Add multiple users to one assignment in Workforce

[RileyJones1]

Our company is very new with Workforce For ArcGIS and we are testing out it’s functionality. The way our field crews operate is that we assign each crew a project and then assign equipment for that project. Is there a way to write a python script to have the ability to add multiple people to one assignment and to update the Workforce for ArcGIS module to add “assets”?

[CraigGillgrass]

Riley,

Is there a way to write a python script to have the ability to add multiple people to one assignment

Not at this time. This is in our backlog, but it's not assigned to a release, so I do not have an estimation on when / if we would get to this functionality

and to update the Workforce for ArcGIS module to add “assets”?

Can you clarify what you mean by "adding assets"?  

thanks,

Craig

[AndyMinor2]

As you continue to develop this, would it be possible to add groups instead of individuals to Workforce assignments? Public works departments have crews of 2 or more that would benefit from a group assignment rather than an individual. 

[CraigGillgrass]

Andy,

Allowing multiple workers to be assigned to a single assignment is in our backlog, but is not assigned to an upcoming release.

In your example for Public Works - does every person in the crew have a mobile device?  And would the expectation be that, each one of those workers would edit the same the Assignment in Workforce?

[AndyMinor2]

Craig,

Yes, everyone has an iPad with Collector, Workforce, and Survey123. The idea is to have different crews that the assignments can be assigned to based on the type of work, ie. streets, parks, etc... So rather than having the office staff dispatchers assign a pothole repair to a specific person, they assign it to the streets repair crew and a member of that crew accomplishes the assignment. Collector would handle who the specific user who made the edits is.

[CraigGillgrass]

Andy, we don't have any plans to support this type of workflow.  However, there is a capability we're considering that could address this; it's the ability for mobile workers to see unassigned work around them and grab it or pick it up.

This would be an assignment that is not assigned to anyone worker, but is available to any worker with the ability to view unassigned work.

Once we finish our current release, which is focused on Offline support, we'd evaluate if this ability would get into our next release.

Craig

[BeckyColwell-Ongenae]

Craig,

I'm working with our county's Search and Rescue Chief to develop an application that allows him to assign a missing person search to a number of search teams at the same time.  There is likely up to 8 search teams with multiple members in each team.  So, the idea of being able to dispatch assignments to multiple groups of users, and/or multiple users from the same assignment is at the crux of this project idea.  All of the searchers need to know the details of who they are looking for, as well as have easy access to the picture of the missing person - an assignment.  Please put this on the list for the next release.  I've gone through previous threads and it seems that this type of functionality has been requested for over 2 years.

Thanks,

~Becky

[CraigGillgrass]

Hello Becky,

Allowing multiple workers to be assigned to a single assignment is in our backlog, but is not assigned to an upcoming release.  

In your workflow, would each team member have their own mobile device/named user in an organization?  Would multiple team members be able to "Start" and "Complete" the same assignment?  What kind of status would you want to see in the Workforce back office web app for each team member?  

Thanks for responding on this issue.

Craig

[BeckyColwell-Ongenae]

Thank you for the response Craig.  All users would have their own mobile device/named user account.  They would need to be able to log evidence found in the field using Survey123.  It would be nice to only allow a team lead of our choosing to start and complete the assignment, but it would be okay if multiple users can start and complete tasks.  All we need to be able to see in the back office app is all user locations during a search, which I think is already a feature.

Thanks again,

~Becky

[CraigGillgrass]

Becky,

Thanks for replying.  In your scenario, when a user starts an assignment - should it still be available to other users?  Do you need a record of who took what action on an assignment; for example, which user started it?

We're currently working on support Offline for Workforce Projects and that work is very much connected to a several foundational rules within the Workforce app; Workers only see assignments assigned to them. Once an assignment is started, we assume that worker is the only user changing the assignment (i.e. the Dispatcher cannot change an assignment that is In Progress).

The scenario you're outlining where, any user can start/complete an assignment, will run into issues with future versions of Workforce.  Your use case and requirements are valid, but I don't know if Workforce is the app to use for solving them.  It might be better to take this discussion offline into email or a call to dig into this a bit more.  If you'd like to do that, please send me a DM or email the workforce4arcgis@esri.com alias and we can set something up.

Craig