Tasks: Reassigning and Canceling

[Stacia S]

Recently I assigned a task to my boss to review a contract. She had a family
emergency and was out of the office for a week. She did not accept the task
before she left and the task needed to be done by someone else. I tried to
cancel the task and I tried to reassign it, but I didn't see any options for
it. Is there a "back-door" way to perform these changes? Is there a way to
assign it to someone else without re-creating the whole thing all over? When
I assigned the task, I also kept it on my task list.

 

[Diane Poremsky [MVP]]

You can't cancel the task outright but you can create an unassigned copy,
then assign the copy to someone else. In Outlook 2007, click Details to
access unassigned copy.

--
Diane Poremsky [MVP - Outlook]
Need Help with Common Tasks? http://www.outlook-tips.net/beginner/
Outlook 2007: http://www.slipstick.com/outlook/ol2007/



Exchange Messaging Outlook newsletter:
(e-mail address removed)




You can access this newsgroup by visiting
http://www.microsoft.com/office/community/en-us/default.mspx or point your
newsreader to msnews.microsoft.com.

 

[Stacia S]

Can this be done in Outlook 2003 as well? I tried it on a task that was
assigned, but I got a message saying that if I created an unassigned copy, I
would no longer get updates. How would I know when a task has been
completed? Can I create more than one unassigned copy?

You can't cancel the task outright but you can create an unassigned copy,
then assign the copy to someone else. In Outlook 2007, click Details to
access unassigned copy.

--
Diane Poremsky [MVP - Outlook]
Need Help with Common Tasks? http://www.outlook-tips.net/beginner/
Outlook 2007: http://www.slipstick.com/outlook/ol2007/



Exchange Messaging Outlook newsletter:
(e-mail address removed)




You can access this newsgroup by visiting
http://www.microsoft.com/office/community/en-us/default.mspx or point your
newsreader to msnews.microsoft.com.

Recently I assigned a task to my boss to review a contract. She had a
family
emergency and was out of the office for a week. She did not accept the
task
before she left and the task needed to be done by someone else. I tried
to
cancel the task and I tried to reassign it, but I didn't see any options
for
it. Is there a "back-door" way to perform these changes? Is there a way
to
assign it to someone else without re-creating the whole thing all over?
When
I assigned the task, I also kept it on my task list.

 

[Anand Kashelkar]

I think it is possible to create more than one un-assigned copy. Here's how:

Let's say I created a task "Backup the database" and assigned it to my
colleague X. For some reasons, X was away from office and since the task was
crucial, I had to reassign it to another colleague Y.

Since I cannot remove the existing assignment, I have to open the task and
create an unassigned copy of the same. The message displayed by Outlook when
I do this simply means that if X came back and updated the task originally
assigned to him, I would not get those updates. Logical, it seems.

After I create the unassigned copy, I assign this copy to Y. Unfortunately
even Y is not able to find the time to complete it. I have to reopen the
task, create yet another Unassigned Copy and repeat the process, so I assign
it to person Q. Hopefully Q should do the job!