Task Status Workflow — Done vs. Closed

Overview

The team uses ClickUp for task management across client projects and sprints. A recurring source of confusion was the distinction between two "completed" statuses — Done and Closed — and their different behaviors in the system. A formal decision was made during the ^[1] to standardize on Done only and avoid using Closed.

The Problem

ClickUp treats Done and Closed differently:

• Done — Task is complete but remains visible in sprint and folder views by default. Appears in historical task counts and is easily searchable.
• Closed — Task is effectively archived. It disappears from default views and requires an extra filter step ("show closed") to surface again.

In practice, this caused two problems:

1. Undercounting completed work. Sprint velocity metrics only reflected tasks in Done, not Closed, making the team appear less productive than they were. (A sprint that showed 10 tasks "done" actually had 63 when Closed tasks were included.)
2. Friction on revisions. When a client requests changes to a task already marked complete, a Closed task requires extra steps to un-archive before work can resume. A Done task can simply be reopened.

Additionally, some statuses (e.g., "Client Review," "Roadblock," "On Hold") had been miscategorized under the Done section of the status taxonomy rather than Active, causing those tasks to display with incorrect date coloring and behave as near-archived items.

Decision

Use only the "Done" status for completed tasks. Do not use "Closed."

This applies team-wide across all client folders and sprint boards.

The rationale:
- Keeps all completed work visible in sprint history without extra filtering
- Allows easy reference for past deliverables (e.g., searching "geofencing ads" surfaces all related tasks)
- Avoids the need to un-archive tasks when clients request revisions after sign-off
- Simplifies the mental model — one "finished" state, not two

Status Taxonomy Corrections

As a follow-up, the status taxonomy in ClickUp needs to be audited. Statuses that represent active work states must live in the Active section, not the Done section:

Action item: Isalia to request the draft training manual from the PM team to confirm and correct the full status taxonomy.

Related Context

• The "Closed" status had persisted partly as a holdover from a previous PM's setup, where removing it from the system proved technically difficult. The workaround at the time was a team norm of "do not use Archive" — this decision extends that spirit to Closed as well.
• The distinction between Done (historical reference) and Archive (client/project no longer active) remains valid at the folder/project level. Archiving entire client folders for inactive clients is appropriate; archiving individual tasks via Closed status is not.
• A new automated sprint process (pulling tasks from client folders into sprints) was being rolled out at the same time. Standardizing on Done ensures the automation and sprint velocity reporting work correctly from the start.

Enforcement

There is no system-level block on using Closed. Compliance relies on team awareness. The training manual, once corrected, will document this norm. New team members should be oriented to this convention during onboarding (see ^[2]).

Source

Decided in ^[3]. Participants: Melissa Cusumano, Karly Oykhman, Isalia Ramirez, Sebastian Gant, and full sprint team.