Blocks

Blocks are capacity reservations that help plan and schedule client work for the month ahead. They represent phases of work like Design, Development, and QA, ensuring team capacity is allocated appropriately.

​

What are blocks?

Blocks are monthly capacity allocations:

• Reserve team member time for specific work phases
• Organized by client and month
• Track hours allocated vs hours used
• Appear in team schedules
• Help visualize monthly workload

​

Why use blocks?

​

Capacity planning

Blocks help ensure:

• Team members aren’t over-allocated
• Client work is planned in advance
• Work phases are sequenced correctly
• Realistic delivery timelines

​

Schedule visibility

Team members see:

• What client work is coming
• When they’re needed
• How much time is allocated
• Their monthly workload

​

Client coordination

Blocks help coordinate:

• When design work will happen
• When development can start
• When QA rounds are scheduled
• Deployment timing

​

Block components

​

Basic information

Every block includes:

• Client - Which client the work is for
• Month/Year - When the work is planned
• Block type - Phase of work (Design, Development, QA, etc.)
• Round - For QA blocks, which iteration
• Allocated hours - Time reserved for this work

​

Schedule details

When planned:

• Assignee - Team member assigned
• Start date - When work should begin
• End date - When work should complete
• Status - Current state

​

Status tracking

​

Block types

​

Core blocks

Design:

• UI/UX work
• Visual assets
• Creative direction
• Mockups and prototypes
• One per client per month

Development:

• Code and features
• Technical implementation
• Integrations
• One per client per month

Deployment:

• Production deployment
• Release management
• Go-live coordination
• One per client per month

​

QA blocks

Internal QA Review:

• Team testing
• Bug identification
• Quality verification
• Can have multiple rounds

Internal QA Fixes:

• Bug fixes from internal QA
• Adjustments and corrections
• Can have multiple rounds

External QA Fixes:

• Client feedback changes
• Revisions after client review
• Can have multiple rounds

​

Creating blocks

​

Who can create

Users who can manage blocks:

• Project Managers
• CSMs
• Managers
• Admins

​

Adding blocks

​

Block restrictions

Single instance types:

• Design, Development, Deployment
• Can only add once per month per client
• Button disabled if already exists

Multi-round types:

• All QA blocks
• Can add multiple rounds
• Automatically numbered (Round 1, Round 2, etc.)

​

Configuring blocks

​

Setting allocation

Specify hours for the block:

• Entered in hours (e.g., 20 hours)
• Converted to minutes internally
• Shows in schedule as capacity
• Team member sees this allocated to them

​

Assigning team members

Assign who will do the work:

• Click block to configure
• Select assignee from team
• Filtered by work type (design/dev/QA)
• Assignee sees block in their schedule

​

Scheduling dates

Set when work will happen:

• Start date
• End date
• Block appears in schedule on these dates
• Status changes to “Scheduled” automatically

​

Status updates

Track block progress:

• Not Scheduled - Initial state
• Scheduled - Dates assigned
• In Progress - Work started (manual update)
• Completed - Work finished (manual update)
• Late - Past end date, not complete

​

Viewing blocks

​

Blocks page

Global view of all clients:

• Navigate by month
• See all active clients
• Expand to view client’s blocks
• Click client name to go to client schedule

​

Client schedule

Client-specific view:

• Shows blocks for this client
• Alongside tasks and other work
• Integrated timeline
• Color-coded by type

​

Team schedule

Individual team member view:

• Shows blocks assigned to them
• Mixed with tasks and other work
• See total capacity for each day
• Plan around commitments

​

Hours tracking

​

Allocated hours

Hours reserved for the block:

• Set when configuring block
• Represents capacity needed
• Helps prevent over-allocation
• Visible in schedule

​

Tracking actuals

Actual hours tracked through:

• Time entries logged to subtasks
• Time entries logged to help desk tickets
• Time entries with block reference

​

Budget comparison

Compare planned vs actual:

• View on client schedule
• See if work is on track
• Identify overages early
• Helps with future planning

​

Reordering blocks

​

Custom order

Change block display order:

• Drag blocks up or down
• Only within same client/month
• Affects display only
• Helps match your workflow

Default order:

1. Design
2. Development
3. Internal QA Review
4. Internal QA Fixes
5. External QA Fixes
6. Deployment

​

Why reorder?

Custom ordering useful for:

• Showing parallel work phases
• Matching your process
• Highlighting priorities
• Visual clarity

​

Deleting blocks

​

When to delete

Remove blocks that are:

• No longer needed
• Created by mistake
• Client work cancelled
• Replaced by different plan

​

How to delete

​

Best practices

​

Common workflows

​

Scenario 1: New client project

​

Scenario 2: Ongoing retainer work

​

Scenario 3: Multiple QA rounds

​

Troubleshooting

​

Next steps