Configuring subtasks initiated by a workflow

When configuring a workflow for an item in CMW Tracker, you can set it up to create subtasks for users at every step in the workflow as described here. You can configure those automatically created tasks to be assigned to certain people either simply based on the current step in the workflow or based on a more complex calculation (e.g. based on the value of the ""language"" field in the form). Setting such a rule up will effectively assign tasks to people each time every item based on the workflow configuration goes into one step or another.

Subtask owner is not the only task parameter you can set up to be changed automatically other subtask fields (such as due date, priority, description etc) can also be prepopulated for every workflow step. For example, John finishes his part of the job and moves the work item to the next step which is configured to assign a subtask to Amanda. In that case the task will be created and assigned to Amanda automatically. Other parameters will be prepopulated automatically basing on the task settings for that particular step.

Keep in mind that Workflow Tasks and their Subtasks share the comments and attachments sections so in the above example Amanda will be able to view all the notes by just looking at the subtask she received. If she posts a comment or an attachment in that subtask, it will show up in the Workflow Task as well. This allows managing entire process through subtasks only without opening the parent Workflow task.

Using subtasks in workflows is a great way to ensure your team members deliver efficiently in high-pressure, multi-project environments. Having one unified list of all tasks from all the projects and trackers, with priorities and due dates helps one see the big picture of what needs to be done without jumping between different trackers to get all the info.