Skip to main content

Requests in Work Items

Work items show what needs to be done, when, and by whom; tasks, repeating tasks, evaluations, issues, and requests are all work items and can link to objects like controls and labels.

Danielle Moerman avatar
Written by Danielle Moerman
Updated over 3 months ago

Understanding the Work Items dashboard

All work item types have a common set of fields and components that can be enabled or disabled depending on the different work represented by each item.

Tasks, repeating tasks, evaluations, and issues are all work items, and they can be linked to multiple objects, like controls and labels. This helps prevent duplication of work and provides visibility of the impact work items make on your organization's overall compliance posture.

Home Tab

The Home tab provides an overview of your specific tasks, including tasks assigned to you, tasks that require your input, and tasks that you have created. Below, Up next, you’ll find a list of your tasks and audit requests, with the most urgent at the top.

Currently, all Hyperproof users can see all work items where they are a member. Note that administrators need to join objects to see any linked work items.

You'll see four widgets on the Home tab. Click the arrows below to learn more.

My Work Items

Shows all work items assigned to you. These work items are displayed chronologically, from oldest to newest. Past-due items assigned to you and/or created by you are tagged with a Remind badge. Items that you created and are ready for review are tagged with a Reviewed badge.

Completed

Shows a list of work items that have been submitted and closed.

By Type

Categorizes the number of work items in your organization by type. Click the link next to a work item type to view only those work items.

By Assignee

Categorizes the number of work items in your organization by assignee. Click the link next to a team member's initials to view a list of work items assigned to that team member.

Filtering Work Items

On each tab within the Work items area, you can filter to display only the work items that you need. Either via the task, repeating tasks, requests, evaluations, or issues.

Click the arrows to learn more below:

Filtering Work Items

  1. From the left menu, select Work items.

  2. Select the relevant work item tab, i.e., Tasks, Repeating tasks, Requests, Evaluations, or Issues.

  3. Click the Filter icon.

    1. The Filter window opens.

Requests within Work Items

Requests provide auditors with the necessary information to evaluate an organization's compliance posture. Requirements, controls, issues, and proof can all be linked to a request. As with other objects in Hyperproof, requests can be assessed and assigned to members of the organization.

When the request assignee is sure all relevant information has been linked, they can move it to the Submitted to auditor status. This status alerts the external auditor that the request is ready for evaluation.

When a request is assigned to a team member, they’ll receive an email notification and/or a Slack/MS Teams notification depending on their notification preferences. If another user makes a change to a request, e.g., changing the due date or updating the status, the assignee does not receive a notification.

Note that to receive Slack or MS Teams notifications, your organization must have the integration turned on.

Requests from your audit can also be found in the Requests area within Work Items. You can see all the requests from each audit you've been added to.

In this area, you can filter and re-arrange columns to organize the requests accordingly. You can also group select the requests to export, archive, change the status or due date, set the priority, assignee, etc.

Prerequisite: For a team member to participate in an audit, they must be added to the audit. We'll learn more about adding users to audits in the Audits lesson.

Click the arrows below to learn more:

Creating a new request

  1. From the left menu, select Audits.

  2. Select your audit.

  3. Select the Requests tab.

  4. Click New.

  5. The Create new request window opens.

    1. Below Reference, enter a reference ID.

    2. Below Summary, enter a description of the request.

  6. Click Create.

    1. The request is created and added to the requests list.

Adding a user to a request

  1. From the left menu, select Audits.

  2. Select your audit.

  3. Select the Requests tab.

  4. Select the request you want to add the user to.

  5. In the right pane, click the + icon in the facepile.

  6. From the Add tab, select the user from the Name drop-down menu.

  7. In the Role field, select the object role for this user.

  8. Roles and permissions overview for objects

    1. Facepiles are found on all individual objects, such as risks, and in parent modules, such as the Risk Register. You can choose to add a user to a specific object OR the entire module.

    2. Object roles include:

      1. Managers

        1. Can manage content, members, and settings

        2. Can share, add, edit, or remove files

    3. Contributors

      1. Can share, add, edit, or remove files

      2. Cannot add members or manage settings

    4. Viewers

      1. Can view information about objects where they are a member or have inherited access

      2. Can export objects from the grid view if they are members of the objects or have inherited access

  9. Optionally, enter a message.

  10. Click Add.

    1. The user is added to the request.

    2. If notifications are enabled, an email is sent notifying the user that they have been added.

Linking a task to a request

  1. From the left menu, select Audits.

  2. Select your audit.

  3. Select the Requests tab.

  4. Select the request you want to link a task to.

  5. Click the Task icon.

  6. Optionally, click the Pin icon to pin the Tasks panel.

  7. Click New task.

    1. The Task window opens.

  8. Do any or all of the following:

    1. Enter a name for the task (required)

    2. Enter a description

      1. The following rich text formatting is supported: bulleted and numbered lists, headings, links, code, emojis, bold, italic, and strikethrough.

    3. Change any of the following by hovering over and clicking the Edit icon. Note that the task's status cannot be changed until the task is created.

      1. Assignee (by default, the task is assigned to the task creator)

    4. Due date (this is the number of days out that you want the task to be due)

    5. Priority

  9. Click Create.

    1. The task is created.

Changing the request status

  1. From the left menu, select Audits.

  2. Select your audit.

  3. Select the Requests tab.

  4. Select the request you want to edit.

  5. Click the Status drop-down menu to set the request's status.

    1. Not started - Work has not started on the request.

    2. In progress - The request is currently being worked on.

    3. Internal review - The organization is reviewing the request. Only the audit manager can change the status from Internal review to Submitted to auditor.

    4. Submitted to auditor - The request has been submitted to the auditor for review. The auditor or the audit manager can change the status to Needs revision or Approved.

    5. Needs revision - The auditor is reassigning the request to the organization because the request needs to be revised, e.g. the proof is insufficient and needs to be updated. The auditor or the audit manager can change the status from Needs revision to Submitted to auditor OR from Submitted to auditor to Needs revision.

    6. Approved - All information in the request has been verified and accepted. The auditor or the audit manager can change the status from Submitted to auditor to Approved.

    7. Closed - The request has been completed and closed. Only the audit manager can change the status to Closed.

  6. Hyperproof automatically saves your changes.

Linking objects and proof to requests

On a request, you can link objects within Hyperproof to it or add proof directly to it. To do so, you must first select the specific request you want to add items to. You can do this by navigating to the requests area within work items and selecting that specific request.

Proof can be manually uploaded or linked or via a label.

A single piece of proof can be linked to multiple labels, as that evidence may apply to different requests in your audit. Labels also make reusing proof across requests nearly effortless.

Click the arrows below to learn more:

Linking an object to a request

  1. From the left menu, select Audits.

  2. Select your audit.

  3. Select the Requests tab.

  4. Select the request you want to link an object to.

  5. In the right pane, scroll to Linked objects.

  6. Click the arrow in the Link button and do one of the following:

    1. Select Link new.

    2. Select the object from the drop-down menu, and fill out the required fields (they differ depending on the object). Click Create.

    3. Select Link existing.

    4. Select the checkbox next to the object you want to link, and then click Link.

Linking proof to a request manually

  1. From the left menu, select Audits.

  2. Select your audit.

  3. Select the Requests tab.

  4. Select the request you want to link proof to.

  5. In the right pane, scroll to Proof.

  6. Add your proof in one of the following ways:

    1. Drag and drop files onto the proof grid.

    2. Click Add proof and select one of the following:

      1. My Computer - To use proof stored on your computer, click My Computer in the upper-left corner.

      2. Cloud storage integration - To use proof stored in an integration, such as Drive, select the integration’s icon from the Add integration section in the bottom-left corner. Optionally, turn on LiveSync to automatically keep your proof up to date.

      3. Paste a link - Select this option to use a website URL as proof. The URL is rendered as a “Link” file type in Hyperproof; the only information shown in the file is the URL.

      4. Paste an image - Select this option to use a screenshot as proof. Take a screenshot (Cmd-Shift-5 on Mac, Shift-S on Windows), copy it to the clipboard, and then paste it in Hyperproof. Chrome users may need to allow this functionality if prompted by the browser (refresh the page after clicking Allow).

      5. Existing proof - To reuse proof that already exists in your organization, select either Labels, Proof, My Controls, Vendors, Risks, or Programs from the left menu.

Linking proof to a request from a label

  1. From the left menu, select Audits.

  2. Select your audit.

  3. Select the Requests tab.

  4. Select the request you want to link proof to.

  5. Click Link label.

  6. Select the checkbox next to the label you want to link.

  7. Click Confirm.

    1. The label is linked to the request.

  8. Navigate to the proof tab and pull in proof from that label you've linked.

Requests activity feed

In the Activity Feed, users can leave comments for one another via ‘@mentions’, or simply view the latest activity in a program or on a particular object. All messages are time and date-stamped.

For example, if you click the Activity Feed icon while in a control, you’ll only see activity relevant to that control. This means you won’t see activity that’s taking place in an audit, for example. To view that activity, you need to open the audit and click the Activity Feed icon.

In this video, we'll discuss the Activity Feed. The Activity Feed allows you to easily communicate with your team members directly in Hyperproof.

Note: the video below shows the activity feed on a program. However, the concept is the same for audits. The difference is that to access the activity feed, you need to navigate to that specific audit.

The tutorial below is from the perspective of the administrator role with object permission as a manager. If you are in a different Hyperproof role or have a different permission, you may not have access to some of the areas shown, or they may be grayed out.

To access the activity feed for a request, you must first select that request from the Work Items area. When you scroll down, you'll see that the activity feed is available to you with the same features mentioned above.

The biggest difference in requests is that these comments can also be set to make comments visible to external auditors. If this box is checked, and the auditor is added to Hyperproof and the audit, they'll be able to view your comment.

Issues on requests

Issues can be created, tracked, and remediated for all major Hyperproof objects and modules: programs, controls, labels, audit requests, risks, and vendors.

Issues work like other features in Hyperproof—they can be assigned to members of your team, linked to tasks, and linked to proof. An Activity Feed specific to the issue is also available, allowing your team to collaborate without needing to leave Hyperproof.

Because Hyperproof is a continuous compliance operations platform, issues can be discovered and addressed long before your organization enters its audit phase.

Adding a user to an issue

To view an issue, a user must be a member of the issue’s related object, e.g., a request, or directly added to the facepile. That means if you want to make sure you see all issues in an organization, you must either be a member of all objects or be added to all issues directly by the individuals who create them.

Note: By default, all members of the affected object become contributors to the issue. For example, if there are four members of a request and an issue is linked to the request, all four of those members now have contributor access to the issue. Users who inherit access via a parent object, e.g., a request, cannot be removed from the issue. Using private issues, you can remove people from the affected object.

Note, to lock inherited access, you must be the one who created the request or issue, or be a manager on that request/issue.

Click the arrows below to learn more:

Adding a user to an issue

  1. From the left menu, select the tab that corresponds with the issue. For example, if you want to add a user to an issue that is linked to a control, select the Controls tab.

  2. Select the specific object. For example, if you want to add the user to an issue linked to control ID 1234, select that control.

  3. Select the Issues tab.

  4. Select the issue.

  5. In the right pane, click the + icon.

  6. Select a user from the Name drop-down menu.

  7. In the Role field, select the object role for this user.

    1. Roles and permissions overview for objects

    2. Facepiles are found on all individual objects, such as risks, and in parent modules, such as the Risk Register. You can choose to add a user to a specific object OR the entire module.

    3. Object roles include:

      1. Managers

        1. Can manage content, members, and settings

        2. Can share, add, edit, or remove files

      2. Contributors

        1. Can share, add, edit, or remove files

        2. Cannot add members or manage settings

      3. Viewers

        1. Can view information about objects where they are a member or have inherited access

        2. Can export objects from the grid view if they are members of the objects or have inherited access

  8. Optionally, enter a message.

  9. Click Add.

    1. The user is added to the issue.

    2. If notifications are enabled, an email is sent notifying the user that they have been added.

Remediating issues with tasks

Tasks are the core of how you’ll remediate issues in Hyperproof. Assign tasks to different parts of your team to carry out your action plan.

Tasks linked to issues work the same as they do in other areas of Hyperproof. When an issue arises, you can create a task on the issue to help you plan, track, and delegate activities necessary for remediation.

Click the arrows below to learn more:

Creating an issue and linking to a request

  1. From the left menu, select Work Items.

  2. Select the Issues tab.

  3. Click New or Import.

  4. Enter the following information:

    1. Summary (required) - A summary of the issue and the potential result if it isn't remediated

    2. Description - A detailed overview of the issue

    3. Make issue private checkbox - Select this checkbox to make the issue private. Doing so restricts inheritance—only users explicitly added to the issue’s facepile can see the issue. Other users (such as members of affected objects) can see that the issue exists, but they’ll only see the issue ID. To access the issue, they’ll need to contact the issue manager(s).

    4. Action plan - The plan to remediate the issue

    5. Impact - The impact the issue has on your organization if it isn't resolved

    6. Priority - The priority level for resolving the issue

    7. Assignee - The individual who will work to remediate the issue

    8. Effort level - The amount of effort it'll take your organization to remediate the issue

    9. Business owner - The individual who owns the issue. Note that a contact can also be an owner.

    10. Executive sponsor - The individual who is of senior level and ultimately responsible for overseeing the remediation of the issue

    11. Due date - The date that the remediation is due

    12. Discovered on - The date that the issue was discovered

  5. Link the request to the issue under source.

  6. Click Create.

    1. The issue is created.

Linking an additional affected object to an issue

  1. From the left menu, select the tab that corresponds with the issue. For example, if you want to link an additional affected object to an issue that's linked to a control, select the Controls tab.

  2. Select the specific object that the issue is linked to. For example, if the issue is linked to control ID 1234, select that control.

  3. Select the Issues tab.

  4. Select the issue.

  5. In the right pane, click the arrow in the Link button next to Affect objects.

  6. Select either Link new or Existing link.

    1. If you select Link New, the Create New window opens. Select an object from the drop-down menu, name the object, and then click Create.

    2. If you select Link Existing, the Link Objects window opens. Select the object or objects you want to link, then click Link.

  7. The affected object is linked.

Link a task to an issue

  1. From the left menu, select the tab that corresponds with the issue. For example, if you want to remediate an issue that's linked to a control, select the Controls tab.

  2. Select the specific object. For example, if you want to link the task to control ID 1234, select that control.

  3. Select the Issues tab.

  4. Select the issue.

  5. In the right pane, scroll to Tasks, and then click + Task.

    1. The Task window opens.

  6. Do any or all of the following:

    1. Enter a name for the task (required)

    2. Enter a description

      1. The following rich text formatting is supported: bulleted and numbered lists, headings, links, code, emojis, bold, italic, and strikethrough.

    3. Change any of the following by hovering over and clicking the Edit icon. Note that the task's status cannot be changed until the task is created.

      1. Assignee (by default, the task is assigned to the task creator)

      2. Due date (this is the number of days out that you want the task to be due)

      3. Priority

  7. Click Create.

    1. The task is created.

Related Articles
Managing Audit Requests
Control Tasks
Managing Linked Control Objects
Work Item Tasks
Risk Tasks
Did this answer your question?