Tasks in Salesforce are essential productivity tools that help administrators and users manage their daily activities and follow-up actions effectively. A Task represents a specific action item or to-do that needs to be completed, such as making a phone call, sending an email, or preparing a report…Tasks in Salesforce are essential productivity tools that help administrators and users manage their daily activities and follow-up actions effectively. A Task represents a specific action item or to-do that needs to be completed, such as making a phone call, sending an email, or preparing a report.
Tasks can be associated with various Salesforce records including Leads, Contacts, Accounts, Opportunities, and Cases, creating a comprehensive activity history. This relationship allows users to track all interactions and pending actions related to specific records in one centralized location.
Key features of Tasks include:
**Due Dates and Priorities**: Users can set due dates and priority levels (High, Normal, Low) to organize their workload effectively. This helps teams focus on urgent matters first.
**Status Tracking**: Tasks move through various statuses such as Not Started, In Progress, Completed, Waiting on Someone Else, and Deferred. This visibility helps managers monitor team productivity.
**Assignment and Delegation**: Tasks can be assigned to specific users or queues, enabling proper workload distribution across teams. Email notifications can alert assignees about new tasks.
**Recurring Tasks**: Salesforce supports recurring tasks for repetitive activities, saving time and ensuring consistent follow-up.
**Activity Timeline**: Completed tasks appear on the activity timeline of related records, providing historical context for future interactions.
**Reports and Dashboards**: Administrators can create reports on task completion rates, overdue tasks, and user productivity metrics to drive accountability.
**Integration with Calendar**: Tasks sync with Salesforce Calendar and can integrate with external calendars through Salesforce Sync or third-party applications.
For administrators, configuring task settings involves customizing page layouts, setting default values, creating task-related list views, and establishing validation rules or workflow automation. Lightning Experience offers enhanced task management through the Activity component and Kanban views, making it easier for users to visualize and manage their responsibilities efficiently.
Tasks in Salesforce: Complete Guide for Administrators
Why Tasks Are Important
Tasks are fundamental to productivity and collaboration in Salesforce. They allow users to track to-do items, follow up with leads and contacts, and ensure nothing falls through the cracks. As a Salesforce Administrator, understanding Tasks is essential because they drive user adoption and help organizations maintain accountability in their sales and service processes.
What Are Tasks?
Tasks are activity records in Salesforce that represent a to-do item or action that needs to be completed. They can be associated with various records including Leads, Contacts, Accounts, Opportunities, and Cases. Tasks have a due date, status, priority, and can be assigned to specific users.
Key Task Fields: • Subject - Brief description of the task • Due Date - When the task should be completed • Status - Not Started, In Progress, Completed, etc. • Priority - High, Normal, or Low • Assigned To - The user responsible for completing the task • Related To - The record the task is associated with (Account, Opportunity, etc.) • Name - The person (Lead or Contact) associated with the task
How Tasks Work
Creating Tasks: Users can create tasks manually from the Activity Timeline on records, from the Home page, or through the Global Actions menu. Tasks can also be created automatically through Process Builder, Flows, or Workflow Rules.
Task Notifications: Salesforce can send email reminders for tasks based on due dates. Users can set reminders when creating tasks to receive notifications before the due date.
Recurring Tasks: Users can create task series for activities that repeat regularly, such as weekly check-ins or monthly reviews.
Task Queues: Tasks can be assigned to queues, allowing team members to claim tasks from a shared pool.
Activity Settings Administrators Should Know
• Activity Settings in Setup control default behaviors for tasks • Roll up activities to a contact's primary account - Determines where activities appear • Allow Users to Relate Multiple Contacts to Tasks - Enables shared activities feature • Task Close on Completion - Automatically marks tasks as closed when status is set to Completed
Shared Activities
When enabled, this feature allows a single task to be related to multiple contacts (up to 50). This is useful when a meeting or call involves several people.
Exam Tips: Answering Questions on Tasks
1. Know the Relationship Structure: Tasks use the Name field to relate to Leads OR Contacts (not both), and the Related To field for other objects like Accounts or Opportunities.
2. Understand Open vs. Closed Activities: Open activities appear in the Activity Timeline as upcoming items, while completed tasks move to the Past Activity section.
3. Remember Activity Settings Location: Activity Settings are found in Setup under Feature Settings, then Sales, then Activity Settings.
4. Automation Scenarios: Be prepared for questions about creating tasks through automation tools. Know that Process Builder, Flow, and Workflow Rules can all create tasks.
5. Reporting on Tasks: Tasks can be reported on using Activity reports. Remember that you cannot create custom report types with Tasks as the primary object.
6. Permission Considerations: Users need appropriate object permissions to create, edit, and delete tasks. The Edit Tasks permission is separate from standard object access.
7. Common Exam Scenarios: • Manager wants to see all open tasks for their team - Use list views or reports • Sales rep needs reminders - Configure task notifications and reminders • Team needs shared task queue - Create a queue and assign tasks to it
8. Watch for Trick Questions: Pay attention to whether a question asks about Tasks specifically or Activities in general (which includes both Tasks and Events).