Smart Schedule: Multi-Task Panel Basics

Smart Schedule is powerful functionality, and the screen has many facets. When the Smart Schedule is accessed via the left navigation or the main menu of Project view, there is a Multi-Task panel available for users with the permissions to view it (Smart Schedule Multi-Task permission). Find a breakdown of the Multi-Task panel's functionality in the screenshot below. Please refer to the Smart Schedule: Basics article to see a breakdown of all the other aspects of the Smart Schedule. Additionally, the Smart Schedule How-to Video on Using the Multi-Task Panel will walk you through the process step by step.

1. Before any tasks have been selected in the Multi-Task panel for scheduling, it will display as follows. From this state, appointments may be manually dragged and dropped on the Smart Schedule.
   
   
   
2. When one or more tasks has been selected for scheduling, the following details will be visible. Click on the Execute Auto-Find button (see b. below) to have appointments for the selected tasks placed on the Smart Schedule for review. 
   
   
   

   a.

   Expand / Hide: Click to expand the Multi-Task panel or hide it.

   b.

   Execute Auto-Find: Once tasks have been selected in the listing below, this button will display the number of tasks to be scheduled. Clicking on this button will initiate the auto-find process, displaying appointments in their available time slots in the Smart Schedule's calendar. 

   c.

   Review and Save Auto-Find Appointments: After the Execute Auto-Find button has been clicked and all appointments appear on the schedule, this button will turn green and display a count of the number of appointments that have been tentatively scheduled. After reviewing the placement of those appointments and making any necessary revisions, clicking this button will display a listing of the appointments for final approval. 

   d.

   Clear Auto-Find: This resets the Auto-Find panel, removing any proposed appointments.

   e.

   Select All: Click to select or deselect all tasks listed in the Multi-Select panel.

   f.

   Sort: Click to adjust the sort order of tasks displayed and organize them based upon: task name, start date, due date, task owner, resource type, project, or customer.

   g.

   Settings: Click to adjust the settings for the way that Auto-Find suggests appointment times for your tasks.
   

   Dates to Use for Auto-Find
   	Always use Task Start/Due dates: will auto-find available slots based on the task’s set start and due dates.
   	RPAX forecast dates when available: will use the Critical Path forecast dates for the task.
   Multi-Task Auto-Find Settings
   	Current calendar view date range: will only find slots available based on the current calendar view settings. For example, if you are in weekly view mode, it will only find appointments that fall within that date range.
   	90 days into the future: will find available slots from today to 90 days into the future.
   Default User-Assignment Business Rules
   	Always use task owner: will schedule the appointment time for the task owner assigned​.
   	Use task owner unless late, then use first qualified resource: the task owner will be used, unless the task is either late (or forecasted to be late based on the setting for auto-find). A qualified resource is one that has the highest match rate based on Resource Type and skill set. A qualified resource will only be used if they can complete the work before the task owner. So if for example, the next qualified resource is booked and the task owner would end up completing the schedule first, that task owner would continue to be used.​
   	Use first qualified resource: will find the next available qualified resource (based on match strength) to assign the schedule to. If no qualified resource can complete the appointment before the task owner, it will fall back to the owner.

   h.

   Filter: This allows the tasks that display in the Multi-Task panel to be adjusted based upon specific criteria.
   

   i.

   Task Listing: View details for the task name, project name, phase, and client name associated with this task.

   j.

   Work Remaining Balance / Appointment Duration / Appointment Number: The Work Remaining Balance displays the remaining hours to be scheduled for the task by taking the work estimate and subtracting the schedule total.​
   The Appointment Duration indicates the length of appointment that Auto-Find will be looking for in the Smart Schedule. This number may be modified.
   The Appointment Number indicates the number of appointments of the listed duration that will be searched for by Auto-Find. So if, for example, there is an appointment duration of 2 hours and an appointment number of 2, Auto-Find will look for 2 two-hour timeslots for appointments. This number may also be modified.

   k.

   Start / Due Date: This displays the date that this task is set to start and the date by which it should be finished.

   l.

   Task Owner + User Assignment Business Rule Setting: The image displayed is the task owner, and below that image is an icon indicating which User Assignment Business Rule has been applied to the task via the default settings (see g. above). This may be modified at the task level by clicking on the icon.

3. Click on any task in the Multi-Task panel to see it highlighted in the listing to the left. All of the selected tasks now appear in green, and their corresponding scheduled appointment will be highlighted in the Smart Schedule when that task is clicked in the Multi-Task panel. The Appt. column now displays a calendar icon, which indicates where the appointment has been scheduled. A bulls-eye in the center of the calendar indicates that the appointment appears in the current view. An arrow in either direction indicates that the appointment appears in either an earlier or later view. Clicking on that task will jump you to its placement in the Smart Schedule.
   
   Appointments may be edited in this view by dragging and dropping them or clicking into the appointment and making modifications. Once everything is where you want it, click on the Auto-Find Appointments button (in green) to perform a final review.
   
   
   
4. The Auto-Find Appointments review panel opens. Unselect any appointment placements that you do not wish to move forward with, and click Save to proceed or Cancel to start over.