How Work Gets Done in Kora

Animal care is work. This includes daily routines, scheduled treatments, health checks, facility maintenance, and follow-up actions. Some tasks recur predictably (morning feeding, weekly pasture checks). Others arise unexpectedly (responding to injury, investigating unusual behaviour, implementing quarantine).

Kora's task system transforms scattered mental checklists, scribbled notes, and "things I need to remember" into organised, trackable workflows. Tasks connect directly to the animals, mobs, and locations they relate to. This ensures work gets done, nothing is forgotten, and team members stay coordinated.

The Task Lifecycle

Every task moves through a workflow from creation to completion:

Task Status

To Do: Task created but not yet started

• Appears on your task list
• Visible to assignees
• Ready to be worked on when you are available

In Progress: Actively being worked on

• Shows you (or team members) what you are currently doing
• Prevents duplicate effort
• Signals priority to others

Review: Work complete, awaiting verification

• Common for critical tasks requiring confirmation
• Second set of eyes on important actions
• Quality assurance checkpoint

Done: Task completed and verified

• Archived in task history
• Provides completion record
• Contributes to analytics and patterns

Not every task needs all four stages. Simple daily tasks might go straight from "To Do" to "Done." Complex medical treatments might use "Review" for veterinary confirmation.

Task Priority

Low: Important but not urgent

• Routine maintenance
• General improvements
• Tasks without specific deadlines

Medium: Standard priority (default)

• Regular care activities
• Scheduled treatments
• Planned management actions

High: Requires prompt attention

• Health concerns needing follow-up
• Time-sensitive treatments
• Critical facility maintenance

Priority guides your work when multiple tasks compete for attention.

Task Categories: Organising Your Work

Tasks are organised into four primary categories. This helps you see what type of work needs doing:

Daily Care

Essential animal welfare and daily operations:

• Water checks and refills
• Feed distribution
• Basic health observations
• Facility security checks
• Environmental monitoring
• General animal comfort

Example Tasks:

• "Check water troughs in North Paddock" (Dairy farm)
• "Morning enrichment - scatter feed for elephants" (Wildlife reserve)
• "Clean and refill penguin pool" (Zoo)
• "Inspect hive entrances for activity" (Beekeeping)

Health & Treatment

Medical interventions and health monitoring:

• Medication administration
• Vaccination schedules
• Injury monitoring
• Quarantine health checks
• Follow-up appointments
• Treatment plan compliance

Example Tasks:

• "Administer antibiotic to Cow #405 - Day 3 of 5" (Dairy farm)
• "Check healing progress on Lion #7's paw injury" (Zoo)
• "Scheduled rabies vaccination for new arrivals" (Wildlife rescue)
• "Quarantine health check - Day 14 assessment" (Any context)

Management

Broader operational and compliance activities:

• Movement records
• Weight recording
• Breeding activities
• Facility maintenance
• Record keeping
• Regulatory documentation

Example Tasks:

• "Record weights for South Herd before sale" (Livestock operation)
• "Update studbook entries for new giraffe calf" (Zoo breeding programme)
• "Complete CITES documentation for rhino transfer" (Conservation)
• "Conduct monthly fence inspection" (Any context)

Biosecurity

Biosecurity plan action items and compliance:

• Quarantine implementation
• Access control setup
• Equipment cleaning protocols
• Facility inspections
• Visitor management
• Disease response actions

Example Tasks:

• "Implement quarantine for animals exposed to FMD" (Outbreak response)
• "Set up footbath at entrance to isolation zone" (Disease control)
• "Conduct visitor risk assessment for veterinarian visit" (Biosecurity protocol)
• "Clean and disinfect transport vehicle after livestock market" (Biosecurity compliance)

Categories help you organise work. They help you filter task lists by type. They ensure balanced attention across all aspects of animal care.

One-Time Tasks vs. Recurring Tasks

One-Time Tasks

Created for specific, non-repeating work:

• Response to unexpected events (injury, illness, equipment failure)
• Follow-up from observations requiring attention
• Project-specific activities (facility renovation, new animal introduction)
• Investigations (unusual behaviour, production drop)

How They Are Created:

Manually: You create tasks as needed

• "Investigate why water consumption dropped in East Paddock"
• "Prepare quarantine area for incoming shipment"

Automatically from Observations: When you mark an observation "Requires Follow-Up"

• Observation: "Cow #405 has slight limp" (March 3)
• Automatic task created: "Follow-up health check for Cow #405" (Due: March 5)
• Links directly to the observation, animal, and location

From Treatment Plans: Scheduled treatments create tasks automatically

• Treatment plan: "Monthly deworming for South Herd"
• Tasks generated automatically on schedule
• Linked to animals or mobs requiring treatment

Recurring Tasks

Automated schedules for routine, predictable work:

Daily Tasks: Repeat every day

• Morning feeding routines
• Water checks
• Evening health observations
• Facility security walks

Weekly Tasks: Repeat every week

• Pasture rotation checks
• Facility maintenance inspections
• Equipment cleaning schedules
• Weekly health assessments

Monthly Tasks: Repeat every month

• Weight recording
• Breeding activity checks
• Inventory counts
• Comprehensive facility reviews

Yearly Tasks: Repeat annually

• Annual vaccinations
• Regulatory compliance audits
• Equipment certifications
• Seasonal preparations

Custom Patterns: Non-standard schedules

• Every 3 days (specific treatment protocols)
• Twice weekly (specialised care)
• Seasonal variations (different routines for summer and winter)

How Recurring Tasks Work:

1. Create a template: Define the task once (title, description, category, priority)
2. Set recurrence pattern: Choose frequency and preferred time
3. Automatic generation: System creates task instances ahead of time (typically 3 days in advance)
4. Complete instances: Each generated task is an independent work item
5. Continuous scheduling: New instances appear as you complete previous ones

Example - Morning Routine (Dairy Farm):

Template: "Morning Health Check - Milking Herd"
Category: Daily Care
Priority: High
Recurrence: Daily at 6:00 AM
Description: Visual health assessment of all animals in milking herd.
Check for lameness, unusual behaviour, signs of illness.

Generated Instances:
- March 15, 2025 at 6:00 AM (Status: Done, completed 6:15 AM)
- March 16, 2025 at 6:00 AM (Status: Done, completed 6:20 AM)
- March 17, 2025 at 6:00 AM (Status: In Progress)
- March 18, 2025 at 6:00 AM (Status: To Do)
- March 19, 2025 at 6:00 AM (Status: To Do)

The recurring task template remains active indefinitely. You can pause it temporarily (during seasonal shutdowns). You can stop it permanently (when the routine changes).

Task Assignment and Collaboration

Assigning Tasks

Tasks can be:

• Self-assigned: You create and complete your own tasks
• Assigned to team members: Delegate work to specific people
• Unassigned: General pool of work anyone can claim

When you assign a task to someone, they see it immediately in their task list. This enables:

• Clear responsibility ("Who is checking the quarantine animals today?")
• Workload distribution across team members
• Coordination of complex multi-person activities
• Accountability for completion

Example Collaborative Workflow:

Farm Manager creates task: "Investigate reduced feed consumption in East Paddock"
Assigned to: Senior Farm Worker (Jane)
Priority: High
Due: Today

Jane changes status to "In Progress" (10:30 AM)
Jane adds observation: "Found water trough malfunction - animals were not drinking adequately"
Jane creates new task: "Repair water trough in East Paddock"
Assigned to: Maintenance Worker (Tom)

Tom completes repair (2:00 PM)
Jane verifies water flow and animal drinking behaviour (3:00 PM)
Jane marks original task as "Done" with notes: "Water trough repaired. Monitoring feed and water consumption over next 48 hours."

Team Visibility

Even tasks you did not create provide visibility:

• Farm managers see all tasks across the operation
• Veterinarians see health-related tasks for animals they are monitoring
• Specialists see tasks in their domain (beekeeping, wildlife, sustainability)

This visibility prevents duplicated effort. It reveals workload bottlenecks. It coordinates responses to complex situations.

How Tasks Connect to Everything

Tasks are not isolated items on a checklist. They are woven into Kora's comprehensive animal management structure:

Tasks Connected to Animals

When a task relates to a specific individual animal:

• Context available instantly: Open the task, see the complete animal record
• History includes tasks: Animal timeline shows all tasks related to that animal
• Observations link to tasks: "Requires Follow-Up" observations automatically create tasks
• Treatments trigger tasks: Scheduled medications generate reminder tasks

Example:

• Task: "Administer antibiotic to Cow #405"
• Linked to: Individual animal (Cow #405)
• Task shows: Animal's location, current health status, treatment history
• Completing task: Option to record treatment directly from the task

Tasks Connected to Mobs

When a task relates to an animal group:

• Population context: See mob size, demographics, location
• Group observations link: Mob health assessments create follow-up tasks
• Collective treatments: "Deworm South Herd" task linked to mob
• Population changes: "Record births for calving season" linked to specific mob

Example:

• Task: "Weekly health assessment for Main Flock"
• Linked to: Animal mob (200 chickens)
• Task shows: Mob location, recent population changes, last assessment
• Completing task: Record mob observation directly from task

Tasks Connected to Locations

When a task relates to facilities or areas:

• Location context: Task shows which paddock, enclosure, or territory
• Facility maintenance: "Repair fence in North Paddock" linked to subdivision
• Environmental monitoring: "Check water quality in Main Tank" linked to location
• Biosecurity actions: "Set up isolation zone" linked to specific subdivision

Example:

• Task: "Clean and disinfect Quarantine Paddock"
• Linked to: Subdivision (Quarantine Paddock)
• Task shows: Current animals in quarantine, biosecurity zone status
• Completing task: Update biosecurity event log automatically

Tasks from Observations

Observations requiring follow-up automatically create tasks:

Observation Workflow:

1. You observe something concerning (slight limp, reduced appetite, unusual behaviour)
2. Record observation with severity level
3. Mark "Requires Follow-Up" and set follow-up date
4. Task automatically created with:
   • Title: "Follow-up: [Observation description]"
   • Due date: Follow-up date you specified
   • Linked to: The original observation, the animal or mob, and location
   • Priority: Based on observation severity (High severity → High priority task)

When you complete the follow-up task:

• Record outcome in task notes
• Optionally create new observation documenting what you found
• If condition resolved, mark observation as complete
• If ongoing, create another follow-up task

This closed-loop workflow ensures concerning observations do not get forgotten.

Tasks from Treatment Plans

Treatment plans (recurring medical care) generate tasks automatically:

Treatment Plan Workflow:

1. Veterinarian creates treatment plan: "5-day antibiotic course for Cow #405"
2. Plan specifies: Medication, dosage, frequency, duration
3. Tasks automatically generated for each scheduled dose:
   • Day 1 task: "Administer oxytetracycline to Cow #405 (Dose 1 of 5)"
   • Day 2 task: "Administer oxytetracycline to Cow #405 (Dose 2 of 5)"
   • And so on
4. Each task links to: The treatment plan, the animal, the medication record

When you complete each task:

• Record treatment administration directly
• System tracks compliance with treatment plan
• Withdrawal period calculated automatically
• Alerts if doses are missed

This ensures treatment plans are followed precisely. Medications are not forgotten. Compliance is documented.

Real-World Task Workflows Across Contexts

Dairy Farm - Morning Routine

Recurring Tasks (Daily, 6:00 AM):

• Check water levels in all paddocks
• Visual health assessment of milking herd
• Distribute morning feed ration
• Clean milking parlour preparation area
• Record overnight births (calving season)

Automated Follow-Up Tasks:

• Cow #405 showed slight lameness yesterday → "Recheck Cow #405 lameness" (Due: Today)
• Treatment plan active → "Administer antibiotic Day 3" (Due: 8:00 AM)

Ad-Hoc Tasks:

• Manager assigns: "Repair gate latch in South Paddock" (Priority: Medium, Due: This week)
• System generates: "Record weights for cattle shipment" (Linked to mob, Due: Before transport)

Zoo - Weekly Enclosure Maintenance

Recurring Tasks (Weekly, Mondays):

• Deep clean primate enclosures (shift animals to holding areas)
• Inspect and repair enrichment structures
• Replace substrate in reptile exhibits
• Water quality testing for aquatic exhibits
• Check perimeter fencing integrity

Automated Follow-Up Tasks:

• Observation flagged unusual aggression in lion pride → "Monitor social dynamics - Lion Exhibit" (Due: Daily for 5 days)
• Enrichment schedule → "Introduce new puzzle feeders - Elephant Yard" (Due: Wednesday)

Biosecurity Tasks:

• Quarterly quarantine review → "Inspect and clean quarantine facilities" (Due: End of month)
• New animal arrival → "Implement 30-day quarantine for Spider Monkeys" (Due: Immediate)

Wildlife Conservation - Monitoring Routine

Recurring Tasks (Custom Patterns):

• Camera trap data collection (Every 3 days)
• Waterhole monitoring at dawn (Daily during dry season)
• GPS collar battery checks (Monthly)
• Anti-poaching patrol route inspection (Every 2 days)

Automated Follow-Up Tasks:

• Wildlife sighting of injured elephant → "Track and monitor Elephant #23 recovery" (Due: Daily until resolved)
• Low camera trap activity → "Investigate Camera Trap KEN-042 malfunction" (Due: Within 48 hours)

Conservation Management:

• Seasonal migration → "Census northern territory population" (Due: Annual, migration season)
• Breeding season → "Monitor nest sites in Acacia Territory" (Due: Weekly during season)

Veterinary Practice - Multi-Property Workflow

Client-Specific Recurring Tasks:

• Valley View Farm health check (Monthly, first Monday)
• City Zoo primate health assessments (Quarterly)
• Wildlife Reserve disease surveillance (Every 6 months)

Treatment Follow-Up Tasks:

• Prescribed 5-day antibiotic course → 5 daily tasks: "Confirm treatment compliance - Cow #405" (Call or visit to verify)
• Post-surgery check → "10-day post-op assessment - Lion #7" (Due: Specific date)

Biosecurity Coordination:

• FMD diagnosis at Property A → "Assess exposure risk at Properties B, C, D" (Due: Immediate, High priority)
• Vaccination campaign → Tasks for each property requiring immunisation

Task Analytics and Patterns

As you complete tasks over time, patterns emerge:

Completion Trends:

• Which tasks consistently get done on time?
• Which tasks are frequently delayed?
• Are certain task categories being neglected?

Workload Insights:

• How many tasks per day is realistic?
• Which team members are overloaded?
• Which times of year have highest task volume?

Recurring Task Effectiveness:

• Are daily routines being followed consistently?
• Do recurring tasks need time adjustments?
• Should task frequencies change based on seasonal needs?

Observation-to-Task Pipeline:

• How quickly are concerning observations followed up?
• Which severity levels consistently generate follow-ups?
• Are follow-up tasks resolving the original concerns?

These insights help refine workflows. They help adjust recurring task schedules. They improve team coordination over time.

Best Practices for Task Management

Keep Tasks Specific and Actionable

Poor: "Check animals" Good: "Visual health assessment of South Herd - check for lameness, discharge, unusual behaviour"

Specific tasks provide clear direction. They enable meaningful completion records.

Use Due Dates Appropriately

• Urgent health issues: Due today or tomorrow
• Routine care: Due on schedule (daily, weekly, etc.)
• Projects: Due when genuinely needed, not arbitrary dates
• Open-ended investigations: Due date represents decision checkpoint, not necessarily completion

Due dates guide prioritisation. They should not create false urgency.

Assign Tasks Clearly

• Specific person: When one individual should handle it
• Role-based: "Veterinarian" when any vet can address it
• Unassigned: When it is general team work

Clear assignment prevents "someone will do it" (which often means no one does).

Complete Tasks Promptly

Completed tasks provide:

• Accurate workload history
• Completion records for compliance
• Insights into operational patterns
• Confidence that work is being done

Mark tasks done when finished, even if it seems minor. The data matters.

Use Descriptions and Notes

When creating tasks:

• Description: What needs to be done and why
• Completion notes: What you found, what you did, what happened

Future you (or team members) will appreciate the context.

Link Tasks to Context

Always link tasks to relevant animals, mobs, or locations:

• Provides instant context when working on the task
• Creates complete history in animal or location records
• Enables analytics connecting work to outcomes

Review Recurring Tasks Periodically

Routines change. Seasonal patterns shift. Team size varies.

Review recurring task templates quarterly:

• Are frequencies still appropriate?
• Do times need adjustment?
• Should tasks be added or removed based on operational changes?

Do Not Over-Task

Not everything needs a task. Reserve tasks for:

• Work requiring coordination
• Actions needing documentation
• Follow-ups that might be forgotten
• Routine care benefiting from structured schedules

Excessive tasking creates busy-work fatigue. Use tasks to organise genuine work, not to micromanage every minor action.

How Tasks Fit Into Daily Work

Morning:

• Check task list for the day
• See recurring daily tasks (feed, water, health checks)
• Note high-priority follow-ups from yesterday's observations
• Claim unassigned tasks if team coordination needed

Throughout the Day:

• Mark tasks "In Progress" when you start working
• Complete tasks as you go, adding completion notes
• Create new observations as needed (which may generate new tasks)
• Record treatments, which update linked tasks

End of Day:

• Review completed tasks
• Reschedule anything that could not be finished
• Create tasks for tomorrow based on what you observed today
• Check that high-priority tasks are assigned and acknowledged

Weekly/Monthly:

• Review recurring task completion rates
• Adjust task schedules based on seasonal changes
• Coordinate with team on workload distribution
• Clean up old completed tasks (system does this automatically)

Why Task Management Matters

For Individuals:

• Organise your work without relying on memory
• Prioritise effectively when multiple demands compete
• Document what you did and when
• Reduce stress from "Did I remember to...?" uncertainty

For Teams:

• Coordinate multi-person activities
• Distribute workload fairly
• Prevent duplicated effort
• Maintain accountability for critical actions

For Compliance:

• Demonstrate systematic care routines
• Prove follow-up on health concerns
• Document biosecurity protocol implementation
• Show regulatory requirement completion

For Animal Welfare:

• Ensure routine care happens consistently
• Guarantee follow-up on concerning observations
• Maintain treatment plan compliance
• Prevent forgotten critical actions

For Operational Efficiency:

• Identify workload patterns and adjust staffing
• Recognise recurring problems requiring systemic solutions
• Optimise routines based on completion data
• Reduce mental load of remembering everything