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Work Order

A Work Order is a central document that supports the execution and billing of a specific job, task, or service. It serves as a focal point for the communication, planning, execution, and tracking of work packages of all kinds – from internal maintenance tasks to tasks in complex, billable customer projects.

Typical examples of a work order:

  • Conducting a workshop or training session
  • Conceiving and developing a user story
  • Recording and resolving a bug
  • Installing hardware or software
  • Performing maintenance work

Properties of a Work Order​

Each work order has a series of properties that describe the task in more detail and enable the planning and billing of the resources used. They can be divided into the following categories:

  1. Identification and Description: What is to be done?

  2. Assignment and Context: For whom and by whom is the work being done?

  3. Planning and Estimation: When should it be done and what is the estimated effort?

  4. Commercial Details: How will the effort be billed?

Identification and Description​

These properties define the what of the task. This primarily includes various types of texts (e.g., title and description) that describe the task.

  • Work Order Number: A unique identifier. This is automatically assigned via the Work Order No. Series.
  • Title: A short, concise headline.
  • Description: A detailed description of the work to be done.
  • Internal Notes: Notes for internal use, visible only to users.
  • Solution: Description of the solution, measures taken, etc.
  • Type: A classification of the work order (e.g., Story, Task, Bug, Maintenance, Installation, Support Request).
  • History: Information on creation and the latest changes.

Assignment and Context​

These properties define the for whom and by whom. A service is always performed by a resource for a customer and a project (even for internal activities).

  • Customer: The external or internal client.
  • Project fields: The assignment to a parent project, a project task, a project planning line, and an activity.
  • Location: The physical or virtual place where the work is performed.
  • Resource: The employee responsible for the execution.
Assigning one vs. multiple resources

A work order is always assigned to only one resource who is responsible for ensuring the task is processed. If multiple people were assigned, it would not be clear who is responsible and should take care of the task. Furthermore, Jira and Azure DevOps also only support one assigned resource by default.

However, additional resources can still be scheduled for a work order via work order events.

Planning and Estimation​

These properties define the when and the expected scope. A work order can be provided with a concrete resource plan (an Event), which functions similarly to appointments: a person completes a task at a certain point in time.

  • Effort: The estimated time required (in hours or days) and remaining effort.
  • Events: One or more appointments for the execution.
  • Completed: The current status of the work order (Open, Completed).

Commercial Details​

These properties are crucial for financial processing. A work order can be assigned to a budget. A budget determines how the Time Recordings for this work order should be recorded and billed. It can be fixed in the work order and cannot be changed by the time recorder in DYCE Time Tracking, or it can be designed to be open, giving the time recorder various freedoms during recording.

  • Budget information: The link to a specific budget within a project (more precisely: a Project Planning Line) is made via the previously mentioned project fields.
  • Budget Type: Influences the options for subsequent Time Recordings (Open or Project) (see Budget Type).

Budget Type​

The Budget Type is closely related to the properties Customer, Project, Project Task, Project Planning Line, and Activity. It controls which of the properties for Time Recordings on the work order are binding and which are freely selectable.

  • Open suggests the customer and project of the work order to the time recorder, but this can be changed at any time. The properties Project Task, Project Planning Line, and Activity cannot be predefined in the work order.
  • Project allows for the fixed specification of all properties from the customer down to the activity. Each pre-assignment is fixed for Time Recordings and cannot be changed by the time recorder. However, unfilled fields remain freely selectable, so that, for example, the activity can be selected by the user if the work order does not specify it.

Effort Estimation​

Each work order has two properties where estimates for the total work effort and the remaining effort can be entered. The estimates can be made in either days or hours.

  • Original Estimate: The total effort for this work order. This serves as a guide for time recorders on how much time should be spent on this task at most. By comparing the sum of Time Recordings, the actual and estimated effort can be compared.
  • Remaining Estimate: The remaining effort for this work order. Here, time recorders can enter the expected remaining effort and thus provide feedback to the project manager on the processing status. In conjunction with the sum of Time Recordings on the work order, it can be deduced whether the original estimate will likely cover the effort or not.

Time Recordings​

Work orders can have associated Time Recordings. These will primarily come from the resource assigned to the work order, but can also be recorded by other resources who, for example, assisted in the processing.

If the budget fields (see Budget Type) are changed in a work order that already has Time Recordings, these changes do not affect the existing Time Recordings; they still refer to the original budget.

A work order can be deleted as long as no released or posted Time Recordings are assigned to it. Otherwise, for all non-released Time Recordings, the connections to the work order will be removed.

Work Order Events​

For scheduling work in the form of concrete appointments with a date and time, so-called Events (appointments) can be created for each work order.

As soon as an Event is created for a resource, the work order appears in DYCE Time Tracking in the list of Tasks for the planned resource.

tip

DYCE Project & Resource Planning facilitates the planning of multiple resources on any work order in a functional and clear graphical interface, the Work Order Calendar.