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Due Dates

Due dates are used to manage SLAs and ensure clients receive their content when they need it. They also power many of the intelligent workflow features we provide. Setting phase due dates manually takes time, especially when managing a large number of documents. To alleviate this burden, we provide a way to automate due dates in the Setup phase of the workflow. The Due Dates tab can be configured before and after they are stamped on a project. 

The Due Dates tab is set to the Manual method by default. You will need to update existing workflows to take advantage of the other Automation Methods. 

 

Automated Due Dates Overview

  • Automation Method - Choose how you want your due dates to be set. 

  • Set Due Dates When - Choose at which point in the workflow you want your due dates to be set. This is only available when your Automation Method is set to Fixed Hours. 

  • Due Date Settings - This section varies based on which automation method you use but generally it is where you set up how much time should be allotted to each phase. It can also determine the target and document due dates. 

  • Target Configs - Use the default settings to keep all due dates standard, or configure specific due date settings for a specific target or group of targets. 

  • Durations - Duration refers to the amount of time that is given to the phase or target. The due date is calculated by adding duration hours to point in time the due date should be set.

  • Weekend settings - If you want to give linguists extra time for the weekend, you can configure the start and end of the weekend the timezone those settings should be based on.  

Fixed Hours Automation Method

You should use the Fixed Hours method when there are set SLAs with the LSP or Linguists. In this method, the end-user does not need to set a due date when they upload content. The due date will be set automatically based on the duration of the phase due dates. 

  1. Choose at which point in the workflow you want due dates to be set (Set Due Dates When). Set due dates as soon as the target is created or when a specific phase of the workflow completes.

    1. If you choose to set due dates when a specific phase completes you will not be able to automate the due dates of that phase or any prior phases. 

  2. Set up Target Configs as necessary.  

  3. Set up your Weekend Settings.

  4. Under the Phase Due Dates section you will assign each phase a specific amount of time they need to complete a phase or based on your SLA. 
    1. You can set these durations in half-hour increments (EX: 1.5 hours).
    2. Due dates are set for all phases at the time due date automation starts. The due date of the second phase is not set when the second phase starts. The duration of the second phase adds its duration to the due date of the first phase. That way if the first phase is completed late, the assignee of the second phase still needs to deliver by their due date. This prevents the due date of the target from being pushed back without any consequences.

  5. The target due date is set by adding the total duration of the phases to the moment in the workflow you have set to start the due date process (I.E. upon target creation or the completion of a specific phase).

  6. If you have multiple target configurations with different time settings, the document due date will be set to equal the target due date set farthest into the future. 

  7. Automated due dates will replace any due dates that were set manually. 

  8. Save your work.

Percentage Based Automation Method 

Use the Percentage Based automation method when you don't have fixed SLAs with your client or linguists or if the client needs the freedom to request different due dates each time they upload content. This method works best if a due date is requested upon upload, so there isn't an option to determine when due dates will be set. Due dates will always be set when the target is created with this method. 

  1. Set up Target Configs as necessary.  

  2. Set up your Weekend Settings.

  3. Target Duration Limits are used as contingencies when a due date is set too low and when a due date is not set at all. 
    1. Set the minimum target duration. If a user sets a due date that is fewer hours than the minimum, then the target due date will be adjusted accordingly and phase due dates will be given their allotted time. 
      1. The target and document due dates will be adjusted if their due dates are below the minimum. The document due date will equal the target due date set farthest into the future.
    2. The default duration is used if the content manager forgets to specify a due date when they upload content. 
  4. Under Phase Due Dates set the percentage of the duration that should be given to each phase. 

  5. Save your work.

Target Configs

A Target Config should include targets that will share the same weekend settings and due date configurations. You can specify configurations for the target languages you have set under the Document Tab of your workflow. When the workflow is setting due dates for a target it will look to see if the created target has settings under a Target Config. If it finds a matching Target Config, it will use those settings, if not it will use the Default Settings. You must have Default Settings configured to ensure that unmatched targets will have configurations to fall back on. Note that the Automation Method is fixed for all Target Configs. 

To set up a Target Config:

  1. First, completely set up your Default Settings. 

  2. To create a new Target Config, select the plus button next to the Target Configs header or you can copy an existing Target Config. 

    If the plus button is disabled, that means that you have assigned all targets from the Document Tab to Target Configs.

  3. Choose which targets should belong to config using the Targets drop-down. 

  4. Fill out the remaining due date settings.

Target Config Actions:

  1. To open the available actions of a Target Config select the 'more' icon at the end of the row.



    1. Copy Group - Creates a new Target Config with the same settings as the original Target Config with the exception of the chosen targets. 
    2. Rename Group - Create a custom name for the config. When you are done, select the save icon. 
    3. Delete Group - Remove a Target Config. 

Weekend Settings

For both fixed hour and percentage-based Automation Methods, we allow you to set up weekends for your linguists so that automated due dates consider the work/life balance of your linguists.

  1. Set the checkbox next to the Weekend Settings header to TRUE.
     
  2. Set up the weekend start day and time. 

  3. Set up the weekend end day and time. 

  4. Choose which Time Zone you want the time and day to be based on. 

    If you are using linguists who are living in their native country, you can choose a time zone that corresponds to their work schedule rather than the end-user uploading content. 

Fixed Hours Automation Method

  • Weekend awareness will increase the amount of time that a linguist has to complete a task. If they are allotted 36 hours to complete a phase but their due date initially falls after the weekend start time, then additional weekend hours will be added to their due date. 

    Example

    • If your weekend start is on Friday at 5:00 PM and the weekend end is Monday at 9:00 AM that is an additional 64 hours given to the user. 
    • If their due date initially falls on Friday at 7:00 PM, then their date will be Monday at 11:00 AM after taking into account the weekend settings. 
    • The target due date will also be set back an additional 64 hours.

Percentage Based Automation Method

  • Weekend awareness will decrease the amount of time a linguist has to complete a task. If they are allotted 25% of the total duration, and you are allowing linguists to take the weekends off, then the total number of working hours will decrease if the client sets a due date two weeks from the time they uploaded the content.

    Example

    • If your weekend start is on Friday at 5:00 PM and the weekend end is Monday at 9:00 AM that is 64 hours removed from the number of working hours. 
    • If the user uploads a document and sets the due date exactly 14 days from the time they uploaded, phase due dates would be given their allocated percentage of the 14 days minus the 128 hours (~5.33 days) which would leave roughly 8.6 days.
    • If, after the weekend hours are taken into account, the duration is less than the minimum hours the due dates will be extended accordingly. 

 

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