Tasks are one of the key objects in the system. They are useful cross-application means of carrying information and as such, provide a powerful tool for managing the flow of data and information through the system.

The use of these tasks differs, depending on the area of the system you are working in:

• If you are working with the Human Resources component, you use tasks and standard tasks

• If you are working with SAP Business Workflow, you use the following tasks:

• Normal tasks
• Standard tasks
• Workflow tasks
• Workflow templates

For human resources purposes, tasks are individual duties and responsibilities that are carried out by employees. The following activities are examples of tasks:

• Answering the telephone

• Producing marketing material

• Assessing applicants

• Developing software

You can use tasks for the following purposes:

• To describe jobs and positions

• As a point of reference for developing qualifications, if you plan to use the Personnel Development component

It is not mandatory to create tasks.

Once you have created tasks, you can use various infotypes to define their different attributes. You may create an unlimited number of tasks.

You can create single tasks, or task groups. Single tasks are individual activities, creating the department budget, assessing new equipment; task groups define activities that are usually performed together.

• Word processing
• Answering the telephone
• Filing

Task groups are advantageous since they save you time when you create relationships between jobs and positions. It is faster to create a relationship with one task group, than with several single tasks. You can build a task group by creating relationships between the single tasks involved.

All tasks that exist at a certain time are listed in a task catalog. The task catalog also shows the relationships among different tasks, if task groups have been defined.

A task profile is a list of separate tasks assigned to a specific object. The list of tasks defines the purpose, the role, and the actions of an object in the system.

The system uses task profiles differently, depending on the application area:

• In Organizational Management, task profiles serve as highly detailed job and position descriptions

• In SAP Business Workflow, task profiles determine the tasks that a user can perform in the system

• In SAP Session Manager, task profiles determine the areas of the system a user sees when logging on.

There are different types of task. The content of the task profile varies according to the type of task:

• If you are working with the Human Resources component, task profiles include normal tasks (referred to as customer-defined tasks) and standard tasks.

• If you are working with SAP Business Workflow or SAP Session Manager, your task profile may contain the following tasks:

• Normal tasks
• Standard tasks
• Workflow tasks
• Workflow templates

In addition, task profiles developed for SAP Business Workflow or SAP Session Manager can include roles. If you include a task in a task profile, and that task is part of a role, the entire role is included in the task profile.

You can create and maintain task profiles for the following objects:

• Organizational units

• Positions

• Jobs

• Work centers

• Users

How you set up task profiles varies according to the method you use to maintain your organizational plan.

You can edit the following infotypes for tasks: