Question

Automating My Week


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My company has been successfully using To do for years, all of our templates and automators are built around it.  Now it seems that My Week will be replacing To do and I am trying to figure out My Week but I can’t seem to wrap my head around it.

First, when all of the tasks are completed and a work is even in the Completed status, why doesn’t it automatically move to Done?  This seems like an unneeded step.  I understand if all my tasks are done but if the work isn’t done it shouldn’t move, but if the entire work is done?

Then, there seems to be no automation for it, if an automator triggers a task to be due this week, it doesn’t move the work to My Week, it just stays where it is.  This might be fine for recurring work but for tax work where I am often waiting on clients it’s a problem.  I have automators that make my tasks due when a client completes their task list but it stays in To Plan until I manually move it. 

Also, there should be different views.  It seems you can only view by status and then filter for what you need.  Why not have something similar to Work where you can set different views?  

And for something called My Week there should be the ability to assign things by day.  I’ve been trying all week to use My Week and there’s several tasks I do on Fridays that are showing up.  I only do these things on Friday so seeing them on Tuesday is pretty distracting for me.  


11 replies

Userlevel 3
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Hi Becca,

I’m following this with keen interest as we are in the exact same situation. We have expressed concern to Karbon about losing so much task-based workflow, more manual movement of work (and related risk of error if that manual step is not done), and the lack of a “daily” view (as like you, there are things I need to do later in the week that I don’t want to have to see every day - I’ve scheduled it for a reason).

With to-do lists and task-based to-do dates going away later this year, this is our #1 concern for our next busy season. So far we have not been able to resolve this via our contacts with Karbon. I would be open to exploring options together in a Zoom or Teams call just to get some ideas together outside of the bubble within our own firm.

Best,

Jonathan

Userlevel 6
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@Becca Williams @Jonathan Gibson These are all very valid points and concerns.  There are a lot of others that have the same or similar needs and there are quite a few Feature Requests posted.  

Instead of linking them all here, if you go to the Search bar at the top of the Community page and put in “my week”, then filter for Idea, you’ll be able to scroll through all the various ideas and up-vote the ones you like.  

Also, encourage everyone on your team to join the community page and up-vote ideas - you can send them the links to the ones you feel are most important.  This will help the Karbon team see just how important certain items are for your firm.  

 

Userlevel 3
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@Jonathan Gibson These are all very valid points and concerns.  There are a lot of others that have the same or similar needs and there are quite a few Feature Requests posted.  

Instead of linking them all here, if you go to the Search bar at the top of the Community page and put in “my week”, then filter for Idea, you’ll be able to scroll through all the various ideas and up-vote the ones you like.  

Also, encourage everyone on your team to join the community page and up-vote ideas - you can send them the links to the ones you feel are most important.  This will help the Karbon team see just how important certain items are for your firm.  

 

Thanks, @kylenecarse. I agree that feature requests are a helpful way to provide feedback and regularly review the list of new requests. In the meantime, my team has quite a bit of anxiety about to-do lists being removed from Karbon and replaced with My Week while so many (obviously needed - given the volume of requests) improvements are still in development. I would be happy to explore how My Week adds value to the organization of our work rather than taking away from the clarity of the to-do lists that our team currently uses (and thrives in). And, once My Week has the required features, we would certainly consider a shift towards more “My Week” use and less “to-do list” use.

(I also want to respect Becca’s original questions and don’t want to hijack this thread…I would be happy to continue this discussion elsewhere!)

Userlevel 6
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My apologies, I should have addressed @Becca Williams post better.

I believe all of the questions/concerns listed are areas that do not exist currently in My Week, BUT have active feature requests.  The Karbon team closely monitors the requests and the more votes they get, the more likely they are to receive attention and action.  

I do believe that the automation of moving completed items out of My Week is one that is coming soon, just not sure of the timeline.  

Additionally, if there isn’t a request that exactly addresses the concern/need/want - posting a feature request and then asking your team to up vote is a great way to get traction going on the item.  

Lastly, continue to address your concerns with your CSM.  They are your voice as well, and do bring concerns to the Karbon team.  

Hope this helps!

Hi all @Becca Williams, @Jonathan Gibson, and @kylenecarse 😁

 

I am a part of Karbon’s Support Team as well as our Community Manager. I reviewed this post and saw that there are many concerns/questions centered around ‘My Week’. 

 

As @kylenecarse stated these concerns are always encouraged to be shared with us as well as your CSM. I reached out to both of your CSM’s so that we can further discuss these concerns. I will send you both a private message with further details.

 

As always, thanks for sharing your concerns 😀

 

 

Userlevel 7
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Hi all. I was the last one in our company to move from To-Do to My Week, and I understand the love for it. After using My Week for a few months, I have grown to like it much more than the to-do system, if that’s any comfort. 😀

Is there a date for when To-Dos are going away? I understood that they would be sticking around a while so people can transition smoothly.

First, when all of the tasks are completed and a work is even in the Completed status, why doesn’t it automatically move to Done?  This seems like an unneeded step.  I understand if all my tasks are done but if the work isn’t done it shouldn’t move, but if the entire work is done?

There are some companies that still take action on completed work (like billing) or that like to follow-up on work items in a managerial capacity. For me and our company, I wouldn’t want the work to move to done automatically. I like to see what is done and then move it myself (it’s also a little satisfying)

Then, there seems to be no automation for it, if an automator triggers a task to be due this week, it doesn’t move the work to My Week, it just stays where it is.  This might be fine for recurring work but for tax work where I am often waiting on clients it’s a problem.  I have automators that make my tasks due when a client completes their task list but it stays in To Plan until I manually move it. 

We use kanban work dashboards to track work. It gives a bigger, more useful picture (for us anyway) of where we are at with the work. If you use an automation to change the status from something like “Waiting: Client Docs” to “Ready: Prep” when clients complete their work, the work dashboard will tell you what work items are ready. We work our dashboards from right to left, always focusing on completing work before picking up half-done work or starting new work. My Week is a tool to help plan your week, but it’s not designed to replace work dashboards.

For recurring work, you can select which week it gets added to your my week. This will stop it from dropping into your “to plan” bucket.

Also, if you complete tasks and the work is assigned to a different staff member, you can safely move the work to done and it will get added back to your my week if the work is assigned to you again.

Also, there should be different views.  It seems you can only view by status and then filter for what you need.  Why not have something similar to Work where you can set different views? 

What kinds of views do you think would be helpful?

And for something called My Week there should be the ability to assign things by day.  I’ve been trying all week to use My Week and there’s several tasks I do on Fridays that are showing up.  I only do these things on Friday so seeing them on Tuesday is pretty distracting for me.  

What we do in our company is set recurring calendar reminders for work that is done on a specific day, and then we remove it from My Week when it’s scheduled. This helps keep things tidy and reinforces work routines. The My Week calendar (I think it’s out of beta now) is helpful because it displays the recurring tasks alongside the items in your my week, and you can drag the items from my week to add them to your calendar and schedule them.

Overall, My Week is one tool designed to be used in conjunction with kanban work dashboards and a calendar. At least, that’s how we have learned to use it and have grown to love it. It’s a shift in the way we think, which isn’t always easy.

I’m not sure if that helps at all. 😀

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Hi all @Becca Williams@Jonathan Gibson, and @kylenecarse 😁

 

I am a part of Karbon’s Support Team as well as our Community Manager. I reviewed this post and saw that there are many concerns/questions centered around ‘My Week’. 

 

As @kylenecarse stated these concerns are always encouraged to be shared with us as well as your CSM. I reached out to both of your CSM’s so that we can further discuss these concerns. I will send you both a private message with further details.

 

As always, thanks for sharing your concerns 😀

 

 

My CSM told us to post our concerns in the Karbon community so here I am

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@max  

Is there a date for when To-Dos are going away? 

I heard the end of the year so we need to figure this out before tax season starts

There are some companies that still take action on completed work (like billing) or that like to follow-up on work items in a managerial capacity. For me and our company, I wouldn’t want the work to move to done automatically. I like to see what is done and then move it myself (it’s also a little satisfying)

Shuffling things around in My Week (vs them automatically showing up in my To Do) takes time away from me doing actual work.  It also defeats the purpose of date based automators. Also at the beginning of tax season over 300 works will need to be moved out of To Plan since you can’t set a template to go on a week or use any sort of automator for it.

If a client needs to be billed for something manually, it’s in the work. 

We use kanban work dashboards to track work.

We also do this but it doesn’t have any type of sorting so you don’t know what’s been sitting the longest without clicking into work.  To do sorts things by age. 

What kinds of views do you think would be helpful?

Sorted by due date, sorted by work type, sorted by client, etc.

What we do in our company is set recurring calendar reminders for work that is done on a specific day, and then we remove it from My Week when it’s scheduled. 

We keep all client tasks in Karbon so everyone can see the status of them.  

The My Week calendar (I think it’s out of beta now)

Hasn’t been released yet

 

 

Userlevel 7
Badge +13

@max I love your explanation of using My Week in conjunction with Work Views.  I am going to steal this for the team. 😁

Hi @Becca Williams!

Yes, addressing concerns to receive feedback (and tips) from your peers within the Community is highly recommended. 

 

Due to the impact and time sensitivity of this concern, I wanted to suggest that you have a meeting with your CSM to discuss this in further details. I hope my suggestion was helpful. In addition, I have already shared these details with your CSM.

 

Please let me know if there is anything else you may need from me.

 

Have a great day😁

Userlevel 5
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I see the need for types of work in a my week view but how would that work with planning and moving things to calendar. I use Kanban work view but as I’m reviewing my week, I’d like to see monthly accounting work vs state registrations or client onboarding items. The danger however, would be to forget to remove the filter to see everything so nothing drops.

I think one of the misconceptions is that we need to send everything to my week. I use it currently for urgent matters of notes and emails and one off type of work items. The recurring items, I move to done in My Week as I focus on my Work view to provide me that data. 

If managers are using it to monitor workflow, step in when a team member is out, then My Week habits will need to be standardized by the team for best efficiency and expectations.

 

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