From a request to work
Three ways a request connects to work, and why it can stay a request.
A request records what someone asked for. Work records what you are delivering. Connecting the two is a decision you make, and CLEO offers three ways to make it — plus the option of leaving a request as a request.
The three ways
On a request, open the Work tab and expand Connect to work.
| Choice | What it does | What it does not do |
|---|---|---|
| Attach to existing work → Attach | Links this request to work already under way for that customer | Changes no status, on either side |
| Create new work from this request → Create work | Starts new work of the kind you choose, at its first stage, already attached | Does not finish the request |
| Add as an action item on their work → Add action item | Adds one thing to do on work that exists, and connects the request to it | Does not create new work |
CLEO says as much when you do it. Attaching reports Attached to that work. The request stays a request.
Creating reports Work created from this request and attached to it. The request stays open until you handle it.
Choosing between them
- Attach when the customer has asked about something you're already doing for them. "Any news on the kitchen?" belongs to the kitchen renovation, not to new work.
- Create work when the ask is its own piece of delivery, with its own stages and its own finish.
- Add an action item when it is one task inside something bigger — an extra door handle on a fit-out, one more page on a website.
When you add an action item this way you also say Who does it — Us, The customer or A third party — who it is Assigned to, when it is Due, and whether it Blocks progress until done.
Undoing a connection
On the work, or on the request, Detach separates them. CLEO confirms: Detached. Nothing else changed.
Neither record is deleted, and neither changes status.
A request can be attached to one piece of work at a time, and only to work for the same customer.
Work doesn't need a request
Plenty of work starts without anyone writing in: a job you agreed in person, a piece of maintenance you do every spring. Start it from Work → Create work and no request is involved.
Equally, plenty of requests need no work at all. A question you answer in a sentence is finished, not delivered.
The shortcut on Home
When a request has been sitting without work, CLEO points it out on Home and offers the same decision in one tap: start the work, choosing its kind, or record that no work was needed.
Once work exists, it moves through the stages of its kind of work, and the things that have to happen become action items on it.