Terms
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Since many terms can get confusing, here is a simple list of multiple terms used in the Work Request program to help those unfamiliar with the design of the system to get use to our agreed upon terms.  The list is not really sorted by any particular method.

  • Request
    • Work Request created to get something accomplished without specifically knowing who or how it is to be completed
  • Assignment
    • Actual Task to be performed
    • Refined task created by an Assigner
    • Should be targeted to a person to perform the desired task
    • Might contain specific instructions on how to fulfill the needs of a request 
  • Project
    • Particular project, software or hardware related
    • It can be specific to a program or a broader term for grouping multiple Assignments
  • Client
    • Account 
    • Company for which an Assignment or Request may be related to.
  • Assigner
    • Supervisor of a department who must create and manage Assignments to fulfill a Request  
    • Assigners can see Assignments that they have assigned
    • Assigners can see Requests that they are responsible for the Category
  • Worker
    • Assignee
    • Support person who will be responsible for performing the assignment
    • Workers can see Assignments that are directly related to them.
    • Workers can see Requests that were Assigned to them
    • Workers can see Solutions related to particular assignments
  • Approver
    • Person responsible for filtering out frivolous requests.
    • This person is usually a department supervisor
    • Approvers can see Requests made from their department
    • Approvers can see Assignments made for their Requests
  • Requester
    • Person creating a request
    • Requesters can see the Requests related to them only
    • Requesters can see Assignments related to their request
  • Department
    • A logical grouping based on work performed
  • Division
    • A logical grouping based on a company wide separation of related organizational units
  • Location
    • Site
    • The physical location a requestor may reside at
  • Category
    • An arbitrary grouping to narrow the focus of a request to help Assigners construct accurate assignments
  • Action
    • A specific term or style of accomplishment
    • The general term for a task to be performed
  • Comment
    • One of many pieces of free flowing text that will help a Assigner or Assignee determine what actually needs to be accomplished. 
    • Request Description and follow up notes are all grouped into comments.
    • Requests, Assignments and Solutions as well as Status changes can have comments
  •  Attachment
    • A physical file used to help an Assignee complete a task
    • Attachments may need to be provided by Requestors
  • User
    • Generic term of a person who actually uses our program
    • All possible Assignees must be users 
  • Person
    • Anyone who needs help, not necessarily a user
    • Assuming that some supervisors will data entry requests for particular persons
  • Group
    • A logical grouping of users
  • Role
    • A logical attribute of a user for purposes of determining which user is responsible for approving requests and assigning assignments
      • Requestor
      • Approver 
      • Assigner
      • Worker
  • Machine
    • A physical machine
    • This info is used to help with any support efforts
  • Work Time
    • This is used to help track assignment time per assignee
    • It is also related to the Client Service rate
  • Service
    • An actual task type that is charged back to a client
    • It can be related to a client with an assigned billable rate
  • Estimate
    • An effort to better track our estimating skills
  • Status
    • The description of a State in which a Request or Assignment may currently fall into
  • Tracked Status
    • The specific State at a specific time a Request or Assignment resides in

 

 

Copyright 2002 - 2003 XOCOMP, llc
Contact: md3@protocolla.com or md3@xocomp.net after March 2003

All materials and notes are the intellectual property of XOCOMP with expressed permission for use by PROTOCOL.