Short answer
The routine creation form only lets you set a title — there is no description field at routine level. To attach a longer description that applies to every recurring task in the series, create the routine first, open the first scheduled task in the series, fill in the description, and choose Apply to whole series. The description then flows to every future occurrence.
Detail
The pattern is two steps:
- Create the routine. Pick the assets, the frequency, the type (Inspection or Job), and a clear title. The title becomes the task title shown on the field worker's phone (in combination with the asset name).
- Add detail after creation. Go into the job/inspection list, find the first generated instance of the new routine, edit it, type the description in the description field, save, and choose Apply to whole series. Every existing and future occurrence picks up the description.
This is how to handle things like:
- "Power wash surface and treat for moss/algae using approved methods" on a MUGA's quarterly clean.
- "Cut to 1m from wall" on a bank's fortnightly strim.
- Method statements, COSHH references, or any contract-specific wording.
For very specific work that's tied to one asset (rather than reused across many), you can also just bake the detail into the routine title — e.g. name the routine "MUGA Power Wash" rather than "Quarterly Clean". The field worker then sees "MUGA Power Wash" directly with no need to open the description.
Watch-outs
- "Apply to whole series" is the magic word. Without it, the description is set only on the single instance you edited.
- If the description should differ per asset within the same routine (e.g. "cut to 1m" for the bank vs "close-cut" for the play area), see When should I split an area into multiple assets vs treat it as one? — the right answer is usually to split the assets, since "Apply to whole series" pushes the same description to every task in the routine.
- The description in the field is plain text. Avoid relying on rich formatting.