done, fillable forms, and attachments for review. The priority, duration, and reminders can be set up for each task.
  
  
  
• Upload to Storage – choose this action to upload completed forms to the preconfigured cloud storage(s).
  
  
  
• Submit by Email – this action is used to send documents from Fluix to any email without wasting time manually entering the email address and message in the field. You can preconfigure the recipients’ addresses, and email subjects and add custom messages.
  
  
  
• Share to – this action allows to share the completed documents or the data from them to any third-party software.
  
  
  
• And Action – an element that helps to configure two and more parallel branches of the process.
  
  
  
• Or (User Choice) Action – an element to configure two or more branches of the process while a user on the device will choose manually which action to take for the task.
  
  
  
• Merge Action – an element needed to ensure the parallel user tasks (e.g. simultaneous completion of different parts of one form) pass to the next step (e.g. manager’s review).
  
  
  
• Condition Action – an element that allows admins to define the task flow based on the data that is filled out in a particular field in the form of a task.
  
  

• Redirect Overdue Task Action – an element that allows automatic redirect of the Task to another predefined flow in case it was not completed on time by the user.
  
  

Let’s proceed to the next step – building of a taskstream.

Configuring a Task

Task configuration menu has 3 main tabs: Overview, Forms & Attachments, and Notifications.

Overview

Overview tab contains basic information about the task.

Task Name suggests you fill out the name of the task that the user will see on his/her device. By clicking on the Dynamic Values icon on the Task Name field, in the input configurator, you may select the list of fields, values from which you’d like to see in the task name after it is completed by the user.

Assignee who will perform the task gives the ability to select the respective group/user who will perform the task. Let’s take a closer look on how you may configure the assignee for the task:

• Group option automatically assigns the task to the group that is preconfigured by the account admin. In this case, the user who submits the task will not be able to select the specific user. The task will be available for all the participants of the preconfigured group.
• Group/Particular User in Group option lets the performer of the previous task select the particular user from the Group to whom the task will be assigned. In this scenario, the account admin selects the Group while building the Taskstream from which the user will be able to select a particular user in order to assign a task to him/her upon submission.
• User – performer of the task option automatically assigns the task to the particular user who performed any of the previous tasks.

Please note: both Group/Particular User in Group and User – performer of the task options can be configured starting from the second task in the Taskstream.

Priority is a section where you can set a task priority for the end user that will be displayed on their device. Contains the next states:  critical, high, medium, and low. By default the priority is medium.

Comment is a section where you can add a list of actions or a simple description that accompanies the task. These actions are for viewing purposes of the end users and will be shown on their devices.

Due Date & Reminders is a tab where you can set the execution duration of a particular task and configure the reminders that the performer of the current task can receive. By setting execution durations, the end users will be notified about Task timelines and overdue status. This allows you to manage the redirection of both User and Guest Tasks in case they are not completed on time. If a Task becomes overdue, it will be automatically redirected to prevent any potential disruptions in the process.

You may set the date and time in order for the user to receive a notification to start the initial task. To do this, put the checkmark next to the “Remind to start the initial task” option, select the preferred time and how you would like the notification to be sent to the user: via email or by pushing the reminder to their device.

You can specify the due date for a particular Task and set a reminder for when it’s due by selecting the checkbox next to “Remind the Task is due in x days” and selecting how you would like the user to receive the notification: send by email or to push the reminder to the user’s device.

There is an option to settle the redirection of the Task in case it becomes overdue by putting the checkmark next to the “Redirect the Task once overdue.” You will see an element “Overdue task” appear. You can link this element to another Task, and it will be automatically redirected if the original task becomes overdue.

Users can also receive a reminder regarding the Group/Task they were assigned to. The notification may be set by checking the mark next to the “Notify the task was assigned to a Group/Task” and choosing how the notification will be sent.

Forms & Attachments

Forms & Attachments tab was designed to add forms and attachments to the task to be performed.

Web forms are primary elements of work in a task. A web form contains inputs, checkboxes, etc. that will be further filled in by the user.

You can select a form from the Fluix Form Library, create a new one in the Form Builder, reuse the already used one from other tasks in this taskstream, or import the fillable PDF from your cloud storage or your computer:

If you choose a form from the Fluix Library, and the same form has been already used in one of the tasks in the current taskstream, you will see it as a new form while the form name will stay the same.

Number of forms in one task is unlimited, thus you can select as many as you want and add them to the task.

Next to the name of the added form, you will see the Assign form fields, and Remove from the list options:

By assigning form fields you define the particular fields in a form for the Group-Assignee of the current Task. You can make particular fields required or view only for this Group. If the same form should be filled out by different Groups, you can assign the respective fields in this form in each task.

You may also edit the web form created in the Form Library in the Assignment mode by clicking the Edit form button.

Attachments do not travel within a taskstream, they serve as materials for review in a particular task (usually these are manuals, instructions, or handbooks).

Notifications

Notifications tab contains the list of possible notifications which can be received by the performer of the current task. Here you can select how to send notifications to your end users: by email, or pushing it directly to the app on a user’s device.

In addition, there is an option to notify a user about a task that due in a certain amount of days or is already overdue:

In case of any questions feel free to contact us at support@fluix.io

How to Copy a Taskstream

You can make a copy of any existing Taskstream and then modify any task or submit action if needed. To do that, follow the steps below:

Step 1. Duplicate a Taskstream

Go to Menu > Taskstreams section of Fluix Admin Portal, select a Taskstream you want to copy, and click Duplicate: 

Once a copy is created, start editing as needed. Below, you can find the guidelines on how to make changes in the duplicated Taskstream.

Step 2. Change Assignees

In order to change assignees, select the task and click on the cross icon next to the assignee’s name. To add a new assignee, click on Add Assignee and select a new assignee from a dropdown list:

Step 3. Add or Replace Forms and Attachments

You can add new forms and attachments, or replace the current ones in the Forms tab. To replace them, click on the cross icon next to the form’s or attachment’s name. To add a new form or attachment, click on Add From or Add an attachment, select a source from where the form or the file should be taken, and the form or file itself.

Step 4. Modify Submit Actions

For the Upload to Storage submit action, please make sure to connect new storage or a folder. For the Submit by Email action, you may change the email address or add an additional one, or change the subject or text of the email. For the Share To option, you may edit the configuration of the integration in the Request Builder. 

Step 5. Rename the Taskstream

Rename the Taskstream by clicking the Pencil icon in the top left corner of your screen and click the Save & Publish button to activate it.

Your new Taskstream is now ready for use.

In case of any questions feel free to contact us at support@fluix.io.