Add Materials & Tools

Materials are the physical, or other non-data, things the work consumes, produces, or changes, such as a laptop, a signed contract, or a welcome packet. Tools are the equipment, software, and systems the work is performed with, such as an HRIS or a label printer. Listing them tells each Task's Assignee what they need and what they must produce. Portfolio Administrators and Leads may add them.

Supplies and Deliverables

You list each Material as an Input or an Output of a Procedure or Step. TaskTrain then works out how it looks to the Assignees doing the work:

• A Supply is a Material that comes in from outside, because nothing inside the Procedure or Step produces it.
• A Deliverable is a Material that leaves, because nothing inside the Procedure or Step consumes it.

A Material one Step produces and a later Step consumes stays inside the Procedure, so it is neither. Supplies, Deliverables, and Tools appear on each Task's Guide. See Follow a Task's Guide.

Like Fields, Materials and Tools belong to the Portfolio, so every Procedure in the Portfolio can reuse them. To share one with every Portfolio, move it to the Organization Catalog.

Add a Material or Tool

1. Select the Procedure or Step, then press the Info tab in the detail pane.
2. Open the Materials & Tools panel. It has a Materials table and a Tools table.

   

3. In the table you want, press the Add button to create a new Material or Tool, or press the Link button to use one that already exists.
   • To create one, enter its Name and Description, and choose its Scope: Portfolio or Organization.
   • To link one, pick it from This Portfolio or the Organization Catalog.
   • For a Material, choose its Direction: Input or Output.

   

4. Press Save.

Change, remove, or delete

Press a row's Actions menu to choose:

• Edit Material… or Edit Tool…: change its name, description, or scope everywhere it is used.
• Remove from Step or Remove from Procedure: take it off here only. If this is its last use, you can choose to remove it or delete it.
• Delete Material… or Delete Tool…: delete it from every Procedure and Step.

Related Articles

Overview

1. Key Terms
2. Procedure Writing Best Practices

Step-by-Step

1. Define Procedure Fields
2. Add Entry & Exit Criteria
3. Follow a Task's Guide
4. Organization Catalog