Workload Charts

Workload Charts is part of Wrike Resource add-on. Business and higher accounts can purchase Wrike Resource. Once the add-on is purchased, Regular and External Users can use the Workload Charts.

• Overview
• Important Information
• Create a Workload Chart
• Navigate a Workload Chart
• Edit a Workload Chart
• Delete a Workload Chart
• Manage Tasks on the Workload Chart
• Backlog Box

Overview

Use Workload Charts to manage your team members’ workload capacity, plan work allocation, and prioritize Tasks based on their capacity.

Important Information

• Only scheduled Tasks with specified effort appear on Workload charts.

Create a Workload Chart

Workload Charts display Tasks with effort from within a location you select during the chart creation. Your team members’ capacity is affected only by those Tasks which are visible on the Workload Chart, so, from the following two options below, choose the option which works best for you:

• Build a chart with Tasks from a specific Folder or Project: this option will work if all your Tasks are included within specific Folders and Projects. To apply it: select a Folder or Project at step 3 below.
• Build a chart with Tasks from the whole account: choose this option if Tasks, which your team is working on, are spread across different Folders and Projects. To apply it: don't select a Folder or Project at step 3.

To create a Workload chart:

1. Click the Workload tab (at the top of the Workspace).
2. Click “Create a Workload Chart”.
3. In the pop-up that opens:
   • Specify the chart’s title.
   • Select users or User Groups whose workload you want to view on the chart. To see all users (including Collaborators) click "Add all account users" at the bottom of the pop-up. 
   • Optional. Choose a Folder or Project to pull Tasks from: click “Advanced settings”, click “Select Folder or Project”, and select a Folder or Project from the list (or start typing its name and select it once it appears).
4. Click “Create”.

🖐 Note! Folder or Project-based Workload Charts display Tasks from the selected Folder/Project itself as well as Tasks from its Subfolders and Subprojects.

Navigate a Workload Chart

To open a chart:

1. Click the Workload tab (at the top of the Workspace).
2. Select the chart from the list.

What you see:

• Users selected during the chart creation appear on the left side.
• The right side of the chart shows a user’s workload. Wrike adds up effort required for all Tasks assigned to a person and scheduled for a particular day and shows this number in this day’s column and this user’s row.
• Expand a person’s row to see scheduled Tasks with effort assigned to them.
  • Tasks are represented by bars which extend from the Task’s start to end date.
  • The bars are color-coded based on their status.
  • Horizontal dashes on a bar show how many hours the Task will take.
• Non-working days are represented by striped cells. Today’s date is marked with a red vertical line.
• Click the funnel icon at the top of the chart to open the filter panel and apply filters so that you see only the Tasks which match the criteria you select.
• Tasks with flexible effort type whose total effort is different from a sum of allocated hours, have a red border on Workload Charts.

Color-coding on Workload Charts

Wrike uses a color-coding system to show how busy a person is. For users whose daily effort is:

• 0 hours: the cell is white.
• 0-8 hours: a portion of the cell representing the occupied time is colored pale blue.
• 8+ hours: the cell is red.

Edit a Workload Chart

Edit Workload Charts created by you.

From the chart list:

1. Click the Workload tab (at the top of the Workspace).
2. Right-click the title of a chart that you want to edit.
3. Click "Settings".

From the Workload Chart:

1. Click "Settings" in the chart's upper right-hand corner.

You can:

• Rename a chart.
• Add or remove users to and from a chart. If you want to add all account users to a chart, first remove all users and User Groups from the "Users" field, then click "Add all account users" at the bottom of the pop-up.

Delete a Workload Chart

Delete Workload Charts created by you.

From the chart list:

1. Click the Workload tab (at the top of the Workspace).
2. Right-click the title of a chart that you want to delete.
3. Click "Delete".

From the Workload Chart:

1. Click "Delete" in the chart's upper right-hand corner.

Manage Tasks on the Workload Chart

Drag and drop Tasks to reschedule or reassign them in order to resolve resource allocation conflicts without having to leave the Workload chart.

Reschedule a Task

1. Click and hold the task you want to reschedule.
2. Drag the task to the appropriate dates and release your mouse.

Change a Task’s Duration

1. Locate the Task whose duration you want to change.
2. Hover your cursor over the Task bar’s left or right side so that you see a double-headed arrow.
3. Click and drag the bar to the left or right to change the task’s duration.

Reassign a Task

1. Click and hold the task you want to reassign.
2. Drag the task to the row of a user to whom you want to reassign the task and release your mouse.

Edit Task Effort and Duration

1. Click the Task whose effort you want to change.
2. In a tooltip that appears you can:
   • Edit Task duration.
   • Edit Task effort.
   • Change the effort type.

Backlog Box

Backlog Box is a container of Tasks which have to be allocated:

• If you use Request Forms, build a Backlog Box based on a Folder containing your team’s incoming requests.
• When launching a new Project, you can duplicate a template and use that newly created Project as the source for your Backlog Box, from which to allocate Tasks among your team members.

Each Workload Chart has its own Backlog Box which you can reconfigure at any time.

At least one of the following must be true for a Task to appear in the Backlog Box:

• A Task is unassigned.
• A Task is not scheduled.

When you configure a Backlog Box, you can specify additional criteria for Tasks that should appear there.

Configure the Backlog Box (for the First Time)

1. Click “Backlog Box” in the upper right-hand corner.
2. Click “Configure”.
3. On the pop-up: Select a Folder/Project* and choose whether to include tasks from Subfolders and Subprojects. 
4. Apply filters, if necessary. The preview window on the pop-up shows what tasks will appear in the Backlog Box based on current filters.
5. Click “Apply”.

The Backlog Box for the Workload Chart is configured, and now you can:

• Drag Tasks from it to the chart to assign and/or schedule them.
• Move Tasks from the chart to the Backlog Box.

*If you don’t select a Folder or Project in step 3, the Backlog Box will show Tasks from all Folders and Projects.

Move Tasks from the Backlog Box to a Workload Chart

1. Click “Backlog Box” to see a list of Tasks in your backlog.
2. Click and hold the task you want to assign, schedule, or both.
3. Drag the task to the intersection of new assignee and applicable dates. If the Task is already scheduled, just drag it to the new assignee’s row to assign with the existing dates.
4. Release your mouse.

Once you do:

• The Task is assigned to a person shown in the row into which you have dropped it (existing assignees are also kept).
• The Task disappears from the Backlog Box and appears on the Workload Chart.
• If you have specified a Folder/Project during the chart creation, the Task is tagged to it (unless it was tagged with its Subfolder/Subproject).

Move Tasks to Backlog

1. Click a Task you want to move to a backlog.
2. Click the three-dot menu button in the Task preview.
3. Select “Move to backlog”.

Once you do:

• The Task is tagged with the Folder or Project specified in the Backlog Box settings.
• Its dates and assignees are removed*.
• It disappears from the Workload Chart and appears in the Backlog Box.

*The Task’s effort isn’t cleared when you move it to backlog.

🔥Wrike Tip! Unassign a Task from the team members which are displayed on the Workload Chart, to move the Task to backlog.

Edit the Backlog Box Settings

Reconfigure your Backlog Box to allocate another set of Tasks, e.g. Tasks from another Project you have started working on.

1. Click “Backlog Box” in the upper right-hand corner.
2. Click the gear icon.
3. You can:
   • Apply different filters.
   • Change which Folder or Project to pull tasks from.
   • Include or exclude Tasks from Subfolders and Subprojects.
4. Click “Apply”.