Scenario - bxp and managing work

1 Warning

This scenario is incomplete and is a "Work in Progress" with a number of our partners. This document serves as a discussion point only.

2 Work types

2.1 Intro

There are different types of work logged and managed through BXP from “I must remember to pick up milk on the way home”, through to “Project - Phase 2”. There needs to be a classification and qualification of work to facilitate all levels and types.

2.2 Differentiation - Time

Within each work item, one primary differentiator is time

• Reminder (A reminder)
• Short (1 to 30 mins of work)
• Medium (1 to 4 hours of work)
• Long (4 to 40 hours of work)
• Objective (40+ hours of work)

For this reason, different tools are required to manage these different items. To best show how to manage these items, we use tools within BXP.

• Reminder – Reminder / To do
• Short – Listee
• Medium – Job
• Long – Ticket
• Objective – Project

The default wording will be different from company to company.

 

2.3 Differentiation - Dependence

Work items may / may not rely on events and other work having occurred. Sequencing of items is a critical factor in the ability to execute work.

2.4 Differentiation - Recurrence

The next differentiator is a once off job vs. a recurring task. “Fix a window” Vs. “Monthly security checks” require a completely different approach from a management perspective.

2.5 Differentiation - Reporting

The primary challenge for business is effectively delivering and managing work. Whether work items are displayed as lists or diagrams, the more appropriate the display the more effective the management.

3 BXP framework for interaction

3.1 Diagram Key

• Blue cylinders are bxp forms done through Form Management
• Red cylinders are bxp projects managed through Project Management
• Orange cylinders are bxp reminders managed through Reminders
• Green cylinders are bxp listees management through Lister

 

3.2 Primary Elements

Within bxp there is the concept of a Project. A project can be tied to many items. A project has many fields for various purposes.

Usually a project is actioned for a client or internal department. As these concepts are diverse there is no centralised concept. It is possible to build a form called “Company”. The “Company” form contains Clients, Suppliers, Prospects. Internal departments can be treated as companies.

Linked to the “Company” form is a “Client” form. These are the people who work in those “Companies”. It is possible to link the Project to a Company. This then begins to construct a framework for reporting.

For any given piece of work done by a company there are a number of concepts which should be universal.

Work is done in a personal capacity or it is required to be done for someone else. If it is someone else, then it should be reportable for that person including all associated actions, and ultimately costs.

 

3.3 Types of work

Short pieces of work can be reminders, or short once off tasks. “Copy a page”, “Create a user”, “Empty the dishwasher”. The work is of no significant time.

Up to 30 minutes of activity is generally never recorded by anyone. These types of work are exceptionally difficult to manage given their small nature and also are considered “free” work when requested by a client yet cumulatively are very costly.

So a “Job” is an item of work done for someone else. A Job is an item of work taking slightly longer to do and significant enough to measure on a working day. The nature of a job is atomic but may need to be sequential.

If there is a collection of Jobs to be done in potentially a specific order this is referred to as a “Ticket”. A Ticket may only have one Job or many Jobs.

 

3.4 Connecting the Work and the Elements

Building forms for Tickets and Jobs allows for customisation of the layout of a work type. bxp provides an existing “Reminder” engine, but Reminders are not structured and not linked, and therefore reporting from them is not practical.

The challenge is missing short work items. For this reason Lister was introduced. Items can be added to Lister which has the ability to integrate with numerous other items.

 

4 Operation

4.1 Overview

The operation of the bxp platform to deliver the different work types varies greatly. The primary suggested approaches of operation are detailed as:

• Reminder Reminders
• Short Lister
• Medium Cross Linked Form
• Long Form
• Objective Project

Work is then linked for Lister, Jobs, Tickets and Projects, back to Companies, and requesting Contacts

4.2 Reminder

This is self-contained within the existing Reminder engine. Reminders

4.3 Lister

Under construction

 

4.4 Jobs - Cross Linked Form

This is a custom form

Type Field Name

• Section Group Parent Details
• Generic Area Parent Details
• Generic Area Parent Buttons
• Section Group Ticket Details
• Text Box Job Title
• Campaign Listing Parent Ticket
• Campaign Search Requested By
• Date Box Due Date
• Text Area Description Of Request
• Section Group Work Details
• Staff Job Assigned To
• List - Menu Job Status
• Text Box Hours Spent
• Section Group Testing Section
• Staff Testing Completed By
• True - False Did the request pass the testing
• Text Area Notes on the testing
• Text Box Hidden - Record Status
• Text Box Hidden - Name of user

 

4.5 Tickets - Form

This is a custom form

Type Field Name

• Generic Area Quick Ticket Addition
• Section Header Primary Ticket Details
• Generic Area Company Live Search
• Campaign Search Client
• Title Block Individual
• Title Block Individual
• Title Block Individual
• Title Block Individual
• Campaign Search Contact Search
• Text Box Subject
• Text Area Description
• Text Area Contact Details
• Yes - No Is work complete?
• Section Group Group - Email Details
• BEmail Block BEmail Block - workqueue@allnone.ie
• BEmail Block BEmail Block - workqueue@allnone.ie
• BEmail Block BEmail Block - workqueue@allnone.ie
• BEmail Block BEmail Block - workqueue@allnone.ie
• BEmail Block BEmail Block - workqueue@allnone.ie
• BEmail Block BEmail Block - workqueue@allnone.ie
• Section Group Group - Ticket Classification
• List - Menu Department
• List - Menu Urgency Level
• 1 to 100 Guesstimated Time
• Date Box Required by?
• Date Box Estimated Start Date
• Date Box Start Time/Date

 

• Section Group Group - Project Details
• Yes - No Project - Long term
• Text Box Project - Name
• Text Area Initial Requirements
• Text Area Analysis
• Text Area Project Spec
• Section Group Group - Billing Requirements
• Yes - No PO / Payment Approved
• Text Box PO Number
• List - Menu Approved by
• Title Block Authoriser
• Title Block Authoriser
• Title Block Authoriser
• Title Block Authoriser
• Section Group Group - Operations Delivery
• Generic Area Job Listing
• Staff Ticket Owner
• 1 to 100 Hours completed to date
• Yes - No Was custom javascript used?
• Text Area Work Description
• List - Menu Was appropriate Personal Trainer Video available?
• Yes - No Was appropriate Wixi available?
• Section Group Group - 12 Quality - Quality Phase
• List - Menu Quality done by
• Date Box Quality completed on
• Text Area Quality notes and feedback
• Section Group Group - 05 Back Office - Billing
• Text Box Invoice
• List - Menu Ticket Duration from Time and Working Hour
• Text Box Amount
• Yes - No Paid

 

4.6 Project

A project is a concept title to which things can be attached.

There are various modules within BXP which link to a Project.

For a project itself there are a number of key fields used by different elements of the system.

• Id
• Name
• Description
• Location
• Start
• End
• Show Price
• Show Proposal Price
• Show Priority
• Show Issue Time Frame
• Preassigned
• Preassigned To
• Show Proposed Working Time
• Show Actual Working Time
• Show Customer Products
• Prevent By Warranty
• On Project Close Notify
• General Or Customer
• Mail Account Id
• Team Id

  The project management module suite consists of

• Project Management
• Lister
• Expenses / Bill Management
• Holiday Management
• Human Resource Management
• Meeting Management
• Private Messaging
• Purchase Order
• Time Tracker

 

5 Reporting

To be expanded.