How to build a project and keep the schedule straight
Turn a job into a project with its sub-tickets in minutes, by hand or from a saved workflow, then see every tech's day on one timeline and move work off anyone who is out of the office.
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How to do it
Open New Project from the plus New menu at the top of any admin page.
The same menu also opens a new ticket, client, invoice, quote or device.
Pick the Contact the project is for, then confirm the Board.
Choosing a Contact fills in their organization for you. Board only lists project boards, and the first one is already selected.
Stay on the Custom tab and type a Project Name and Description.
You can also set a Target Completion Date. Custom builds the sub-ticket tree by hand. The From Workflow tab runs a saved template instead.
Add each step under Sub-tickets with Add sub-ticket.
Drag a row onto another one to nest it as a sub-ticket underneath. Drag above or below to reorder.
Turn on Fixed-fee project for work billed as one flat price.
A Contract amount box opens under the switch. Leave the switch off for hourly work.
Click Create Project.
This saves the parent ticket and every sub-ticket in one step and opens the new project.
Read the project page.
Project Progress, Total Time Logged and, for a fixed-fee project, the Fixed-Fee Contract with its margin sit above the sub-ticket list. They update as the sub-tickets are worked.
To run a saved template instead, pick the Contact and Board, then open the From Workflow tab.
Contact and Board carry over from whichever tab is showing, so you do not pick them twice.
Pick a Workflow and click Run Workflow.
Only published workflows are listed, each with its step count. A draft appears once someone publishes it from the Workflows library. Running one builds the same kind of project and sub-ticket tree as the Custom tab.
Open Schedule, under Service Desk in the left nav, to see the day timeline.
Every pod and tech has a lane, with booked tickets colored by priority. A personal event a tech adds in Outlook shows as a grey Busy block (Microsoft 365 only). Move a ticket from its own scheduling card, not from here.
Click Sync now to pull in outside calendar changes right away.
Without it the same changes arrive on their own within the hour. The result next to the button counts how many blocks moved and how many were removed. Sync now only shows for someone with Team edit permission.
Click the small plane icon next to a tech's name to mark them out of office.
The icon only shows for someone with admin-level access on Tickets.
Set the From and Until times, then click Preview affected tickets.
Both default to today, 9 AM to 5 PM, in your company's time zone, named under the boxes. The preview lists the not-started tickets that will move and counts the in-progress ones that stay put because someone is already working them. The Reflow not-started tickets to other techs switch is on by default.
Set the From and Until times, then click Preview affected tickets. Click Mark OOO.
Nothing moves until you click it. The confirmation says how many tickets went to another tech, how many returned to the queue because no one else could take them, and how many in-progress tickets were left alone.
Or let Microsoft 365 do it for you.
While Autonomous dispatch is not Off, the portal reads each pod tech's Microsoft 365 automatic replies window for the next 14 days about every 30 minutes by default. It marks that window out of office and moves their not-started tickets, and it clears the block when the tech turns automatic replies off.
If the Schedule page says No pods yet, set up a pod first.
The timeline is drawn from pods. Create a pod, add techs to it and schedule tickets to them, and the day starts filling in.
What you will have
- Start a project two ways: build its sub-ticket tree by hand, or run a saved workflow.
- Price a project as one flat fee and see its progress, time and margin on one page.
- Read the Schedule page's day timeline of every pod, tech and booked ticket.
- Mark a tech out of office, preview which tickets move, and let Microsoft 365 automatic replies do it for you.
- Ask Elise to list workflows, start a run or add a sub-ticket.
Why it works this way: How to build a project and keep the schedule straight
The Board dropdown on New Project only lists boards flagged as a project board at Settings > Service Desk > Ticket Boards. Every other board is hidden on purpose, so a business with no project board sees an empty list until one is turned on.
The Schedule page shows who is working what and when, but you move a ticket from the ticket's own scheduling card, not by dragging it here.
Other ways to do this: How to build a project and keep the schedule straight
Ask Elise
In Elise chat, ask "Which workflows do we have for onboarding?" and Elise lists your published workflow templates. Ask "Start the new-hire workflow for this client" and Elise lines up the run for you to approve, then it creates the steps and tickets. Ask "Add a sub-ticket called Set up new mailbox under project #30" to add a child ticket to a project board ticket. Ask "List the sub-tickets under project #30" to walk the project tree.
If it did not work: How to build a project and keep the schedule straight
- If the Board list is empty, no board is flagged as a project board yet. Turn one on at Settings > Service Desk > Ticket Boards.
- Run Workflow stays greyed until you pick a Workflow, and it asks for a Contact and a Board if either is empty.
- If Sync now or the plane icon does not show, your account is missing the Team edit permission or the admin-level Tickets access that control needs.
Questions this page answers
What is the New Project page for?
It builds a project in one go: one parent ticket with sub-tickets under it. That way a job with many steps lands as one tree, not as a pile of loose tickets. The page has two tabs. "Custom" builds the tree by hand. "From Workflow" runs a workflow you saved before.
How do I build a project by hand?
Stay on the "Custom" tab. Pick the person in "Contact" and pick a "Board" at the top. Type a "Project Name". Add each step under "Sub-tickets" with "Add sub-ticket". Drag one step onto another to nest it. Then click "Create Project". The page opens the project it just made.
How do I run a saved workflow instead?
Pick the "Contact" and the "Board" at the top of the page first. Then open the "From Workflow" tab and pick one in "Workflow". Only published workflows are listed there. Click "Run Workflow" and the project is built from that workflow.
What does the fixed-fee switch do?
Turn on "Fixed-fee project" and a "Contract amount" box opens under it. Type the price you agreed on. It is saved with the project. Leave the switch off for work you bill by the hour.
Why does the Board list have nothing in it?
Only project boards can hold a project, so this page hides every other board. An empty list means no board is set up as one yet. Turn on "Project Board" for a board at Settings > Service Desk > Ticket Boards, then come back here.
Why can I not drag a ticket to a different time here?
This page is read-only, and it says so above the timeline. To move a ticket, open it and use its scheduling card. Personal events a tech adds in Outlook come in on their own and show as a grey block.
What does "Sync now" do?
It pulls calendar changes made outside the portal into the tickets right away, instead of waiting for the hourly sync. It tells you how many blocks moved and how many were removed. You need edit permission on Team to see the button at all.
A tech called in sick. What do I do here?
Click "Mark out-of-office" next to their name. Pick the window they are away for. Click "Preview affected tickets" and the box tells you how many not-started tickets would be reflowed to other techs and how many in-progress ones stay where they are, because someone is already working them. Then click "Mark OOO". Nothing moves until you press it.
The page says "No pods yet". Why is my day empty?
This timeline is drawn from pods. With no pods there are no rows to draw. Set up a pod, put techs in it, and schedule tickets to those techs, and the day fills in. A day can also be genuinely empty: nothing is scheduled for that date.
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