Work packages is the personal view on the own work packages in ZEP. Work packages are defined task bundles with a time frame and target effort. They arise from projects, tasks, tickets, subtasks or customer work packages and are assigned to a responsible person. The personal view filters on all work packages that the logged-in employee is responsible for.
Note: Available in ZEP Compact and ZEP Professional with the active Resource planning module. In ZEP Clock the area is not available. Which sources for work packages are used (project tasks, tickets, subtasks) depends on the additional active add-on modules. An overview of all features around resource planning is available in the Resource planning collection.
Open the area
The personal work packages view opens via the main menu entry Work packages. The preset is a period covering the current and the upcoming periods; the period can then be freely chosen.
Use case: A consultant is responsible for eight active work packages across three customer projects. At the start of the week he opens the area, checks which packages are escalated or critical, sorts by date and works through the upcoming deadlines. Via the action „Record time" he books hours directly from the view onto the appropriate work package.
Column overview
Per work package the table shows a series of master, planning and status fields. Which columns appear depends on the active modules — for example the Ticket column only shows when the ticket system is active.
Columns in the overview
Column | Meaning |
Title | Name of the work package from the original source (project, ticket, subtask). |
Employee | The responsible person; in the personal view always the logged-in employee. |
Customer, project and task | The project chain the work package is attached to. |
Ticket and subtask | Linked ticket or subtask if the work package originates from the ticket system. |
Start and end date | Time frame of the work package. |
Actual hours | Hours already booked on this work package. |
Planned hours | Target effort of the work package from the resource planning. |
Remaining work | Remaining work until completion. Maintained by the responsible employee. |
Status | Status marking based on the relation between planned hours, actual hours and remaining work. ZEP distinguishes four levels: escalated, critical, non-critical and done. |
Remark | Optional free text about the current situation of the work package. |
Filters and sorting
The filter section at the top of the view controls period, status selection, workload display and sorting. Period, status and sorting are mandatory fields with default values; all other filters are optional.
Available filters
Mandatory fields are period, status and sorting; all other filters are optional. The most relevant filters at a glance:
Period (mandatory): period in which work packages start or end. Freely selectable with quick links for the current and upcoming periods.
Status (mandatory): multi-selection of the four status levels escalated, critical, non-critical and done. By default the three active levels escalated, critical and non-critical are selected; the level done can be added to review already completed work packages.
Sorting (mandatory): order of the table by date or by customer and project. Default is sorting by date.
Show workload charts: shows additional workload charts below the table. Only visible when the administration has activated the option in the resource planning settings.
Actions per work package
From the list the most important maintenance steps can be executed directly without switching to the original data source (project, ticket).
Use case: A work package is marked „critical" because the remaining work is higher than the time left. The responsible employee opens the three-dot menu on the work package, updates the remaining work to a realistic estimate and hands the package over to a colleague. The status adjusts automatically to the new values.
Available actions
Action | Description |
Record time | Opens the entry window for time booking — project and task are preset from the work package, the employee adds date, duration and remark. |
Record remaining work | Maintains the remaining work estimate in hours. The status of the work package adjusts automatically. |
Hand over work package | Changes responsibility to another employee. The package disappears from the own list and appears in the recipient's list. |
Mark as done | Closes the work package — remaining work is set to 0 and the status to completed. |
Note: The full booking workflow (work package selection during project time entry, status colours, own workload) is described in View and book work packages. The admin view for creating and managing work packages is described in Create and manage work packages.
Tip: The remaining work should be updated regularly so that the work package status remains meaningful. A long-unmaintained remaining work value quickly leads to a false escalation or, conversely, hides a real delay.