Issue a management order

A management order is a standing instruction that appears in every affected shift’s diary until you revoke it (or it expires). The shift workers acknowledge it — leaving a trace of who acknowledged it and when. This article is the issuing side; acknowledging it is Acknowledge a management order.

Before you start

• Permission: the order-issuing right — task:issue. Without it you do not see the Orders management tab.
• Where to find it: the Orders tab in the management area, in the New standing order block.

Steps

The New standing order form. Leaving the validity empty = until revoked; the “Acknowledgement required at shift entry” is for safety-critical instructions.

1. Open the Orders tab in the management area and find the New standing order form.
2. Enter the Title — the order’s short, identifiable name in the diaries.
3. Write the Order text — the actual instruction (e.g. “Fill the drums to three quarters only”).
4. Choose the Unit if it applies to only one. “Unit (optional — empty = all units)” — left empty, it appears in every unit’s diary.
5. Set the Valid until if needed. Left empty, the order is valid until revoked; set, it stays visible through the end of the chosen shift on that day.
6. Turn on Acknowledgement required at shift entry if you tie starting the shift to the acknowledgement (the worker cannot work with the diary until they have acknowledged it).
7. Decide whether it should also show in currently open diaries. The “Also show in currently open diaries” checkbox is on by default: then it also enters the running shift’s live diary, as a tick-off item. Untick it and the order appears only from the next shift.
8. Click Issue order.

Empty validity = until revoked

If you set no valid-until, the order lives until you revoke it. You stop an already-issued order with the Revoke button in its list.

Mandatory acknowledgement is a strong tool

“Acknowledgement required at shift entry” is for safety-critical instructions: the worker can then only use the diary after acknowledging the rule. Do not turn it on unnecessarily — always-mandatory acknowledgement loses its weight.

If it worked

The order appears in every affected diary of the affected unit(s), and the workers acknowledge it with the Acknowledge button. The acknowledgement (who, when) shows in the diary and on the Reports Instructions tab. You can revoke the order at any time.

Common problems

What you see	Why	What to do
No “Orders” tab	You do not have the task:issue permission.	Ask your admin; without it you cannot issue orders.
The order shows in the wrong unit / everywhere	You left the Unit empty (= all units), or picked the wrong one.	Issue it again with the right unit and revoke the old one.
The worker cannot start the diary	You turned on “Acknowledgement required at shift entry”.	This is deliberate — the diary does not start until acknowledged. If unintended, issue the order without it.

Worth knowing

• An order is not a task. An order is a rule in force (it has no status); a task is an item to be done, with a status. They are separate — issuing a task is a different form (Issue a task).
• Revoking is not deleting. A revoked order disappears from live diaries but stays searchable on the Reports “Instructions” tab (audit trail).

Related

Acknowledge a management orderThe other side: how the worker acknowledges the order.

Issue a taskWhen you issue an item to be done rather than a rule.