BigPicture 'resources' workloads at zero

[Phil Newby]

I'm setting up BigPicture for the business and I'm struggling with the 'resources' readout.

Currently, users all have their workloads showing as 0h, despite having several tasks on their boards that are assigned to them and with original estimates included and being part of a team.

I have;

1. Assigned the user to a Jira issue that has an estimate.
2. Given the assigned user capacity.
3. Assigned the user a workload plan.
4. Set their 'availability' in their team to 100%.

Additionally, I have given myself new tickets with estimates and even put hours spent into them and get the same result.

It appears that the only tickets that are getting detected are from the backlog and in a 'done' state.

Any ideas what I may be missing?

[Paweł Mazur]

Hi Phil,

I’m Paweł from the Appfire Customer Success Team. Thanks for sharing the details! It looks like you’ve already handled the key setup steps, which is a great start.

Here are a few things worth double-checking that could help explain why the workload isn’t displaying as expected:

1. Workload Contour / Distribution Mode
   Take a look at how the workload is being spread across the task duration. Some settings, like distributing based on remaining time vs original estimate, can result in 0h showing up if time tracking isn’t aligned.
2. Scope Definition
   Make sure the Box scope includes the relevant Jira boards and filters. If it’s too narrow (for example, only showing backlog or done issues), active issues might be left out of the workload view.
3. Task Dates
   If tasks don’t have valid start and end dates that fall within the Box’s configured timeframe, they can not show up at all in the resource workload view.

Here are a couple of other things worth checking:

1. Estimation Source
   Confirm that BigPicture is pulling estimates from the right field—typically Original Estimate. If it’s set to a custom or unused field, this could be the cause.
2. Synchronization
   It’s also worth checking the Synchronization tab to make sure everything’s syncing properly with Jira.

If you’ve gone through the list and it’s still not working as expected, I’d suggest getting in touch with our support team directly here:
BigPicture Support Portal 

If you do, please include screenshots, especially of your workload distribution settings (point 1). This will help our support team respond more effectively.

And, of course, if you’d like to walk through any of these steps together, we’re happy to help.

Cheers,
Paweł
Customer Success Team | Appfire

[Phil Newby]

Hi Pawel, thanks for your reply!

Apologies in advance as I am new to this tool and someone else partly set all this up, so its not a straightforward setup process

1. Workload Contour / Distribution Mode
   Take a look at how the workload is being spread across the task duration. Some settings, like distributing based on remaining time vs original estimate, can result in 0h showing up if time tracking isn’t aligned.
   1. Toggling between ‘remaining time’ and ‘original estimate’ doesn’t seem to yield any helpful results. Numbers change but they’re not picking up the tickets in sprints still, just tickets in the backlog that are ‘done’.
2. Scope Definition
   Make sure the Box scope includes the relevant Jira boards and filters. If it’s too narrow (for example, only showing backlog or done issues), active issues might be left out of the workload view.
   1. When you say ‘box scope’ can you confirm if you mean the menu ‘box types’ under ‘Administration’?
   2. Currently, we are only using ‘Agile Project’ and ‘Iteration’ (child of Agile Project), which I believe are the default box types (among others which we do not use).
   3. Everything we run is under the ‘Agile Project’ type – I have double checked and this type does include estimates as part of it.
   4. On the overview, the scope type shows as ‘own’ – but I’m not sure what exactly this means, if this is correct or how to change it.
3. Task Dates
   If tasks don’t have valid start and end dates that fall within the Box’s configured timeframe, they can not show up at all in the resource workload view.
   1. Here, does this relate to ‘timebox schedules’ at all? Currently there are none, which may be the problem?
4. Estimation Source
   Confirm that BigPicture is pulling estimates from the right field—typically Original Estimate. If it’s set to a custom or unused field, this could be the cause.
   1. Is there a specific place I would do this? I have checked app configuration but can’t see any field for original estimate (please refer to screenshot below).

App configuration -> fields

5. Synchronization
It’s also worth checking the Synchronization tab to make sure everything’s syncing properly with Jira.

1. I’ve double checked the sync tab, no issues there – everything is set up.

[Paweł Mazur]

Hi @Phil Newby 

Thanks for getting back to me. I appreciate the extra details. Let me walk through each point you raised:

1. Scope Definition – To review which tasks are considered “in scope” for your Box (and therefore visible), head over to the Box configuration. You can do that by clicking “Switch Module” and navigating to Configuration. From there, go to Tasks ->  Scope Definition and double-check if any JQL filters have been applied that might be narrowing the scope too much.
2. Task Dates - This one isn’t related to timebox schedules. It’s more about whether your tasks are actually planned with start and end dates that fall within the box's configured timeframe.
3. Estimation Source - Based on the screenshot you shared, everything looks good to me here. No red flags at first glance.

At this point, it might be helpful to move the conversation to a support ticket so we can take a closer look at your specific setup (and keep things out of the public space). You can reach us anytime through our support portal. We’ll be glad to help further and even schedule a call if needed. Please add a link to this conversation so our support agents can have the extra context needed :) 

Cheers,
Paweł Mazur
Customer Success | Appfire