Due Date Configurations

Overview

You use due dates 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 provided a way to automate due dates in the Setup phase of the workflow. Configure the Due Dates tab at any point to begin automation. 

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 Components of due date configurations

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

• Project Type – The automation methods will behave differently depending on the type of project you select. You can choose different automation methods for each project type within the same target configuration.

• Automation Method - Choose how you want to set your due dates. Your options are Manual, Fixed Hours, and Percentage Based. 

• Due Date Settings This section varies based on which automation method you choose, but you set up how much time your phases get. It can also determine the target and document due dates. 

• Durations - Duration refers to the amount of time you give to the phase and target. We calculate the due date by adding your duration hours from the condition.

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

Target Configurations

A Target Configuration should include targets that can share the same weekend settings and due date configurations. You can choose targets selected in the Document Tab of your workflow. When the workflow sets due dates for a target, it will see if the created target has settings under a Target Configuration. If it finds a matching Target Configuration, it will use those settings. If it doesn't find a matching target configuration, it will use the Default Settings. You must have Default Settings configured to ensure that unmatched targets will have configurations to fall back on. The Automation Method can be different for each Target Configurations. 

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Setting up a Target Configuration

1. First, configure your Default Settings. 

   1. To create a new Target Configuration, select the plus button next to the Target Configurations header, or you can copy an existing Target Configuration. The plus will be disabled when you have added all the targets in the document tab. 

   2. Choose which targets should belong to the configuration using the Targets drop-down. 

   3. Fill out the remaining due date settings.

Target Configuration Actions

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

1. Copy Group - Creates a new Target Configuration with the same settings as the original Target Configuration except for the chosen targets. 

2. Rename Group - Create a custom name for the configuration. Save when you finish. 

3. Delete Group - Remove a Target Configuration.

Fixed Hours Automation

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 provide a due date when they upload content. The system will set the due date automatically based on the duration of the phase due dates. 

1. Set up Target Configurations as necessary.  

2. Set up your Weekend Settings.

3. Under the Phase Due Dates section, you will choose to adjust the phase duration based on source or weighted word count and a minimum duration.  

   1. First, choose the condition that will trigger setting the due date.

      1. You can choose between Target Creation or Leverage Completes. 

         1. You cannot choose your conditions if working under Scoped Projects since due dates can’t be set before the project is approved.

      2. You cannot select Leverage Completes before the first leverage phase in the workflow. 

      3.  After you select Leverage Completes all phases after that point will also use that condition. 

      4. When you set your phase's condition to Leverage Completes you can choose to adjust phase duration based on Source Word Count or Weighted Word Count.

      5. If you use Leverage Completes as a condition, phases, targets, and documents will not receive a due date until leverage completes. They will display pending in the due date field and will not appear in the Exceptions Dashboard. 

   2. Set the phase to add x hours every y source/weighted words with a minimum duration of z. For example, if your setting for the phase is to add 1 hour every 200 words with a minimum duration of 6 hours:

      1. Source word count equals 400 words – the phase duration will equal 6 hours since 2 hours is less than the minimum duration. 

      2. Source word count equals 1,600 words – the phase duration will equal 8 hours since you added 1 hour every 200 words, and the result was more significant than the minimum duration. 

4. Set the hours and source words to 0 if you do not want to adjust the phase duration based on word count.

   1. You can set your duration in 15-minute increments (EX: 1.25 hours).

   2. The system sets due dates for all phases, targets, and documents when the workflow meets the final condition. 

   3. The target due date equals the final phase's due date. The document due date will be set based on the target due date furthest in the future. 

   4. Automated due dates will replace manually set due dates. However, you can manually adjust due dates after the system automates them if necessary. 

   5. Save your settings.

Percentage Based Automation

Use the Percentage Based automation method when you don't have fixed SLAs with your client or linguists or if content managers need the freedom to request different due dates each time they upload content. This method works best if you request a due date upon upload. 

1. Set up Target Configurations as necessary.  

2. Set up your Weekend Settings.

3. Pre-approval due dates – This only applies to scoped projects.

   1. The leverage phase and any phases before it will appear here. These are fixed hour due dates.

4. Duration Limits are used as contingencies when a due date is set too low or when the user doesn't request a due date. 

   1. Minimum – If a user requests a due date lower than the minimum, the system adjusts the target due date.  

      1. The document due date will equal the target due date set farthest into the future.

   2. The system uses the default duration if the content manager doesn't specify a due date when they upload content. 

5. Post-Approval due dates – These are all the phases after leverage. This only appears under scoped projects.

6. Under Phase Due Dates, give each phase the percentage of the total duration you want them to have. 

7. Save your work.

Weekend Settings

You can set up weekends for fixed hour and percentage-based Automation Methods.

1. Select the checkbox next to the Weekend Settings header.

   1. Set up the weekend start day and time. 

   2. Set up the weekend end day and time. 

   3. Choose which Time Zone you want to base the time and day on. If you use linguists 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 Weekend Examples

Weekend awareness will increase the amount of time that a linguist has to complete a task. If they have 36 hours to complete a phase, but their due date initially falls after the weekend start time, the system will add hours to their due date. 

Percentage Based Weekend Examples

Weekend awareness will decrease the amount of time a linguist has to complete a task. The total number of working hours decreases if the client sets a due date two weeks from when they uploaded the content since the system will subtract two weekends from the duration. 

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