Standardizing trade show preparation

Sample workshop for creating a project component for a trade show appearance

Archiolabs, an innovative B2B SaaS company specializing in cloud-based planning tools, takes part in one of the industry’s most important trade shows every year. The trade show appearance is a key project for Archiolabs that has to be planned and carried out anew each year. It provides an opportunity to maintain existing customer relationships, generate new leads, and further strengthen the brand through direct interaction with its target audience—planning offices, architects, and project managers.

However, preparing for the trade show is time-consuming and complex every year. Numerous steps have to be coordinated—from booking the booth space and developing the booth concept to planning travel, booking hotels, transport, booth staffing, and follow-up. Because the trade show appearance takes place only once a year, employees often forget which specific tasks need to be completed and how the processes work in detail. This regularly leads to delays, extra work, and unnecessary stress.

To address these challenges, Archiolabs has decided to develop a standardized project component for the trade show appearance. This component is intended to:

• Clearly structure the entire process and serve as a template.
• Speed up and simplify annual planning.
• Document the work steps clearly so that no one has to start “from scratch” again.
• Make targeted use of lessons learned from previous years to continuously improve the process.

Workshop goal:

In this workshop, we will develop the structure and content of this project component. Together, we will define:

• Which recurring subtasks are involved in trade show preparation.
• Which dependencies and sequences exist between the tasks.
• Which information, checklists, and data points are needed to manage the project.
• How the component should be designed so that it can be used as a reliable tool for all future trade show appearances.

By the end of the workshop, there should be an initial draft of the project component that can serve as a template for practical implementation in Archiolabs’ planning system.

Workshop framework

[!WARNING] Excerpt from the workshop minutes

Ben Heinrich has gathered the team in the meeting room. The team is seated around the large conference table. Ben Heinrich is leading the discussion, and Florian Bauer has Leadtime open on the screen, which is projected onto the large monitor. Coffee cups are on the table and notepads are ready.

Participants:

• Ben Heinrich (Managing Director): Initiator of the workshop, with an overview of the strategic importance of the trade show appearance.
• Laura Keller (Sales Assistant): Responsible for coordinating and scheduling meetings at the trade show.
• Lena Friedrich (Executive Assistant): Responsible for organizational tasks—booking hotels, transport, and booth space, as well as placing orders.
• Katja Fischer (Project Manager): Responsible for booth design, printed materials, and flyers.
• Johannes Klein (Support Specialist): Worked on booth duty last year and knows the on-site processes.
• Florian Bauer (Senior Project Manager): Leadtime specialist who supports the workshop and implements the project component in parallel.

Workshop Phase 1: Developing the main topics

Team discussion

[!WARNING] Excerpt from the workshop minutes

Ben Heinrich: “Good, let’s get started. Our first goal is to define the main topic areas, the so-called epics. These are the main blocks of our trade show preparation that everything else is based on. Each epic represents a clearly defined area that runs like a common thread through the entire project.”

Lena Friedrich: “So they are basically the main chapters, so we don’t get lost in a hundred individual tasks again later, right?”

Ben: “Exactly. These epics help us structure the project clearly. If we define them well today, we’ll save ourselves chaos in a few months. Florian, you have Leadtime open, right?”

Florian Bauer: “Yes, ready. I’ll create the epics live as we go.”

Ben: “Great. Then let’s collect the big topics—what are the major chunks that cost us time and nerves every year?”

Laura Keller: “Scheduling. The customer appointments at the trade show and the coordination beforehand. That’s always a huge task.”

Ben: “Yes, that’s definitely an epic of its own. Florian, please create it as ‘Trade Show Scheduling’.”

(Florian types and creates “Trade Show Scheduling” as an epic.)

Lena: “Bookings and orders—the whole logistics side: booth space, hotel, rental car, catering, electricity, booth contractor … it’s a huge undertaking.”

Ben: “Absolutely. I’d call that ‘Organization & Bookings’. Florian?”

(Florian creates “Organization & Bookings” as an epic.)

Johannes Klein: “Booth duty. Who is at the booth when, and who takes breaks. Last year we organized it on the fly—never again.”

Ben: “Exactly, we’ll handle that better this time. ‘Booth Staffing & Shift Schedule’?”

(Florian creates “Booth Staffing & Shift Schedule” as an epic.)

Katja Fischer: “Design and setup. The booth, the furniture, the graphics—everything that is physically there and visible. A lot of work goes into that every year.”

Ben: “Right, ‘Booth Design & Setup’ fits well. Florian, please add it.”

(Florian creates “Booth Design & Setup” as an epic.)

Ben: “That gives us four major areas to start with:

1. Trade Show Scheduling
2. Organization & Bookings
3. Booth Staffing & Shift Schedule
4. Booth Design & Setup

Are we missing anything?”

(The team thinks for a moment, but no one has another suggestion.)

Ben: “Okay, that already looks very good. But I would change the order. “Organization & Bookings” should come first, followed by “Booth Design & Setup”. “Scheduling” comes next, and “Booth Staffing” only at the end—everything in the order in which we’ll actually work through it later.

(Florian rearranges the epics via drag & drop in the tree view.)

Before we continue, one more important point: We repeatedly have things that are so large that they are practically projects of their own. In such cases, it can make sense to create not just an epic, but a separate component—a separate building block that we can reuse every year.”

Katja: “Yes, the brochure immediately comes to mind. That was a huge undertaking last year—with copy, design, the printer, and approvals.”

Ben: “Exactly, that’s a good example. We’ll probably make a brochure like that every year—and every year we ask ourselves again how we actually did it last time. That’s the perfect candidate for its own component.”

Florian: “So don’t create it as an epic, but as a separate component, right?”

Ben: “Right. Florian, please create it under ‘Trade Show Brochure’. Then we can store the typical steps such as copy, design, proofreading, and printing—and next year we’ll simply use it again.”

(Florian creates the component “Create Brochure”.)

Ben: “Great. That gives us the broad outline: A “Trade Show Appearance” component with four epics for the main areas of “Organization”, “Booth Design”, “Scheduling”, and “Booth Staffing”. Plus a second component for creating a brochure. We’ll leave that empty for now because it would take us too far afield. Today, we’re focusing only on the trade show appearance itself.”.

Lena: “That already adds a bit of structure.”

Implementation in Leadtime

1. Create a new component

• In the left menu, navigate to Administration → Component Library.

• Click Add Component in the top right.

• A dialog window opens. Fill in the following fields:

  • Icon: Choose a suitable icon so the component is easier to identify in the overview.
  • Name: Give the component a precise name.
  • Description: Describe the component’s intended use. What should it be used for?
  • Tags: Tags are used later to assign tickets. Recommendation: Use a simplified version of the component name as a tag.
  • Internal Note: Store internal notes or work instructions here for people who will later work with the component. For example, special dates or important project steps.

• Click Save.

Create a new component

2. Add building blocks to the component

• Select the newly created component in the overview.
• Switch to the tree view (the default view for further work).
• Click the plus icon to add building blocks to the component.

The building blocks of project components

3. Create the first epics

• Select Create Epic.

• Fill in the fields:

  • Icon: Optional, for better visual distinction.
  • Name: Name of the work area or phase, e.g. “Design Phase”.
  • Description: Explain the content, the WHAT of the epic.
  • Tags: Use a tag that will later also be applied to all associated work packages, checklists, or tests.
  • Internal Note: Enter an implementation instruction here for the team that will implement this epic at a later point. This is about describing the HOW.

• Save the epic.

4. Optimize the structure

• The epics and, later, other building blocks can be rearranged via drag & drop in the tree view.
• Make sure the order of the elements matches the actual project workflow.

5. Prepare additional components

If the meeting has already established that additional components are needed (e.g. “Create Brochure”), create them immediately using the same pattern.

This completes the first phase—the component structure is in place, and the first epics have been created.

The specific work packages, checklists, and tests follow in the next phase.

Workshop Phase 2: Developing the epics’ work packages

Team discussion

[!WARNING] Excerpt from the workshop minutes

The team continues. They now need to develop the specific work packages for the “Organization & Bookings” epic. The mood is productive and everyone is focused. Florian projects Leadtime’s work package input window onto the wall.

Ben: “Now we’ll go through the individual work packages. Last time, we already discussed booking booth space, sourcing trade show booth equipment, booking the hotel, booking a van, and the kickoff meeting. Now it’s about creating the packages in concrete terms—and this time we’re placing particular emphasis on filling in all the fields properly. We need the information not just for execution, but also for our planning and budgeting.”

Florian: “I’ll explain it again briefly so that we’re all on the same page. For each work package, you have to fill in these fields:

• Description: Here you write WHAT should be done in this package—the task itself.
• Tags: The epic’s tags are inherited automatically. For example, I gave the entire component the tag ‘trade_show’ and the first epic the tag ‘trade_show_org’. These tags are inherited by all elements within the work package. Later, when we create tickets from these work packages, this will give us an additional overview. You don’t necessarily have to assign another tag at the work package level, but it could in our workflow .
• Internal Note: This is often what gets forgotten. Please explain the HOW here—the work instructions for the person who will handle the work package later. When someone receives the package, they should immediately know how to approach the task without having to ask questions.
• Minimum Effort: And this is very important now…”

Ben: “Exactly, the minimum effort! I want you to provide an estimate for each work package of how many hours you need to complete it. We need these estimates for two things:

• So that I can budget the project better in advance—in other words, how much total effort we’re facing.
• So that we can later see in controlling whether we stayed on track or whether something is getting stuck.”

Lena: “So we’re now making a rough estimate of the hours for each work package?”

Ben: “Yes, it doesn’t have to be a science. Better to be too generous than too tight. If you think ‘Book Hotel’ will take two hours, enter two. If it only takes one in the end—that’s fine too. But we need a basis.”

Laura: “And what if we can’t estimate a package well?”

Ben: “Then allow too much rather than too little. And if in doubt, ask someone who has done something like it before.”

Florian: “So, to summarize

• Description = WHAT needs to be done
• Tags are for structure
• Internal Note = HOW the topic should be approached
• and Minimum Effort = How many hours this work step will take.

Can we do that?”

Team (nods in agreement): “Yes!”

Ben: “Good, let’s get started. We’ll now take each of the work packages one at a time.”

The team starts with “Book Booth Space”.

Lena: “So this means we reserve the booth space with the trade show organizer. I know how it works; I do it every year. I’d say that if we take the same offer as last year, the coordination and a few emails might take two hours.”

Florian: “Okay, I’ll enter this:

• Description: Reserve the booth space with the trade show organizer and clarify its location and size.
• The tags are already there.
• Internal Note: Please check whether the same booth space as last year is available. If not, request alternatives.
• Minimum Effort: 2 hours.”

Ben: “Perfect, next.”

Katja: “Source Trade Show Booth Equipment—that’s the furniture and technology. I have to get a quote from the booth contractor and possibly rent additional items. It’s hard to say. If we don’t change anything, it takes three hours. If we decide to design a new booth, then of course we’re opening a huge can of worms.”

Ben: “Maybe we can create a new component for that later. But this says minimum effort, so let’s use three hours, because that’s what it takes—even if we simply reuse everything from last year.”

Florian: “Okay, I’ll write:

• Description: Obtain quotes for booth furniture and technical equipment; place the order after coordination.
• The tags are there.
• Internal Note: Please ask the booth contractor about the standard packages first, then check options for special requests.
• Minimum Effort: 3 hours.”

Ben: “Great, next.”

Laura: “I’ll take care of booking the hotel again. I’ll call the hotels we know and see whether we can get something nearby again. I’d also say two hours.”

Florian: “So: Description: Research and book hotel rooms for the entire team. The tags are there. Internal Note: Ask our regular hotels first, then check alternatives within a maximum radius of 2 km.

Minimum Effort: 2 hours.”

Laura: “Could we put the hotels’ contact details directly in the description? That would be useful.”

Ben: “Of course. Please add any information to these work packages that might be helpful to you while working. You can also upload any order forms or other files to these work packages.

Florian: “Good, and the van?”

Lena: “I can do that too. Rent it from our usual rental company. I’d say one hour.”

Florian: “So:

Description: Rent a van for booth setup and transporting materials.

The tags are there.

Internal Note: Reserve the van at least one week in advance and coordinate pickup and return with the team.

Minimum Effort: 1 hour.”

Ben: “So, now we’ve covered the key booking topics. But one thing just occurred to me: When and how do we actually make the decisions about them? Last year it often went like this: We discussed things forever until someone eventually took care of them.”

Johannes Klein: “That’s right, we sometimes lost weeks just because it wasn’t clear who was doing what.”

Ben: “That’s why I suggest scheduling a kickoff meeting at the start of every trade show project where we discuss exactly these topics. We’ll clarify right away: What space do we want? Which hotel? Do we need a van? And then we’ll assign the tasks.”

Lena: “That makes sense. Otherwise, we’ll get sidetracked again.”

Ben: “Florian, please add another work package called Organize Kickoff Meeting.”

Florian: “So:

• Description: Plan and hold the kickoff meeting for trade show preparation.
• The tags are there.
• Internal Note: Prepare the agenda (booth space, equipment, hotel, transport, staff),
• Clarify responsibilities.
• Minimum Effort?”

Ben: “Hmm. That’s difficult. The meeting will probably last two hours or something. But if five people attend the meeting, it’s actually ten hours.”

Florian: “We can solve that with a multiplier. I’ll explain that to you later. For now, let’s enter only a minimum value here for how long it would take one person. So, hours.”

Laura: “I just thought of something else: Wouldn’t it be good to have a checklist before the kickoff so that we know what we should clarify in advance?”

Ben: “Good idea.”

• Florian: “There’s a special ‘Checklist’ work package for that kind of thing. It’s similar to a ticket, except it contains lots of individual small tasks that need to be completed:
• Description: Prepare the kickoff meeting.
• The tags are there.
• Internal Note: Compare the list with experience from previous years and consult Ben.
• Minimum Effort: 1 hour.

I would now move the checklist and the kickoff meeting above the other work packages, right to the top, because we want to complete these topics first, before anything else. There.”

Ben: “Perfect, that’s done. Our epic is now in place.”

Implementation in Leadtime

After creating the component’s basic structure in the first phase, the next step is to create the specific work packages and checklists within the first epic, “Organization & Bookings”.

The building blocks of project components

1. Create work packages

• In the component’s tree view, click the plus symbol in the “Organization & Bookings” row.

• A context menu opens with three options:

  • Create Acceptance Test
  • Create Checklist
  • Create Work Package

• Select “Create Work Package”.

• A dialog window opens with the following fields:

  • Icon: Optional symbol for visual identification.
  • Name: Title of the work package, e.g. “Book Booth Space”.
  • Description: Explanation of the task, e.g.“Reserve the booth space with the trade show organizer and clarify its location and size”.
  • Tags: Optional, but inherited automatically from the epic and component.
  • Internal Note: Implementation notes, e.g.“Please check whether the same booth space as last year is available. If not, request alternatives.”
  • Minimum Effort: Estimated minimum effort in hours, e.g. “2”.

• Click “Save”.

2. Create additional work packages

Create additional work packages in the same way as the first task:

• “Source Trade Show Booth Equipment”(Enter the description and minimum effort as needed)
• “Book Van”
• “Organize Kickoff Meeting”

3. Create a checklist

• Select “Create Checklist” in the same context menu.

• Define the title and individual task items (to-dos) for the checklist.

• Example: “Prepare Kickoff Meeting” with tasks such as:

  • Create Agenda
  • Invite Participants
  • Check Technology

4. Sort the component tree

• The newly created work packages and the checklist can be rearranged via drag & drop in the component tree.
• In this example, the “Kickoff Meeting” and its associated checklist were moved to the top because they should be completed first.

Workshop Phase 3: Detailing work packages with forms

Team discussion

[!WARNING] Excerpt from the workshop minutes

Ben: So, now we’ll go into even more detail. We’ve defined our epics and created the work packages—now it’s about precisely defining the tasks within the packages. We’ll start with “Kickoff Preparation”. Laura, what do we need there?

Laura: We have to make sure in advance that we’ve collected all relevant points for the kickoff meeting. So that we don’t forget anything, we should create a checklist with the preparatory tasks.

Florian: Exactly. I’ll quickly show you how it works. We can create what are known as to-dos for the checklist. They’re intended for small, clear tasks that can simply be checked off so that preparation runs smoothly.

(Florian opens the “Kickoff Preparation” checklist in Leadtime and shows the input form for to-dos.)

Florian Bauer: As you can see, we can simply enter the tasks here as a list.

(The team workshops a series of to-dos for the checklist.)

• Set the kickoff meeting date: Find a suitable date for the kickoff meeting based on everyone’s availability and send the calendar event to all participants.
• Prepare the meeting room: Reserve a suitable meeting room. Check whether the room is large enough for all participants and whether technical equipment such as a projector and whiteboard is available. Before the kickoff, check the presentation equipment in the reserved room (projector, laptop connection, Wi-Fi, speakers). Report any defects immediately and organize alternatives.
• Gather current trade show materials: Obtain all relevant trade show documents (booth plans, organizer information, booking guidelines, cost overview) from the trade show website or the previous year and store them in a shared folder.
• Obtain budget guidelines from Ben: Hold a brief coordination meeting with Ben Heinrich to clarify the maximum budget for trade show planning. Note which cost items need particular attention.
• Review relevant documentation from the previous year: Review reports, minutes, and lessons learned from last year’s trade show participation and check them for insights relevant to this year’s planning.
• Create the project in Leadtime: Create the new trade show project in Leadtime, load the component, and add the responsible teams.

(Florian types in the items.)

Ben: Perfect. Then the items can be worked through one after another. And what about the work packages themselves?

Florian: They’ve already been created. Let’s take the “Kickoff Meeting” as an example. Every work package in Leadtime has a form that we can attach. I’ll briefly explain why that’s important.

(Florian opens the “Kickoff Meeting” work package.)

Florian: The work package description contains the “What”—what needs to be done. The “Internal Note”, on the other hand, serves as an instruction for the person doing the work—the “How”. But to let that person complete the work package in concrete terms, the requirements have to be clear. That’s exactly what the form is for.

Ben: The point is this: Every time we do a project like this, the situation is always a little different. Different people attend, we may want to take a different booth or try a different presentation concept. With the form questions, we can customize the work package to the specific situation.

Florian: Exactly. And the questions for this first work package could help us discuss the right topics during the kickoff meeting. We work through the items in the meeting and enter the answers directly in the form. And the answers also affect the other work packages.

Ben: Great. Let’s collect the questions for the kickoff meeting.

(The team develops the questions together.)

• Who will manage the project?
• Question Type: Person
• Description: Responsible for managing the entire trade show project.

Florian: “Person” is a special question type. It lets you select someone directly from our team. That’s extremely useful because the person can then also be entered as the assignee in later tasks. And we can always see exactly who is responsible.

• Which team members are going to the trade show?
• Question Type: Person
• Description: Select the people who will be at the booth on site.

Florian: Here, too, we’re using “Person”. You can select multiple people—for example, everyone doing booth duty. That’s much clearer than simply writing it in the text.

• Is a new trade show booth required?
• Question Type: Radio Button (Yes/No)
• Description: Clarify whether a new booth model will be developed or the existing one will be used.

Florian: We can use this question for a condition later.

Katja: What is a condition?

Florian: Work packages can be shown or hidden depending on specific answers. Let’s take the question “Do we need a new trade show booth?” as an example. If the answer is “No”, we can use a condition to specify that the work package “Design New Trade Show Booth” is automatically hidden.

Katja: Cool, so the project structure automatically adapts to our answers?

Florian: Yeah baby, you’ve got it. Let’s continue

• Who is organizing the hotel bookings?
• Question Type: Person
• Description: Define the responsible person.

Who will take care of the booth design?

Question Type: Person

Description: Define the responsible person.

How many people are attending the kickoff meeting?

Question Type: Multiplier

Description: Specify the number of participants. Duration per person: 2 hours.

Florian: The multiplier is especially useful when the duration of a task depends on the number of people involved. For example: The kickoff meeting takes two hours per person. So if we enter in the form that five people are participating, Leadtime automatically calculates five times two hours, or ten hours, as the effort. That’s extremely helpful for later scheduling and budgeting.

(The team continues)

• Which delivery dates must be observed?
• Question Type: Short Text
• Description: Relevant deadlines for booth construction, printed materials, etc.
• Is there a current order form from the trade show organizer?
• Question Type: File Upload
• Description: If available, please upload it.
• Who is responsible for organizing transport?
• Question Type: Person
• Description: Specify the person responsible for vehicle booking and logistics.
• How will we secure our trade show booth?
• Question Type: Radio Buttons
• Description: In the past, our booth has repeatedly suffered minor damage at night. How will we ensure that this does not happen?
• Options: Booth guard, camera surveillance, no guard

Ben: Perfect. This is exactly the structure we need so that we don’t have to start from scratch every year.

Florian: And don’t forget: This form principle applies to all work packages. For each package, think about which questions should clarify its execution so that no follow-up questions are needed in the end.

Ben Heinrich: So, let’s continue with the other packages. Or do you need a short break?

Implementation in Leadtime

The next step is to supplement the work packages and checklists already created with forms. These forms help adapt the work packages flexibly to the specific project situation.

In our sample project, the starting situation varies from year to year—for example, the trade show participants change or a new booth has to be built. The form questions help adapt the work packages to the specific current situation.

Create a to-do list

Checklists consist of individual tasks that have to be completed one after another.

Here’s how:

• In the component tree, select the checklist (e.g. “Kickoff Preparation”).
• Click the “Add To-Do” button in the center.
• A dialog box opens:
• Enter the title of the to-do (e.g. “Set Kickoff Date”).
• Optional: Add a description.
• Save.

The to-do now appears in the checklist and can be checked off when the project is carried out.

Add questions to work packages

Questions allow a work package to be adapted flexibly to the specific project situation.

Here’s how:

• Select the work package in the component tree (e.g. “Kickoff Meeting”).
• Click “Add Question”.
• A dialog box opens:
• Title: Short name for the question (e.g. “Project Management”).
• Question: The question written out in full (e.g. “Who will manage the project?”).
• Description: Explanation of the question (e.g. “Responsible for managing the entire trade show project.”).
• Question Type: Select the appropriate question type (e.g. “Person”).
• Save.

The question is added to the work package and completed when the project is started later.

Special feature: Multiplier question

The Multiplier question type affects the work package’s effort estimate:

• Example: Question “How many people are attending the kickoff meeting?”

• The question specifies that 2 hours per person are planned.

• If the user later enters “5 people”, the effort is automatically set to 10 hours.

Sort questions

The order of the questions can be changed via drag & drop. For example, it often makes sense to ask about the number of participants at the beginning.

Workshop Phase 4: Refining the project structure with conditions

Team discussion

[!WARNING] Excerpt from the workshop minutes

After a long and intensive workshop interrupted by several breaks, the team has now created the work packages for all epics and equipped them with forms. New ideas repeatedly came up during the work, so Florian adjusted and expanded the component tree several times. Additional epics and work packages were created or existing ones were merged. Florian points out that all elements in the component tree can be moved via drag & drop. It is even possible to drag a question from one work package to another. Now, late in the afternoon, everyone is a little exhausted but satisfied. It is the good feeling of having created a sustainable solution for a time-consuming project that recurs every year.

Florian: “Okay, final stretch! Now that the structure is more or less in place, we’ll move on to conditions. I’ve postponed this all day because it’s simply better to do it once you can see the overall project.”

Florian explains once more what conditions are: “Conditions let us make certain questions or work packages appear only when a previous answer meets a specific condition. This keeps the component clear and always shows only the relevant tasks.”

As the first practical example, the team opens the “Source Trade Show Booth Equipment” work package. A condition is to be added there:

• Question: “Do we need a booth guard?” (with Yes/No as the answer options)
• Follow-up question: “Please book a booth guard and upload the order form”—this should appear only if the first question is answered “Yes”.
• In addition, if the answer is “Yes”, the minimum effort is increased by two hours.

The second example concerns the “Booth Staffing & Shift Schedule” work package. The question “Do we need new business cards?” is added here. If this question is answered “Yes”, the “Order Business Cards” work package should appear automatically.

The team adds more conditions to various packages.

Ben: “Does anyone have another idea?”

Johannes: “Yes, at last year’s trade show we forgot a thousand things. I had to go to the hardware store three times. Couldn’t we make a checklist for the packing plan?”

Florian: “Good idea! Even better: We could create an acceptance test instead. It’s more precise than a simple checklist. Acceptance tests actually come from software development. They’re a little more flexible.”

Florian explains:

Acceptance tests consist of:

• Title
• Description
• Steps
• Expected Result
• During acceptance, the reviewer can indicate: “Passes” or “Doesn’t Pass” and, in the latter case, leave a comment.
• If “Doesn’t Pass” is selected, a ticket can be created directly to fix the problem.

Katja: “Cool, we can also use that really well for our software projects!”

The team develops the first test cases for the packing plan together. Florian uses the “Toolbox” test case as an example:

• Title: Toolbox

• Description: “Please check whether the toolbox has been packed. Specifically, it should contain:”

• Steps:

  1. Open the toolbox
  2. Check the contents

• Expected Result: “Screwdriver, hammer, and adhesive tape are present”

Ben: “Let’s create one final work package, “Lessons Learned Meeting”. After the trade show, we’ll take time to write down together what went well and what didn’t. Then we’ll revise the project component—both the effort estimates and the content, if necessary.”

Everyone agrees and thinks the idea is very good.

Ben ends the meeting: “When the project actually starts, please enrich the work packages in the component library with additional information as needed if that makes them easier to carry out.”

Implementation in Leadtime

Conditions in work packages

The final phase of component creation is about refining the project structure in a targeted way. This refinement uses conditions that make certain work packages, questions, or acceptance tests visible only if a previously defined condition is met.

The goal of this phase is to reduce complexity when the project is completed later. Unnecessary work packages and questions are hidden dynamically so that only the elements relevant to the respective project are displayed.

When does this phase make sense?

Refinement should take place once the component’s basic structure is in place and most epics and work packages have already been defined. By integrating conditions, individual branches in the component tree can then be activated or deactivated as needed.

Example: Conditional question

Suppose the “Kickoff Meeting” work package contains the question: How will we secure our trade show booth?

Answer options (radio button):

• No security
• Booth guard
• Camera surveillance

The logistics epic contains a work package that should be active only if the kickoff meeting decided that there should be a booth guard.

• In the “Trade Show Planning & Logistics” epic, create a new work package called “Organize Booth Guard”.
• Add condition:
• Component: Trade Show Planning
• Element: Kickoff Meeting
• Target: “Security” question
• Condition Type: Answer contains “Booth Guard”
• Save

Note on acceptance tests

Acceptance tests are a special type of work package. They work similarly to checklists, but with detailed test steps and expected results.

• An acceptance test defines:
• Test title
• Description of the test scope
• Specific execution steps
• Expected result
• A tester checks the specifications and documents the result.
• If a test fails, a new ticket can be created directly to fix the problem.