Timebox schedules

About the timebox schedule

The timebox schedule (TS) feature helps standardize planning across teams working in recurring cycles, like sprints, program increments, or quarters. It's especially useful for organizations following Agile, SAFe, or similar frameworks, where consistent time-based structures are key. But it can also be utilized by organizations working in classic frameworks like Waterfall to visualize fiscal years or quarters on the timeline.

Instead of manually setting up timeboxes for each planning cycle, Admins can define a reusable timebox hierarchy (e.g., Year → Quarter → PI → Iteration) and apply it across multiple boxes. This reduces repetitive setup work and ensures alignment across teams.

Key capabilities:

• Define a timebox schedule with multiple levels and sequential dates.

• Apply schedules to multiple boxes.

• Ensure the same timebox structure across multiple projects, with a single place to manage those timeboxes.

Security and access

Only a user with the App Admin security role can access the Administration page.

To access the timebox schedules page:

1. Open BigPicture.

2. Click the wrench icon at the top.

3. Select Timebox schedules.

Open

Timebox schedules overview

On the main Timebox schedules page, you can see a list of already created timebox schedules along with the following information:

• Name of the timebox schedule

• Boxes assigned to a timebox schedule

• Levels included

• Description

Open

The table presents the available actions you can perform on the Timebox schedules page. The following actions:

• edit

• delete

• assign to boxes

can also be carried out on the TS details page (see: Manage timebox schedule section).

Action	Description

Action	Description
Add new timebox schedule	To add a new timebox schedule: Click +Add new. Provide: Name Description (optional) Define timebox levels. You can select up to four: Year Half Year Program Increment Iteration Modify the start date if needed. You can also choose to use existing Jira sprints to generate a timebox schedule. Select global teams. Click Create to finish the process. Timebox schedules work only with global teams. Open If no timebox schedule is listed on the Timebox schedules page, you can create a new TS by clicking the Create Timebox schedule tile on the splash screen. Open
Convert timeboxes into timebox schedule	You can turn your existing boxes into a reusable schedule. Click Convert timeboxes. Open Set a timebox schedule name and choose a box as the origin for the schedule. Open The list contains only boxes that meet the following requirements: Only own scope boxes with sub-scope boxes are displayed on the list. If an own scope has a child of another own scope, it is not displayed. Sub-scope boxes are sequential. Overlapping sub-boxes are not available for conversion. There is only one box type on one level (e.g. if there is Iteration and Stage on the same level, boxes cannot be converted). Only boxes with 1-4 levels of nesting of sub-boxes are available. If a box has more levels of sub-scope boxes, it is not available for conversion. When you choose a box from the list, you are informed about the number of boxes available for conversion: If any local team is associated with the box set for conversion, the following step is displayed: Open A local team with a unique code (no global team with the same code) can be converted to global and used in a timebox schedule. Be aware that teams converted to global are available in other boxes to be assigned to them. A local team with a code same as a global team cannot be converted. You can either convert or not all the related team - there is not option to choose just a few of them. In the next step, set the box type mapping: Open In the next step, you can see a schedule structure based on the chosen box. Click Convert or go back to change details: Open Now, the box is being converted which is signaled by the loading icon in the box schedule list. During this time, the origin box is not deactivated in the box lists: Open When the conversion is finished, the new option is available in the timebox schedule list: Open
Edit existing timebox schedule	When you click More actions (…) > Edit, you’ll be redirected to the details page of a selected timebox schedule. Alternatively, click the TS name to open its details page. Open
Assign timebox schedule to boxes	Click More actions (…) > Assign to boxes to assign a selected timebox schedule to boxes. Open
Delete timebox schedule	To delete a timebox schedule: Deleting a timebox schedule deletes all timeboxes from all the assigned boxes. Tasks in scope will not be deleted, and the action can’t be reversed. Click More actions (…) > Delete. To confirm, click Delete. Open

Global teams

The timebox schedule works only with global teams. Once connected, teams created in your box will no longer work. Only global teams (inherited from the root box) linked to the timebox schedule will be available.

Open

Swimlanes in the Board and Objectives modules will display global teams, allowing you to see which teams are assigned to which tasks within specific timeboxes. Tasks can be assigned to teams and timeboxes directly from the backlog or moved between teams and sprints using drag-and-drop in the Board module.

Open

Manage timebox schedules

You can open the Timebox schedule details page when:

• you finish creating a new timebox schedule, or

• click an existing timebox schedule on the Administration > Timebox schedules page.

Open

Edit timebox schedule details

On this page, you can edit the basic TS details you provided during the creation process:

• change the TS name

• add/ change a description

• add/remove global teams

• remove boxes associated with the selected TS

Edit timebox schedule structure

On the Schedule structure tab, you can see the timebox schedule structure that was created based on the number of levels in the timebox hierarchy you selected during the TS creation process.

You cannot change the number of those levels by deleting any level or adding extra sub-levels.

Open

However, you can click the pen icon to edit the details of a timebox on each level, such as name, status, and start/end dates.

Open

In addition, you can add more timeboxes on each level, including the lowest (Iteration) and the highest one (Year).

When you are creating a new timebox on the TS hierarchy that consists of at least two levels, an arrow appears on the Create timeboxes screen. The → / ← arrows let you move only only up, only down, or up only down, or up and down by one level (depending on where you clicked the plus icon on the hierarchy on the hierarchy). This way, you can add several timeboxes on two levels in one session.

1. Mouse over the line separating the levels until you see the plus (+) sign.

2. Click it to add another timebox.

3. On the Create timeboxes screen, add new timebox details. Optionally, click the +Add more to continue adding consecutive timeboxes on the selected level. Or move to another level to create more timeboxes (if applicable).

4. Click the Create button to finish the process.

If you happen to add a series of timeboxes whose dates overlap with boxes on another level, the app will prompt a warning.

Open

Timeboxes field mapping

In the Timeboxes field mapping tab, you can map the fields for all the timeboxes in your TS structure. The process is the same as for regular timeboxes.

Assign to boxes

You can assign a timebox schedule only to Own-scope boxes that have no children (timeboxes) or to another Own-scope box as a child of the selected Own-scope box. You can also assign a TS to a box during box creation in the Overview module.

1. Click the Assign to boxes button.

2. On the Assign timebox schedule to boxes screen, check or uncheck the boxes you want to add the TS to.

3. Click Save to finish the process.

Open

Delete timebox schedule

The Delete button deletes the entire timebox schedule. Once you confirm, this action cannot be undone.

Open

Use timebox schedule during box creation

When creating a new box, you can use one of the existing timebox schedules. If no timebox schedule was previously created yet, the Use timebox schedule toggle switch is unavailable (grayed out).

Open

Timeboxes in modules

Boxes that are connected to a timebox schedule are marked with an icon in the TS column. Mouse over the icon to check the name of the timebox schedule.

Open

Overview module

Timeboxes created manually can be chosen, and they display a list of lower-level timeboxes. You can choose one of the lower-level timeboxes and open it.

From this level an App Admin can also edit timebox schedule details.

Gantt module

You can check the Timeboxes option to show timeboxes on the timeline.

Open

Board module

In the Board module, both manually created and created by timebox schedule boxes are displayed with their sub-boxes. From this level, you can also assign tasks to global teams.

From this level an App Admin can also edit timebox schedule details:

Objectives module

In the Board module, boxes created manually and by timebox schedule are displayed along with their sub-boxes. From this level, you can also assign objectives to global teams. From this level an App Admin can also edit timebox schedule details.

Resources module

If you want to display timeboxes on the Resources grid, check the Timeboxes under the View dropdown. This will group tasks in a box by timeboxes. If you are currently viewing the parent-level box, like Home/root or portfolio box, switch to the Projects swimlane.

Open

Things to consider

• An App Admin manages everything. A user can no longer manage TS in a box.

• The timebox schedule works only with global teams.

• A user cannot open a timebox in the Overview and Gantt modules.