View user allocations in the Workload Balancer

Transcript

In this video, you’ll learn how to select chart mode to get a high-level view of user allocation and how to show the user’s allocation breakdown, whether by day, week, or month, through the Workload Balancer.

There are several ways to get an idea of what users’ workloads are like and how, if needed, they might be adjusted. This can be done by adjusting timeframes, viewing workloads by day, week, or month, or by using a chart, which we’ll be going over in this video. You can switch to a chart by clicking the show chart icon.

With a chart, you get a high-level visual of user allocation before diving into specific assignments. It allows you to easily see which users are overallocated within the timeframes selected and where adjustments might need to be made. At this point, you can dig into allocation specifics for each user.

Next to each user, you’ll see a row of numbers that also correspond to the day, week, or month listed above.

These are the total allocated hours from work items assigned to users. This can include tasks, issues, requests, and completed work depending on what options you’ve selected in the Workload Balancer settings.

The numbers shown are either in blue or red.

Any number highlighted in red indicates the user has been overallocated for that day, week, or month.

In that case, you may want to dive deeper into the specific assignments of the user and see where adjustments can be made.

To do this, click the arrow next to the user.

From here, you can see which projects the work is coming from as well as the planned length of time to start and complete the work.

The duration bar initially shows the name of the work item. In this case, the project.

However, the name of the project is already listed to the left, so it’s recommended that the duration bar show the allocated hours instead.

To do that, click the show allocations icon, and the duration bar is immediately updated.

Again, this duration bar gives you the total allocated hours but not the breakdown of which tasks, issues, and requests these hours are coming from.

By viewing the tasks, issues, and requests, you’re able to make more informed decisions, like redistributing hours or making a new assignment. To view the breakdown, click the arrow next to the project name on the left.

As a side note, when there are several projects, click the arrow next to the project name to expand each one.

That way you can see each work item assigned to the user and the breakdown of the allocated hours.

Now, if you prefer, you can change the allocation numbers from hours to percentages.

That’s done in the Workload Balancer settings. It really depends on which option allows you to disperse resources in a way that works for you.

One last thing to point out. If no adjustments have been made, the hours or percentages are typically evenly distributed across the entire duration of the work item. But, of course, those hours can be redistributed if needed.

Whichever way you choose to view allocations, by showing the allocated hours or percentages, you gain greater insight into the amount of work assigned to users and are able to make better decisions about those assignments. -