Learn how to create, assign, organize, automate, and complete tasks in Shape Software. Manage follow-up activities with Task Templates, Kanban and List Views, reminders, notifications, automation, and more.
Task Management in Shape Software
Following up at the right time is one of the most important parts of any sales or customer relationship process. Shape Software’s built-in Task Manager helps individuals and teams stay organized by tracking action items, assigning ownership, automating follow-up, and ensuring nothing falls through the cracks.
Whether you’re creating a one-time reminder, assigning work to another user, or automating an entire follow-up process, Task Management provides the tools you need to stay on top of every opportunity.
What Are Tasks?
Tasks are action items that help you keep track of work that still needs to be completed.
Unlike notes, which document information about something that has already happened, tasks help plan and manage what should happen next.
Use Notes For
Use Tasks For
Documenting conversations
Tracking follow-up activities
Recording history
Managing action items
Storing information
Assigning work
Permanent record history
Accountability and reminders
Tasks can be assigned to yourself or another user, given a due date and priority, tracked through different statuses, and completed once the work is finished.
What’s the Difference Between a Task and a Calendar Event?
Both Tasks and Calendar Events help you stay organized, but they’re designed for different purposes.
Use a Task when…
Use a Calendar Event when…
You need to remember to complete an action or follow-up.
You need to schedule a meeting, appointment, or time-specific event.
The work may take place anytime before the due date.
The event occurs at a specific date and time.
You want to assign work to yourself or another user.
You want to reserve time on your calendar.
You want to track progress using statuses and priorities.
You want the event to appear on your calendar and, if configured, sync with your connected Google or Outlook calendar.
You want to automate follow-up activities using Task Templates, Triggers, or Drip Campaigns.
You want to schedule appointments that can also be prioritized in supported list views.
In general:
- Tasks are best for managing work that needs to be completed.
- Calendar Events are best for scheduling meetings, appointments, and time-specific commitments.
A good rule of thumb is: if you need to do something, create a Task. If you need to be somewhere at a specific time, create a Calendar Event.
Why Use Tasks?
Task Management helps your team:
- Stay organized.
- Never miss an important follow-up.
- Delegate work to other users.
- Standardize recurring processes.
- Automate routine activities.
- Improve accountability across your organization.
Whether tasks are created manually or automatically, they provide a centralized place to manage your daily workload.
Why Use Tasks?
Task Management helps your team:
- Stay organized.
- Never miss an important follow-up.
- Delegate work to other users.
- Standardize recurring processes.
- Automate routine activities.
- Improve accountability across your organization.
Whether tasks are created manually or automatically, they provide a centralized place to manage your daily workload.
Typical Task Workflow
Most tasks follow a simple lifecycle from creation through completion.
This workflow helps ensure every follow-up has a clear owner and a documented history.
Ways to Create Tasks
Tasks can be created from several locations throughout Shape Software.
You can create tasks from:
- Record Details
- Quick Actions
- Task Manager
- Bulk Actions
- Triggers
- Drip Campaigns
- Shape Mobile App
Each method creates the same type of task, allowing you to work however best fits your workflow.
Task Information
When creating a task, you can configure details such as:
- Task Title
- Assigned User
- Priority
- Status
- Due Date
- Due Time
- Description
- @Mentions
A due date is optional. However, if you assign a due date, a due time is also required. By default, the due time is set to 9:00 AM in your configured time zone, but it can be adjusted to any time that fits your workflow.
Assigning Tasks
Tasks can be assigned to yourself or another user within your organization.
Users with the appropriate permissions can reassign tasks at any time, making it easy to delegate work or transfer ownership.
Tasks also support @mentions, allowing you to notify another user directly within the task.
When a user is mentioned:
- They are assigned to the task.
- They receive an email notification.
- The mention becomes part of the task history.
This makes collaboration easy without needing separate emails or chat messages.
Task Priorities
Each task can be assigned one of four priority levels:
- Low
- Normal
- Medium
- High
Priorities help users identify which tasks should be completed first and organize their daily workload.
Task Statuses
Tasks move through different statuses as work progresses.
Default statuses include:
Not Started
The task has been created but work has not yet begun.
In Progress
Work has started and is actively being completed.
Waiting
The task is waiting on another person, event, or piece of information before work can continue.
On Hold
The task has been temporarily paused.
Completed
The work has been finished.
Administrators can customize available task statuses to match their organization’s workflow.
Managing Tasks
Shape Software offers two different views for managing tasks.
Kanban View
The Kanban View organizes tasks into columns based on their status.
Users can:
- Drag and drop tasks between statuses.
- Filter tasks.
- Search tasks.
- Quickly visualize their workload.
This view works well for users who prefer a visual workflow.
List View
The List View displays tasks in a traditional table format and is ideal for users managing a large number of tasks.
From List View you can:
- Search tasks.
- Filter tasks.
- Sort tasks.
- Update task statuses inline.
- Update priorities inline.
- View task history.
- Use Quick Actions such as Call, Text, and Email.
The Mobile Phone column also supports click-to-call, allowing you to quickly place calls without opening the associated record. If your organization uses Shape’s built-in phone system, clicking the phone number will immediately initiate a call through the native dialer. Organizations using supported click-to-call integrations, such as RingCentral, 8×8, Lightspeed, and other compatible providers, can also launch calls directly from the Task List View using their configured phone system.
This view is ideal for users managing a large number of tasks while staying connected to their contacts.
Task History
Every task maintains a complete history of its lifecycle.
Task History includes information such as:
- Task title
- Task notes
- Original creator
- Current assignee
- Status
- Status update history
This makes it easy to understand who created the task, who has worked it, and how it has progressed over time.
Completing Tasks
When work is finished, simply update the task’s status to Completed.
Completed tasks remain available for future reference and reporting.
Tasks do not automatically disappear after completion, but they can be filtered out of your active views if desired.
If additional work becomes necessary, completed tasks can be reopened by changing their status.
Notifications & Reminders
Task reminders are configurable within your Profile Settings.
Each user can choose how they would like to receive reminders, including supported notification methods such as email, SMS, mobile push notifications, or in-app notifications.
By default, reminders are sent:
- 15 minutes before the task is due.
- At the scheduled due time.
This helps ensure important follow-ups aren’t missed.
Task Templates
Administrators can create reusable Task Templates to standardize recurring work.
Task Templates can preconfigure:
- Task Title
- Assigned User
- Priority
- Status
- Due Date
- Due Time
- Description
Task Templates also support Merge Tokens, allowing information to be dynamically populated when the task is created.
Using templates helps teams maintain consistency while reducing manual data entry.
Automating Tasks
Tasks can also be created automatically using Shape Software’s automation tools.
Triggers
Triggers create tasks automatically when specified events occur, such as:
- Status changes
- Field updates
- Customer activity
- Other configured automation events
Drip Campaigns
Drip Campaigns can create tasks as part of a scheduled workflow.
This allows organizations to automate recurring follow-up processes without requiring users to manually create each task.
Task Templates define what gets created, while automation determines when it gets created.
Mobile Support
Task Management is also available in the Shape Mobile App.
Users can:
- Create tasks.
- Edit tasks.
- Complete tasks.
- Comment on tasks.
- Receive task notifications.
This allows users to stay productive even while away from their computer.
Best Practices
- ✓Write clear, action-oriented task titles.
- ✓Assign every task to a specific owner.
- ✓Use priorities consistently across your organization.
- ✓Complete tasks instead of deleting them whenever possible.
- ✓Use Task Templates for recurring workflows.
- ✓Automate repetitive follow-up using Triggers and Drip Campaigns.
- ✓Use @mentions to collaborate with teammates directly within a task.
- ✓Review overdue tasks regularly to stay on top of your workload.
Frequently Asked Questions
What’s the difference between a Task and a Note?+
Notes document information about something that has already happened, such as a conversation or meeting. Tasks track work that still needs to be completed and include due dates, assignments, priorities, reminders, and statuses.
Can I assign a task to another user?+
Yes. Users with the appropriate permissions can assign tasks to themselves or other users within the organization.
Can I mention another user in a task?+
Yes. Tasks support @mentions, which assign the mentioned user to the task and send them an email notification.
Can I reopen a completed task?+
Yes. Completed tasks can be reopened at any time by updating the task’s status.
Can I automate task creation?+
Yes. Tasks can be created automatically using Triggers and Drip Campaigns. Administrators can also use Task Templates to standardize the information included in automated tasks.
Can I create the same task for multiple records?+
Yes. Use Bulk Actions to create the same task across multiple records simultaneously.
Why didn’t I receive a task reminder?+
Task reminders are controlled by your Profile Settings. Verify that your preferred notification methods are enabled and that the task includes both a due date and due time.
Can I change a task after it’s been created?+
Yes. Tasks can be edited, reassigned, reprioritized, updated, or reopened as your workflow changes.
Can I filter completed tasks out of my view?+
Yes. Completed tasks remain part of your task history but can be filtered out so you can focus on active work.
Can I see who created a task?+
Yes. Task History displays the original creator, current assignee, task notes, status updates, and other historical information so you can see the complete lifecycle of the task.