# Projects and work (https://docs.akollo.com/en/modules/projects)



**Projects** is where a team turns goals into work items, orders them, plans sprints and follows delivery until the work is approved and done. Work items keep the expected work, the people responsible and the context together; projects group them. **Projects** is an item of the **Menu** group in the sidebar. Its tabs are **Projects**, **Tracked projects**, **Capacity**, **Goals**, **Scenarios**, **Request drafts** and **Assignment suggestions**. Your own list of work, the inbox and the approvals waiting for you are in **My work** (see [My work](/en/modules/my-work)).

## Who uses it [#who-uses-it]

| Role                    | What they do here                                                                                                                                                          |
| ----------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| Team member             | Opens the projects they belong to, creates and updates work items, moves cards on the board, comments, and requests status changes that need approval.                     |
| Project lead or manager | Orders the backlog, plans and closes sprints, follows the timeline and the critical path, publishes status updates, records risks and compares capacity with planned work. |
| Approver                | Decides status changes that a workflow sends for approval, from **My work → Approvals**.                                                                                   |
| Project administrator   | Sets up boards, templates, recurring items, request forms and imports in the project settings, and places a legal hold when needed.                                        |
| Workflow administrator  | Edits statuses, transitions and required evidence in **Projects → Workflows**, and publishes new workflow versions.                                                        |
| Manager of tracked work | Creates the tasks that measured time is credited to, assigns them to employees in scope and reviews what they hand in (see [Tracked projects](#tracked-projects)).         |

## Main screens [#main-screens]

| Screen                                            | What it shows                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 |
| ------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Projects**                                      | Every project you can open, open or archived, with its key, name, lead and number of open items. The **Timeline** and **Portfolios** sub-tabs sit beside the list.                                                                                            |
| A project                                         | Tabs **Items**, **Backlog**, **Board**, **Sprints**, **Timeline**, **Releases**, **Triage**, **Status**, **Risks** and **Scenarios**, plus **Trash** and, for project administrators, **Settings**. **Sprints** appears only on a project with a scrum board. |
| **Backlog**                                       | The project’s ranked list of items. **Reorder** moves an item to the top, up, down or to the bottom.                                                                                                                                                          |
| **Board**                                         | Kanban or scrum columns mapped to statuses, with work-in-progress limits, swimlanes and quick filters.                                                                                                                                                        |
| **Sprints**                                       | **Plan**, **Active sprint** (burndown and burnup) and **Report** (velocity).                                                                                                                                                                                  |
| **Timeline**                                      | Projects, epics and items as bars on one time axis, with dependencies, sprints, milestones and the schedule with the critical path.                                                                                                                           |
| **Risks**                                         | The risk register, highest score first. The score is probability × impact.                                                                                                                                                                                    |
| **Projects → Workflows**                          | Statuses, transitions, required evidence and approval steps, edited in drafts and published as versions.                                                                                                                                                      |
| **Capacity**                                      | Planned work against the available time of a team and its people.                                                                                                                                                                                             |
| **Goals** and **Scenarios**                       | Organisation goals with the progress of linked work, and what-if copies of a project plan.                                                                                                                                                                    |
| **Tracked projects**                              | The simple projects and tasks that measured time is credited to.                                                                                                                                                                                              |
| **Request drafts** and **Assignment suggestions** | Incoming briefs turned into breakdown drafts, and the people who fit a work item. See [What the AI can do here](#what-the-ai-can-do-here).                                                                                                                    |

<Screenshot src="/screens/en/projects.webp" alt="Projects page with tabs for Projects, Tracked projects, Capacity, Goals, Scenarios, Request drafts and Assignment suggestions, the New work button and a list of open projects" caption="Projects: every project you can open, with the work that is still going." />

<Screenshot src="/screens/en/project-board.webp" alt="A project’s Board tab with four status columns holding work item cards with key, priority, points, due date and owner" caption="Board: cards move between columns only as the workflow allows." />

<Screenshot src="/screens/en/project-risks.webp" alt="A project’s Risks tab with a status filter, the New risk button and a risk register listing a risk with its score, probability, impact, status, owner and due date" caption="Risks: the register sorted by score, with every change kept as a revision." />

## Key tasks [#key-tasks]

### Create a work item [#create-a-work-item]

<Steps>
  <Step>
    ### Start a new item [#start-a-new-item]

    Select **New work**. It is on the **Projects** page, on every project page and on **My work**.
  </Step>

  <Step>
    ### Fill in the basics [#fill-in-the-basics]

    Choose the **Project** and the **Type** (task, epic, story or bug), enter a **Title** and, optionally, an **Owner**.
  </Step>

  <Step>
    ### Create it [#create-it]

    Select **Create**. The item gets a stable key and a permanent link and starts in the initial status of its workflow. For work you repeat, use **New from template** or a recurring rule instead.
  </Step>
</Steps>

### Plan and run a sprint [#plan-and-run-a-sprint]

<Steps>
  <Step>
    ### Order the backlog [#order-the-backlog]

    Open the project’s **Backlog** and use **Reorder** to put the most important items at the top.
  </Step>

  <Step>
    ### Plan the sprint [#plan-the-sprint]

    Open **Sprints → Plan**, create the sprint with a name, goal, start and end, and add items from the ranked backlog. Then start it.
  </Step>

  <Step>
    ### Follow it [#follow-it]

    **Active sprint** shows days left, committed, completed, added and removed work, and the burndown and burnup charts. Move cards on the **Board** as work progresses.
  </Step>

  <Step>
    ### Close it [#close-it]

    Select **Close sprint**, choose where each unfinished item goes (the next planned sprint, a new sprint or the backlog) and rate the goal as met, partly met or not met.
  </Step>
</Steps>

### Move an item through an approval [#move-an-item-through-an-approval]

<Steps>
  <Step>
    ### Request the change [#request-the-change]

    On the item page, open the status control and choose a status marked **Needs approval**. The item shows "Waiting for approval", and other status changes are disabled meanwhile.
  </Step>

  <Step>
    ### The approver decides [#the-approver-decides]

    The approver opens **My work → Approvals**, selects **Decide** and chooses **Approve**, **Reject** or **Send back**. Rejecting and sending back need a comment.
  </Step>

  <Step>
    ### Resubmit if it comes back [#resubmit-if-it-comes-back]

    If the request is sent back, the requester or the item’s owner fixes what is needed and selects **Resubmit**. The approval starts again from the first step.
  </Step>
</Steps>

<Mermaid
  title="From backlog to done"
  chart="`flowchart LR
A[Backlog] --> B[Sprint plan]
B --> C[Board]
C --> D{Needs approval?}
D -->|No| E[Done]
D -->|Yes| F[Approval steps]
F -->|Approve| E
F -->|Send back| C
E --> G[Sprint report and velocity]`"
/>

### Record and follow a risk [#record-and-follow-a-risk]

<Steps>
  <Step>
    ### Open the register [#open-the-register]

    In the project, open **Risks**. Filter by **Status** and select **Apply** if you only want some of them.
  </Step>

  <Step>
    ### Add the risk [#add-the-risk]

    Select **New risk** and set its probability and impact, each from 1 to 5. The score (1 to 25) decides its place in the list.
  </Step>

  <Step>
    ### Update it with a reason [#update-it-with-a-reason]

    Change the risk on its page by saving a new revision with a reason. The page keeps the full history of who changed what and why.
  </Step>
</Steps>

### Compare capacity with planned work [#compare-capacity-with-planned-work]

<Steps>
  <Step>
    ### Open Capacity [#open-capacity]

    Choose **Projects → Capacity**, pick the **Team** and the **Length** of the period.
  </Step>

  <Step>
    ### Read the figures [#read-the-figures]

    The **Team total** chart shows planned time as bars and available time as a dashed line. **Load per person** shows who carries the load week by week.
  </Step>
</Steps>

## Tracked projects [#tracked-projects]

**Tracked projects** holds the projects and tasks that the desktop app credits measured time to. They are deliberately simple and separate from work items: a task has a title, a status and an assignee, and no subtasks, comments, attachments, due date or priority.

* A manager creates a project and its tasks, assigns employees **in their scope** and reviews what they hand in. If nobody is in your scope, an administrator first places employees and grants a manager scope.
* A task moves through assigned, in progress, submitted, approved, rejected and closed. Starting a task on a device is the employee’s own action on **My tasks**.
* A task waiting for review cannot be edited until the submission is decided. A closed task stays closed.
* Every change is kept as a revision with the title, status, reason, who made it and when. Open a task to read its history.
* Archive a project only after its open tasks are closed or finished. If a project or task changed while you were editing, reload and try again; nothing is overwritten.

Submitted tasks are reviewed in **Time → Time approvals** (see [Time](/en/modules/time)).

## Permissions [#permissions]

* **Projects and items**: you see the projects you can open. Creating, editing, attaching files and bulk editing each need their own permission. An archived item, or an item in an archived project, is read-only.
* **Project settings** (boards, templates, recurring items, imports, request forms, legal hold) are for people who manage the project’s configuration.
* **Workflows**: editing needs the workflow permission. On a regulated workflow, a second person publishes the change; the author cannot.
* **Approvals**: you decide only the requests assigned to you. When the policy separates duties, nobody decides their own request.
* **Board limits**: a column set to block can only be overfilled by people with the override permission, and the override is recorded in the audit log.
* **Tracked projects**: managers work only with employees in their scope; nobody reviews their own submission.
* **Support sessions** can read work pages, but cannot create or change work, decide approvals or download attachments.

## What the AI can do here [#what-the-ai-can-do-here]

* **Draft a project plan**: describe a goal (or type **/plan** in the assistant) and get epics, stories and tasks with estimate ranges and dependencies. Nothing is created until you choose **Create**; a large plan waits for a second person’s approval. See [Planning and staffing with AI](/en/ai/planning).
* **Break down** a work item into child items you review and edit before they are created.
* **Suggest people**: ask "who should take this?" or use **/staff** to get up to three best-fitting people and one growth pick. Nothing is assigned until a manager presses **Assign**. The **Assignment suggestions** tab shows the people or teams that fit a work item, with their skills, evidence and availability; you make the decision.
* **Request drafts**: record an incoming brief, then let the AI propose a work breakdown draft, or write it yourself.
* **Ask about this page**: on a project, the assistant offers questions such as "What is at risk in this project?" and answers with sources you can open. See [Assistant](/en/ai/assistant).
* **Scenarios**: **Ask AI for alternatives** proposes changes in a scenario, never in the live plan.
* **Writing help** in descriptions and comments turns notes into text, shortens or fixes it; nothing changes until you insert it.

The AI reads only what you are allowed to see and never changes a project on its own.

## FAQ [#faq]

<Accordions type="single">
  <Accordion title="What is the difference between Projects and Tracked projects?">
    **Projects** holds work items with workflows, boards, sprints and the timeline. **Tracked projects** holds the simple tasks the desktop app credits measured time to, with a short review flow. A work item’s **Time** tab shows the credited time per person.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Why are the other status changes greyed out on an item?">
    A status change on the item is waiting for approval. Until it is decided, the other changes are shown but disabled.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Can I move a card into a full column?">
    If the limit warns, you see a notice and the card moves. If it blocks, only people with the override permission can use "Override and move", and the override is recorded.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="When does the average velocity appear?">
    Once three sprints are closed. The sprint **Report** shows velocity per sprint.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Can I get a deleted item back?">
    Yes, from the project’s **Trash** with **Restore**, until it is purged 30 days after deletion. Items on legal hold are never purged.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Why can’t I assign a tracked task to a colleague?">
    You can assign only employees in your scope. An administrator places employees and grants manager scopes.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Does a scenario change the live plan?">
    No. A scenario is a copy where you try out changes to dates or people. The live plan changes only when a scenario is applied.
  </Accordion>
</Accordions>

## Related [#related]

* [Tasks and projects](/en/product-guide/tasks-and-projects)
* [Workflows](/en/product-guide/workflows)
* [Planning and delivery](/en/product-guide/planning)
* [Timeline](/en/product-guide/timeline)
* [Team workload and capacity](/en/product-guide/capacity)
* [Planning and staffing with AI](/en/ai/planning)
* [Time](/en/modules/time)