Microsoft Office Professional 2010 Step by Step eBook

Managing Task Assignments 731

When you assign a task, you can choose whether to keep a copy of the task on your own

task list or transfer it entirely to the assignee’s task list. Either way, the task remains on

your own task list until accepted, so you won’t lose track of it. (If the recipient declines

the task, you can return it to your task list or reassign it.)

Tip You can assign only actual task items; you can’t assign flagged messages that appear in

your task list.

After you assign a task to someone else, ownership of the task transfers to that person, and

you can no longer update the information in the task window. (The assignee becomes the

task owner and you become the task originator.) If you keep a copy of the task on your task

list, you can follow the progress as the assignee updates the task status and details, and

you can communicate information about the task to the owner by sending status reports.

Unless you choose otherwise, Outlook automatically sends you a status report on an

assigned task when the assignee marks the task as complete.

To delegate a task to another Outlook user:

1. In the task window, on the Task tab, in the Manage Task group, click the Assign Task
   button.


2. In the To box that appears in the task header, enter the e-mail address of the person
   you want to assign the task to.


3. In the task header, click the Send button. If a message box notifies you that the task
   reminder has been turned off, click OK.
   Outlook sends the task request, and notifies you when the assignee accepts or
   declines the task.
   You can view the status of tasks you have assigned to other people by displaying your
   task list in Assignment view.
   See Also For information about task list views, see “Displaying Different Views of Tasks” later
   in this chapter.
   If you assign a task and the assignee declines the assignment, the task doesn’t auto-
   matically return to your task list; you need to either reclaim it (return it to your own
   task list) or reassign it.
   To reclaim or reassign a declined task:


4. Open the declined task assignment (indicated in your Inbox by a task icon with a
   red X).
   The Manage Task group on the Task tab of the ribbon includes commands specific
   to managing the declined task.