A Document Expectation is a special type of task that indicates that you are waiting to receive a key document.
Often a process may be paused while we wait for someone else to provide a piece of information or a confirmation. For example, you may be waiting on some evidence. Until this evidence is returned, you cannot continue with your work, so you create an expectation.
A list of outstanding items or documents is often displayed on external portals – certain participants may be given access to a portal that lists the documents that they are expected to send in or be able to see that the lawyer is waiting for a document from the other side.
In reality, Document Expectation Tasks do not just have to be used for outstanding documents but can also be used for any other outstanding commitment from a third party.
Finally, note that these Tasks can be created via workflow automatically or by another user and assigned to you. You can use your workbench to see tasks that are assigned to you or your team members.
Manually Creating a Document Expectation
Select the Task Menu > Document Expectation to create a new Task.
Or you may have the Document Expectation ‘Widget’ displayed on your work item portal – if so, you can click the + button to create a new document expectation.
Document Expectation properties
| Aspect | Property | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Attachments | Files |
Related documents can be assigned to the Expectation. E.g. once the expected document has been received, it can be uploaded to the work item using this option. Use the Or use the > button to view any existing files assigned to the Expectation / select new files. |
| Document Expectation Details | From | Pick the participant from whom we are expecting the document. |
| Folder | Select the folder to store the document in. |
button to toggle the upload panel on / off.Enter any other properties as required, including setting the expected Due Date.
The standard out-of-the-box task has the following phases.
- Expectation – Waiting for the document
- Not Received – the document has not yet been received.
- Not Required – this document is no longer required.
- Reviewing – the document has been received but is under review
- Complete – the document has been received and accepted.
Use the Ribbon bar buttons to set the Phase.
Note that a Task will be created in the worklist, which can be opened and the Phase changed at any time.
Setting a Phase to Complete or Not Required will remove the Task.
“Waiting for” Widget
Each Document Expectation Task that is currently live (i.e. not marked as Complete or Not Required) has an entry in the Waiting For widget on the portal.
From here, files can be uploaded to the work item to meet the Expectation, either by:
- Drag/dropping the file directly onto the widget itself, or
- Clicking on the Upload Files button to present a blade containing upload options.
Further, the Phase of the Expectation can be changed. Once the Phase is set to Complete, the entry is removed from the widget and the corresponding Task is removed from the worklist (and Chronology is updated to show the change of status).
Finally, the + button at the top of the widget can be used to create a new Document Expectation.
Configuring auto phase transition on upload
By default, when you drag and drop files into the upload area, an automatic phase transition happens, from Expectation to Received - For Review. This auto transition is configured in the aspect editor for Document Expectation found by navigating to the Modeller > Work Type Modeller > Task > Activity > Document Expectation, then click Aspects in the ribbon bar to open the Aspects Editor. Click the gear icon to configure the Document Expectation Details aspect.
