OVERVIEW OF STEPS

  1. SET UP: In the SETTINGS sheet, enter your own custom status values if preferred. Choose which status values should be considered as Pending tasks.
    1. Enter the list of resource names tasks can be assigned to
  2. In the CREATE_TASKS sheet, enter tasks
  3. In the UPDATE_TASKS sheet, update the tasks of task occurrences
  4. In the DASHBOARD sheet, view pending task occurrences, tasks due in a calendar week and summary statistics of tasks in any date range of your choice.
  5. In the REPORT sheet, view all task occurrences and their status.

DETAILED STEPS

SETTINGS

Enter required information in Settings.

Task Manager (Advanced) Excel Template - Status Values
Task Manager (Advanced) Excel Template – Status Values

 

  • In the Settings sheet, enter PERIOD START date.
    • Task occurrences will be scheduled from this date. The template can handle up to 1 year of task occurrences at a time.
  • Enter your own custom status values if preferred. Otherwise, leave the default values.
    • Choose which status values should be considered as Pending tasks.
    • A pending task is a task that is due by yesterday, with either no status or a status value that is considered as pending.
    • For example, in the template, 90% Complete, 50% Complete, 10% Complete, On Hold and Unknown are all status values that are considered as pending. If a task occurrence has one of those status values, then the template will list the task occurrence as pending.
    • For example, in the template, ‘Completed’ and ‘Skipped’ are status values that are not considered as pending. So, if a task occurrence has one of those two status values, then the template will not list the task occurrence as pending.
    • Colors cannot be modified here.

 

Choose Weekends

Task Manager (Advanced) Excel Template - Weekends
Task Manager (Advanced) Excel Template – Weekends

 

Enter holidays if any

Task Manager (Advanced) Excel Template - Holidays
Task Manager (Advanced) Excel Template – Holidays

 

Enter the list of names tasks can be assigned to. These are the names that will show up in the DASHBOARD sheet where you can view statistics. Please do not leave a blank row in between names.

Task Manager (Advanced) Excel Template - Resources
Task Manager (Advanced) Excel Template – Resources

 

CREATE TASKS

 

Task Manager (Advanced) Excel Template - Create Tasks
Task Manager (Advanced) Excel Template – Create Tasks

(For general tips on entering data in Excel tables, please visit my video on YouTube)

 

  • Enter Task ID and Task Name
  • Enter Start Date, Freq Type and End Date.
Task Manager (Advanced) Excel Template - Create Tasks
Task Manager (Advanced) Excel Template – Create Tasks

 

  • Choose the weekdays that you would like the tasks to be due.
  • Enter N where applicable.
  • Assign each task to a resource

 

Task Manager (Advanced) Excel Template - Create Tasks
Task Manager (Advanced) Excel Template – Create Tasks

 

  • To not create instances on non-business days (holidays and weekends), choose ‘Skip’ in Non- Business Days column.
  • Only the first 100 active tasks will be used in the template to create task occurrences. Enter Y in the ‘Deactivate?’ column to deactivate a task.
  • Custom columns are available and they could be used to store any information you would like for tasks.

 

Task Manager (Advanced) Excel Template - Create Tasks - Error
Task Manager (Advanced) Excel Template – Create Tasks – Error

 

Ensure that there is no red border around the task, since that means there is an error. Usually, the error is due to not having a start date or having an end date that is before the start date.

 

Task Manager (Advanced) Excel Template - Mini Calendar
Task Manager (Advanced) Excel Template – 2016 Mini Calendar

 

A mini-calendar is provided in this sheet to help with choosing dates for tasks. You can change the month and year of the mini-calendar. Calendar is created using formulas and so please do not edit the cells.

 

FREQUENCY TYPES
You can choose from 12 frequency types.

Task Manager (Advanced) Excel Template - Frequency Types
Task Manager (Advanced) Excel Template – Frequency Types

 

Examples

  • One-time: A ‘One-time’ task that occurs on Start Date
  • Daily: A task that occurs only on Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays
  • Weekly: A task that happens on Saturdays and Sundays but happens only every 2 (N is 2) weeks
  • Monthly: A task that happens on 5th of a month but only if it is between Tuesday and Friday
  • Nth Wday of Mth: A task that occurs on 2rd (N is 2) Saturday and Sunday of a Month
  • Last Wday of Mth: A task that occurs on last Monday of a Month
  • Last Day of Month: A task that occurs on last day of each month.
  • Every Nth Business day: A task that occurs once every 3 (N is 3) business days from the Start Date of the task
  • Nth Business day of Month: A task that occurs on 3rd (N = 3) business day of a month
  • Last Business day of Month: A task that occurs on last business day of month
  • Nth Business day of Week: A task that occurs on 1st (N = 1) business day of a week
  • Last Business day of Week: A task that occurs on the last business day of a week

 

UPDATE TASKS

At the top of UPDATE_TASKS sheet, there is a quick look-up for Task details. You can enter a Task name and instantly see the task’s details such as Task ID, Start Date, End Date and Freq Type. Please do not edit formulas.

Task Manager (Advanced) Excel Template - Task Lookup
Task Manager (Advanced) Excel Template – Task Lookup

 

Steps to Update Task Occurrences

Task Manager (Advanced) Excel Template - Update Tasks
Task Manager (Advanced) Excel Template – Update Tasks

 

  • Enter Task IDTask Name and Assigned to will auto-populate.
  • Choose the due date from the drop down options. The template lists the possible due dates for that task and provides them in the drop down to make it easier for the user.
  • Enter a Status for that task occurrence.

 

Task Manager (Advanced) Excel Template - Update Tasks
Task Manager (Advanced) Excel Template – Update Tasks

 

  • (Optional) Enter priority of the task occurrence
  • (Optional) After the task occurrence is completed, enter Completed Date.
  • (Optional) Choose a person that the task occurrence is ‘Re-Assign to’, if the resource assignment has changed.
  • There are two additional columns available where you can enter any information you would like (Optional) to track for each task occurrence.

 

DASHBOARD

Dashboard sheet provides the first 40 pending task occurrences.

Task Manager (Advanced) Excel Template - Pending Tasks
Task Manager (Advanced) Excel Template – Pending Tasks

 

The Calendar view provides the 7 day view of task occurrences and their status values. They are color coded for easier understanding. You can change the FROM date and view any 7 consecutive days at a time.

Task Manager (Advanced) Excel Template - Calendar
Task Manager (Advanced) Excel Template – Calendar

 

Summary statistics on task occurrences are provided. You can customize the date range easily by modifying the TO date.

 

REPORT

Report sheet lists all task occurrences and their status. You can filter the table by the fields shown. Please do not sort the table because that would modify the calculations and will lead to incorrect data.

Task Manager (Advanced) Excel Template - Report
Task Manager (Advanced) Excel Template – Report

 

 

You can filter the table to only Pending task occurrences by choosing TRUE in the PENDING field filter. You can filter to task occurrences of specific task by filtering on Task ID. You can filter to task occurrences in a specific date range by filtering on DUE DATE field. A task occurrence is flagged as pending, if the due date is prior to today’s date and the status of the task occurrence is one of those that has been set to be considered as pending (in the Settings sheet).

 

TaskManager_Report_FilterPending