IBM BPM, V8.0.1, All platforms > Create processes in IBM Process Designer > Designing process interactions for business users
Enabling task management
Many of the business users who are interacting with your applications in the Process Portal will be assigned tasks that appear in their work list, grouped according to priority and upcoming due dates. You can configure the activities in your BPD to have a generated due date that will affect, for example, which task appear categorized as "At Risk" or "Overdue" in their list and in the views seen by management.
You can also enable management to view reports and charts that show the current progress of running process instances.
- Setting the due date and work schedule for a BPD
The due date for a process instance is the expected date and time that all activities related to a process instance should be completed. At run time, this due date is used to calculate whether a process instance is on track for a timely completion. The due date is affected by the work schedules of the users who receive the tasks involved in the process.- Specifying activity due dates
Activity due dates are used to calculate the expected completion time for an activity. This completion time is used during process execution to establish which activities are overdue or at risk of being overdue. In the Process Portal, tasks are presented to business users according to their due date status. Activity due dates are also used for critical path analysis to project the expected completion time for different paths through the process.- Enabling Critical Path Management
The Critical Path Management feature enables users working in Process Portal to identify different execution paths for a process instance and to analyze how long it will take to complete the process instance under different circumstances. Users can also change the process or activity due dates for the instance in response to critical path analysis results to better manage the process. Before critical path analyses can be performed in the Process Portal, the BPD must have the feature enabled in Process Designer.