Work Item
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Reading time: 9 minutes
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In short: Work Items in Timebook are essential for organizing and tracking your Team’s tasks, from small issues to large epics. It covers how to create, manage, and customize Work Items, set dependencies, and use Work Item cards effectively. The article also explains the concept and the dedicated [Work Items] module.
In Timebook, Work Items are the backbone of your team’s work, capturing everything from the smallest tasks to the biggest epics. Whether you’re tracking bugs, tackling new features, or writing up user stories, all Work Items serve one purpose—getting things done.
Work Items can vary greatly in scope. A simple task might take just a few hours, while an epic can span weeks or even months. But no matter the size, Timebook has you covered. Every Work Item plays a role in the delivery stage of your product development, helping you break down work into actionable steps, track progress, and keep your team on course.
Timebook offers different types of Work Items to help teams manage both the discovery and delivery stages of product development. Making the most of these phases is crucial for building successful products:
Delivery is about implementing those solutions through development, testing, and delivery.
Each Timebook Work Item type serves a unique purpose. Here’s an overview of how they might fit into your workflow:
Assumption
Use this to document hypotheses or beliefs about your product or users that need validation during the discovery phase. In Timebook, Assumptions are the most obvious choice for adding Work Items to Solutions. This helps connect the discovery and delivery stages.
Task
Use this to represent specific, actionable units of work that contribute directly to the delivery of a project.
Bug
Track and resolve defects or issues identified in your product during the delivery stage.
Story
Define specific, user-focused requirements that the team will implement during the delivery stage.
Feature
Group related Stories to deliver a cohesive piece of functionality within the delivery stage.
Epic
Organize multiple Features or large initiatives into a high-level plan for long-term delivery.
Timebook has a dedicated module for managing Work Items, offering multiple perspectives through different data layouts. The [Work Items] module is designed to focus on the delivery stage of product development, making it ideal for analyzing and tracking all the work.
Workplace level
There is a dedicated module in the Navigator that shows all Work Items from your entire organization. This module is best used for high-level work management, as it allows you to apply filters and grouping options to organize, analyze, and oversee your company’s work more effectively.
Team level
Each Timebook Team has a dedicated module for managing Work Items, allowing team members to view and organize tasks through various data layouts.
The Team-level Work Items module is designed to help track, assign, and coordinate tasks within the team. By default, each Work Item created in this module is assigned to the Team, but this can be adjusted as needed.
My Work
In [My Work], you only see the Work Items that are relevant to you.
This module has dedicated sections that automatically display Work Items you’ve created, assigned to others, or marked as watched.
As a Team Leader, you can use the [Work Items] module to organize and prioritize tasks for others, reassign work, or link Work Items to Goals at the Team or Workplace level.
As a Team Member, you can use the [Work Items] module to stay focused on your individual tasks, provide updates on collaborative work, and mark the progress of your assignments.
The [Work Items] module holds all the work-related data, which you can customize using various layouts, filters, and grouping options. Additionally, you can save these customized views as public for all members to access or keep them private for your personal use.
In the [Work Items] module, you can efficiently manage many items at once using the [Edit multiple items] button. After clicking it, an overlay will appear, allowing you to select multiple or all items and apply specific actions to them. This feature lets you quickly move items in bulk to a different Sprint or Project, assign them to others, or delete them permanently.
To create a Work Item:
Click the [+] button at the top of the list of Work Items. The button placement may vary depending on your chosen data layout.
Give your new Work Item a meaningful name. At this stage, you can also:
Change the type of this Work Item (to Task or Bug, for instance).
Add a short description.
Click [Create...] to save your changes. The new Work Item is added to the list.
Open the Work Item to edit its details and access all the available options and properties.
Mark the status and progress of the Work Item in the Board layout.
Change the Work Item’s position in the List layout.
After you open a Work Item card, you can manage and navigate using the options in the top bar.
When you look at the left side of a Work Item card, you’ll notice several sections. Each section has a specific purpose: to help you describe your work, categorize it, or add supporting resources.
Here’s an overview of the sections of a Work Item card and their purpose:
When you look at the right side of a Work Item card, you’ll notice several tabs. They allow you to further define your Work Item, provide an update, and track changes over time.
Here’s an overview of the Work Item card tabs and their purpose:
Properties
You can use multiple fields in this tab to fine-tune, categorize, or track your Work Item. You can start by changing Priority or Status, but the flexibility of our properties can handle even the most complex cases.
Comments
This tab allows Workplace members to communicate, share updates, and collaborate directly within the Work Item. They can ask questions, provide updates, or offer feedback, making it a central hub for work-related communication. You can mention others using the @ symbol and notify specific people directly.
Activity
This tab tracks all actions and changes made to a Work Item, providing a detailed history of events. It displays them in chronological order, showing when changes were made and by whom. The information in this tab is generated automatically, usually including status updates, priority changes, reassignments, and comments.
Discovery focuses on identifying , exploring , and defining what to build.
From the Delivery section: Open the [Work Items] module in the [Delivery] section of the Navigator to view all Work Items across your entire Timebook .
From a specific Team: Open the [Work Items] module within a to see only the Work Items assigned to that Team, offering a more focused view.
From My Work: Open the module from the Navigator to view your Work Items—those you’ve created, those assigned to you, and those you’re watching. Each type is organized into its own dedicated tab.
Work Items you create, are assigned to, or watch appear in the module, where you can view and manage all items relevant to you.
You can create Work Items in the [Work Items] module in any Team. You can also create them contextually in other places in Timebook, like within a , and the process is nearly identical to the one explained below.
Define basic properties, such as Assignee, Priority, or .
Link the Work Item to one of existing to connect discovery and exectution stages.
In Timebook, each Work Item has its own card that displays all the options and properties you can use to manage it. In different , you can also use cards to move your Work Items around. For instance, you can drag and drop a Work Item card to:
[Watch] If you’re not the creator or assignee but still want to stay informed, you can watch an object to track changes. You can also assign others as watchers. Once you start watching, you’ll receive notifications about all important updates. All your watched objects are easily accessible in the [Watched] tab of .
For more information, see our separate article dedicated to
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