Scheduling activities with a default duration
Is there a way to set the default for all Activities to 15 minutes, so that when I select a start time, PD automatically sets the end time to 15 minutes later so that I don't have to select a start and end time each time. Thanks!
Answers
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Hi @JB04
try this simple workflow:
Basically, whenever you create an activity and it has a start time, adjusting the duration will change its end time.
What I suggest doing tho is a shortcut for typical activities. I.e. we use "f" for follow-ups, which is a very simple workflow that:
- triggers if an activity with the name "f" was created
- changes activity type to email
- changes the name to "Follow-up with {activity.person name}
- changes due date to +3 days
- changes the duration to 15 min
You can obviously use different settings for this, but the idea is to quickly add an activity with a snippet name, which is then changed by automation according to your rules.
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Thanks Nikolai… this was a super helpful suggestion! I hope you can help a bit more. I'm trying to set up this automation: When a lead is created, an Activity is automatically created with the title "Initial email - Lead Title"… scheduled for 8:15am that same day (no matter what time the lead was created)… the activity is scheduled for 15 minutes… it is changed from "busy" to "free" (because I want that time on my Google calendar to appear as available to clients). Below is what I set up. The activity does show up on my Google Calendar but it puts it at 7am, it's scheduled for 30 minutes vs 15… but the biggest issue is that the activity doesn't link to the lead. I cannot figure out how to change these things. If you have thoughts on how to set this up correctly, I would greatly appreciate it!!
Thanks! John
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Hi @JB04 add more fields to the action, like this:
most importantly:
- linked lead (this will allow you to link the task with the lead)
- linked people
- linked organization (if there is one on the deal)
- time (this will allow you to set tasks to 8.15 specifically)
- availability status (this will allow you to keep the status at free in your calendar)
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I don't mean to test your kindness/patience, but I could use your help again, please. The first part of the automation is working now. The next step I need is, when the Initial email activity is marked done, I need to create a follow-up activity 2 days later to remind me to send a 1st follow up email. Below is how I set it up but it isn't creating the 1st FUP activity when I mark the other one as done. I'll also need to create a 2nd FUP activity, and then finally an Archive activity if the client hasn't responded by then. I would also like to create a way to stop the automation if the client responded, but I've searched online for how to do that and it doesn't seem possible.. ?? Thank you so much for any direction you can give!!!
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So in the second workflow, trigger should also check for the subject of activity (ie. "starts with Initial email"), otherwise you'll get a FUP activity for any activity that has been marked as done.
I don't see the trigger for the second one, but it should be Activity updated, because thats whats happening.
Clone the second automation, same trigger: activity updated > subject starts with 1st FUP, done status > create 2nd FUP.
The archiving automation is challenging, since workflows do not support checking for linked object's properties currently. What I suggest doing is a third automation similar to 2nd with another task in 3 days called "Archive lead". After making a visual check for responses, you can then quickly archive a lead.
@Jess Stacey this is another crucial and much needed feature in automations: checking for field values of linked objects. I.e. trigger is lead, but leads dont have "matches filter" or email counts conditions, which makes it impossible to build automations like "archive lead if no responses so far".
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yep, I suggest doing so, because keeping creation of 2 tasks in one workflow will either:
- not trigger on task completion without a delay
- might wait for too long with a preset delay
keeping those separate will ensure that the followup creation triggers exactly once the previous task changed the status to done
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Thank you! I've done that and it's working!!! almost… lol… I've scheduled the 2nd Email Activity for Due Date in 5 days (skip weekends) but it's scheduling it for the following business day. It's scheduling the Archive Activity for that same day as well, although I have it set up with a Due Date of 5 days after the 2nd Email Activity. Any idea why that's happening/how to correct it to what I want? Thank you!!
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Can you post a screenshot please?
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Oh sure…
Here's the one for the 1st FUP, scheduled for 2 days after the Initial email. This works correctly.
Here's the one for the 2nd FUP, schedule for 5 days after the previous, and it's scheduling for the following business day.
And here's the reminder activity to Archive 5 days after the 2nd email activity. It's scheduling for the same day as the 2nd FUP.
Thanks!
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This actually looks good, great job @JB04 ! Definitely looks right. Maybe refresh the activity screen. But the due dates look solid and should work as expected.
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I've done some research on the issue and it sounds like "skip weekends" doesn't do what we think it should. See the chat below from 2022 that I snipped from the community board. "Skip weekend" doesn't mean "don't include Saturday/Sunday when calculating the days"… it means "if the due date falls on Sat/Sun, don't schedule it on those days but for the following Monday instead. So for example, if I schedule an activity on Thursday for 3 days out means I want it scheduled on Tuesday. But PD will schedule it on Monday - 3 days out from Thursday is Sunday, but "skip weekend" means don't schedule it on the weekend so it schedules on Monday. If I schedule an activity on Friday for 3 days out, wanting it scheduled on Wednesday, PD will also schedule that on Monday. If I schedule on Friday for 2 days out, that also schedules on Monday. So the way PD has set up this functionality makes these automated workflows useless. PD has been aware of this at least since 2022 and hasn't done anything to change it.
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@JB04 there's actually a good reason to count weekends as full days, but be able to skip them. When dealing with longer periods, excluding weekends from the count might end up in follow-ups being too late.
i.e. scheduling a follow-up in 6 months would end up in a follow-up in 7 months due to weekend skips. Thats not ideal either.
Having weekends count as days is the only solution to keep things consistent.
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I would think a 6 MONTH follow up is needed much less frequently than a 2-3 DAY follow up. If I email someone on Friday and want to follow up with them 3 BUSINESS DAYS later, then my intention is to follow up with them on Wednesday, not Monday. If I follow up on Monday, I will barely have given them enough time to read the email before I'm following up and seeming pushy. Clearly this is how PD wants it to work and has no plans to change it, so unfortunately, the automated follow up feature is useless to my company. I do appreciate your help.
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