The Redmine ticket system has been a popular open source tool for project management for years. Not only among developers of software, apps or web projects. But also in IT departments of medium-sized companies, as well as marketing agencies and other corporate departments.
Redmine: flexible to use
Thanks to flexible functional extensions, it is used in companies with the most diverse orientation and a wide range of applications:
- Development tasks
- Marketing (online / offline)
- Sales and customer care
- Legal and finance, as well as accounting
- Human resources and much more
One of the main uses is to manage tasks using the Redmine ticket feature. To avoid a few common beginner mistakes, we’ll give you three tried-and-true practical tips.
Tip 1: Always assign issues to a specific person
In many companies it is common to assign a task to a user group instead of individual team members. With the ulterior motive that whoever has time at the moment will take care of the issue.
Our experience has shown that a timely implementation of tasks is only ensured if the task has exactly one concrete recipient. Anything else causes delays in the course of the project.
Because if we are honest, only a few in the team feel called to shout here and set a good example by taking on a task in pending status. Usually it is always the same users who stand out in this way. Everyone else either doesn’t dare or doesn’t know that this is expected of them. Others are afraid of taking on too much time or simply don’t want to deal with the issue topic.
Best Practice: Use extensions that support you in this. The Redmine HRM plugin not only helps to display the current resource utilisation of your team, but also points out tickets that have not yet been assigned. This way you kill two birds with one stone.
Tip 2: Be careful with the bulk function: Delete
Die The bulk function of the ticket list in Redmine is useful for completing several identical tasks with one click in a time-saving way. It is often used to change status information in tickets. Or to adjust the assigned to users.
Unfortunately, many of our customers use the function to remove old tickets. Unfortunately, this deletes more than was planned. For example, assigned sub-tickets. The reason for the unplanned deletion is as follows: By default, it is not visible in the ticket list whether it is a main ticket with assigned sub-tickets.
If the main ticket is deleted, Redmine also removes all assigned tickets.
In this case, the shock is great when the user notices the error. And even greater when they realise that Redmine has no reset function. A delete operation in Redmine is always final. There is no recycle bin function that restores deleted content.
Best practice: In any case, it is helpful to show additional columns for the ticket list (e.g. Parent task, Parent task subject).
Lost data can only be restored by means of a backup. And often this is not an option because an active team has deposited and updated too much other data in the meantime. So there will always be a loss of data if you do not block the right to delete existing data.
Best practice: Normal users should not be given the possibility to delete tickets. Valuable information and existing links are quickly lost in this way. These can either no longer be restored, or only in a time-consuming manner. The delete function should (if at all) only be reserved for a very few users with the appropriate rights. And it should never be carried out without consulting those responsible. Rather, use the option of archiving data. This way, the contents disappear from the lists and you can access the information you do not currently need at a later date.
Tip 3: Avoid too many email notifications
A ticket system is a central collection of tasks that need to be done. It is practical because it provides a good overview of the current, past or pending workload.
How the tasks are completed is usually up to the user. Either by priority, by date of creation (first-in / first-out) or completion period (sprint). Alternatively, according to time volume (eat-the-frog) or other principles. In any case, a method should be considered here that is helpful in processing.
It is important that you develop a certain initiative (routine) in how you approach ticking. And if you are a leader, think about how to promote this initiative in the team. And without constantly bombarding your team with emails about new or changed content.
Best practice: Within the team, regular agreements should be made on how to deal with the completion of tasks in general. What are the expectations (e.g. reviewing the task list at least once a day), which tickets should be completed with which priority, for which tickets email notifications would be acceptable, who can control which notifications they want to receive, etc.?
We provide various extensions for Redmine that are helpful in completing daily tasks. These can be tested in our online demo. An overview is provided by the product page. If you have any questions about a specific plug-in function, please feel free to contact us via email. Further useful tips on using Redmine in project management can also be found in our blog. Use the help for research purposes for a specific topic.
Redmine Update from the Pro
Customers whose Redmine is maintained by us, or who use a Redmine Hosting package do not have to worry about updating to the latest plugin version. We do that for you.
All information about our extensions to Redmine can be found on the Product page. For minimum requirements visit our plugin Pricing page. Plugins are available as single version or as bundle.