Timeline View in CRM - a linear way to visualize records over time

Timeline View in CRM - a linear way to visualize records over time

Hello all,

We would like to introduce the next phase in our quest to deliver a seamless user experience as part of the CRM for Everyone: the Timeline View. It allows you to visualize your records plotted across a given timeline. You can view the records by days, weeks, months, or quarters.

In other words, this view offers you a bird’s-eye perspective of the entire module, factoring in "time" as a critical parameter or scale to display records, based on which you can make quick, broad inferences, at a glance, before delving into detailed specifics.



With the new Timeline View, you can:

  • Achieve a consolidated, visual representation of records plotted across a timeframe from which you can derive important time-centric inferences, such as identifying which tasks are ongoing, completed, or yet to begin.
  • Gain insight into the duration of a record or task.
  • Stay organized by providing a clear, chronological layout of your work, making it easier to allocate resources, monitor ongoing tasks, and ensure everything stays on track.

Let us look at a few scenarios to get a clearer understanding of the functions and benefits of the Timeline View.

Scenario I:

Olivia, the Operations Manager at Zylker Properties, manages a variety of projects and tasks, juggling the complexities of planning and execution in her daily workflow. To stay organized and efficient, she uses the Timeline View, a versatile tool that visually arranges records along a timeline, based on their start and end dates.



Let's look into what all she can achieve by using the Timeline View

  1. It allows Olivia to quickly identify the Property Deals that are In Progress (represented by blue bars), making it possible for her to prioritize and direct her team's attention to these active transactions. 
  2. Besides, she can also see the Completed Property Deals (marked in green), and Property Deals slated for future execution (that appear in yellow).
  3. This intuitive color-coding system provides a comprehensive snapshot of each Property Deal, allowing Olivia to assess the status of the entire set of deals at a glance.


  4. Additionally, she can also track the lifespan of each property deal, gaining valuable insight into where adjustments or interventions may be required. 

  5. She can spot trends, such as which periods experience higher volumes of property deal creation and closing, allowing for more effective resource planning.


  6. To optimize team performance further, she can group property deals by deal owner, providing a clear view of each team member’s workload.

  7. Besides, this feature enables her to assess how many property deals each person is managing, ensuring a balanced distribution of responsibilities and improving overall efficiency across the team.


Scenario II:

Yvonne Riehl, the Sales Onboarding Manager at the organization, oversees the onboarding process for new sign-ups. To manage the workload effectively and ensure an even distribution of responsibilities among the team, Yvonne uses the Timeline View. This tool visually displays each onboarding session along a timeline, allowing Yvonne to group the sessions by team member.

With this view, Yvonne can quickly identify when a team member is overloaded with too many onboarding sessions scheduled at a particular time. She can then make adjustments by resizing or repositioning the sessions on the timeline, balancing the workload and ensuring that no one is overwhelmed. This streamlined approach helps Yvonne optimize scheduling and maintain a smooth and efficient onboarding process for both the team and new customers.



Note.
Records without a Start Date or with an End Date earlier than the Start Date will not appear in the Timeline View and will still be visible in the List View.
Records that have a Start Date, but do not have an End Date, are represented as in the image below.

Users will need 'Manage Views' profile permissions to create and edit the Timeline View configuration.

What's next:
Provide the ability to mark a record as complete based on a picklist value.

Availability: Opened to all customer accounts in all DCs who have enabled CRM for Everyone.
Editions: Enterprise and above
DCs: All