What Are Tasks?
Tasks allow you to digitalize all your work orders and track guest requests right within the interface that you are already using to communicate with your guests. Work with your team to delegate tasks and track their progress to accomplish your goals.
You can create tasks to create to-dos and track their statuses - think of them as a checklist for your team.
How Do I Create a Task?
There are two ways to create a task, either from the header or from a message bubble.
Create a Task From the Header
- Click the + next to Tasks in the header
- You will be prompted with a dialog to provide some information to create a new task:
- Title: a short title that lets everyone know what the task is about.
- Priority: assign the priority of the task (high or low).
- Description: additional details that are relevant to the task.
- Department: the intended department that is responsible for this task.
- Assign To: directly assign this task to a team member. You don't have to assign someone immediately.
- Office: if you have access to multiple hotels, you can specify which hotel or office this task is for.
- Room Number: if the task is for a specific room, you can specify it here.
- Task Duration: if the task should be completed by a specific time, specify it here.
- Click Ok to create the task, and you will see it at the top of your Inbox (under any pinned or connected-to chats)
Create a Task From a Message
- Hover over a message bubble
- Click the task icon (looks like a checklist)
- Make edits to any of the pre-populated fields if applicable
- The Room Number field will automatically populate if it is included in the reservation
- Click Ok to create the task, and you will see it at the top of your Inbox (under any pinned or connected-to chats)
Adding Participants to a Task
Similar to a team chat, you can add and remove participants on the sidebar
Assign and Complete Tasks
If you want to assign the task to yourself, you can click on the feather icon to the right of the task name and your profile picture will show up.
You can mark a task as complete by clicking on the checkmark to the left of the task name
Task Templates
While on the Tasks page, you’ll be able to view your task Templates and any Recurring tasks you have made in the bottom left-hand corner.
Templates & Child Tasks (Dependencies)
Create a task template if you find yourself creating very similar tasks for your team but don’t want it to be recurring.
If you want to make a checklist for your team to complete (ex. Housekeeping checklist upon guest leaving), create a task template and add Dependent tasks that will automatically be created when the template is used.
How to Create Child Tasks (Dependencies) in a Template
- Click + New next to the Templates header
- Add the task name, description, and department, and who to assign it to (if applicable)
- Note: Because you are creating a template, we recommend using message tokens in the name and description to have your team know which guest this was created for and the appropriate reservation details
- Add dependent tasks by typing in the Dependencies field above and clicking Add to save. You’ll see the task list show up above with the most recent addition at the top.
- Add as many dependent tasks as you want, and you can click on any of the tasks to be taken to the individual task page
- While in any dependent task page, you can edit the description with message tokens by clicking on Edit
- If you want to manually create this task template right now, click Create From Template while viewing the parent task and it will show in your All Tasks view. To have this be created automatically via your automations, create your automation and select Create a task for a department as your action and specify the task template. The template will now be automatically generated for the housekeeping department when the automation runs.
Recurring Tasks
Create recurring tasks for things your team has to do regularly, such as taking out the trash, baking cookies for guests, or changing the linens. Click Make it recurring and select how often the task should be automatically created.
Tasks Page
From the Tasks page, you can look at all of the tasks created for your property and see the breakdown between your departments.
This view also lets you see when the task was last updated, when it’s due, and who is the owner.
Clicking on any task will pull up a more detailed sidebar that will show any dependent tasks, who created the task, the subscribers, and the link to the task chat. Once the task has been completed, the “Completed By” section will populate.
How Do I Create and Edit Tasks in the Mobile App?
How to Create a Task in Akia Mobile App
Just like the desktop version, you can create tasks in the Akia Mobile App in 2 different ways. Expand the dropdown to see step-by-step instructions
Create a Task from a message (John Smith in Room 1 says he needs more towels)
- Locate the John Smith’s chat in the Inbox
- Press and hold the message from which you want to create a task (in this case, it’s the message “I need more towels in room 1”)
- Note: Android is a bit less reliable for the press and hold, and might require multiple tries
- Click on Task from the options that show up after you press and hold.
- Click on “Select Department” and select the department you wish to assign the task to from the drop-down menu (in our example, it’s Housekeeping)
- Click on “Assign To (Optional)” to pick a user you want to assign the task to (in this case, it’s User 1)
- Click on “Select Date” to pick a due date
- Enter Room Number
- Hit “Create”
Create a Task with the + button (not a guest request but a general task)
- Go to your Akia Mobile App
- Click on the Circle “+” Icon and select New Task
- Enter “Task Title” (In this example, it’s “Room 1 needs more towels”)
- Enter “Description” (In this example, it’s “Please bring more towels to room 1 ASAP”)
- Select a department you want to assign the task to from the “Select Department” drop-down menu (In this example, it’s “Housekeeping)
- Select a user you want to assign the task to from the “Assign To (Optional)” drop-down menu (In this example, it’s User 1)
- Select a date from the “Select Date (Optional)” date selector.
- Enter the room number in “Room Number”
- Click “Create”
Add a User to an Existing Task
Want to add your head housekeeper to an existing task? Follow the steps below:
- Locate the task you want to add a new participant to (in this case, it’s task “Room 1 needs more towels”)
- Click on the Circle “i” icon on top of your task chat
- Click on “Participants”
- Click on the part where existing participants are highlighted in Blue
- Click on “User 2” to add to the task
Assign an Existing Task to a Different User
Is the person the task was assigned to currently out of office? You can quickly reassign the task to a new user in this case!
- Locate the task you want to edit (In this case, it’s Task: “Room 1 needs more towels”)
- Click on the Circle “i” icon on top of your task chat
- Click on “Task Details”
- Click on “Owner”
- Select “User 2”
Mark a Task as Completed
There are 2 ways you can complete a task. Expand the dropdown to see step-by-step instructions.
Complete tasks through the Tasks Tab (the list icon to the right of the Inbox)
- Click on the “Tasks” Tab located at the bottom part of your screen
- Locate the task you want to complete (There are different pre-set filters you can choose, like Unassigned tasks, All Tasks, and Department. In this case, we chose “All”, but you can also go to “Department” and select “Housekeeping”)
- Click on the circle check box to Mark Complete
- After you checkmark the task to complete, you can see it shows up under “Complete”.
Through the Task Chat
- Locate the task chat in your inbox (In this case, it’s “Room 1 needs more towels”)
- Click on the Circle “i” icon on top of your task chat
- Click on “Task Details”
- Click “Mark Complete”
Use Cases
- 🧻 More Toilet Paper: File a task for the housekeeping department to bring a guest more toilet paper.
- On the guest’s message bubble, click “Add Task” to automatically copy the guest’s room number and specific item request.
- 🛠 Work Orders: File a task for maintenance to let them know when something is broken.
- Assign it to a specific user if it’s after hours and the guest is impacted.
- 🔔 General Reminders: Create a task for the front desk to make coffee for arriving guests.
- Set it as a recurring task so nobody has to remember to send the reminder.