[policarpo]

This is what I really wish we had in Omnifocus:

. GTD App
- Setup my version as GTD Server
- Establish Teammates
- Set Permissions on Tasks (only the assigned teammate can update their assigned task)
- Team can see all Shared Tasks (the GTD Server owner can decide what to Share and what to keep hidden - Permissions on a Project or Context basis)
. Teammate GTD app
- Connect to GTD Server
- See their tasks
- add their tasks
- check off completed tasks
- edit their tasks
. Growl Notifications
- Teammates notified when
. New tasks assigned
. Tasks completed
. Edits done to tasks
. When Ticklers or Due Dates approach
. Email Sharing
- Click on link in email and have it open in GTD app

I think theirs a great opportunity for a GTD app to solve this issue for Collaborative environments. We don't all need a full blown PM app to get stuff done, but we do need a flexible and intuitive Task based system to share so we can all focus on the Big as well as Detailed picture.

And yes, I use Omniplan, but the lack of Sharing in it makes it cumbersome to use, and honestly, I don't see a need for my team to peruse the Gant Chart when all they really need is their Task List and to be able to update and edit them in real time and have the whole team know the state of any given task on the project.

:)

Yeah, I know, I sound like a broken record...but hey, the iPad app is done now. :P

GTD2CYA
-policarpo | designer

[Lucas]

I understand where you're coming from, but I honestly can't imagine the workplace where instant notification of each other's task completion doesn't increase everyone's stress level.

[policarpo]

Heheh. Well, it could be a bit more passive like the Anxiety HUD.

Maybe they gray out and eventually drop out of site in the app table view. :)

[policarpo]

As always, here's a link to a mindmap illustrating how I think and wish it would work. :)

http://www.novamind.com/connect/nm_documents/930

[endoftheQ]

Hi policarpo

I'd kill for a true multi-user version of OmniFocus. However, although we know that it's under discussion within the Omni Group, I don't believe it is likely to happen in the near future. That aside, my wish-list at the moment is:

Delegate
A way to delegate an action to another user, eventually via the cloud but in the interim by packaging automatically within an email.

Import
The ability to import OPML files from other programs. I don't find OmniFocus conducive to 'thinking' about a problem, so I use iMindMap and the very weird but very wonderful iMandalArt on my iPhone for the 'blue-sky' stuff. It's annoying (GTDS, 'Getting Things Done, Slowly') to have to use OmniOutliner as an intermediary package to transfer the results into OmniFocus.

Integration
I'd dearly love tighter integration between all Omni products.

Document Interchange
See this link.

Calendar
At the recommendation of another Member, I've moved over from iCal to Pocket Informant (see this link) on the iPhone, gaining a much better calendar experience. I'd love OmniFocus on the iPhone to have something similar, although Pocket Informant seem to be hinting that they will be syncing with OmniFocus on the desktop sometime soon.

I notice on the OmniFocus Syncing Forum that Omni have set up their own servers and are currently letting Members beta-test. There have been some requests for a web interface, it's possibly that eventually that might happen and multi-user capability might be possible, either directly from Omni or perhaps through a third-party front end.

[bjornkri]

I'd like something much simpler in terms of multi user support: Simply giving you access to others' Inboxes, or possibly having a common Team Inbox. From then you have to trust each team member to process their tasks appropriately. I know I would never want anyone to be able change a task's details after I've processed it.

You might want a simple tracking system on top of that, where you can watch a task progressing (Unprocessed, Processed, Delegated (possibly back to you), Completed).

How's that sound?

[hypotyposis]

Originally Posted by bjornkri

I'd like something much simpler in terms of multi user support: Simply giving you access to others' Inboxes, or possibly having a common Team Inbox. From then you have to trust each team member to process their tasks appropriately. I know I would never want anyone to be able change a task's details after I've processed it.

You might want a simple tracking system on top of that, where you can watch a task progressing (Unprocessed, Processed, Delegated (possibly back to you), Completed).

How's that sound?

I'm personally not a fan of the idea: it would require a massive overhaul to support selective access (permissions management) etc. I'm in the camp of using a different app for team-management stuff, while keeping OF for strictly personal GTD use.
I'd also be worried that if there was such a solution of being able to directly delegate a task to someone else's system, you would actually be cutting into the GTD process of that person. Even in the case of the inbox.
Which leads me to push for more of an OF-OmniPlan integration rather than for more team-management features in OF.

[edit: thanks Policarpo for reminding me it's called OmniPlan!]

[policarpo]

I think delegation and management of this feature is needed in OF. A lot of times you don't need the massive overhead of OmniPlan to work in a team environment.

Heck, just fix the way read/write issues are managed when trying to use OF in a multiple-user environment. I find it bizarre that this isn't even supported with OmniPlan. Creating a year long project generally requires multiple PM's and Managers from different groups and the fact that you have to work from a single file totally goes against the collaborative nature of normal work.

We need Sharing to work in OmniPlan and in OmniFocus.

GTD works with this workflow. Just check out zenbeLists, Nozbe, Remember The Milk, Toodledo, and ActionMethod to see how GTD scales to a Teamamte based GTD workflow.

It works. ;^)

I would use these services if I didn't have to deal with IP issues and that's why I am wanting Sharing to work natively on the desktop with OF.

[hypotyposis]

Originally Posted by policarpo

I think delegation and management of this feature is needed in OF. A lot of times you don't need the massive overhead of OmniPlan to work in a team environment.

Heck, just fix the way read/write issues are managed when trying to use OF in a multiple-user environment. I find it bizarre that this isn't even supported with OmniPlan. Creating a year long project generally requires multiple PM's and Managers from different groups and the fact that you have to work from a single file totally goes against the collaborative nature of normal work.

We need Sharing to work in OmniPlan and in OmniFocus.

GTD works with this workflow. Just check out zenbeLists, Nozbe, Remember The Milk, Toodledo, and ActionMethod to see how GTD scales to a Teamamte based GTD workflow.

It works. ;^)

I would use these services if I didn't have to deal with IP issues and that's why I am wanting Sharing to work natively on the desktop with OF.

Hi policarpo,

I see where you're coming from, but I just don't think it necessarily applies to everyone's workflow... and by that I mean mine ;-)
I should right away specify that I'm pretty rigid in my implementation of GTD [I keep straying, and every time I come back to it I wonder why I didn't stick with it], and one of the things I've come to like about OF is that it supports very well a very specific aspect of the system without trying to do too much.
I have indeed tried some of the online solutions you mention, and they didn't work fabulously for me. I'm currently using other tools to manage remote collaborations, but let me try to summarize why I'd like OF to stay away from it.
I tend to work in multiple environments at the same time, with very different priorities, types of work, etc. I do have a mix of stuff delegated to me, stuff I delegate to others, stuff to do on my own. In other words, it feels like my workflow is constantly shifting and not easy to structure in any meaningful way. In that sense, GTD works beautifully for most of it (I'm sure once I save the money for the private coaching it'll work beautifully for all of it!), because it lets me deal with instantly shifting around priorities and tasks (to say it in non-GTD words). If other people -bosses, colleagues, etc.- were to have any form of access to my system, it'd be screwed. I literally depend on making the decision during my review processes of what goes where and how to assign it.

[policarpo]

So having a quick way to delegate and receive tasks would mess up your workflow? Right now getting things in and out of OF takes too much time. If anything, offering the ability to auto load OF generated tasks would make life easier. I know there's a way to click on an OF generated link and have it automatically go into the inBox, but right now, this isn't part of the shipping experience on the desktop or iOS.

I have a system which mostly works for team delegation, but I know it can be done better. I have to use a combination of iCal, BusyCal, and Anxiety to bubble up Tasks to the team. After all of this setup, I really wondered and desired to be able to do it directly in OF. I mean, we bought 5 licenses, thinking we could do team delegation directly in OF, but when we started stomping on each others toes because of the nature of the db, I had to quickly figure out how to force OF to work for us.

I'm all for the streamlined approach to GTD and I've kept this in mind as much as possible.

I guess it's time to start putting pixels on the screen to sell the idea even more.

I have the entire app and workflow mindmapped. I guess now is as good as time as any to draw the UI.

If you remember the HotList from Potion Factory, it looks like someone is trying to revive it, and guess what...local and web sharing is part of the workflow:
http://thehublist.com/

Sharing doesn't need to be complicated. Heck, look @ iTunes Home Share and iPhoto Sharing as an example of how easy Sharing can be. :)