Assigning Outlook tasks from OneNote shared notebooks

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If you are not familiar with creating Outlook tasks flags from OneNote notes and synchronizing them, you can read about the basic here: OneNote and Outlook task syncing.

This post is about using OneNote and Outlook task sync for in team shared notebook. (What's a shared notebook?)

 

Summary: If you create a list of team tasks in a OneNote shared notebook, you can make them into Outlook tasks and assign them to team members. The nice thing in OneNote 2007 B2TR is that these tasks will keep synching with the OneNote shared notebook for any of the team members who have the task in their Outlook (assigner, or assignee) and the notebook open.

 

When is this useful?

Your team may want to keep track of particular project tasks in one place - on a page in in the shared notebook with the rest of project materials (ideas, reference materials, drafts, comments, etc.). This is often done for a list of action items from meeting notes (e.g. recurring status meeting), or just a list of work items for the team. Each team member responsible for a particular task can still have the task in their own Outlook and manage it in whatever way they like managing their Outlook tasks. But the task will also sync with the shared notebook if they have it open.  So the other team members can see that the task has been done when they review the shared notebook page.

 

Ho to do it:

 

Let's say there is a list of team tasks for next week. I have already created an Outlook task for myself, and now I want to create the task for Dave:

Shared notebook page with a list of team tasks

 

 

I put the cursor on the task note for Dave and select Task > Custom:

Selecting Custom task from the Outlook task dropdown in OneNote

 

In the Outlook task inspector that comes up I click Assign Task:

Click Assign Task in the Outlook task inspector that came up

 

Typing in who to assing the task to

 

The task now appears in my Outlook, but it is also sent to Dave.

Task showing both in OneNote and Outlook

 

When Dave accepts, the task is added to his Outlook, and I get this message.

Receiving acceptance from Dave

 

When Dave marks the task complete, I also get a message. And the task disappears from my To-Do Bar, because it is complete.

Receiving completion from Dave

 

 

Since my OneNote is syncing with Outlook, this fact is also reflected in the OneNote shared notebook for the whole team to see:

Task completion got synched into OneNote

 

Note that I can even delete the task that I created for Dave from my Outlook. As long as Dave has the task in his Outlook and has this shared notebook open, his OneNote will sync with the task status and the whole team will be able to see that the task is complete.