As far as I know, you can't control this. That's why our Outlook Setup Guides don't recommend using the Assign Tasks feature in Outlook. Instead, we suggest people track these in their own system through their Next Actions and Waiting For lists.
I will explain below how to control delegated tasks if you are so inclined. That said, KelStarRising's advice is good. Microsoft Outlook (MSO)-Tasks are an ideal a way for one to manage one’s own workflow. If you use Outlook’s “Assign Task” function, things can go bad quickly!
Conceptually, the ‘mechanics’ of a delegated task is twofold;
1. The delegator conveys the task information to the recipient who will be doing the work
2. The delegator is still responsible and therefore must maintain knowledge of the recipient’s progress
For #1 You delegate by giving the recipient a communication – a fax, a text, a phone call, an email, an MSO meeting invitation. For #2, you make yourself an MSO-Task to follow-up on a predetermined date - the MSO-Task’s “Start date” and “Due date”. On the date you want to follow-up this task with the recipient, you have your own MSO-Task in the “@Waiting For” category in MSO-Task’s Categorize. If you delegate by email, paste a copy of the email into the body of this MSO-Task. This is such a simple and effective method that it’s hard to top!
When you are assigned a MS-Outlook task, it behaves just like a task you create and finish. The biggest problem I encountered with being on the receiving end of an MSO-Task is that if somone delegates me a task and leaves the "Start Date" and "Finish Date" blank, my MSO-Task filter hides tasks that do not have a start date (so that I do not see the MSO-Task until I need to).
If you are going to work on a task "someday", it belongs in your GTD @Someday-Maybe task folder in MSO.
When you delegate an MSO-Task, it stays on your ToDo list with a special icon indicating its been delegated but the recipient has not accepted the task. When the recipient competes the task, you get a system generated email stating the task has been completed. Here is where things starting getting weird; the system generated email that you just received disappears. (It’s like the “Mission – Impossible” intro. –“this message will self-destruct in five seconds.”) Furthermore, these tasks disappear from your MSO-Tasks and seems disappear from Outlook completely.
This begs the question; how do we actually use this in an effective way?
If there is an interest, I’ll write a second part to this for any insuring minds who want to know. Realistically, listen to Kel – stay away from “Assign Task” in Outlook.
A special thank you to GTD discussion group member (and fellow Canadian) “persistence”. The two of us experimented with MSO-Tasking.