Playbook Tasks Overview

Playbook tasks define the individual work items that make up a playbook. You can also use them individually for pieces of work needing to be done at account, success plan, or objective level.

Viewing Playbook Tasks

You can view playbook tasks in:

You can view the playbook task assignment records associated with a playbook task in the Related tab of the playbook task's record page.

Creating Playbook Tasks

You can create playbook tasks using:

  • The Create Playbook Task action in the Actions panel, which is available on the Customer Success Management Workspace. This action might also be available from a record page if your administrator has added the Actions panel to the page.
  • The Add Task button in Success Tracker or Activity Tracker
  • The New list view button in the Playbook Tasks tab.

For more information, see Creating Playbook Tasks.

Note:

You must have:

  • Edit permissions for the Draft field to create playbook tasks
  • The correct permissions assigned to create playbook tasks in Success Tracker

For more information, see Setting up Customer Success Cloud.

You can automatically associate blank playbook task records with accounts, success plans, objectives, and playbooks.

To automatically associate a blank playbook task record with an account, create the playbook task from the Actions panel:

  • On the account's record page
  • On the record page of a success plan, objective, or playbook associated with the account

This automatically populates the Account field on the new record.

To automatically associate a blank playbook task record with a success plan, create the playbook task:

  • Using Actions in Success Tracker on the success plan's record page

  • From the Actions panel on:

    • The success plan's record page
    • The record page of an objective or playbook associated with the success plan

This automatically populates the following fields on the new record:

  • The Success Plan field

  • The Account field with the success plan's account, if the success plan is associated with an account

To automatically associate a blank playbook task record with an objective, create the playbook task from the Actions panel on:

  • The objective's record page
  • The record page of a playbook associated with the objective

This automatically populates the following fields on the new record:

  • The Objective field

  • The Account field with the objective's parent account, if the objective is associated with an account

  • The Success Plan field with the objective's success plan, if the objective is associated with a success plan

To automatically associate a blank playbook task record with a playbook, create the playbook task from the Actions panel on:

  • The playbook's record page
  • The record page of a playbook associated with the objective

This automatically populates the following fields on the new record:

  • The Playbook field
  • The Objective field with the playbook's objective, if the playbook is associated with an objective
  • The Account field with the playbook's account, if the playbook is associated with an account
  • The Success Plan field with the playbook's success plan, if the playbook is associated with a success plan
Tip:

When the My Accounts checkbox is selected, you can view, search for, and select only accounts where you are a resource, along with their associated records. This checkbox is automatically selected if you are a resource on the account of any associated records. The selection is retained on the same computer, using the same browser. To select this checkbox, the currently logged-in user must be a resource on an account and have the correct permissions.

Notes:

  • The Actions panel might also be available on the record pages that your administrator added it to. If you want to use the Actions panel on a specific record page, contact your administrator.

  • The following fields can be automatically populated if you leave them blank:

    • Objective and Parent Success Plan, if you select a playbook for the playbook task
    • Parent Success Plan, if you select an objective for the playbook task
  • The available field values depend on the values selected in the fields of the record's parent objects.
  • Removing a field value of a related object also removes the field values of its child objects. This does not apply when creating a playbook task in the New Playbook Task window.

  • If you select a parent success plan for a playbook task, it must match the parent success plan of the playbook associated with the playbook task.

  • The account associated with the playbook task, playbook, and success plan must be the same.

  • The associated playbook or success plan must be associated with the same account as the playbook task. When the account associated with:

    • The playbook is different from the account associated with the task, the Account field updates with the account associated with the playbook. You can only associate one parent record in addition to the account. If you already have a success plan associated with the task, you must remove it to associate the playbook.
    • The parent success plan is different from the account associated with the task, the Account field updates with the account associated with the parent success plan. You can only associate one parent record in addition to the account. If you already have a playbook associated with the task, you must remove it to associate the success plan.

  • Playbook tasks with no status are not displayed in the Playbook Task Manager's Task Board view.

Playbook Task Duration Calculation

You can specify the task duration in days when creating or editing a playbook task. The duration, start date, and end date are calculated as follows for playbook tasks:

The playbook task duration, start date, and end date are calculated as follows, depending on whether you specify:

  • Start date and duration in days: The end date is calculated automatically.
  • Start date and end date: The duration in days is calculated automatically.
  • Duration in days only: Both start date and end date remain blank.
  • No duration in days, start date, or end date specified: All fields remain blank.

The playbook task duration, start date, and end date are calculated as follows, depending on whether you specify:

  • Duration in days: The end date is recalculated, and the start date remains unchanged.
  • Start date: The end date is recalculated, and the duration in days remains unchanged.
  • End date: The duration in days is recalculated, and the start date remains unchanged.
Note:

To calculate the playbook task duration, the Start Date and End Date fields must be included in the Create Playbook Task, Create CS Activity, and Edit Playbook Task windows. For more information, contact your administrator.

Custom Record Types

If your org uses custom record types:

  • You can select a record type for your new record, if your administrator has set up custom record types.

  • The displayed fields might vary if your org uses custom record types. For more information, contact your administrator.

  • When creating a record of a specific type, the Record Type field is automatically populated and is read-only. To display this field, your administrator must add it to the necessary page layouts.

  • If there are no record types available in your org for the CS Activity, Objective, Playbook, Playbook Task, and Success Plan objects, the fields in their related creation and edit windows use the related field sets.

  • The record type is automatically selected according to the default record type when creating a playbook task from:

    • The Playbook Tasks grid in the Create CS Activity window
    • The Playbook Task Portfolio Grid

For more information, see Setting up Customer Success Cloud.

Editing Playbook Tasks

You can edit playbook tasks from:

  • The Playbook Tasks tab
  • Success Tracker

For more information, see Editing Playbook Tasks.

When editing a playbook task:

  • The following fields can be automatically populated if you leave them blank:

    • Objective and Parent Success Plan, if you select a playbook for the playbook task
    • Parent Success Plan, if you select an objective for the playbook task
  • When editing a record, the available field values depend on the values selected in the fields of the record's parent objects. If no values are specified for any of the parent objects, associating the record with a parent object can automatically populate the remaining related object fields on the record. Removing a field value of a related object also removes the field values of its child objects.

  • If you select a parent success plan for a playbook task, it must match the parent success plan of the playbook associated with the playbook task.

  • When a playbook task record is marked as completed, its start and end dates can be automatically populated with the current date. For more information, contact your administrator.

Deleting Playbook Tasks

You can delete playbook tasks:

  • In the Playbook Tasks tab
  • On the record page of the playbook task that you want to delete
  • In the Playbook Tasks related list in the Related tab of the parent records of the playbook tasks that you want to delete
  • In the Playbook Task Manager