Allocation
The actual or planned workload of the individual resources or a Team. The effort expressed as the time or number of Story Points required to complete a task is evenly distributed over the task's duration.
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How the hierarchy can be arranged depends on Box type settings - possible parents are defined for each Box type. Additionally, scope type settings validation is performed when a Box is created or moved.
Box type
Box template which defines most relevant characteristics of a Box (node), such as:
- types of parent Boxes under which a Box of a given type can be nested
- default module configuration and names
- default column view of different modules
- default card layout
- default Period mode
Box types can be defined by BigPictures administrators. Read more here.
Box module
The following modules are available in BigGantt:
- Overview
- Gantt
The following modules are available in BigPicture:
- Overview
- Gantt
- Risks
- Roadmap
- Board
- Calendar
- Resources
- Teams
Most of the modules can be preconfigured using Box types.
Box switcher
The Box switcher is a mini version of the Hierarchy mode of the Overview module. It shows the Box names and the hierarchy.
Use the Box switcher to easily shift between different Boxes. Once opened, the active Box will be highlighted so you can easily switch to a sub-Box or a different Box.
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- Not started - gray
- In progress - blue
- Done - green
Capacity
The App calculates individual and team capacity.
The capacity of your resources is calculated based on Workload Plans and non-working days resulting from Holiday Plans and individual Absence Plans. It reflects the workload resources are capable of after everything has been taken into consideration.
Column views
Column Views allow you to add different fields as columns to the task list and configure their display and aggregation settings which determine how data is presented in the Gantt and Scope type module's task list.
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- Original Estimate Mode - use this mode to show planned workload versus the resource capacity.
- Remaining estimate mode - use this mode to show workload history (Spent time), and the remaining workload versus the resource capacity.
- Story points mode - use this mode to show the planned workload versus resource capacity expressed in Story Points.
Gadgets
Thanks to the Gadgets, you can add dynamic content to a Confluence page or the Jira application dashboard to monitor the health of projects, departments, or specific processes. This means that you can have your favorite Gantt charts and Risks all in one place and thanks to the auto-refresh all up to date.
There are three Gadgets available:
Holiday plans
A calendar that is used to reflect the non-working day which reduces the capacity of Teams or individual Resources (Team members).
Inheritance mode
When creating a new Box type or moving a sub-Box to a different parent Box, thanks to the Inheritance mode, the Box type configuration can be passed on from the upper-level Box type to the sub-Box type.
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Any Jira issue with the "Risk probability" and "Risk consequence" fields values.
"Risk consequence" and "Risk probability" fields must be added to your Jira screen configuration scheme.
Risks module
The risks module consists of two main elements:
- Customizable risk heat map
- Customizable risk list (register)
You can configure a risk heat-map. The heat-map can be used to show the level of risk resulting from the risk assessment by considering the category of probability or likelihood against the category of consequences or severity.
You can define a name for the Risks axis and set corresponding custom in the Configuration of the App.
Scenario mode
With the Scenarios feature you can easily try out different variants of your plan, compare the results, and find the best one.
All changes made to tasks are stored in the Scenario history, and you can easily undo them. When you create a scenario, changes made to your tasks are synchronized with Jira or other connected tools, such as Trello, only after merging.
Scope
A defined collection of tasks makes up the Box Scope. In general, tasks can be added to the scope manually or get automatically synchronized with Jira or connected tools such as Trello.
In "Scope definition" you can specify what range of tasks is included in the scope of a given Box - those are the tasks you will be able to work within the Application (visualize them on a Gantt chart, manage Risks, distribute workload, etc). The App gives you a lot of flexibility; you can include multiple Jira projects, simultaneously include tasks from different external tools (such as both Trello and Jira), or include only some tasks that meet your particular specifications. The flexibility of the setup ensures you that a Box can be configured to contain exactly the tasks you need to fit your work.
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A short guide to security settings, access, and roles can be found here.
Skills
The skills are defined at:
- the task level - skill required to complete a task. The related effort is used to calculate the skill demand and it is evenly distributed over the task's duration. The skill demand will be display in the Resources module's Skill panel.
- the resource level - skill acquired by the resource. The resource’s time is allocated across different skills. Skills weigh most in the "Perfect match algorithm" which is approximately 80%.
Each skill has a start and end date so you can plan the skill development over time.
Skills Panel
Skills Panel is a part of the Resources module. It displays a comprehensive list of skills required to complete tasks displayed on a timeline above. The time/story points are aggregated, so you can see exactly how much skill-related effort is needed to complete all the tasks planned for a particular period of time.
You can change the view options to display additional information:
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Any Jira issue, Trello card, or Basic task (native to the App).
Team
Teams module lets you can group individual users into teams, which enables effort-based planning.
The concept of teams is used mainly in the Resources, Objectives, and Board modules but, since the information about the team can be stored as a label or a custom field, it can be also displayed using Gantt, Scope, or Risks module by adding it to the Column View or to Card View.
You can create global teams and assign them to multiple Boxes. Once created, you can easily assign them to individual Boxes (a team is inherited and can't be edited on a Box level) or duplicate them in an individual Box (a team configuration is duplicated and can be further edited).
Team Capacity
The capability to achieve a set amount of productivity within a single day calculated as the sum of Team members' capacities. Team capacity factors in the existing manpower known to readily possess the necessary skill set as well as the number of hours in a workday.
Calculation of individual capacity takes into account team member's availability across all teams they're a part of.
Team code
Team code is used for identifying teams by the App's modules and, when synchronized, also the Host and connected platforms. Depending on the configuration, the Team code is stored as the following fields:
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Team Member Availability
You can set availability for each team member (what percentage of their working hours is assigned to the team). Availability impacts the capacity - if a team has 4 members, and each is assigned 50% of their 8h day to the team, the team capacity for a day is 16h (if no other non-working days detract from capacity).
Timebox
Timeboxes define consecutive timeframes used for work planning. It helps to think of them as, e.g., sprints, iterations, increments, or stages.
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A calendar that is used to reflect specific working hours of an individual resource and is the basis for capacity calculation of Teams or individual Resources (Team members). Workload plans are used for defining exact working hours. You can create as many as you like and assign them to your resources separately.