Task dependencies and relationships in CWM
Summarize
Summary of Task dependencies and relationships in CWM
Collaborative Work Management (CWM) in ServiceNow allows users to link task-type work items directly, providing clear visibility into how work is connected. This eliminates the need for tracking dependencies in spreadsheets or notes. Relationships between work items help teams understand dependencies and connections across different Boards and Spaces, enhancing cross-team coordination.
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Relationship Types
- Prerequisite: Indicates that one work item must be completed before another can start, communicating sequencing and upstream dependencies. Only tasks extending the Task [task] table and CWM tasks can be prerequisites; planning items like Epics are excluded.
- Dependent: The inverse of prerequisite, showing that a work item must be completed before another dependent item begins, highlighting downstream impact.
- Related: Shows a general connection without implying execution order, useful for items sharing context or overlapping scope.
Practical Use and Visibility
Work items can be linked across any Board or Space within the ServiceNow AI Platform, enhancing visibility into dependencies regardless of team boundaries. Relationships can be created by searching and attaching task-type work items the user has permission to view.
On Kanban boards, a relationship indicator icon appears on cards with linked items. Clicking this icon opens a panel displaying related work items and their relationship types, allowing team members to view dependencies without leaving the board.
Considerations and Limitations
- Planning items such as Epics cannot be prerequisites because they are not based on the Task [task] table.
- You must have permission to view a work item to add it as a dependency.
- Relationships do not affect percent complete calculations in CWM Tasks or Strategic Planning Workspace Boards.
- When adding story-type work items as relationships, prerequisite and dependent information syncs with the Story [rmstory] table. Non-story work items linked to stories do not sync with this table.
- Work items brought onto Boards via the Connected work feature do not display relationships on their original source record unless relationships are added directly there.
Managing Dependencies
- Adding a dependency: Link one work item to another in CWM to establish prerequisite, dependent, or related relationships, clearly showing how work items influence each other.
- Removing a dependency: Unlink relationships between work items in CWM when they are no longer relevant or were added by mistake.
Increase visibility into how work is connected by linking work items directly in Collaborative Work Management (CWM), eliminating the need to track dependencies in spreadsheets or notes fields.
In CWM, you can link any task-type work item to another to show how pieces of work relate to each other. Relationships are informational and team members can progress on a work item regardless of the state of its linked items. Relationships can be created across Boards and Spaces, giving teams visibility into cross-team dependencies for their work.
Relationship types
Work items in CWM support three relationship types.
- Prerequisite
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Indicates that another work item must be completed before this item can begin. Use this relationship to communicate sequencing and upstream dependencies to your team. Only task-type work items extending the Task [task] table and CWM tasks can be added as prerequisites. Planning items such as Epics aren’t supported.
- Dependent
-
Indicates that this work item must be completed before work on another item can begin. This is the inverse of a prerequisite relationship and communicates downstream impact to your team.
- Related
-
Indicates a general connection between two work items without implying a specific order of execution. Use this relationship when items share context, overlap in scope, or are otherwise connected without one blocking the other.
Linking work items across boards and spaces
You can link any task-type work item to another across the ServiceNow AI Platform, regardless of which Board or Space it belongs to. To create a relationship, search for the work item by name and attach it. The search covers all task type work items that you have permission to view.
Relationships on the Kanban board
When a work item has one or more relationships, a relationships indicator icon appears on its Kanban card. Selecting the icon opens the right side panel showing the related work items and their relationship types, so team members can view dependency details without leaving the board.
Task dependency considerations and limitations
- Planning items such as Epics can’t be added as prerequisites because they aren’t derived from the Task [task] table.
- You can add a work item as a dependency on if you have permission to view that item.
- Relationships have no effect on percent complete calculations for CWM Tasks or Boards in Strategic Planning Workspace.
- If a story in the Story [rm_story] table already has prerequisite and dependent stories associated to it, those details are shown in CWM.
- Adding a story-type work item as a relationship to another story syncs with the prerequisite and dependent fields in the Story [rm_story] table.
- Adding a non-story-type work item as a relationship to a story does not sync with the Story [rm_story] table.