Why Does a Process Move Forward Before all Secondary Tasks Have Been Completed?

In QM10, there are many different processes (QM APPs) that have been built and deployed for different clients or as OTS (Off-The-Shelf processes).  These processes use the Secondary Tasks feature to assign tasks that are needed to support the process, but they have not all been built based on the same conditions. The way these Secondary Tasks behave depends on the requirements that have been defined for each specific process.

Here is what you need to know about a process that allows for the setting of secondary tasks:

Secondary Tasks are defined to be available in certain specific workflow steps of the process.  Some processes Waiting Phases and/or conditional workflow steps are defined as part of the process, in order to follow up on the completion of these Secondary Tasks. The main behaviors of the Secondary Tasks are the following:

❶ In some processes, Waiting Phases are defined to monitor the completion of certain Secondary Task Types, for example, PRE or POST disposition Task Types.  If Secondary Tasks created in a process are NOT of the Task Types defined as part of that particular Process APP, then the process can move forward even when some Secondary Tasks may not yet be complete.   In some Process APPs, but not all, you will be notified if you select a Task Type that is not associated with that process. 

❷ Some Waiting Phases are defined to monitor the completion of certain Task Types, or of any Task Type, AND also to use a certain date defined in the process to allow it to move forward (for example, a Planned Completion Date, a Follow-up Date or a Due Date).  If the defined date is reached while the process is in the Waiting Phase, the process can move forward even if all the Secondary Tasks are not yet completed.

❸ In certain processes, there is no Waiting Phase established to monitor the completion of the Secondary Tasks, but completion is monitored by the inability of certain workflow steps to move forward if the tasks are not completed.  In this case, you will notice that the decision to move the process forward is greyed out.  That option will not be available until specific Secondary Tasks of certain Task Types are all completed.  As described for processes with Waiting Phases, if the Secondary Tasks created in a process are NOT of the Task Types defined as part of that particular Process APP, then the process can move forward even if when some Secondary Tasks may not yet be complete.

❹ Certain processes are defined so that the Waiting Phases or the movement to the next workflow step are dependent on the completion of any type of Secondary Tasks, without following any related date.  In this case, the process will never move forward until all the Secondary Tasks are completed.

◊◊◊ Since the behavior of Secondary Tasks can differ between QM APPs, you should refer to the PUFDS (Process User, Functional and Design Specifications) document for the specific QM APP to learn how they are set up and should behave.  Information is also available in the Process User Guide found in the Knowledge Base.◊◊◊