Release - 9 May 2024

Platform Update | Getting work done just got a lot easier 

🚀 What is new?

We've been listening closely to your feedback, and we understand the challenges you face in identifying and managing capacity gaps within or across teams.

The Needs Dashboard brings a powerful way to visualize your capacity needs across your teams or organisation. This highly requested feature allows you to capture, prioritize, and validate needs, with our team ready to assist in planning and aligning professionals, commitment-free.

What is a need?

Are you facing a capacity gap or have an idea where blackbear can assist, but aren't sure how to start? Simply capture it as a need.

A need is centered around a problem or idea that hasn't been fully developed. It remains abstract, with no defined solutions or commitments. However, it's considered important enough to be acknowledged and not forgotten. Needs require shaping and validation to determine how blackbear can provide support and address them. Collaborating with a customer success manager or project consultant can help explore the best approach. If blackbear is unable to assist, the need can be removed from the backlog.

When a team or member identifies such a gap or work that needs attention within the organization but is unsure of how to address or prioritize it, they can quickly capture it as a need.

How is a need different from an assignment?

Capturing a need is vital as it could potentially transform into an assignment or a temporary role. From a problem, we roll out a solution or a way forward. 

Compared to a need, an assignment involves work that has been clearly defined and is ready to be undertaken with blackbear. This includes a deeper understanding of the problem and a plan of action on how to tackle it effectively. 

Here's why it's great for you:

• Effortless need management: easily capture capacity needs within tams or across the organisation with just a few clicks.
• More needs, more visibility: gain a clear picture of the capacity gaps across your team or organisation.
• Planning made easy: collaborate seamlessly with your team & blackbear to identify, prioritise and plan them out.
• No commitments: this is your safe place to work with blackbear and explore collaboration opportunities commitment-free.
• Faster execution: convert identified needs into assignments quickly, ensuring you’re assignments are ready to go in minutes.
   

Use the Needs kanban swim-lanes to:

• View a high-level overview of the capacity needs by month, quarter or assignee.
• Change the status of a need to reprioritise, reassign, or update needs.
• Understand capacity gaps across teams or organisation.

How to use the statuses:

• Inbox: capture various needs from different teams or across the organization. It's the primary spot for collecting input on current and upcoming needs.
• Under consideration:  the most relevant needs that require some validation but have a high potential for resolution. 
• Validated: are needs that have been reviewed and have a confirmed budget and timeline in place. These needs are considered highly relevant, and blackbear has identified feasible solutions for them. Typically, validated needs are ready to progress into assignments.

🚀 Enhancements

Plus, we've made other improvements:

• Quick-assignment editing: making changes to existing assignments is now easier with section-by-section quick editing.
• New assignment view: you can now view your budget split upfront so you know exactly what to expect. You have the freedom to change it as you like providing you with greater control and flexibility in the process. 
• New UI: enjoy a fresh design for improved usability.