FAQs

Typical applications for our clients include:

• Documenting current state (“as is”) processes
• Designing future state (“to be”) processes
• Incorporating Standard Operating Procedures into process maps
• Communicating process and project status
• Transferring knowledge
• Documenting best practices for how work is (or should be) done
• Creating instructional materials
• Detailing customer service applications
• Implementing Six Sigma
• Standardizing processes across an organization
• Ensuring that work is done consistently by both experienced and new staff members

Yes, TaskMap provides an ideal platform for developing these types of documentation. In many organizations, the opposite is also true: TaskMap provides an ideal way to create a high-level view of a process, to which you can add hyperlinks to job aids and SOPs that contain the details of how to perform individual Tasks.

In many organizations, existing process documentation is in multiple formats and in multiple locations. Consequently, learning about or finding what you need is a major challenge.

TaskMap can solve that problem because it provides both a visual presentation of critical task data and can include hyperlinks to supporting documents, IT systems, tools, supplies and materials.

A well-designed TaskMap becomes the central repository for all process knowledge

TaskMap customers have experienced all of the following:

• Reduced training time for new staff members
• Shorter deployment cycles for new processes and procedures
• Reduced auditing time because both internal and external auditors love the concise yet detailed process summaries contained in a TaskMap
• Enhanced quality control
• Improved access to all relevant information about a process
• Reduced time to market for new products
• Repeatable processes across all work locations
• Enhanced conformance with government regulations and organization policies

Please email us at support@taskmap.com with your requests and suggestions. We appreciate your input and will consider your ideas for potential product features or a custom development project.

Download TaskMap Lite! TaskMap Lite provides a free Visio stencil and template that let you build content-rich process maps simply by entering data values into a form.

You can also download TaskMap Standard or TaskMap Professional. Both editions offer a 30-day free trial and are so easy to use that most users never bother to attend training. We also offer free training videos on our training page.

We’re happy to know that you’re enjoying using TaskMap Lite! However, if any of the following are true, you might want to visit the product demonstration page to learn more TaskMap Standard and TaskMap Professional.

• You’d like to select Responsible and Supporting Roles from a list rather than typing them again and again.
• You need more than two Supporting Roles, Guidelines or Resources.
• You’d like to record risks, controls, KPIs and other data attributes about each Task.
• You’d like to turn your TaskMaps into BI dashboards by visualizing data attributes right in the map.
• You’d like to maintain process data in Excel and have it linked to a TaskMap.
• You’d like to save a TaskMap as a PowerPoint presentation with two clicks.
• You’d like to export all process data to Excel.
• You’d like to create a Microsoft Project plan from your TaskMap.

Yes. The TaskMap hyperlink dialog is a significant improvement over the dialog built into Visio. As a result, it’s easy to create hyperlinks to almost any electronic object including:

• Other pages in a TaskMap
• Documents of any type
• Bookmarks in Word documents and named cells or ranges in Excel workbooks.
• Web pages on an intranet or the web
• email addresses

Refer to the TaskMap help text for details about how to add hyperlinks to a TaskMap.

Absolutely! You can link to bookmarks in Word documents, and named cells or ranges in Excel workbooks. This capability is particularly helpful when multiple Tasks in a process all refer to the same document. Instead of using generic links to the document, each Task-specific hyperlink can take the reader directly to a specific paragraph, phrase, or cell so the user isn’t left wondering where the relevant material resides.

TaskMap was designed from the start to make it easy to represent subprocesses. There are details in the help text (click the TaskMap Help button on the TaskMap tab) but these two diagrams will provide examples and guidance:

• In Technology Acquisition Process TaskMap, notice that there is a a subprocess name and a hyperlink  symbol below the lower right corner of the Task TA07. Ctrl+click on the subprocess name to drill down to the subprocess page, then Ctrl+click on the Connector at the end of the subprocess to pop back up to the main page.
• Sample TaskMap with subprocess provides detailed guidance on several ways to include and name the subprocess pages in your TaskMaps.

Please email us at support@taskmap.com with your requests and suggestions. We appreciate your input and will consider your ideas for potential product features or a custom development project.

TaskMaps saved to OneDrive for Business or SharePoint Online can be viewed in any browser on any device! Neither a TaskMap license nor a Visio license is required for viewing TaskMap in this manner. Here’s an example of a TaskMap saved in SharePoint Online: Technology Acquisition Process TaskMap.vsdx

In addition, if you use TaskMap Professional, you can export a TaskMap to PowerPoint, Excel, and Microsoft Project.

You can also turn any TaskMap into a website by saving it as HTML.

Yes, you can export individual TaskMap pages as JPG or PNG images and use them for many purposes, including incorporating them into a PowerPoint presentation.

The Professional edition of TaskMap makes it even easier because one click creates a PowerPoint presentation that includes every page of your TaskMap plus a fully hyperlinked table of contents and a cover slide.

TaskMap is integrated with many members of the Microsoft Office family including:

• Excel
• PowerPoint
• Microsoft Project
• OneDrive for Business
• SharePoint

In addition, you can create PDF documents and a variety of image formats from TaskMap.

Yes, however, it may require custom code or an export of your TaskMap to XML or BPEL. Please contact us to discuss your requirements.

Please email us at support@taskmap.com with your requests and suggestions. We appreciate your input and will consider your ideas for potential product features or a custom development project.

TaskMap Lite:

• 1.0

TaskMap Standard and Professional:

• 5.5 (for 64-bit Visio)
• 5.0 (for 32-bit Visio)

Users of TaskMap Standard and Professional can determine their version of TaskMap by selecting the About TaskMap button on the TaskMap tab.

Visio is the only prerequisite software for running TaskMap, and TaskMap will run on any PC that has a desktop version of Microsoft Visio. Specific requirements for the editions of TaskMap are listed below.

TaskMap Lite

• Windows 10 or 11
• Any desktop version of Visio

TaskMap Standard

• Windows 10 or 11
• Visio Plan 2 or any edition of Visio 2021, 2019, or 2016

TaskMap Professional

• Windows 10 or 11
• Visio Plan 2 or the Professional edition of Visio 2021, 2019, or 2016
• Office 365 or Office 2016 or later

Many customers run TaskMap on a Mac so the answer is definitely yes — but there is one condition.

Although some Microsoft Office products have Mac versions, Visio does not. Because TaskMap runs as a Visio add-in, you will need to have Windows available to run Visio.

The solution is to use Parallels, VMware, or other virtual machine (VM) software on your Mac and then run Windows, Office/Visio, and TaskMap in the VM. Switching between MacOS and Windows is seamless with both installed, so TaskMap is readily available.

After downloading the installer for your selected edition of TaskMap, the installation program is very easy to use and generally takes less than 30 seconds to run. You’ll be asked to select whether you want to install an evaluation license (free for 30 days and all TaskMap features are available), a named user license (also called a PC-Locked license), or a concurrent license. If you select concurrent license, you’ll be asked to enter the path to the server folder that contains the master license. (NOTE: concurrent license users will received more detailed instructions via email.)

Corporate IT departments looking to deploy TaskMap to multiple users are welcome to contact TaskMap support for assistance.

When you open a TaskMap, the TaskMap stencil normally appears inside the Shapes window that is docked to the left of the Visio drawing window. Occasionally, either the TaskMap Stencil, the Shapes window, or both may not open. If that happens in one of your diagrams, use the instructions below.

If the Shapes window is not open:

• On the View tab, click Task Panes then Shapes

If the Shapes window is open but the TaskMap Stencil is not visible:

• Select More Shapes, Open Stencil, and then navigate to
  C:\Program Files (x86)\TaskMap\Templates\TaskMap\
• Select
  TaskMap Stencil.vss
• Click Open

In many situations there is no substitute for talking to a person. TaskMap maintenance plans include unlimited telephone support in addition to online support.

Maintenance plans also provide all software updates and upgrades at no cost. Without a software maintenance agreement, you will be required to purchase each update or upgrade.

Please email us at support@taskmap.com with your requests and suggestions. We appreciate your input and will consider your ideas for potential product features or a custom development project.

Per-user licenses can be transferred easily from one computer to another.

If your old computer has the 32-bit version of Microsoft Office and Visio installed but your new computer has 64-bit Office and Visio, you will need to upgrade to TaskMap v5.5 or later.

• If you have an active maintenance agreement, there is no charge to upgrade your version of TaskMap; please Contact Us to request a new serial number.
• If you do NOT have an active maintenance agreement, please visit the TaskMap Upgrade Page. After purchasing the appropriate upgrade, the order confirmation page will include your new serial number.

To determine whether you have 32-bit or 64-bit Office and Visio, launch Visio, select File>Account, click the About Visio button and you’ll find the bitness listed at the top of the About Visio dialog box.

If your previous computer and new computer contain identical versions of Visio, please use the instructions below.

If you can still run TaskMap on the old computer:

On the old PC:

1. Launch TaskMap.
2. On the TaskMap tab, select the About TaskMap button.
3. Make note of the serial number in the About TaskMap dialog box or locate the email message you received from Harvard Computing Group that contains your serial number.
4. In the About TaskMap dialog box click the Deactivate License button to return your license to our activation server.
5. Uninstall TaskMap.

On the new PC:

1. Download either TaskMap Standard or TaskMap Professional.
2. Install TaskMap.
3. Launch TaskMap, and when prompted, select Activate Online.
4. Use the same serial number from the old PC to reactivate TaskMap.

If you no longer have access to the old computer or can’t run TaskMap on the old computer:

Please send an email or use the Contact Us page and provide your company name, your name, and if possible, your TaskMap serial number. We can deactivate your license for you and will contact you when we’ve done so.

Yes, enterprise licenses, also known as concurrent licenses, are available and allow each license to be shared by multiple people. The number of concurrent licenses you purchase will be the maximum number of people who can use TaskMap simultaneously.

We typically recommend a ratio of three users per enterprise license but feel free to contact us to discuss your usage scenario, because the activity level of your potential TaskMap users will determine the number of licenses you need.

Concurrent licenses offer another benefit: they remove the administrative burden of reassigning individual licenses when people leave or join the organization. There is no deactivation or reactivation of a license – you just uninstall TaskMap for departing users and install it for incoming users.

Not at the present time but we plan to do so.

Yes, there is a sliding scale discount for enterprise customers with more than 25 users. Please contact us if you would like more details.

You may download a copy of the TaskMap End User License Agreement.

Yes, every TaskMap purchase includes an unconditional money-back guarantee if the product is returned to us within 30 days of purchase.

Please email us at support@taskmap.com with your requests and suggestions. We appreciate your input and will consider your ideas for potential product features or a custom development project.