Understanding actions

Actions are the unit of work inside a project. This page explains the main fields in the Add action dialog and on the action detail page.

Description

Rich text: what needs to happen. Keep this outcome-oriented so owners can report progress clearly.

Discussion and updates

The action detail page includes a running updates/discussion feed. This is where @-mentions are most commonly used and where progress notes, blockers, and attachments should be posted.

Status

Open -> Working On It -> Stuck, Deferred, or Done. Status drives Kanban lanes and dashboard rollups.

Use Working On It for active progress, Stuck when progress is blocked by a dependency, decision, or missing input, and Deferred when work is deliberately shelved (not completed). Default lists hide Done and Deferred so triage stays focused on active work. When the target date arrives, a deferred action moves back to Open and the people assigned to it are notified. Deferring something that is already due asks for a date after today (UTC). An action whose linked items are parked or done stays Deferred, shows under Slipping, and you get a notice to review it.

Color

Owners, editors, and assigned contributors can give an action one of eight colors, or none, from Table, Kanban, or the action page — without opening Edit. The color fills the row, card, and action view and uses the same palette as workstreams, so it stays readable in light and dark appearance.

Target date

Optional due or goal date; used for "This week's focus" on the dashboard when it falls in the current week.

Assigned

You can assign multiple people to one action. Assignees receive notifications based on their settings. Unassigned actions show in dashboard "Needs assignment" when applicable.

Organize actions with tags

Tags are optional. They are meant for flexible grouping and quick visual scanning, not required metadata. Each tag set is per project (names and colors are not shared across projects). Tags are not the same as workstreams — workstreams roll up health and phases on the project overview; tags can optionally drive auto-classification into a workstream via tag rules.

Where tags appear

• Add action and edit on the action detail page: pick existing tags or type new ones in the Tags field (remove tags with each chip's control, or press Backspace when the input is empty to remove the last tag).
• Project actions in Table or Kanban: tags show as colored chips on each row or card. Narrow the list with Search (including the tag: operator), the Assigned to me checkbox, and in Table view the Statuses filter. See Action search syntax.

Create and manage tags

• Create tags on the fly while adding or editing an action: type in the Tags field and press Enter to add a new tag (or pick a suggestion).
• Change a tag's color (and edit its label project-wide) from the project's tag editor: open the project menu and choose Manage tags, then select a tag and update color or name.

Patterns that work well

Example schemes teams use: workstream (tag:Marketing), meeting or cadence type (tag:Status call), visibility or risk (tag:High risk, tag:Exec update), or external systems (tag:DevOps, tag:Jira). Treat these as conventions your team agrees on rather than a fixed schema. To group actions into named areas with overview health and phases, see Workstreams.

Depends on

Links prerequisite actions for visibility. Incomplete prerequisites show as "Depends on" / "Required by" badges on lists. Action Log does not automatically block editing or changing status when a prerequisite is still open; the links are for team clarity, not hard enforcement.

Done and archive behavior

Mark an action Done when work is complete. Done items remain visible (especially in history and reporting) unless the project itself is archived or deleted.