Assign tasks to profiles (not users)

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1

Hi,

I’m building an app where I have a directory of employees. I want to be able to assign them a certain process that has multiple tasks. For example, if an employee wants to take time off, the tasks would be to fill out a form, get it signed by their manager, send it to HR, wait for approval, get final signed copy. Once I’m notified of their intention to take time off, I would assign them these tasks in the backend and check them off as they are completed. The employee does not do anything in the app. It’s just for the backend.

I’ve tried multiple things and I’ve gotten very close to what I want but still not there. I think I have to do a one-to-one relationship with each task and each employee but not quite sure how to go about doing this.

I should be able to assign the same process (same set of tasks), to multiple employee and track their progress individually.

The employees are not users and they do not have access to the app.

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2

Hey NavD, Welcome To the Glide Community!

What you need is a “process assignment system” with relational structure:

Create a “Processes” table – each row is a process like “Time Off Request.”

Create a “Tasks” table – each task belongs to a process using a “Process ID”.

Create an “Assignments” table – each time you assign a process to an employee, create a new assignment record with a unique ID (Example: “Assignment ID”).

Create an “Assigned Tasks” table – when you assign a process, copy the related tasks into this table using the “Assignment ID” and link it to the employee.

Now, each employee gets their own copy of tasks tied to a specific process, and you can track progress independently without affecting others. Employees don’t need app access; it’s all managed by you.

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Also I asked GPT for the setup and it gave me this as an example of what I talked about earlier:

:puzzle_piece: Tables You’ll Need:

1. Processes

Process ID Name
P001 Time Off
P002 Onboarding

2. Tasks

Task ID Process ID Task Name Order
T001 P001 Fill out request form 1
T002 P001 Manager signs form 2
T003 P001 Send to HR 3
T004 P001 Wait for approval 4
T005 P001 Get final signed copy 5

3. Employees

Employee ID Name
E001 Alice Smith
E002 John Doe

4. Assignments

Assignment ID Employee ID Process ID Assigned Date
A001 E001 P001 2025-06-18
A002 E002 P001 2025-06-19

5. Assigned Tasks

Assigned Task ID Assignment ID Task ID Task Name Status
AT001 A001 T001 Fill out request form :white_check_mark: Done
AT002 A001 T002 Manager signs form :hourglass_not_done: Pending
AT003 A001 T003 Send to HR :cross_mark: Not started
AT004 A002 T001 Fill out request form :cross_mark: Not started

:brain: How It Works in Glide:

  • When you assign a process to an employee:
    • Create a new row in Assignments.
    • Then, automate copying all tasks from the Tasks table (linked by Process ID) into the Assigned Tasks table, but linked to that Assignment ID.
  • Use a relation column in Assigned Tasks to show only tasks for a given assignment.
  • Use checklist or status chips to manually track progress.

:hammer_and_wrench: Glide Automation Tools to Help:

  • Use Actions / Custom Actions to duplicate tasks into Assigned Tasks.
  • Use Joined Lists and Relations to display progress per employee.
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Pro Tip: Use the glide native row ID instead of manually set IDs

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Thank you Mazen!

I’ve seen this solution before (I tried ChatGPT too) and it kinda worked in practice. I could never figure out how to assign the process ID.

But anyways, I ended up doing something else - I created a workflow that assigns all the tasks in the workflows creating individual rows for each task and the one faculty is assigned to all these tasks.

It’s working so I’ll go with that.

Thank you so much for your solution!

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