Why pools?
🟦 The pool view provides a condensed, cross-project overview of all tasks for which an employee is responsible.
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What is the pool view?
The pool view in Leadtime ERP helps account managers and team leaders to organize their tasks in a structured and prioritized way. It is especially designed for planning and monitoring tickets for which an employee is "responsible". This view shows all tickets assigned to an account manager in a condensed graphical form, sorted by projects and task categories (trackers). The order of the tickets can be changed flexibly in order to adjust the priorities according to current requirements.
The purpose of the pool view
Ideally, developers should work on one task at a time. However, this requires that the tickets handed over to them can be processed completely and without queries. This is where the role of account managers comes into play: they are responsible for preparing the tickets so that they contain all the necessary information and the developers' work runs smoothly.
Unlike developers, account managers are often unable to work through their tasks in sequence as they are dependent on external information from the customer. Delays can occur if customers are unavailable or do not respond to requests promptly. Account managers therefore tend to manage a "pool" of tasks on which they work flexibly and depending on external feedback. The pool view helps them to keep track of this pool and prioritize work.
Structure of the pool view
The pool view in Leadtime ERP is an extended version of the Big Picture tool that brings together all of an employee's tasks and projects in one view. This view acts as a kind of meta big picture, as all tickets for which the employee is responsible are displayed here, regardless of which project they originate from. This makes it possible to prioritize tasks across projects and focus on the really important issues.
Structure of the pool view
- Project and task categories: Tasks are grouped according to projects and task categories (such as "Feature", "Bug", "Task" etc.). This grouping provides a clear structure and makes it possible to segment the tasks according to project, while at the same time keeping all of the employee's responsibilities in one view.
- Ticket rows: Within the categories, the tickets are arranged in horizontal rows. Each ticket is displayed in a compact card view and contains the most important information. The order of the tickets can be dragged and dropped to prioritize them for the week or workday.
- Color coding: Each ticket in the pool view has a color coding that indicates its status:
- Yellow for new tasks
- Orange for tasks in progress
- Green for completed tasks
- Red for tasks in feedback status
- Gray for tasks in the backlog
This color coding helps employees to see the progress and status of tasks at a glance.
- Cross-project progress indicators: There are two progress indicators at the top of the pool view:
- Tasks solved: shows how many tasks the employee has already solved in total.
- Hours spent: Illustrates the time already spent compared to the total estimated time for all open tasks.
These progress indicators give the employee and their team leader quick feedback on progress and remaining workload.
- Detail and management functions: As in the Big Picture tool, employees can simply click to open tasks in the pool view to see details or change the order and priority. There are also options such as displaying summaries or recent comments directly on the cards, which enables quick orientation without having to open each ticket individually.
Advantages of the pool view as a meta big picture
The pool view simplifies weekly and daily planning considerably, as all important tickets are available in one place. Employees no longer have to switch between different projects to organize their tasks, but see their entire workload in one central dashboard. This allows them to prioritize tasks more effectively and maintain an overview of their entire area of responsibility.
In summary, the Pool View is a powerful tool for anyone who works with multiple projects and wants to ensure that the most important tasks remain in focus across projects.
Functions of the pool view
- Ticket overview: Each ticket is displayed in the pool view in a compact form that enables quick orientation. You can see:
- A brief summary of the ticket content
- The age of the ticket
- How often the ticket has already been changed between employees
- Planned and already spent working time
- A "next goal" that the responsible account manager should achieve by a certain date
- Customize the order of the tickets: Tickets can be moved horizontally. Tasks that are further to the left have a higher priority than those on the right. This makes it easier to prioritize and set priorities.
- Collaboration and feedback: The pool view is particularly suitable for regular planning meetings between team leaders and account managers. The priorities of the tickets are discussed together, goals are set for the coming week and tasks that have already been completed are reviewed.
Example: Pool planning in practice
Let's imagine the weekly planning between Eva, an account manager, and her team leader Mike:
- Review of the past week: Mike and Eva meet and review the tickets that Eva worked on last week. Of the ten tickets they had prioritized, eight have been completed or are being processed by a developer. However, two tickets are marked in red as they could not be processed due to a lack of information from the customer.
- Example conversation:
- Mike: "Looks good. But what about the two tickets?"
- Eva: "Unfortunately, the contact person is ill. A colleague couldn't help either."
- Mike: "Okay, let's park the two tasks for now."
The two of them move the tickets to the right end of the row, as they can't be processed at the moment.
- Planning the next week: Mike and Eva now set the priorities for the coming week. Various factors are taken into account:
- Revenue priority: tickets in the "feature" category generate revenue, while "bugs" are important but do not directly affect revenue. Nevertheless, they must be scheduled, as the functionality of the product must be maintained.
- Complexity of the tasks: Some tasks are particularly demanding and cannot be completed in a short time. Such tickets are prioritized lower in order to keep Eva's weekly targets realistic.
- Performance requirement: Mike wants Eva and the team to continuously increase their efficiency. Therefore, he sets the goals for the coming week a little higher to motivate the team and maximize their potential.
- Objective: Eva and Mike agree on eleven tickets that Eva should work on in the coming week. Mike prioritizes a mix of revenue-generating and support tasks to keep customers happy while boosting the company's revenue.
Summary
The Pool View is a central planning tool for account managers and their team leaders in Leadtime ERP. It enables:
- An overview of all tickets for which an account manager is responsible.
- Flexible prioritization and adjustment of the task sequence.
- Planning and goal setting for the coming weeks through targeted selection and categorization of tasks.
The pool view allows account managers and team leaders to work together to ensure that important tasks are always prioritized and that the team works efficiently and purposefully.