Housing options task maintenance overview
A housing options task is a specific activity arising from a customer's request for information in respect of a potential housing problem or related concern from which a case has been created. Each housing options case generated in this way relates to a specific enquiry topic, the categorisation of which is controlled by the housing organisation, and comprises one or more related tasks that define how the case will be progressed. Any number of discrete tasks can be linked to a housing options case, although an individual task can only appear once. Where multiple tasks are required, identical in nature, separate task definitions must be created for each instance. In structuring all the activities that are relevant to a housing options case, tasks can be added manually under the direction of the assigned owner, or they can be created automatically by virtue of their existence within the workflow path. Dictated by the nature of the assigned tasks, dependencies can be configured between them to restrict the point at which related tasks are commenced. These task attributes and restrictions are all configured within the overarching housing option workflow definition, where the predecessor task hierarchy and required lag period - the delay between dependent tasks - are all determined.
All relevant tasks activated as a consequence of raising a housing options case can be service level driven and form an integral part of a wider Service Level Agreement (SLA). Within each housing options task, there are three key components of SLA compliance tracking: amber warning period, follow-on escalation and target completion exceeded. SLA targets that are defined at task level must fall within the overall SLA framework for the specific workflow type, with robust system validation rules ensuring that proposed target completion dates are synchronised. Once an SLA indicator is reached, the system can be configured to dispatch an automatic alert to individual user accounts that are associated through the task definition escalation rules, notifying them of the situation. User accounts can be linked directly to the SLA notification process or by association through their membership of an allocated role. The next progression phase can also be controlled through a follow-on rule i.e. the actions to be undertaken in the instance where an escalated task is still outstanding after a defined period.
At the point of raising a housing options case, the individual user or group ownership of the associated tasks can be automatically determined via an allocation rule. Such tasks can, however, be reassigned to alternative owners to take account of workload, staff absence, specialist knowledge, etc.
Separate help articles have been created for each key aspect of housing options task maintenance, including: