Project Management in Syncro

Picture a client onboarding project. You create one Ticket from a Blueprint, and Syncro builds a Parent Ticket with a Child Ticket for each phase. You assign the work, technicians log time on their own Child Tickets, and a pinned Ticket View shows where every project stands. When the work is complete, you close the project from the Parent Ticket.

In Syncro, a project is a Parent Ticket and each task is a Child Ticket. This article explains how the Ticket features you already use fit together to manage projects.

Note: Linking Tickets, working with Blueprints, Worksheets, and Ticket Views, and viewing Reports depend on Security Group permissions.

How a Project Is Structured

The Parent Ticket represents the project. Each Child Ticket represents a task, with its own assigned technician, due date, status, and time tracking. A Parent Ticket can have an unlimited number of Child Tickets, and a Child Ticket links to one Parent Ticket. Technicians work their tasks where they always do, and you see the whole project from the Parent Ticket. 

See also: Link Related Tickets as Parents/Children.

Start a Project from a Blueprint

A Ticket Blueprint is a template that creates a Parent Ticket and its Child Tickets, prepopulated with subjects, descriptions, priorities, tags, worksheets, and relative due dates. Build the Blueprint once, and every future project of that type starts with all of its phases already in place. For example, a CRM deployment Blueprint can create a Parent Ticket with Child Tickets for data migration, user training, and system integration testing. 

When a task has steps to check off, attach a Ticket Worksheet to the Blueprint. A Worksheet is a checklist that the technician completes on the Ticket.

See also: Work with Ticket Blueprints and Work with Ticket Worksheets.

Track Progress from the Parent Ticket

The Child Tickets section on the Parent Ticket lists every task, so you do not need to open each Child Ticket to see where the project stands. View and update each Child Ticket’s status, technician, and due date directly in the section, and add the optional Timer, Charges, and Billing Status columns to see time spent and what you can expect to charge. Unassigned and overdue Child Tickets are easy to spot. Add Child Tickets as the project grows. 

See also: Work With Child Tickets.

Watch Every Project in One Place

Ticket Views save the way you look at your Tickets. Set the Link Type filter to show Child Tickets and group the Ticket View by Parent Ticket, and each project appears as a group with its tasks listed together. Save the Ticket View and pin it to open it with one click. Share the Ticket View as public to give your team the same picture.

See also: Work with Ticket Views and Examples of Ticket Views.

Report on Projects

The Support Tickets module in a Text Summary section lets you select a Ticket View, so the ticket metrics in your report reflect the right Tickets for that report. In the Executive Summary Report Builder, this makes a project report for your customers possible, using a Ticket View built from the Child Tickets for a single project. In either Report Builder, a Ticket View that excludes project Tickets keeps them from mixing into the metrics of your internal and customer-facing support reports. A List Summary section can list the Tickets themselves by using a Ticket View. Reports run on screen, export as a PDF, or send by email on a schedule.

See also: The Report Builders and Work with Ticket Views.

Close a Project

When you resolve a Parent Ticket from the Ticket Details page, Syncro asks whether to resolve its open Child Tickets at the same time. Resolve them together, or resolve only the Parent Ticket. Each Child Ticket resolved this way receives a private Note that links back to the Parent Ticket, so anyone auditing the Child Ticket can see why it was resolved.

See also: Link Related Tickets as Parents/Children.