Work on a problem task in Service Operations Workspace

  • Release version: Australia
  • Updated March 12, 2026
  • 1 minute to read

    • Manage problems and problem tasks through their life cycle, share workarounds or fixes with related incidents, and create known error articles to help deflect incidents.

    Before you begin

    If you aren't using the base problem life cycle, you will continue to use the classic experience to manage problems or problem tasks through their life cycle. From the problem task record page, select Continue problem task to be redirected to the ServiceNow AI Platform user interface where you can make state transitions. For information about state transitions of a problem, see Life cycle of a problem.

    The base problem life cycle is included with the Problem Management  Best Practice - Madrid - State Model (com.snc.best_practice.problem.madrid.state_model) plugin. Use the Problem Management Migration Utility store application to enable this plugin and migrate your records to the base problem life cycle.

    Role required: itil or problem_task_analyst (for changing the state of the problem task or deleting it)

    Procedure

    1. Open a problem.
      For information about creating a problem in Service Operations Workspace, see Create a problem in Service Operations Workspace.
    2. From the Problem Tasks tab, open the required problem task.
    3. Perform any of the following actions on the problem task record page.
      OptionDescription
      Assign a problem task to yourself Select Assign to me.
      Assess a problem task Select Assess and fill the mandatory fields.
      Start work on a problem task Select Start work.
      Cancel a problem task Select Cancel task and fill the mandatory fields.
      Delete a problem task Select the more actions icon (more actions icon) and select Delete.
      Attach knowledge articles or records that help a quick resolution of a problem task
      1. From the contextual side panel, select the agent assist icon (agent assist icon).
      2. Search for a resource and perform the required action.
      The knowledge articles attached here are displayed in the Related records tab.
      Add an attachment to a problem task From the contextual side panel, select the attachments icon (attachments icon).
      Copy the record page URL to easily access the record Select the more actions icon (more actions icon) and select Copy URL.
      Complete a problem task Select Complete and fill the mandatory fields.
      Create templates for reuse From the contextual side panel, select the templates icon (templates icon.).
      Re-assess a problem task From a problem task in the Work in Progress or Closed state, select Re-assess. The state is changed to Assess.