Task management for a plurality of team members

Abstract

Each of a plurality of team members may define a task by providing data concerning a task to a centralized controller, wherein each task may be assigned any other team member of the plurality of team members. The controller may receive task event information from a first team member of the plurality of team members regarding a task, which task is associated within the controller with the first team member and a second team member. The controller subsequently sends updated task information, based on the task event information, to both the first team member and the second team member. Relevant to any given task, the task event information may comprise a task delegation indication, which may further comprise a non-delegation indication such that further delegation of the task in not permitted.

1 - 17 . (canceled) 
     
     
         18 . A method for task management for a plurality of team members, the method comprising:
 storing, by a processor-implemented controller, data concerning a plurality of tasks that are received from ones of the plurality of team members and assigned to any of the plurality of team members;   receiving, by the processor-implemented controller, task event information from a first team member of the plurality of team members concerning a task of the plurality of tasks associated with both the first team member and a second team member of the plurality of team members, wherein the task event information comprises a task delegation indication indicating that the second team member is at least partially responsible for completing the task, and wherein the task delegation indication establishes one of a parent and child relationship for at least one task object of the task;   generating, by the processor-implemented controller, a tree structure that includes parent and child relationships between task objects of the tasks, wherein the task includes the at least one task object and at least one attribute related to the at least one task object, wherein the at least one task object includes at least one task portion of the task being delegated, and wherein the at least one attribute indicates one of a parent and child relationship of the at least one task object relative to at least one of the tasks; and   sending, by the processor-implemented controller, updated task information to the first team member and the second team member based on the task event information, wherein the updated task information comprises the tree structure that includes the parent and child relationships between the task objects of the tasks.   
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 18 , wherein the task delegation indication comprises a non-delegation indication indicating that the task is not further delegable. 
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 18 , further comprising:
 receiving, by the processor-implemented controller, additional task event information from the second team member concerning the task; and   sending, by the processor-implemented controller, additional updated task information to the first team member and the second team member based on the additional task event information.   
     
     
         21 . The method of  claim 20 , wherein the additional task event information is selected from options including a task acceptance indication, a task refusal indication, a task status indication, and another task delegation indication indicating that a third team member of the plurality of team members is at least partially responsible for completing the task. 
     
     
         22 . The method of  claim 20 , wherein the additional task event information comprises another task delegation indication indicating that a third team member of the plurality of team members is at least partially responsible for completing the task, and wherein the other task delegation indication comprises a non-delegation indication indicating that the task is not further delegable. 
     
     
         23 . The method of  claim 18 , wherein the first team member is responsible for completing the task and wherein the task event information comprises any one of a task acceptance indication, a task refusal indication, a task status indication, or another task delegation indication indicating that a third team member of the plurality of team members is at least partially responsible for completing the task. 
     
     
         24 . The method of  claim 18 , wherein the task event information comprises another task delegation indication indicating that a third team member of the plurality of team members is at least partially responsible for completing the task, and wherein the other task delegation indication comprises a non-delegation indication indicating that the task is not further delegable. 
     
     
         25 . The method of  claim 18 , wherein the any team member of the plurality of team members can delegate the task to any other team member of the plurality of team members. 
     
     
         26 . The method of  claim 18 , further comprising:
 assigning, by the processor-implemented controller, a unique identifier to each of the plurality of tasks; and   assigning, by the processor-implemented controller, a financial accounting identifier to each of the plurality of tasks.   
     
     
         27 . The method of  claim 18 , wherein an external hierarchy of the plurality of team members is independent of an authority of the any of the plurality of team members to delegate the task to any other team member of the plurality of team members. 
     
     
         28 . The method of  claim 18 , wherein the plurality of team members comprises greater than two team members, and wherein any team member of the plurality of team members can cause the updated task information to be generated and sent to all team members of the plurality of team members associated with the task. 
     
     
         29 . The method of  claim 18 , wherein the tree structure further includes updated task information for active and inactive tasks, the method further comprising:
 evaluating, by the processor-implemented controller, the tasks to determine the active tasks as tasks that do not include dependent child tasks or do not include non-complete child tasks, and are complete or incomplete; and   evaluating, by the processor-implemented controller, the tasks to determine the inactive tasks as tasks that include child tasks that are non-complete.   
     
     
         30 . An apparatus for task management for a plurality of team members, comprising:
 a data storage device to store data concerning a plurality of tasks that are received from ones of the plurality of team members and assigned to any other ones of the plurality of team members;   a task event information receiving device to receive task event information from a first team member of the plurality of team members concerning a task of the plurality of tasks associated with both the first team member and a second team member of the plurality of team members, wherein
 the task event information comprises a task delegation indication indicating that the second team member is at least partially responsible for completing the task, and 
 the task delegation indication establishes one of a parent and child relationship for at least one task object of the task; and 
   an updated task information sending device to send updated task information to the first team member and the second team member based on the task event information, wherein an external hierarchy of the plurality of team members is independent of an authority of the any other ones of the plurality of team members to delegate the task to any other team member of the plurality of team members.   
     
     
         31 . The apparatus of  claim 30 , wherein the task event information receiving device is to receive, from the first team member, a non-delegation indication indicating that the task is not further delegable. 
     
     
         32 . The apparatus of  claim 30 , wherein the plurality of team members comprises greater than two team members, and wherein any team member of the plurality of team members can use the updated task information sending device to cause the updated task information to be generated and sent to all team members of the plurality of team members associated with the task. 
     
     
         33 . The apparatus of  claim 30 , further comprising:
 a memory having stored thereon executable instructions to generate a tree structure; and   a tree structure generation device to receive the executable instructions from the memory, and to execute the executable instructions by a processor to generate the tree structure that includes parent and child relationships between task objects of the tasks, wherein
 the task includes the at least one task object and at least one attribute related to the at least one task object, 
   the at least one task object includes at least one task portion of the task being delegated,   the at least one attribute indicates one of a parent and child relationship of the at least one task object relative to at least one of the tasks, and   the updated task information comprises the tree structure that includes the parent and child relationships between the task objects of the task, and updated task information for active and inactive tasks.   
     
     
         34 . The apparatus of  claim 30 , further comprising a task evaluation device to:
 evaluate the tasks to determine active tasks as tasks that do not include dependent child tasks or do not include non-complete child tasks, and are complete or incomplete; and   evaluate the tasks to determine inactive tasks as tasks that include child tasks that are non-complete.   
     
     
         35 . A non-transitory computer readable medium having stored thereon machine readable instructions for task management for a plurality of team members, the machine readable instructions when executed cause a computer system to:
 receive, from ones of a plurality of team member workstations, data concerning a plurality of tasks assigned to any of the plurality of team members;   receive task event information from a first team member workstation of the plurality of team member workstations concerning a task of the plurality of tasks associated with both a first team member and a second team member of the plurality of team members, wherein the task event information comprises a task delegation indication indicating that the second team member is at least partially responsible for completing the task, wherein the task delegation indication establishes one of a parent and child relationship for at least one task object of the task, and wherein an external hierarchy of the plurality of team members is independent of an authority of the any of the plurality of team members to delegate the task to any other team member of the plurality of team members;   generate, by a processor, a tree structure that includes parent and child relationships between task objects of the tasks, wherein the task includes the at least one task object and at least one attribute related to the at least one task object, wherein the at least one task object includes at least one task portion of the task being delegated, and wherein the at least one attribute indicates one of a parent and child relationship of the at least one task object relative to at least one of the tasks; and   send updated task information to the first team member and the second team member based on the task event information, wherein the updated task information comprises the tree structure that includes the parent and child relationships between the task objects of the tasks.   
     
     
         36 . The non-transitory computer readable medium of  claim 35 , wherein the task delegation indication comprises a non-delegation indication indicating that the task is not further delegable. 
     
     
         37 . The non-transitory computer readable medium of  claim 35 , further comprising machine readable instructions to cause the computer system to:
 receive additional task event information from the second team member concerning the task; and   send additional updated task information to the first team member and the second team member based on the additional task event information.