What's in a Discussion

No matter if you discuss an event or a report, in the discussion thread, you can find much more information than only the current comments posted. All actions a user made in a discussion are automatically recorded and any business content is linked.

That makes it easy for you to follow up on other users' actions. In addition, you can jump to any business content added to a discussion with one click, just by following the link that is posted in the thread. Every action comes with a time stamp so you can also see when something happened.

Table 28: Actions documented in a discussion thread

Action Color Symbol Description Example

Post Comment light blue Bubble Shows the text a user posted.

Hi Carol, Could you please check my assumptions? Thanks!

Share Report blue Roll of paper Shows the report name that is linked to a dis­ cussion and the user name of the user who added it.

Report: Budget Q1.2015 Added by SYSTEM

Invite Participant grey Rectangle Shows the user name that is invited to a dis­ cussion and the user name of the user who invited him.

SYSTEM has invited Betty Blue.

Add Attachment blue Paper clip Shows the file name that is linked to an at­ tachment and the user name of the user who added it.

File: Reporter.png Added by SYSTEM

Create Task blue Clipboard Shows the task name that is linked to an at­ tachment and the user name of the user who added it.

A new task has been created for Matt Hoo­ per.

Added by SYSTEM Create Event blue Clipboard Shows the event name

that is linked to the dis­ cussion and the user name of the user who created it.

This discussion is based on the event Review.

Action Color Symbol Description Example Discuss Cell peach Bubble with pencil and

paper

Shows a link to the highlighted cells to dis­ cuss and the comment posted.

Discuss cell(s): Please check these values. Close Discussion grey Rectangle Shows the user name

of the user who closed the discussion.

SYSTEM has closed this discussion.

9

Events

To manage your planning projects, you will need to create events and tasks in the planning calendar. You must then assign the people who will do the work for each task and, optionally, people to review the completed task. Planning typically includes the following activities:

● Creating events based on processes and event categories

● Creating tasks, assigning them to users and setting due dates

● Discussing events and tasks with your colleagues using the Collaboration features

● Monitoring the progress of the plan using the Timeline view

If required, you can also synchronize your planning data with other applications by exporting a plan or importing from SAP Business Planning and Consolidation application (BPC).

Organizing Using Categories and Processes

At a high level, you can organize events on the basis of user-defined processes and use color-coded categories to organize, manage, and display your plans in a visually appealing way. Events are displayed on the Calendar and Timeline organized on the basis of their process and category.

Once the plan is in progress, you can give key events, such as project milestones, high visibility by pinning them to the home screen.

Creating Events

For the detailed planning process, start by analyzing the project and by breaking it down into a sequence of events. You must then select people for each event, create the individual detailed tasks, and assign people to each task.

Due Dates and Reminders

You must define a due date for each event and task and (optionally) set up a review cycle to ensure that all stages of the plan follow a verification process. If you set up reminders for the tasks and events of the plan, people assigned to the tasks will receive on-screen notifications or email messages to inform them when a due date is approaching.

9.1 Creating Events

Create events in the planning calendar and select the users who will work on the related activities.

Context

Note

You can define additional color-coded categories and processes for events from the Events – Actions menu. Within each category any number of user-defined processes can be created.

Procedure

1. Choose the New toolbar button (+ symbol) and select New Event. 2. Select the Category and optionally a Process for the event.

3. Select all Assignees who will be required for the whole event using the Select Users feature.

You can then assign people from this group of users to individual tasks as you create the tasks. By default, the

Owner of the event is the user who creates it. You can change this later to ensure that notifications are addressed to the right person – to the real task owner, not the creator.

4. You can add Links from the event to any existing object (such as a report or a file) in the application.

5. You can set up Reminders for the event (in relation to the specified due date) to trigger notification messages to all users who are assigned to tasks that are not yet complete.

9.2 Creating Tasks

Create tasks for each event and assign users to the task.

Context

You can add a task directly to an event by choosing the Related Tasks + symbol or by choosing the New toolbar button (+ symbol) and selecting New Task.

Procedure

1. Assign one or more users to the task.

The people you assign to a task are firstly, the assignees (with responsibility for completing the task) and secondly, if required, the reviewers and final reviewers.

2. As with Events, you can add Links to existing objects and you can also set up Reminders for the task.

9.3 Monitoring Plans

Once the plan has been set up, the automated workflow of the plan keeps the status updated. You can monitor progress of the plan in the calendar or view the plan as a timeline showing all events for a single selected process.

Workflow

The workflow functionality is interactive:

1. The task owner assigns a task to the assignee who then receives a notification. 2. The assignee must accept (or decline) the task.

3. When the work is complete the assignee clicks Done. This updates the status of the task and triggers further notifications, either to the users who are assigned as reviewers or to the event owner, as appropriate.

Monitoring

You can choose to display the plan in either of two formats:

● Calendar view (tabular)

● Linear preview (timeline) for all events and tasks which belong to a single process You can identify the task status easily:

● Tasks that are in progress are displayed on screen as an empty circle

● Completed tasks appear as a filled circle

Using Filters

You can use the Filter feature to reduce the amount of information shown. Filters are available for:

● Events

● Tasks

● Categories and Processes

The filter applies to both the calendar and timeline views.

Configuring the Timeline

You can configure how much information is displayed on the timeline as follows: 1. Select Timeline to make the timeline visible and then choose Edit Timeline. 2. Set the number of days to show and select the categories you want to see.

9.4 Explore Reminders

You can create reminder notifications to be automatically sent to people who are assigned to tasks. The reminder is sent either as a message within the application or as an email sent to the user's email address.

Types of reminder:

● Event Reminder

● Task Reminder

● On-the-fly reminder

Reminder messages are sent the specified number of days before the due date and can be sent as either (or both) on-screen notification messages or emails (the user mail address must be defined in User Management).