Managing Team Availability

Overview

DubPlanner helps you plan realistically by tracking when team members are unavailable or partially allocated to other work. This prevents accidentally assigning work during vacations, holidays, or when team members are committed elsewhere.

Types of Availability

DubPlanner tracks two types of unavailability:

Unavailable (Global)

Team member is completely unavailable across all projects:

• Vacation: Planned time off
• Sick Leave: Unplanned absence
• Holidays: Company or regional holidays
• Training: Out for conferences or training
• Other absences: Jury duty, family leave, etc.

Visual Indicator: Red X icon in the grid cell

Partially Available (Project-Specific)

Team member is allocated to a different project:

• Working on another project during this time
• Split allocation between multiple projects
• Can include a reason or project name

Visual Indicator: Yellow clock icon in the grid cell

Booking time off from the grid

The fastest route is the cell itself. Right-click a person’s week and open the Availability submenu:

• Add Vacation… — a global absence, for time off
• Add Project Absence… — an absence scoped to this project only. (Not offered in a Custom View, where a cell spans no single project.)
• Edit Availability… — open the full dialog on that person’s entries
• Remove entry — any entry overlapping that week can be removed from right here

Tip

Adding does not book anything outright. Add Vacation… opens Manage Availability prefilled with that cell’s Monday–Friday, so a mis-clicked cell is a dialog you adjust or cancel — not a booking you have to undo.

Opening the Availability Dialog

• Right-click a team member’s name → Manage Availability
• Click a team member’s name
• Availability → Edit Availability… on any of their cells
• Your own availability: the user menu at the bottom of the sidebar

The Availability Dialog

Inside a project the dialog has two tabs, each showing how many entries it holds:

This Project

Unavailability for the current project only:

• Partial allocation to other projects
• Project-specific commitments
• Does not affect that person’s other projects

Global

Unavailability across all projects:

• Vacation, sick leave, holidays
• Applies everywhere in DubPlanner
• The usual choice for time off

Adding Unavailability

Step 1: Choose the Tab

• Use Global for time off (vacation, sick leave)
• Use This Project for allocation to other projects

Step 2: Set the Dates

1. Start Date: First day of unavailability
2. End Date: Last day of unavailability
3. Dates are inclusive (includes both start and end days)

Tip

Weeks in DubPlanner run Monday through Sunday. If a team member is unavailable for part of a week, the entire week cell will show the unavailability indicator.

Step 3: Choose the Type

For Global unavailability:

• Select “Unavailable” (completely out)

For Project unavailability:

• Select “Unavailable” (no capacity for this project)
• Or “Partially Available” (some capacity but not full)

Step 4: Add a Title/Reason (Optional)

Provide context about the unavailability:

• “Vacation in Hawaii”
• “Allocated to Mobile App project”
• “Training: React Advanced Workshop”
• “Sick leave”

The reason appears when hovering over the unavailability indicator.

Step 5: Save

Click “Save” or “Add” to create the unavailability period.

Viewing Availability on the Grid

Visual Indicators

Look for icons in the team member’s row:

• Red X: Completely unavailable
• Yellow Clock: Partially available or allocated elsewhere
• No indicator: Fully available

Hover for Details

Hover your mouse over an unavailability indicator to see:

• The reason or title
• Start and end dates
• Type of unavailability

How Availability Affects Planning

Drag-and-Drop Validation

When dragging an issue over an unavailable cell:

• Unavailable (Red X): Drop is blocked
• Partially Available (Yellow Clock): Drop is allowed but shows warning
• Visual feedback helps prevent scheduling errors

Visual Warnings

Cells with unavailability:

• Show the appropriate indicator
• May have a different background color
• Clearly communicate capacity constraints

Editing Availability

To modify an existing unavailability period:

1. Open the availability dialog for the team member
2. Find the availability entry in the list
3. Click the edit icon or the entry itself
4. Update the dates, type, or reason
5. Save the changes

Deleting Availability

Either:

• From the grid — right-click a cell in the affected week → Availability → Remove …
• From the dialog — open it for that person, find the entry and use its delete icon

The person becomes fully available for those dates, and the shading disappears from the grid straight away, including when you remove someone’s very last entry.

Common Scenarios

Scenario 1: Summer Vacation

Situation: Team member is on vacation for two weeks.

Solution:

1. Right-click team member name → “Manage Availability”
2. Go to the Global tab
3. Set start and end dates for the vacation
4. Type: “Unavailable”
5. Reason: “Summer vacation”
6. Save

Result: Red X appears in grid cells for those weeks. Issues cannot be assigned.

Scenario 2: Split Between Projects

Situation: Team member is 50% on your project, 50% on another project for Q1.

Solution:

1. Right-click team member name → “Manage Availability”
2. Go to the This Project tab (current project only)
3. Set start and end dates for Q1
4. Type: “Partially Available”
5. Reason: “50% allocated to Mobile App project”
6. Save

Result: Yellow clock appears in grid cells. Issues can still be assigned, but the visual reminder helps with capacity planning.

Scenario 3: Company Holiday

Situation: Office closed for a week-long holiday.

Solution (for each team member):

1. Right-click team member name → “Manage Availability”
2. Go to the Global tab
3. Set dates for the holiday week
4. Type: “Unavailable”
5. Reason: “Company holiday week”
6. Save

Result: Red X for all team members during that week.

Tip

Consider creating a “Holiday Calendar” outside of DubPlanner and entering holidays at the start of the year. This prevents accidentally scheduling work during known holidays.

Scenario 4: Sick Leave (Unplanned)

Situation: Team member calls in sick unexpectedly.

Solution:

1. Open availability dialog for that team member
2. Add global unavailability for today (or multiple days)
3. Type: “Unavailable”
4. Reason: “Sick leave”
5. Move any issues assigned this week to another team member or week

Result: Issues are rescheduled, and the team member’s absence is documented.

Best Practices

Planning Ahead

• Enter known time off early: Add vacations as soon as they’re approved
• Set up holiday calendars: Add company holidays at the start of the year
• Communicate changes: Let the team know when availability changes

Using Global vs. Project

• Global: Use for any time the person is completely out (vacation, sick, holidays)
• Project: Use when they’re working but on a different project
• Partially Available: Use for split allocations where some work is possible

Capacity Planning

• Check before assigning: Review availability before dragging issues onto the grid
• Balance workload: Redistribute work from unavailable team members
• Plan buffer: Don’t fully load weeks adjacent to time off

Keeping It Updated

• Remove past unavailability: Clean up old entries periodically
• Update as plans change: Adjust dates when vacation plans shift
• Track sick leave: Document unplanned absences for retrospectives

Integration with Linear

Availability information is stored in DubPlanner only:

• Not synced to Linear
• Specific to DubPlanner’s planning functionality
• Persists across sessions and users

However, the effects are visible in Linear:

• Issues won’t be assigned to unavailable team members for those weeks
• Week labels reflect the adjusted schedule

Multi-User Coordination

When multiple people manage availability:

• Real-time updates: Changes appear immediately for all users
• Collaboration: Anyone can add or update availability
• Transparency: Everyone sees the same availability information
• Conflict prevention: Helps avoid double-booking team members

Reporting and Visibility

Currently, availability is visible:

• On the planning grid with visual indicators
• In the availability dialog with the full list
• On hover tooltips with details

Note

Future enhancements may include availability reports, capacity forecasting, and calendar exports.

Troubleshooting

Can’t Add Availability

• Check permissions: Verify you have edit access to the project
• Verify dates: Ensure end date is after start date
• Try refreshing: Reload the page if the dialog seems stuck

Availability Not Showing

• Check the correct tab: Global vs. Project tabs show different availability
• Verify date range: Ensure the unavailability covers the weeks you’re viewing
• Refresh the page: Sometimes a refresh is needed to see updates

Can Still Drop on Unavailable Cell

• Partially available: Yellow clock cells accept drops (by design)
• Check the indicator: Red X blocks drops, yellow clock allows with warning

Deleted Team Member

If a team member leaves the company:

• Their availability entries remain in the system
• Issues assigned to them stay assigned (until reassigned)
• Consider reassigning their work before they leave

Next Steps

• Plan issues with availability in mind
• Learn about working with projects
• Understand Linear integration