Creating and Managing Tasks

Accessing the Task Manager

Ontario's Task Manager provides a centralized hub for tracking all work that needs to be completed across your projects. Tasks are primarily used to assign file upload responsibilities—ensuring team members know which documents need to be uploaded, when they're due, and where they should be stored in Harness. Tasks can also be used for reviews, deliverables, and other project work, helping you maintain visibility and accountability across your team.

Access the Task Manager from within any project by clicking the Task Manager tab in the left sidebar menu. By default, you'll land on the My Tasks view, which shows only tasks assigned to you—giving you immediate visibility into your personal workload.

Understanding Task Views

Ontario provides four default views to help you organize and prioritize your work:

You can also access task information from the Ontario environment landing page, where the Task Tracker card displays your task completion percentage, and the Overdue Tasks and Tasks Assigned to You cards provide quick access to specific task subsets.

Creating a New Task

Creating tasks in Ontario is straightforward, allowing you to quickly capture work that needs to be done and assign responsibility to team members.

Steps to Create a Task

1. Navigate to Task Manager from the left sidebar within your project
2. Click the Add New + button in the top-right corner of the Task Manager interface
3. Complete the required fields in the Add Task modal
4. Click Add to create the task

Understanding Task Fields

When creating a task, you'll configure several key fields that define the work to be completed:

Pro Tip: When creating tasks, use descriptive names that make the work clear at a glance. Instead of "Review report," try "Review Q4 financial report and provide feedback by EOD Friday." This specificity helps assignees understand expectations and priorities without needing to open the task details.

What Happens After Task Creation

Once you click Add, Ontario automatically performs several actions behind the scenes:

Viewing and Editing Task Details

After creating a task—or when reviewing existing tasks—you can access comprehensive task information through the task details panel. This panel serves as your control center for managing all aspects of a task throughout its lifecycle.

Opening Task Details

Ontario provides multiple ways to access task details, depending on your workflow:

Understanding the Details Tab

The Details tab displays comprehensive information about your task:

Editing Task Information

To modify task details, click the Edit option from either the three-dot menu in the task table or the menu at the top of the task details panel. The panel will switch to edit mode, allowing you to update any field.

When editing a task, you can modify:

After making changes, click Save to apply your updates. Ontario automatically records who made the change and when in the Last Modified field, and the system updates the Workflow tab to reflect the modification. Click Discard if you want to abandon your changes without saving.

Important: When you reassign a task to a different team member, the new assignee receives a notification about the assignment. The previous assignee does not receive a notification that they've been removed—so for team clarity, consider adding a comment explaining the reassignment when making this change.

Working with Task Files

The Files section at the bottom of the task details panel allows you to attach relevant documents directly to the task. This keeps all task-related materials organized and accessible in one place.

To upload files to a task:

1. Open the task details panel
2. Scroll to the Files section
3. Click the Upload button
4. Select files from your computer using the file browser

Uploaded files appear in a table showing the filename, size, upload date, and the user who uploaded it. Each file has action buttons allowing you to download the file or delete it from the task. All file uploads are automatically recorded in the Comments tab, creating a clear audit trail of when documents were added.

Managing Task Status and Workflow

Ontario uses a structured workflow system to track task progress through clearly defined stages. Understanding how status transitions work—and when to use them—is essential for maintaining accurate project visibility.

The Four Workflow Stages

Every task in Ontario progresses through a standardized four-stage workflow:

Tasks progress forward through completions (advancing to the next stage) or can be rejected (moved backward) if work needs revision. When rejecting a task, Ontario prompts you to enter a reason for the rejection, which is automatically logged as a comment to ensure clear communication. Ontario's intelligent status selector only displays relevant next-step options, preventing workflow errors and ensuring logical task progression.

Updating Task Status

To change a task's status:

1. Open the task details panel by clicking on the task
2. Click the current status indicator (displayed as a colored badge near the top of the panel)
3. Select the new status from the dropdown menu

When you update the status, Ontario automatically records the change in the Workflow tab, including who made the change, when it occurred, and the status transition. This creates a complete audit trail of the task's lifecycle.

Understanding the Workflow Tab

The Workflow tab in the task details panel provides a visual timeline of all status changes throughout the task's lifecycle. This audit trail shows:

• Each status the task has been in
• Timestamps of when status changes occurred
• Which team member completed or rejected each transition
• Rejection reasons (logged as comments when tasks are moved backward)
• The complete sequence of status transitions

The workflow timeline uses a vertical connector line to show progression, with completed stages marked with checkmarks and the current stage highlighted. Future stages (not yet reached) appear dimmed with a dotted connector line.

Using Search, Filters, and Sorting

As your project accumulates tasks, Ontario's search and filtering capabilities become essential tools for maintaining visibility and focus. These features help you quickly locate specific tasks and organize your view based on different criteria.

Searching for Tasks

The search bar at the top of the Task Manager allows you to find tasks by entering keywords. Ontario searches across task names, finding matches even with partial terms. The search requires a minimum of 3 characters before returning results.

To search for tasks:

1. Click in the search field (marked with a magnifying glass icon)
2. Type at least 3 characters from the task name you're looking for
3. Results filter automatically as you type
4. Clear the search field to return to the full task list

Filtering Tasks

The Show filters button opens a comprehensive filter panel that allows you to narrow down your task list based on multiple criteria simultaneously. This is particularly useful for large projects with many tasks.

Available filter categories include:

You can select multiple filters simultaneously—for example, showing only tasks assigned to a specific person that are currently "In Progress." Click Reset next to any filter category to clear those selections, or click Reset all at the top of the filter panel to return to an unfiltered view.

Sorting Tasks

Click any column header in the task table to sort by that column. The same header toggles between ascending and descending order:

Workflow Tip: Create custom views by combining filters and sorting. For example, filter to show only "In Progress" tasks assigned to your direct reports, then sort by due date. This gives you an at-a-glance view of your team's active work prioritized by urgency—perfect for daily standups or check-ins.

Working with Multiple Tasks

When you need to perform the same action on several tasks simultaneously, Ontario's bulk actions feature saves significant time and ensures consistency across task management operations.

Selecting Multiple Tasks

To select tasks for bulk operations:

As you select tasks, a blue action bar appears at the bottom of the screen showing how many tasks are selected and providing access to bulk operations.

Available Bulk Actions

The bulk actions bar provides several operations you can perform on all selected tasks simultaneously:

To execute a bulk action:

Use Caution with Bulk Delete: The Delete bulk action permanently removes tasks from Ontario with no recovery option. Before using this action, double-check your task selection and consider whether archiving or marking as Done would be more appropriate than deletion.

Additional Task Actions

Beyond basic creation and editing, Ontario provides several specialized actions for managing tasks throughout their lifecycle. These actions are accessible through the three-dot menu (•••) next to each task or at the top of the task details panel.

Duplicating Tasks

When you need to create a similar task, duplicating an existing one saves time and ensures consistency.

The duplicate includes all information from the original task except for attached files and workflow history. This makes duplication ideal for recurring tasks (like monthly reports) or creating similar tasks for different team members or time periods.

Deleting Tasks

Quick Actions from the Main Table

You don't always need to open the full task details panel. Ontario provides several quick actions directly from the main task table:

Efficiency Tip: These shortcuts maintain workflow efficiency, letting you access specific information or actions without unnecessary navigation.

Task Visibility Across Ontario

Tasks don't just live in the Task Manager—Ontario surfaces task information throughout the platform to keep work visible and prevent items from falling through the cracks.

Projects Table Task Count

When viewing the Projects list from the Ontario environment landing page (accessible via the Projects tab), each project row includes a Tasks column that displays the total number of tasks within that project. This at-a-glance count appears as a number in a light blue circle, allowing you to quickly assess workload distribution across your portfolio.

This task count is particularly useful for:

The task count updates in real-time as tasks are created, completed, or deleted, ensuring you always have current visibility into project workload.

Landing Page Task Features

Smart Distribution: These distributed views ensure task information is available where you're already working, rather than requiring constant navigation to the Task Manager.

Best Practices for Task Management

Effective task management goes beyond knowing which buttons to click. These practices help ensure Ontario's task system drives accountability and project success rather than becoming just another checklist.

The art of task management: Ontario's task system gives you the structure to track work, but effectiveness comes from team discipline in using that structure consistently. Create clear tasks, update status promptly, and use the visibility features to maintain shared awareness. When everyone on your team treats task management as part of the work (not administrative overhead), Ontario becomes a powerful tool for coordination and accountability across even complex projects.