Plan with roles and tracks

Real projects get planned before they get staffed. You know the Documentation stage needs an architect for a month and a half long before you know which architect it will be. Monument lets you plan that way: book the stage against a role now, sort the work into its own track lane, and leave the actual name for later.

We'll do it on Riverside Apartments: book the Architect role on the Documentation stage, name its track, and check the rates it prices from before anyone is assigned.

The idea: plan by role, then by name

Two ideas do the work here, and they are worth separating in your head.

A role is a booking against a group of people, not a person. When you draw a band, Monument does not force you to name someone. Choose a role, like your Architect group, and the plan captures what kind of person the stage needs while the actual name stays open.

A track keeps a role's work in its own strand. Name the track when you create the booking, so the work is sorted from the start rather than tidied up later. A busy schedule reads as clean, named lanes instead of one tangled block.

Put together, you can plan the shape of the work first and settle the name second. The role prices the plan immediately, using the Role group's default rates, so nothing waits on a name to become real.

Book a stage by role

You plan from the timeline, the same drag you would use to staff a stage. The difference is what you choose in the dialog that opens: a role, and no one else.

1. 1

   In the Riverside Apartments schedule, click Edit and open RA and Documentation so its resource lane appears.

2. 2

   Drag across the Documentation resource lane to block out the work period. A dialog opens asking who it is for.

3. 3

   Open Role and choose Architect, rather than a named person.

   
4. 4

   Name the Track Architect Delivery, so this and future role work share one lane.

5. 5

   Leave Assigned to on Unassigned, since this stage is planned as role capacity, not staffed work yet, and click Create.

Save it and read the rates

Save the booking, then open it again to see what got recorded: the role, the track, and the rates the group contributes.

1. 1

   Click Save to persist the booking.

2. 2

   Open it again. Role reads Architect, Track reads Architect Delivery, and Assigned to reads Unassigned.

3. 3

   Billable Rate reads two hundred dollars an hour and Cost Rate one hundred and fifty, both pulled from the Architect group's defaults.

   

Troubleshooting

• The rate looks different from what you expect. The group's default rate can carry its own version history: check rates and rate history if the current amount surprises you.
• Assigned to won't stay empty. Changing Role does not clear a selected person. Open Assigned to and choose the unassigned option while keeping Architect as the role.
• You want this staffed now, not later. Assign a person directly instead of leaving Assigned to empty. When a name arrives after the plan, hand the role's work to staff.

Where this fits next

You have planned a stage against the Architect role, sorted it into a named track, and confirmed the rates it is pricing from, with no one assigned yet. From here, hand the role's work to staff to give a real person part of it while keeping the rest open and the rates intact.