I want to commit

July 7, 2006 4:57 PM

Does Outlook have a way for people to easily "commit" to email requests from others (e.g. "can you please do this by next Thursday"). Perhaps a "commit by" button which sends a confirmation back to the requestor, and adds the task to your Outlook Task list, with multiple reminders set to remind you as you get closer to your commit date. Is there software to do this, or (better yet) a macro/add-in that could be built to support this?

I know Outlook has the ability to assign Tasks to others, but that doesn't always work the way it was drawn up, especially with those on other email systems. If there was a way for me to click a button to send a "commit" email back and set up a Task in my Outlook, that would really help overall efficiency. That way, I don't forget, and the person on the other end knows that I got the email and have committed to the task. It's a Win-Win!!! :)

posted by noahv to computers & internet (8 comments total)

If you click the email and drag it down to the "tasks" button on the lower left, it will create a new task from the email.
posted by clarahamster at 5:18 PM on July 7, 2006

Yeah, I'm on that. But that's only half - I want the auto-notification back to the requestor that I accepted the challenge (and when I'll get it done).
posted by noahv at 6:47 PM on July 7, 2006

I don't think that's possible in regular ol' Outlook or even exchange. I think Microsoft Project Server integrates with Outlook in that way, but it's wildly, ridiculously expensive.
posted by pazazygeek at 8:32 PM on July 7, 2006

We use Trac for Project Tracking.

You can set up your own workflow, so you can actually track a project/task through it's various stages (unassigned/assigned/in-progress/stalled/completed/Ready for QA/Passed QA/Failed QA/Abandoned)

The software itself integrates with Subversion Version Control software, but it isn't necessary (I use version control for nearly everything I work on, even my "My Documents" on my personal computer). You can set up Email Notices that will notify each person of any changes in the task, including any time you comment on the task (e.g. "I think you want this {attached file}, but you could mean this {attached file}, please comment on this and let me know").

And it's free.
posted by hatsix at 11:32 PM on July 7, 2006

Outlook won't do what you want it to do, as far as I know, and I've been saddled with that damned software for years now.

How big is your group?

Would a collaborative, web-based project-management system like Basecamp be an option for you?
posted by enrevanche at 2:52 AM on July 8, 2006

I did this the other day, with Outlook.

You can assign a task to someone - I don't have outlook on any of my home computers, but the functionality is there under tasks. Open a new task, and there is a command under maybe file? that says "assign" and then you can choose the person from your Outlook address book (i.e., anyone who works at your company). It ends up in their task list and yours -- and they have to accept it. I can take a look on Monday and provide more detailed directions if you need them.
posted by Medieval Maven at 6:11 AM on July 8, 2006 [1 favorite]

Medieval Maven is dead on, I just looked at it and the assign task function is exactly what you are looking for. It is under the 'Actions' menu, and also showed up as a default button on the task window (Outlook 2003).

Pretty handy functionality, I wasn't aware of it before. Thanks!
posted by SpookyFish at 12:50 PM on July 8, 2006

In the "New..." dropdown list in Outlook 2003, I've got "Task" and also "Task request". Is the latter of these not what you're after?
posted by blag at 1:34 PM on July 10, 2006