Workspaces Overview

This article will help workspace owners understand how to create and utilize workspaces using the TDNext interface. The user must have the Workspaces application and the "Add workspaces" permission on their primary security role.

Overview

The TeamDynamix Workspaces application allows you to create and manage teams of people and their work in one unified view. A workspace consists of a team of people and the work that is assigned to the workspace. Work can be assigned manually, or through Workspace Rules, which work like report filters to find and automatically add work to the workspace. 

Workspaces can also include some of the components available on Projects, and can allow you to allocate time to operational tasks for members of the workspace. Workspace members can track their time on Workspaces, and the Workspace hours conveniently appear on their timecard for easy time entry.

Features

Workspace have the following main features: 

• Workspace Members  - Manage the membership in the workspace. 
• Workspace Rules and work items - Define rules to add work items to the workspace so that they can be easily managed.
• List View - View all the work items in the workspace in a list view.
• Timeline View - View all the work items in the workspace on a timeline
• Workspace Components - Manage the workspace itself using project components such as the Feed, Briefcase, Calendar, Issues, or Risks. 
• Time Entry and Resource Allocation - Track time against a workspace and enter time forecasts for work in the workspace. 

Where to Find This

This feature appears in the TDNext interface.

Navigate to Workspaces following this path:

• TDNext > Applications > Workspaces

The Workspaces application will open in a new browser tab. You can bookmark this tab if you want to access it quickly without going through TDNext.

Where to Start

Creating a Workspace

To create a Workspace:

1. In TDNext, navigate to Applications > Workspaces.
2. Click the +Create New button and select New Workspace from the list.
3. In the New Workspace window, enter the Workspace information:
   1. Name – The name used to identify this Workspace.
   2. Acct/Dept – Specify which account or department this Workspace belongs to.
   3. Description – Briefly describe the purpose and objective of the Workspace.
   4. Template – If there are any global Project Templates available, these will display.  NOTE: Project Templates are not usually used for Workspaces.
   5. Components – Select the features you’d like to have available to use in your Workspace.
4. Click the Save button.

Workspace Members

When a workspace is created, the creator of the workspace is automatically added as the workspace owner. 

Add Members

1. Open the Workspace in the Workspaces application. 
2. Click Members in the left navigation menu. 
3. Click Add Members 
4. Select one or more people to add directly, or a group to add all the members of the group. 
5. Save. 

Change Owner

1. Open the Workspace in the Workspaces application. 
2. Click Workspace Detail > Detail at the bottom of the left navigation menu. The Workspace Detail page opens.
3. Click the Members tab. 
4. Click Actions > Change Owner. 
5. Select the new Owner.
6. Save. 

Adding Work to a Workspace

Users can add work items to a workspace in two ways. Any member of a workspace can add an item to the workspace directly from that item's detail page in TDNext. Workspace owners can create and manage Workspace Rules that automatically add work for users. 

Most of the work items in a workspace will not be defined within the workspace, but will exist independently in a ticketing application or in the projects application. Workspaces can include the following work items: 

• Tickets
• Ticket Tasks
• Projects
• Project Tasks
• Project Issues
• Project Risks
• Workspace Issues
• Workspace Risks 

Except for Workspace Issues and Workspace Risks, all the work in the workspace has a primary location outside the workspace, and updates in the workspace will directly modify the item in its primary location. The user's permissions on work items in a workspace will be defined based on their permissions in the work item's primary location. 

Adding Work Manually

1. In TDNext, open the work item you want to add to the workspace. 
2. In the Actions menu, select Add to Workspace. 
3. Choose the appropriate workspace and click Save. 

Adding Work via Workspace Rules

Workspace Rules allow the workspace owner to define when work items will be automatically added to a workspace. If the rule is active, then any time an item is created or modified, the system will check to see if it matches the rule. If it does, the item will be automatically added to the workspace and any users with the workspace open will see the item update automatically in the List View and Timeline View. 

Follow these steps to create a Workspace Rule:

1. Open the workspace. 
2. In the left navigation pane, select Settings to view the Rules page. 
3. Click New Rule and select the type of rule. Each rule applies to one work item type at a time. 
4. Provide a Title and optional Description for the rule. 
5. Configure the filters that define the work items you want to add to the workspace. These filters behave the same as report builder reports, including optional Advanced Filtering expressions. 
6. Save the rule. If you want it to apply immediately, mark the rule as Active before saving. 

You can view the rules that exist for a workspace in the Settings page.

You can also run a rule on existing records by selecting Run Rule from the Settings page. This can be applied to active or inactive rules. When you run a rule, it will add all items that meet the rule's criteria to the workspace. Rules can also be tested to get a count of the items that meet the criteria and would be added by running the rule.  

Removing Items From a Workspace

Follow these steps to remove items from a workspace:

1. To remove an item like a ticket from the workspace, view the dashboard of the workspace.
2. Right click on the Name of the item in question.
3. Use the bottom menu option called 'Remove from Workspace' to remove the item from the workspace.

Workspace Components 

Workspace components are additional tools in the workspace that allow you to manage the workspace and its work. These components share behavior with the same components that are available on Projects. Components can be accessed from within the Workspaces application by clicking Workspace Detail at the bottom of the left navigation menu. This provides a direct link to the following components: 

• Workspace Details
• Members
• Feed
• Announcements
• Briefcase
• Calendar
• Contacts
• Issues
• Links 
• Risks

Managing Workspaces from TDAdmin

In the Admin application, the user can activate/deactivate workspaces and change the people associated to that specific workspace. Workspaces can also be deleted in the Admin application if the user has the Delete Projects permission in their list of Admin privileges.