When managing complex workflows in Zendesk, some tasks must happen in a specific order. For example, onboarding a new employee, rolling out a change request, or provisioning software may require several teams to complete their work in stages.
With Phased task lists in the Tasks and Subtickets app, you can divide a task list into phases so that work is released only when the previous stage is completed.
This ensures that teams receive tasks at the right time and with up-to-date information, preventing work from starting too early or without important information.
Topics covered in this article:
- Creating & managing a phased task list
- How sequential phases work
- Showing or hiding future phases
- Using phases as visual sections
Creating & managing a phased task list
You can create phased task lists from the Phased task lists section of the Tasks and Subtickets app. Once created, you can divide work into phases and optionally enforce sequential workflows.
To create a phased task list
- In the Tasks and Subtickets app, open Phased task lists.
- Click Add phased task list in the top right.
- Enter the required details:
- Name
- Description
- Sequential settings (see below)
- Ticket updates
After saving these settings, you can begin building the phases for the task list.
Adding phases
Phases define the stages of work within your task list. Click Add phase in the top right and choose one of the following options:
Option 1: Create a new phase
Enter a phase name to create a blank phase.
You can then add tasks to the phase just like a normal task list. For instructions on creating tasks, see How to create task lists.
Option 2: Use an existing task list
You can select an existing task list to use as a phase.
When you add an existing task list, it becomes a shared task list. This means any changes made here will also update the original task list.
You can continue building your phased workflow by clicking Add phase again to add more phases.
Managing shared task lists
When a phase uses an existing task list, additional options are available.
Edit shared list
- Click Edit shared list to modify the tasks in the shared list.
- Changes made here will also update the original task list.
Duplicate list
- Click Duplicate list to create a copy of the shared task list.
This copies all tasks into a new list that is no longer linked to the original. Changes made after duplication will only apply to the new list.
When a phase uses a new task list or it has been duplicated, an Edit list button will be available. Click this to edit or update the task list and also access the Settings tab to set ticket events for this phase.
Coloring phases
Each phase includes a pencil icon that allows you to change the color of the phase heading. This color appears in the Tasks and Subtickets app and helps visually separate phases.
Automatically adding phased task lists to tickets
Each phased task list includes an associated Zendesk trigger that can automatically add the phased task list to a ticket. Under Phased task lists in the Tasks and Subtickets app, click Create trigger next to the phase you have created.
For more information about configuring this trigger, see Automatically adding a task list to a ticket.
How sequential phases work
Phases can be configured to run sequentially, meaning each phase must be completed before the next one begins.
In the Settings area of a Phased task list, when Sequential phases is enabled:
- Only tasks in the current phase are active
- Subtickets for the next phase are not created yet
- The next phase/s are locked and closed and becomes available only when the current phase is completed
This helps prevent teams from receiving work too early and ensures that new subtickets are created only when the workflow reaches the appropriate stage.
A phased task list on a ticket appears like this. Future phases remain locked, and subtickets are only created once the current phase is completed:
Showing or hiding future phases
When Sequential phases is enabled, you can also configure whether agents can see upcoming work, compared to having the next phases closed and locked, as above.
This is controlled by the Show future phases setting.
When the option is enabled, future phases are visible but greyed out and inactive. Agents can see what work is coming next, but cannot complete those tasks until the phase becomes active.
This is useful when teams need visibility into upcoming work.
Using phases as visual sections
If Sequential phases is disabled, all phases will be shown on the ticket at the same time.
Instead of controlling task order, phases simply act as organized sections within the task list.
In this mode:
- All tasks are available immediately
- Phases are used only for visual grouping
- Each phase appears as a separate colored section
This can help organize complex task lists while still allowing agents to work on tasks in any order.