Blocking tasks

  • Release version: Xanadu
  • Updated January 30, 2025
  • 3 minutes to read
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    Summary of Blocking tasks

    Blocking tasks in ServiceNow Customer Service Management are special tasks that prevent progress on customer service cases until certain conditions are met. These tasks automatically create and resolve based on specific agent or system actions, directly impacting the case’s action status and visibility. Managing blocking tasks helps agents and managers clearly track what is preventing case resolution and when attention is needed.

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    Key Features

    • Creation of Blocking Tasks: Triggered when an agent sets the case state to Needs More Information or associates a problem, request, change, incident, case task, or work order with the case. These tasks appear in the Blocked by related list on the Case form and update the Action Status field.
    • Resolution of Blocking Tasks: Occurs when the customer provides requested information, related problem/request/change/incident records are resolved, or related tasks/work orders are closed or canceled. This updates the blocking task status, changes the Action Status field, and enables the Needs Attention field.
    • Needs Attention Field: Automatically enabled when a blocking task is resolved, when comments are added by someone other than the case owner, or when work notes are added to child cases of a major case. Agents and managers can also manually enable or disable this field to indicate when further information or action is required.
    • Case Action Status Integration: The Action Status field reflects the blocking task state, including when additional customer information is requested. Proper clearing of the Needs Attention field is necessary when requesting information multiple times on the same case to ensure accurate status updates.
    • Major Issue Management: The Needs Attention field is enabled when customers comment or agents add work notes on cases linked to major issues, helping track urgent and high-impact cases.
    • Blocked By Related List: Displays all blocking tasks for a case, each with a blocking reason such as Need information from the customer, Need task resolution, or Need PRB workaround. Agents can modify the blocking reason if appropriate.
    • Data Management: Blocking task records are stored in the Blocked By table [snactionstatusblockedby] and are automatically cleaned up six months after the related case is closed.

    Practical Benefits for ServiceNow Customers

    • Clearly identifies what is preventing case resolution, improving agent efficiency and customer communication.
    • Provides automated status updates and visibility to both agents and managers through the Action Status and Needs Attention fields.
    • Supports escalation and tracking of major issues by linking child cases to major cases and highlighting when attention is required.
    • Enables better case management by integrating blocking tasks with related records such as problems, requests, changes, and incidents.
    • Maintains data hygiene by automatically removing stale blocking task records, ensuring the system remains performant and up to date.

    Certain agent actions trigger case flows which create and resolve blocking tasks for customer service cases. These tasks determine the case action status.

    When an agent performs certain actions, such as asking a customer for more information or associating a problem with a case, the system:
    • Adds a blocking task to the case. This task appears on the Case form in the Blocked by form section.
    • Updates the Action Status field on the Case form and Case list.
    Note:
    A blocking task is something that prevents an agent from making progress toward case resolution. For example, a case might have one or more open related task records or be waiting for customer feedback.
    Additionally, there are actions that resolve these blocking tasks, such as the customer responding to an agent’s question or an internal user resolving a problem task. When one of these actions occur, the system:
    • Updates the status of the blocking task on the Case form.
    • Updates the Action Status field on the Case form and Case list.
    • Enables the Needs Attention field on the Case form.

    Actions that create blocking tasks

    The following actions create blocking task for customer service cases:
    • The agent sets the state of the case to Needs More Information.
    • The agent associates one of the following to the case:
      • Problem
      • Request
      • Change
      • Incident
      • Case task
      • Work order

    Actions that resolve blocking tasks

    The following actions resolve blocking tasks for customer service cases:
    • A customer provides the requested information.
    • A fix or a workaround is associated with a related problem record.
    • A related problem, request, change, or incident record is resolved.
    • A related case task or work order is closed or canceled.

    Needs attention field

    When the Needs attention field on the Case form is enabled, the Action Status column on the Case list displays a blue indicator.

    The Needs attention field is enabled automatically when:
    • A blocking task for a case is resolved.
    • A customer or someone other than the case owner comments on a case.
    • A work note is added to a case that is a child of a major case.

    Customer service agents and managers can manually enable the Needs attention field if information is required from customers or internal users. This field can be deactivated only by the agent assigned to the case or by the customer service manager or admin.

    Requesting additional information from a customer

    When an agent requests additional information from a customer, the system enables the Needs attention field and sets the Action status field to Needs attention.

    If an agent must request additional information from a customer for a second time on the same case, be sure to clear the Needs attention field on the Case form before requesting the information. This ensures that the status updates correctly.

    Case action status and major issue management

    When using the case action status feature with major issue management, the following actions enable the Needs attention field for a major case:
    • A customer provides comments for a case that is a child of a major case.
    • An agent adds a work note to a case that is a child of a major case.

    Blocked by related list

    Blocking tasks that are created for a case are added to the Blocked by related list. Each blocking task is assigned one of the following blocking reasons:
    • Need information from the customer
    • Need task resolution
    • Need PRB workaround
    • Other
    Note:
    When a problem is associated with a case and a blocking task is created, the blocking reason is set to Need task resolution. If necessary, the agent can change this reason to Need PRB workaround.
    When a blocking task is resolved:
    • The Unblocked By field displays the user who performed the unblocking action.
    • The Unblocked On field displays the date that the blocking task was resolved.

    Blocking Tasks table

    Records that have blocking tasks are stored in the Blocked By table [sn_action_status_blocked_by]. Records are periodically removed from this table. Six months after a blocked record is closed, the entries in the Blocked By table related to the blocked record are removed.