The Action Items Manager is one list of every action item you oversee, across your pipelines. Use it to see who still has work to do, find a specific task in seconds, and cancel, reopen or delete action items when plans change.
The Action Items Manager.
In this article
- Key terms
- Who can use it
- What the Action Items Manager is best for
- Open the Action Items Manager
- Find the action items you need
- Cancel, reopen or delete action items
- Export action items
- Things to know
- FAQ and troubleshooting
- Related articles
Key terms
- Action item: a task sent to one person for one idea when the idea enters a pipeline step, such as "review this idea" or "score this idea."
- Step: one stage of work in a pipeline. Each step can send action items to evaluators.
- Open, Completed, Canceled: the three states an action item can be in. Open means it still needs to be done.
Who can use it
What you see depends on your role:
| Role | Action items you see |
|---|---|
| System Administrator | Every assigned action item in your Brightidea system |
| Initiative Administrator | Action items for the sites you administer |
| Moderator | Action items for the pipelines you moderate |
Evaluators and other users don't see the Action Items Manager. They see only their own tasks in My Action Items. The Analyst role can't open the Action Items Manager either.
What the Action Items Manager is best for
- Chasing late reviews. Open the Open tab and filter by step or evaluator to see exactly who still owes feedback before a deadline.
- Handling a change in reviewers. When an evaluator leaves or an idea no longer needs review, cancel their open action items so the task no longer counts as outstanding.
- Giving someone a second chance. If an evaluator submitted a review by mistake or needs to change their scores, reopen the completed action item.
- Reporting on evaluation progress. Export the list to share completion numbers with sponsors or your steering committee.
Open the Action Items Manager
- Select the action items icon, then select View All. This opens My Action Items in Pipeline Management.
The action items icon and View All.
- Select the Action Items Manager link in the top right corner.
The Action Items Manager link in My Action Items.
Find the action items you need
Use the status tabs
Start with a tab to narrow the list by status: Open, Completed, Canceled or All.
The status tabs.
Search
Use the search bar when you know the idea, evaluator or step you're looking for.
The search bar.
Sort and filter columns
Each column has a built-in filter that lets you sort and filter the list, for example to show one step or one evaluator.
Filtering a column.
When you filter by step, some systems also show a Still in Step filter. Use it to see only action items for ideas that are still in that step, so you can focus on the work that is holding ideas up. [Placeholder: confirm whether Still in Step is on for all systems or must be enabled]
Cancel, reopen or delete action items
Use these actions when the work assigned no longer matches reality.
- Select the action items you want to change.
- Select the Actions button.
- Choose an action and confirm.
The Actions menu.
| Action | What happens | Use it when |
|---|---|---|
| Cancel Action Item | The action item stays in the system, marked Canceled. It can no longer be completed. Available for open action items. | The task is no longer needed, but you want a record of it. |
| Reopen Action Item | The action item becomes Open again, and the evaluator gets an email and in-app notification that it was reopened. Available from the Completed and Canceled tabs. | An evaluator needs to redo or finish a review. |
| Delete Action Item | The action item and its evaluation data are permanently removed from your Brightidea site. | The task was created by mistake and its data should not be kept. |
Important: Deleting removes the evaluator's answers and scores for good. If you might need them later, cancel the action item instead.
If you select action items with different statuses on the All tab, only Delete is available. Switch to a status tab to cancel or reopen.
Export action items
Export when you want to share progress outside Brightidea. Set up your tab, search and filters first, then select the Excel icon next to the search bar. The export downloads as a CSV file. [Placeholder: confirm the export follows the current tab and filters]
Things to know
- Canceling the last action item doesn't trigger "complete" rules. A rule that waits for all action items in a step to be completed won't fire if the last open item is canceled instead of completed. Complete it, or move the idea yourself.
- Re-sent and recurring action items show every version. If a step re-sends or periodically re-triggers action items, you'll see each version, so the same evaluator and idea can appear in both the Open and Completed tabs. This is expected, and it keeps earlier scores. See Recurring Action Items.
- Older versions can't be reopened. When an action item has been re-sent, reopen is only available for the current version.
- Changing assignees is done elsewhere. To change who an action item is assigned to, see Updating Action Item Assignment.
- Assignments can be automatic. Steps can route action items to an idea's owner or to people named in a User Selection field. See Owner and User Selection Assignment for Step Configuration.
FAQ and troubleshooting
An evaluator says they finished, but their action items still show as Open. Check whether the step uses recurring or re-sent action items. A new version may have been issued after they completed the first one. If not, contact Brightidea Support with the pipeline, step and evaluator name.
An evaluator can't see an action item that shows in the Action Items Manager. Make sure they belong to a Group assigned to the initiative. Evaluators outside the initiative's Groups can log in but won't see their action items.
I added an evaluator to a step, but they have no action items. With load balancing on, a new evaluator isn't assigned ideas already in the step. They'll get action items as new ideas arrive. See Updating Action Item Assignment.
Evaluators got duplicate action items after I edited the step. Saving a step's configuration while ideas are in it can issue action items again. Cancel the duplicates here, and next time change individual assignees instead of re-saving the step.
I can't find the Action Items Manager link. The link only appears for System Administrators, Initiative Administrators and Moderators.
Scenario - pipeline has 5 steps
1. a review step where one or two questions are answered in additional info
2. a development step where idea is developed
3. a scorecard step where it's evaluated
4. a final development step - where questions are answered based on scorecard
5. a final step where everything is reviewed by sponsor who decided if something happens or not
so my question is this:
When re-opening an action item does the idea move to the step that action item was assigned or does it stay in the step that it is in when re-opened
Also - how does the person that re-opened the Action Item know when it's completed??
Hey Damian,
Great questions!
For the first one, when re-opening action items, the idea will not be affected in any way, it will stay where it is. The only thing that will happen is allow the action item assignee to update their evaluation once more.
Unfortunately, there are no notifications for completed action items, so the person re-opening will need to manually check.
Let me know if you have any other questions on this topic.
Thanks,
Brightidea Support
Thanks Ron. So the other option is to drag/move the idea back to the step - but by doing that it re-enters a workflow is a workflow exists for completed action items .. is that right?
Does the system send automatic reminders on action items? X days before due and/or when they become overdue?
Hi Michelle,
Brightidea does not send any type of automated reminders at this time for action items.
Thanks,
Ron
In the action items manager screen - when I filter acc. to the assignee and click refresh via browser it unfilters again. Can I hinder the program to delete my filter while refreshing?
Hi Florian,
Are you referring to preserving the applied filters during a refresh of the page in your browser? Right now, the filters will indeed be cleared out, unfortunately, there is no way to keep the filters after refresh.
Thanks,
Ron
Brightidea Support
What does the color next to the due date mean?
What does the color next to the due date mean?