System and method of commitment management
First Claim
1. A system for managing a task comprising:
- a server configured to establish an accepted commitment relationship for a task between a requester of the task and a performer of the task, wherein the task comprises a number of sub-tasks, wherein the accepted commitment relationship includes a task completion date generated from dates negotiated between the requester and the performer on the system for completing components of the task;
a first host coupled to the server for use by the requester, the first host configured to exchange negotiation messages with the performer over multiple negotiation rounds, the negotiation messages containing proposed commitment relationships; and
a second host coupled to the server for use by the performer, the second host configured to exchange the negotiation messages with the requester over the multiple negotiation rounds, wherein the task and the sub-tasks are associated such that the task and sub-tasks form a hierarchical tree structure, wherein a thread corresponds to the task in a structure that mirrors relationships of tasks, further wherein at least one of the first host and the second host maintains a copy of the negotiation messages in order to maintain operation at the at least one of the first host and the second host if there is no connection to the server, wherein after the task is generated, a parent process automatically generates a child process and generates an electronic mail message providing notification that the task has been assigned, wherein the server further comprises a data structure containing task data identifying the commitment relationship, wherein the data structure is stored centrally, accessible by the first host and the second host.
2 Assignments
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Accused Products
Abstract
The present invention discloses a system for and method of managing a project that includes one or more tasks. In one embodiment the task comprises a first task dependent on a completion of a second task. The system and method allow a user to display the relationship between the tasks and scheduled completion dates. Those in charge of a task can thus be held accountable. The system comprises a server with a memory for storing a data structure corresponding to a commitment relationship for a task between a requester and a performer, the data structure containing task data corresponding to a commitment date for completing the task; a first host for use by the requester, the first host configured to exchange negotiation messages through the server with a second host for use by the performer, the negotiation messages containing data related to a proposed commitment date for completing the task; and a second host for use by the performer, the second host configured to exchange the negotiation messages through the server with the first host.
22 Citations
24 Claims
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1. A system for managing a task comprising:
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a server configured to establish an accepted commitment relationship for a task between a requester of the task and a performer of the task, wherein the task comprises a number of sub-tasks, wherein the accepted commitment relationship includes a task completion date generated from dates negotiated between the requester and the performer on the system for completing components of the task; a first host coupled to the server for use by the requester, the first host configured to exchange negotiation messages with the performer over multiple negotiation rounds, the negotiation messages containing proposed commitment relationships; and a second host coupled to the server for use by the performer, the second host configured to exchange the negotiation messages with the requester over the multiple negotiation rounds, wherein the task and the sub-tasks are associated such that the task and sub-tasks form a hierarchical tree structure, wherein a thread corresponds to the task in a structure that mirrors relationships of tasks, further wherein at least one of the first host and the second host maintains a copy of the negotiation messages in order to maintain operation at the at least one of the first host and the second host if there is no connection to the server, wherein after the task is generated, a parent process automatically generates a child process and generates an electronic mail message providing notification that the task has been assigned, wherein the server further comprises a data structure containing task data identifying the commitment relationship, wherein the data structure is stored centrally, accessible by the first host and the second host. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 12, 13, 14)
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9. A method of determining a commitment relationship between a requester and a performer of a task, wherein the task comprises a number of sub-tasks, the method comprising:
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exchanging proposed commitment relationships between the requester using a first host computer and the performer using a second host computer over multiple negotiation rounds to determine an accepted commitment relationship, wherein the proposed commitment relationships comprise task completion dates and resources allocated for completing the tasks; storing data corresponding to the proposed commitment relationships; and automatically initiating renegotiations of an accepted completion date of a task between the requester and the performer in the event a completion date for a component of the task is changed, wherein the task and the sub-tasks are associated such that the task and sub-tasks form a hierarchical tree structure, wherein a thread corresponds to the task in a structure that mirrors relationships of tasks, further wherein at least one of the first host computer and the second host computer maintains a copy of negotiation messages in order to maintain operation at the at least one of the first host computer and the second host computer if there is no connection to a server. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21)
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22. A system for managing a project comprising:
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multiple hosts each associated with performing a task, requesting performance of a task, or both, wherein the task comprises a number of sub-tasks, with corresponding task completion dates used to determine a project completion date, wherein the relationship between the tasks forms a hierarchical tree structure; and a server coupling the multiple hosts, wherein the server is configured to transmit messages between the multiple hosts for negotiating task completion dates, such that a change in one of the task completion dates automatically updates the project completion date, wherein the task and the sub-tasks are associated such that the task and sub-tasks form a hierarchical tree structure, wherein a thread corresponds to the task in a structure that mirrors relationships of tasks, further wherein at least one of the multiple hosts maintains a copy of the negotiation messages in order to maintain operation at the multiple hosts if there is no connection to the server.
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23. A system for managing a task comprising:
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a server configured to establish an accepted commitment relationship for a task between a requester of the task and a performer of the task, wherein the task comprises one or more component tasks that each have a corresponding component task completion date, wherein the task comprises a number of sub-tasks, wherein the accepted commitment relationship includes a task completion date and a task order, wherein the task order is editable by the requester of the task and the performer of the task, and further wherein the server automatically initiates renegotiation of the task completion date between the requester and the performer in response to a change to a component task completion date, wherein the change to the component task completion date can occur after the accepted commitment relationship has been established; a first host coupled to the server for use by the requester, the first host configured to exchange negotiation messages with the performer over multiple negotiation rounds, the negotiation messages containing proposed commitment relationships; and a second host coupled to the server for use by the performer, the second host configured to exchange the negotiation messages with the requester over the multiple negotiation rounds, wherein the task and the sub-tasks are associated such that the task and sub-tasks form a hierarchical tree structure, wherein a thread corresponds to the task in a structure that mirrors relationships of tasks, further wherein at least one of the first host and the second host maintains a copy of the negotiation messages in order to maintain operation at the at least one of the first host and the second host if there is no connection to the server.
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24. A method of determining a commitment relationship between a requester and a performer of a task wherein the task comprises a number of sub-tasks, the method comprising:
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exchanging proposed commitment relationships between the requester using a first host computer and the performer using a second host computer over multiple negotiation rounds; determining an accepted commitment relationship associated with the task based on an agreement by the requester and the performer to one or more of the proposed commitment relationships, wherein the accepted commitment relationship comprises a completion date of the task and a sub-completion date for each sub-task; storing data corresponding to the accepted commitment relationship; and automatically initiating renegotiation of the completion date between the requester and the performer when one or more of the sub-completion dates are changed; wherein the task and the sub-tasks are associated such that the task and sub-tasks form a hierarchical tree structure, wherein a thread corresponds to the task in a structure that mirrors relationships of tasks, further wherein at least one of the first host and the second host maintains a copy of the negotiation messages in order to maintain operation at the at least one of the first host and the second host if there is no connection to a server.
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Specification