Understanding Task Workflows

Tom S
Updated

In This Article: Learn how Ontario's standardized four-stage workflow guides tasks from creation to completion. This article explains what each workflow stage means, when to use it, how to move tasks between stages, and best practices for maintaining workflow integrity across your team.

TASKS AND WORKFLOWS
Understanding Task Workflows

Master Ontario's four-stage workflow system for consistent task progression

 

What Is the Ontario Workflow?

Every task in Ontario follows a standardized workflow—a structured path from creation to completion that ensures everyone on your team understands where work stands at any given moment. Rather than leaving task status interpretation to individual judgment, Ontario's workflow provides a consistent framework that works the same way across all projects and teams.

This standardization creates several benefits:

Shared Understanding

When someone says a task is "In Progress," everyone knows exactly what that means

Clear Accountability

Each stage has specific expectations about what should be happening

Visible Progress

Project managers can instantly assess project health by looking at workflow distribution

Audit Trail

Ontario automatically tracks status changes, creating a complete history of task progression

The workflow applies to all task types and provides a consistent framework that teams can use immediately without configuration complexity.

The Four Workflow Stages

Ontario's workflow consists of four sequential stages that represent the natural lifecycle of work. Understanding what each stage means—and when to use it—is essential for effective task management.

1
To Do
Task created, awaiting start
→
2
In Progress
Work actively underway
→
3
Ready for Review
Awaiting approval
→
4
Done
Work completed
1
Stage 1: To Do
The default status for all newly created tasks

When a task is in "To Do," it means the work has been identified and assigned, but the assignee hasn't started working on it yet.

What this stage means:

  • The task exists in the system and is visible to the team
  • Someone is responsible for completing it (the assignee)
  • The work hasn't started yet
  • It's waiting in the assignee's queue

When to use "To Do":

  • Immediately after creating a new task
  • When work needs to be done but hasn't been started
  • After rejecting a task from "In Progress" if the assignee can't start work yet

Best Practice: Tasks shouldn't sit in "To Do" indefinitely. If a task has been in this stage for an extended period, it may indicate the assignee is overloaded, the task needs reprioritization, or the due date should be adjusted.

2
Stage 2: In Progress
Active work is being performed on this task

When someone actively begins work on a task, they should immediately move it to "In Progress." This stage signals to the rest of the team that the work is no longer waiting—someone is actively working on it.

What this stage means:

  • The assignee has started the work
  • Active effort is being applied
  • The task is not yet ready for review or approval
  • The work is not complete

When to use "In Progress":

  • The moment you begin working on a task (don't wait until you're "far enough along")
  • When you return to work on a task that was previously started
  • After a task is rejected from "Ready for Review" with revision requests

Common Mistake: Team members sometimes forget to update status when they start work, leaving tasks in "To Do" even though they're actively working on them. This creates confusion about what's actually being worked on versus what's waiting to be started. Make status updates a habit—if you're working on it, mark it "In Progress."

3
Stage 3: Ready for Review
Work is complete and awaiting verification

This stage indicates that the assignee has completed their work and believes the task meets its requirements. It's now waiting for someone else to review, approve, or verify the completed work before the task can be marked as Done.

What this stage means:

  • The assignee considers the work complete
  • It's ready for another person to review
  • The reviewer may approve it (moving to Done) or reject it (moving back to In Progress)
  • No additional work should be done until review is complete

When to use "Ready for Review":

  • When you've completed all requirements and the work is ready for verification
  • When deliverables have been uploaded and need approval
  • When you need someone else to check your work before considering it complete
  • When the task explicitly requires a review or approval step

Who Reviews: Ontario doesn't automatically assign reviewers. The review typically happens through team process—either the task requester checks the work, a manager reviews it, or there's a designated review process for your team. Use comments to tag the person who should review the task.

4
Stage 4: Done
Task is complete and verified

The final stage of the workflow, "Done" means the task has been completed to satisfaction, any review or approval has occurred, and the work is finished. Once a task reaches "Done," it moves to the Completed view and is removed from active task lists.

What this stage means:

  • All work is complete
  • Any necessary reviews or approvals have been obtained
  • The task deliverables meet requirements
  • No further action is needed

When to use "Done":

  • After reviewing a task in "Ready for Review" and confirming it's complete
  • When all task requirements have been met
  • When the task requester or reviewer approves the completed work
  • For simple tasks that don't require review, when you've finished the work

Important: Moving a task to "Done" is often a team decision, not just the assignee's call. If you're the assignee, use "Ready for Review" when you think you're done, and let the reviewer or requester move it to "Done" after verification. This prevents tasks from being marked complete prematurely.

Screenshot: Workflow Stages in Task Details

The task details panel showing a task with status "Ready for Review" selected. The status dropdown menu is open, displaying available next steps: complete it by moving to "Done," or reject it by returning to "In Progress." The "To Do" option is dimmed since you can't skip backward two stages.

How to Change Task Status

Updating a task's workflow stage is straightforward, but understanding the mechanics helps you work more efficiently.

Basic Status Update Process

1
Open the Task
Click it from the Task Manager table
2
Locate the Status Badge
Find it prominently displayed near the top of the task details panel
3
Click the Status Badge
This opens the status dropdown menu
4
Select New Status
Choose from the available options
âś“
Status Updates Immediately
No "Save" button needed—the change is instant

Ontario automatically records the status change in the task's Workflow tab, capturing who made the change and when it occurred. This creates a complete audit trail of the task's progression through the workflow.

Status Transition Rules

Ontario's workflow has an important rule: tasks can only move one stage at a time in either direction. This "one step at a time" rule prevents accidental skipping of stages and ensures proper workflow progression.

Here's how this works in practice:

Current Stage Can Move To Cannot Move To
To Do In Progress (complete forward) Ready for Review, Done (skip forward)
In Progress To Do (reject), Ready for Review (complete) Done (skip forward)
Ready for Review In Progress (reject), Done (complete) To Do (skip backward)
Done Ready for Review (reject) To Do, In Progress (skip backward)

Ontario's interface enforces these rules automatically—you'll only see valid next-step options in the status dropdown, so you can't accidentally make an invalid status change.

Completion and Rejection

Workflow stages can progress in either direction based on what's happening with the work:

Completion (To Do → In Progress → Ready for Review → Done):

  • Represents normal task advancement
  • Indicates progress toward completion
  • Should be the typical path for most tasks
  • Happens as work moves through its natural lifecycle

Rejection (Done → Ready for Review → In Progress → To Do):

  • Indicates revision, correction, or reassessment is needed
  • Not a failure—it's a normal part of iterative work
  • Often happens when review reveals issues
  • When rejecting a task, Ontario prompts you to enter a reason for the rejection
  • The rejection reason is automatically logged as a comment, ensuring clear communication

Communication Tip: When rejecting a task (moving it backward through the workflow), Ontario will prompt you to enter a rejection reason, which gets automatically logged as a comment. This ensures the assignee understands exactly what needs to change without requiring separate follow-up. The required rejection reason creates clear communication and maintains a complete record of why work needed revision.

Screenshot: Workflow Tab Timeline

The Workflow tab displaying a vertical timeline showing task progression. Completed stages (To Do, In Progress, Ready for Review) have checkmarks and timestamps. The current stage (Ready for Review) is highlighted. The Done stage appears dimmed with a dotted connector line, indicating it hasn't been reached yet. Each transition shows the user who made the change, when it occurred, and any rejection reasons logged as comments.

Tracking Workflow History

Ontario maintains a complete history of every status change throughout a task's lifecycle. This audit trail serves multiple purposes: accountability, process improvement, identifying bottlenecks, and understanding how long work actually takes.

The Workflow Tab

Every task's details panel includes a Workflow tab that displays a visual timeline of status changes. This timeline provides a complete audit trail of the task's lifecycle.

Information Tracked What It Shows
Stage History Each status the task has been in throughout its lifecycle
Timestamps When each status change occurred, down to the minute
User Attribution Which team member completed or rejected each transition
Rejection Reasons Comments logged automatically when tasks are moved backward, explaining what needs revision
Transition Sequence The complete sequence of status changes, including any completions and rejections
Current Position Where the task is now in its lifecycle, highlighted for quick reference

The timeline uses visual indicators to make information quickly scannable:

  • Checkmarks: Indicate stages that have been completed
  • Solid connector lines: Show progression through completed stages
  • Highlighted current stage: Shows where the task is now
  • Dimmed future stages: Display what stages remain
  • Dotted lines: Connect to stages not yet reached

Understanding the Workflow History

The workflow history tells the story of a task's lifecycle. Here's how to interpret common patterns:

Straight-Through Completion

Pattern: To Do → In Progress → Ready for Review → Done

The ideal path—work was completed correctly the first time, reviewed, and approved without requiring revisions.

Single Revision

Pattern: To Do → In Progress → Ready for Review → In Progress → Ready for Review → Done

Normal iterative work—review identified issues, work was revised, then approved on the second review.

Work Paused

Pattern: To Do → In Progress → To Do → In Progress → Ready for Review → Done

Work was started, then put back in the queue (perhaps due to reprioritization), then resumed and completed later.

Reopened After Completion

Pattern: To Do → In Progress → Ready for Review → Done → Ready for Review → In Progress → Ready for Review → Done

Work was completed and marked Done, but later issues were discovered requiring the task to be reopened, revised, and completed again.

Process Insight: Over time, workflow histories across many tasks can reveal process bottlenecks. If you notice many tasks being rejected from Ready for Review back to In Progress multiple times, it might indicate unclear requirements, insufficient acceptance criteria, or a disconnect between requesters and assignees about what "done" means.

Common Workflow Scenarios

Understanding how workflow stages apply in real situations helps you make better status update decisions. Here are some typical scenarios and how to handle them:

Real-World Workflow Examples

See how workflow stages apply in common situations

Scenario 1: Uploading a Financial Report

Situation: Sarah creates a task for Jack to upload the Q4 financial report by Friday. The task includes specific requirements about file format and naming conventions.

Workflow Progression:

  1. To Do: Task is created and assigned to Jack. It sits in his queue until Tuesday.
  2. In Progress: On Tuesday morning, Jack begins working on the report. He immediately moves the task to "In Progress" so Sarah knows he's started.
  3. In Progress (continued): Jack spends Tuesday and Wednesday preparing the report, leaving the status as "In Progress" the entire time.
  4. Ready for Review: On Thursday morning, Jack uploads the completed report to the task and moves it to "Ready for Review." He adds a comment tagging Sarah.
  5. Done: Sarah reviews the report Thursday afternoon, confirms it meets requirements, and moves the task to "Done."

Key Takeaway: Tasks can stay in "In Progress" for extended periods—that's normal. The status changes when the nature of the work changes, not on a schedule.

Scenario 2: Report Needs Revisions

Situation: The same scenario as above, but when Sarah reviews the report, she notices the formatting doesn't match the required template.

Workflow Progression:

  1. To Do → In Progress → Ready for Review: (Same as Scenario 1, Jack completes and submits the report)
  2. In Progress (rejected): Sarah reviews the report, notices the formatting issue, and rejects the task by moving it back to "In Progress." Ontario prompts her to enter a rejection reason: "Please reformat using the Q4 template. See the example in the Files folder for reference." This is automatically logged as a comment.
  3. In Progress (continued): Jack receives the notification with the rejection reason, fixes the formatting issue over the next few hours.
  4. Ready for Review (second time): Jack resubmits the corrected report and moves it back to "Ready for Review" with a comment confirming he applied the template.
  5. Done: Sarah reviews again, confirms the formatting is correct, and moves the task to "Done."

Key Takeaway: Rejecting tasks isn't failure—it's normal iteration. Ontario's required rejection reason ensures Jack receives clear feedback about what needs to change, eliminating confusion and reducing back-and-forth.

Scenario 3: Reassigning Mid-Workflow

Situation: Maria is assigned a task to review client contracts, but she falls ill midway through the work. Her manager needs to reassign the task to Carlos.

Workflow Progression:

  1. To Do → In Progress: Maria starts the work on Monday, moves the task to "In Progress."
  2. In Progress (continued): Maria works on it Monday and Tuesday. On Wednesday morning, she falls ill.
  3. To Do (rejected): The manager rejects the task by moving it back to "To Do" and enters the rejection reason explaining that Maria is out and the task is being reassigned.
  4. To Do (reassigned): The manager changes the assignee from Maria to Carlos. The task remains in "To Do."
  5. In Progress: When Carlos picks up the task Wednesday afternoon, he moves it to "In Progress."
  6. Ready for Review → Done: Carlos completes the review and the task progresses normally through the remaining stages.

Key Takeaway: When reassigning a task that's already in progress, consider rejecting it back to "To Do" first. This signals that the work isn't currently being worked on and needs to be picked up fresh by the new assignee. The rejection reason provides context for everyone involved.

Workflow Best Practices

Following these practices ensures your team gets maximum value from Ontario's workflow system:

Update Status Immediately

When the nature of work changes (you start, finish, or need review), update the status right away. Don't wait until end of day or until you "finish enough." Real-time updates provide real-time visibility.

Trust the Rejection System

Ontario's required rejection reason ensures clear communication when moving tasks backward. The system automatically logs this as a comment, creating a complete record and eliminating confusion about what needs to change.

Establish Review Protocols

Decide as a team who reviews tasks in "Ready for Review." Is it always the requester? The project manager? A designated reviewer? Clear protocols prevent tasks from sitting in review indefinitely.

Use "Done" Deliberately

Don't rush to mark tasks "Done" just to clear them off lists. The "Done" stage should represent actual completion to satisfaction. If you're unsure whether something is truly done, use "Ready for Review" and let someone else confirm.

Monitor Workflow Patterns

Pay attention to tasks that bounce between stages repeatedly or that get stuck in one stage for extended periods. These patterns often indicate unclear requirements, resource constraints, or process problems worth addressing.

Make It a Team Habit

Workflow effectiveness depends on consistent use by everyone. Make status updates part of your team's daily routine. When everyone maintains accurate status, the entire team benefits from improved visibility and coordination.

Troubleshooting Common Workflow Issues

Issue Common Cause Solution
Tasks stuck in "To Do" for weeks Assignee is overloaded, task is low priority, or due date is too far out Review task priority and due dates. Consider reassigning if assignee lacks capacity. Break large tasks into smaller pieces.
Many tasks in "In Progress" simultaneously People are multitasking or leaving status unchanged when switching tasks Encourage focus on fewer concurrent tasks. When switching away from a task, consider rejecting it back to "To Do" if you won't return to it soon.
Tasks sitting in "Ready for Review" indefinitely Unclear who should review, or reviewers don't know they need to act Establish clear review protocols. When moving to "Ready for Review," add a comment tagging the person who should review the task.
Frequent rejections (Review → In Progress → Review multiple times) Requirements are unclear, acceptance criteria are missing, or expectations aren't aligned Invest more time in task descriptions and acceptance criteria when creating tasks. Use the rejection reason field to provide specific, actionable feedback. Consider discussing complex tasks before starting work.
Tasks marked "Done" that aren't actually complete Assignees marking their own work complete without review, or pressure to clear task lists Reinforce that assignees should use "Ready for Review" when they finish work, and requesters/reviewers should move to "Done" only after verification.

The value of workflow discipline: Ontario's workflow system is simple by design—just four stages with straightforward rules. The value comes not from complexity but from consistent use. When everyone on your team updates status promptly and accurately, the workflow becomes a powerful coordination tool that provides real-time visibility into project health, helps identify bottlenecks, and ensures nothing falls through the cracks. Treat status updates as an integral part of doing the work, not as administrative overhead, and the workflow system will serve you well.

What's Next

Collaborating on Tasks

Learn how to use comments, file attachments, and team communication features to coordinate work effectively throughout the task lifecycle.

Creating and Managing Tasks

Master the fundamentals of task creation, editing, filtering, and using bulk actions to efficiently manage work across your projects.

Understanding Ontario Notifications

Discover how Ontario keeps you informed about task status changes, new assignments, and comments so you can respond to work that needs your attention.

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