Automatically Create Projects Using Flow

With the power of TaskRay and Salesforce, it is possible to automate and manage repeatable business processes. In this article, we will go through the steps to configure an automation that will be set up to create new TaskRay projects. Throughout this article, we will follow a common post-sale use case that occurs after an Opportunity is marked as Closed Won, which kicks off a process to onboard the new customer. As always, this process can be modified to fit unique requirements, if needed.

Here is a summary of what will be covered in this article:

• Use Case Details
• Template Configuration
• Get Template Addressable IDs
• [Dynamic Repeatable Process] Products-to-Templates Mapping 
• Flow Configuration
• Flow Testing

Use Case Details

One common application for TaskRay is to manage the onboarding process for new customers, which begins after an Opportunity is marked as Closed Won. Although the specifics will vary for each organization, the onboarding process typically includes steps to assist new customers with implementation, training, and other relevant activities. In a simplified model, there are two main approaches to structuring the process: a simple repeatable process and a dynamic repeatable process.

The Premium Edition of TaskRay also provides the ability to incorporate forecasting, which allows for proactive planning of potential future work. Forecasting can be incorporated into either automated process (simple or dynamic)

Simple Repeatable Process

This approach assumes that the onboarding process is exactly the same for every new customer. In other words, there are no variations in the steps that must be managed to onboard new customers every time the process is executed.

From the configuration standpoint, you will need to create a single template containing all the steps of the repeatable process. The Flow automation will then be set up to create new projects that are essentially copies of the template whenever Opportunities are marked as Closed Won.

Below is a high-level overview of the process and configuration.

Goal

Automatically create a project when an Opportunity is marked as Closed Won. The project that is created is a copy of a TaskRay Template.

Configuration Details

• A new customer is making a purchase, such as product licenses.
  • An Account record is created for the new customer.
  • An Opportunity record (related to the customer's Account) is created to track the details of the sale of product licenses for the new customer.
• When the Opportunity record is marked as Closed Won, a TaskRay Project is automatically created to track the onboarding process for the new customer.
  • The new TaskRay project is automatically created by making a copy of a TaskRay Template.

Sample Template Configuration

• A single template is set up to outline all the steps, or tasks, that must be managed as part of the onboarding process. 
• For reference: Intro to Templates.

Automation Overview

• The Flow captures the necessary data that is then used as inputs on the Stitch a TaskRay Project (Flow Only) apex action to create the new TaskRay Project that is a copy of the template.
• The output is a new TaskRay Project related to the Opportunity that triggered the process.

Dynamic Repeatable Process

This approach assumes that the onboarding process incorporates variations depending on what was sold. For example, a common configuration is to dynamically structure the onboarding process by combining various sub-processes, such as based on the specific products sold to new customers. This configuration typically relies on the Opportunity Product framework where each Opportunity Product sold requires a unique set of steps to be executed in the onboarding process.

To summarize, the use case will follow a process where an Opportunity with Opportunity Products added is marked as Closed Won, which triggers automation to create a dynamic TaskRay Project based on the Opportunity Products. 

In this use case, once the Opportunity is marked as Closed Won, that will kick off the post-sale process to onboard the new customer, which will be managed through the new TaskRay Project that is created. The Opportunity Products will correlate with processes/steps that will need to take place as part of the new customer's onboarding project.

Below is a high-level overview of the process and configuration.

Goal

Automatically create a project when an Opportunity is marked as Closed Won. The structure and contents of the project should depend on the Opportunity Products that are added to the Opportunity.

Use Case Details

• A new customer is purchasing some product licenses, as well as some additional technical services (e.g. implementation, training, onboarding).
  • An Account record is created for the new customer.
  • An Opportunity record (related to the customer's Account) is created to track the details of the sale of product licenses for the new customer.
    • Related to the Opportunity, there are Opportunity Products, one for every technical service that the customer is looking to purchase (e.g. implementation, training, onboarding).
    • The Opportunity Products are used to determine the structure of the new project that will be created.
• When the Opportunity record is marked as Closed Won, a TaskRay Project is automatically created to track the onboarding process for the new customer.
  • The new TaskRay Project is automatically created by stitching various combinations of TaskRay Templates.
  • The new project is dynamically constructed based on the Opportunity Products that the customer purchased. The Opportunity Products are linked to TaskRay Templates.

Sample Template Configuration

• Templates are used to outline all the steps, or tasks, that correlate with the processes related to the different Products. In this case, the templates are organized using task groups and there are three main task groups that correlate with the products sold:
  • Implementation Package 
  • Onboarding Package
  • Training Package
• For the purpose of setting up the automation, it is also necessary to have a separate base template. This can be an empty template project, but it is necessary to be provided as an input for the automation to work (it is used to create the "shell" for the new dynamically-built onboarding project).
  
  Tip: Depending on your use case, the base template can contain tasks as well. The base template tasks can be used to outline the consistent process that would occur regardless of the specific Opportunity Products that determine the dynamic portions of the new project.
• For reference: Intro to Templates.

Additional Architectural Details

• Products are linked to template task groups through the Template Task Group Addressable Id field. This is a packaged field provided by TaskRay.
• Opportunity Products are set up to reference the Template Task Group Addressable Id field from the related Products. 

Automation Overview

• The automation is set up using Flow. The Flow is triggered when the Opportunity is marked as Closed Won.
• Then, it loops through the related Opportunity Products to identify the template task groups to be used for stitching and how they should be scheduled within the new TaskRay Project.
• After that, the Flow provides inputs for the Stitch a TaskRay Project (Flow Only) apex action.
• The output is a new TaskRay Project that is built dynamically based on the inputs provided. The new project is related to the Opportunity that triggered the process.

Forecasting

Forecasting can be layered into either process: simple or dynamic. With forecasting configured, the automation will create Forecast TaskRay Projects which will be linked to Opportunities throughout the sales cycle. While the core of the automation to create projects is the same as for non-forecast projects, there are a few specific parameters that must be set specific to forecasting.

Follow this article to configure your project creation process and refer to specific guidance for the forecasting use case.

Note that project creation is one of several pieces of the forecasting process and functionality. For more information, refer to the Forecasting: Overview & Configuration Guide.

Template Configuration

The first step of the process is to set up templates in the TaskRay Template Hub. You can learn more about creating templates here. 

[Forecasting] Templates

Templates are required for the Forecasting use case. Additionally, the Forecasting use case requires time estimates as a means for capacity planning of potential work. As a best practice, it is recommended to set time estimates at the template level, so that they carry over to Forecast Projects when those are created.

Follow the directions for either the simple or the dynamic repeatable process below.

[Simple Repeatable Process] Set up the Template

For the purpose of this automation, you will need to create a template that will be used to create the new projects. Following the sample use case of this article, a template is set up to outline the process to onboard new customers.

In the sample template, the process is defined using the following components:

• Task Groups define the different phases of the onboarding process
• Tasks are used to track specific action items
• Checklists are used to outline specific details and to-do's related to certain tasks
• Dependencies are set up to prescribe the order in which Tasks should be executed

At a high level, here is what our template looks like:

[Dynamic Repeatable Process] Set Up Templates

For the dynamic repeatable process, two templates must be set up as follows:

• Template 1: Product Templates
  • Contains task group templates that correlate with Products sold.
  • You can think of this template as a container that stores the template task groups ("Product Templates") that will be used for stitching.
• Template 2: Base Template Project
  • Required for stitching.
  • Can be set up with or without any tasks. If needed, it can contain a general set of tasks that will apply to any project or onboarding process, regardless of the criteria or additional products sold. Otherwise, it can be left empty.

In our example, we will focus on a set of products, each of which will correlate with a template task group. Whenever any of these products are added to an Opportunity and that Opportunity is marked as Closed Won, TaskRay will create a new project that is dynamically constructed based on the added products.

For reference, these are the Products that will be used in our sample configuration:

And this is the Products Template. For this example, the Template is organized into Task Groups. Each of the Task Groups outlines a process specific to each of the respective Products.

[Simple and Dynamic Repeatable Process] Get Template Addressable IDs

Now that templates are set up, you will need to get their Addressable IDs. These IDs will be used to configure the Flow later in the article. Here are the steps to get the necessary Addressable IDs:

1. In Template Hub, locate configured templates and click on the Three-Dot Actions icon to access the dropdown menu.
2. Select Get IDs.
   
3. This will open an automatically generated report displaying Addressable IDs for the template task groups. Keep this report accessible - you will need to reference it later in the configuration.
   

[Dynamic Repeatable Process] Products-to-Templates Mapping

For the Dynamic Repeatable process, the next step is to relate the template Task Groups to the corresponding Products in Salesforce. 

There are two objects at play here. First, there is the Product object, which is used to define the specifics of the things/services that can be sold. You can think of this as the inventory. Then, there is the Opportunity Product object, which is used to track the Products being sold on the specific Opportunity. You can think of this as the bridge between the Product and the Opportunity.

For the purpose of this automation, we will need to map Products to the applicable Template Task Groups. Out of the box, TaskRay already provides a field on the Product object that can be used for this purpose: Template Task Group Addressable Id.

1. Using Salesforce navigation/App Launcher, navigate to Products.
2. Locate a Product that is used for the purpose of this automation (e.g. Implementation Package) and click on it to open its record.
3. On the Product record, click on Edit.
4. Update the Template Task Group Addressable Id field with the Addressable ID of the corresponding template task group (e.g. Implementation Package task group from Template 1: Product Templates). Use the Get IDs report that you generated previously for this purpose.
   
5. Click Save.

Repeat these steps for every additional Product that will be used for the purpose of this automation (e.g. Onboarding Package, Training Package) to map those to the applicable template task groups.

[Simple and Dynamic Repeatable Process] Flow Configuration [Admin]

Next, you will need to configure the Flow responsible for automatically creating projects. TaskRay provides a Flow template with some of the base configurations applied. Follow the instructions in this section for guidance on how to modify default configurations for your use case.

[Forecasting] Flow Info

The Forecasting use case requires configuring the Flow to build projects. Follow the directions for either the simple or the dynamic repeatable process below.

Flow Overview

To access the flow:

1. From Setup, navigate to Process Automation | Flows.
2. Click on the TaskRay Create Project from Template flow to open it.

Below is the packaged Flow provided by TaskRay:

Follow the steps in the sections below to configure the Flow.

Configure the Flow (Minimum Requirements)

This section outlines the minimum requirements for configuring the Flow. To summarize, it is necessary to provide the Addressable ID of the Template that will be used to create projects (specifics for the simple/dynamic use cases noted below).

1. If it's not already open, open the Toolbox by clicking the toggle in the upper left corner
2. Under Variables, click on the baseTemplateId variable to open it
3. In the Default Value input, replace the "Addressable Id Here" text with your Template Addressable Id.
   • Simple Repeatable Process: Provide the Addressable ID of the Template containing all the steps of the process.
   • Dynamic Repeatable Process: Provide the Addressable ID of the Base Template. This will be used to create the "shell" for stitching Task Groups to create dynamic projects based on related Opportunity Products.

That's it! From here, you can explore the additional sections below for optional customizations. If you do not need to customize the automation further, you can save & activate your flow and review your trigger criteria. 

Additional Configuration Options

Customize the Project Name

By default, all new projects created via this process will be named following the convention: "<Opportunity Name>: Onboarding" However, this is fully customizable. To update the Project Name:

1. Click on the Stitch a TaskRay Project apex action in the Flow.
2. Click Edit Element.
3. Find the New Project Name input.
4. Update the field with your desired convention for naming new projects.

[Simple Repeatable Process] Customize How the Project is Scheduled

By default, the projects created via the automation will be scheduled to start on the Opportunity Close Date. It is possible to customize how the new projects are scheduled:

1. Click on the Stitch a TaskRay Project apex action in the Flow.
2. Click Edit Element.
3. Find the New Project Schedule Mode input.
4. Update the field with your desired schedule mode. You can choose from one of the following options:
   • Start: This will schedule the project based on when you want the project to start. 
   • End: This will schedule the project based on when you want the project to end. 
   • Milestone Id: This will schedule the project around a key milestone. For this option, you will need to specify the ID of the Milestone from the source Template.
5. Find the New Project Date Target input
6. Update the field with the desired scheduling date. This will be used in conjunction with the schedule mode to schedule the project.

[Dynamic Repeatable Process] Customize How the Task Group(s) are Scheduled

By default, the stitched in Task Groups that will make up new projects will be scheduled to start on the Opportunity Close Date. It is possible to customize how the stitched in Task Groups are scheduled.

1. Click on the Assign Task Group Lists assignment element in the Flow.
2. Click Edit Element.
3. Under the Set Variable Values, find the taskGroupScheduleModeList variable.
4. In that row, update the Value with your desired schedule mode. You can choose from one of the following options:
   • Start: This will schedule the task group based on when you want it to start.
   • End: This will schedule the task group based on when you want it to end. 
   • Milestone Id: This will schedule the task group around a key milestone. For this option, you will need to specify the ID of the Milestone from the source Template.
5. Under the Set Variable Values, find the taskGroupTargetDateList variable
6. In that row, update the Value with your desired target date. This will be used in conjunction with the schedule mode to schedule the task group(s) in the new project.

Save & Activate the Flow

Now that the Flow is fully configured, it is time to save and activate it.

1. In the top right corner of the Flow canvas, click on the Save As button.
2. In the modal, choose A New Version
3. Click Save.
4. In the top right corner of the Flow canvas, click on the Activate button.

[Simple and Dynamic Repeatable Process] + [Forecasting] Trigger Criteria

You're not done quite yet! As a reminder, the flow in this article is specific to the project build portion of the process. It is an autolaunched flow that must be connected to another flow containing the start entry criteria. If you have not yet configured the flow containing the start entry criteria, refer to the following support article: TaskRay Create Project from Opportunity Flow.

For the Forecasting use case, the criteria to create Forecast projects is defined within the start entry/TaskRay Create Project from Opportunity flow.

Flow Testing

As a best practice, it is always a good idea to test automations to make sure that they meet requirements and follow expected behavior. Automations can be tested using the Debug options in Flow, using sample test records.

• Simple Repeatable Process: For testing, create a Test Opportunity record and set it to match defined Start Entry criteria (from TaskRay Create Project from Opportunity flow). The successful outcome of the test run is that a new TaskRay Project is created and related to the Opportunity.
• Dynamic Repeatable Process: For testing, create a Test Opportunity record and add Opportunity Products to it. As you test, make sure that the Opportunity Products used for testing are configured to be related to template task groups accordingly. Set the Test Opportunity record to match Start Entry criteria (from TaskRay Create Project from Opportunity flow). The successful outcome of the test run is that a new TaskRay Project is created by stitching Template Task Groups that are associated with added Opportunity Products. The new TaskRay Project is related to the Opportunity.
• Forecasting: Follow the guidance for the applicable process above (Dynamic or Simple Repeatable process). The main difference in the outcome will be that the TaskRay Project is created as a Forecast Project (Forecast = true).