With artificial intelligence this second stream hasn’t shrunk: code is produced faster and released more often, and every release brings its own queue of reports, fixes and requests for clarification. Besides understanding how to make the team’s #real capacity<\/strong><\/a> visible, an IT project manager needs to set up a solid process for collecting, sorting and planning tickets<\/strong>, so that they fit into the work plan without turning it upside down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The typical problems are always the same:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Below we’ll look at three simple processes<\/strong> to integrate tickets into the workflow<\/a><\/strong>, without support activities blocking the development projects underway.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/a>\n\n\n\n The first step is deciding where tickets land<\/strong>. In Twproject<\/strong><\/a> every ticket is a ToDo<\/strong><\/a>, a micro-activity that always lives inside a project or a phase. For an internal help desk, the simplest solution is to create a dedicated project, for example “IT Support” or “Product X Support”, which collects all requests in one place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Requests can reach that project in several ways:<\/p>\n\n\n\n The result is that no request is left sitting in a personal inbox or a chat: everything is tracked, searchable and has a history. Permissions are separate too: a “customer” role can have read-only access to the project and, at the same time, the right to create ToDos.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A ticket that has been collected but not classified is just one more line in a list. Every ToDo in Twproject carries the information needed to sort it:<\/p>\n\n\n\n ToDos can be sorted visually with the Twproject Kanban<\/strong><\/a>, which is multi-dimensional: columns can be severity, status, assignee or project phases. For a help desk, the manager opens the Kanban on the support project, sees the incoming requests not yet assigned and drags them to the right person or phase. Every change of status and assignee is recorded in the ToDo history.<\/p>\n\n\n\n To make sure nothing gets lost along the way, there are notifications<\/strong><\/a>: you can be alerted when a ToDo is added, updated, closed, or when it has expired and is still open. Everyone chooses their channel; instant email, periodic digest, on-screen sticky note or a simple log.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A useful detail for IT teams: when a ticket turns out to be bigger than expected, for example a “small change” that becomes a product enhancement, the ToDo can be upgraded to a project<\/strong>. The original ToDo is closed and a sub-project is created with its own phases and estimates, instead of remaining a ticket that keeps someone busy for weeks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/a>\n\n\n\n This is where the real game is played. A ticket that doesn’t weigh on the workload is a ticket that steals time from projects without anyone noticing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In Twproject <\/strong>the link is direct. On the support project, team members have a spot <\/strong><\/a>assignment (see here<\/strong> <\/a>the difference between project, spot and routine activities<\/strong>), designed precisely for activities that can’t be planned: even with a zero estimate, every ToDo with a “to be done on” date<\/strong> and an hour estimate<\/strong> immediately enters the person’s workload<\/strong><\/a> for that day. The same goes for ToDos distributed with the planner<\/strong><\/a>, where the manager drags them onto each assignee’s calendar: four hours planned on Monday for a ticket are four hours “booked” in Monday’s workload.<\/p>\n\n\n\n So, when you look at the workload view, tickets appear alongside project phases. If a developer’s week is taken up by urgent reports, you see it before assigning them a new phase, and you can decide with hard numbers whether to move a ticket, reassign it or postpone the delivery<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\nCONTENT<\/h5>\n
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The critical issues in ticket management<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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1. A single entry point for all requests<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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![\"\"](\"https:\/\/twproject.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/define-todo.png\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\n<\/a>\n\n\n\n2. Classify, assign and set priorities<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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![\"kanban](\"https:\/\/twproject.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/extended-view-kanban-cards-840x450.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\n3. Integrate tickets into the workload<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/twproject.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/load-2-840x242.png\")
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