Add and baseline work packages

Work packages are the coarse, business-level units of scope that carry an investment’s budget and schedule — above the line, not a mirror of your Jira backlog. This guide covers creating them and locking their baselines.

Before you start

You need edit rights on the project.
Keep work packages coarse — a few per investment, one per meaningful stream of work — not Jira-issue granularity. See Work Package ↔ delivery linkage.

Add a work package

Open the project’s Tollgate tab and select Work Packages.
Choose Add work package.
Complete the form:
- Name (required, unique within the project).
- Type and Owner.
- Planned start / Planned end, Actual start / Actual end, and Forecast end. A schedule-variance badge is derived from forecast vs planned end.
- Status — Not Started, In Progress, Blocked, or Complete.
- RAG — Red, Amber, Green, or None.
- Budget — baseline, forecast, and actual.
- Commentary and Linked Jira work items (see Link a work package to a Jira issue).
Choose Save.

Repeat for each work package. The project’s budget totals and Cost RAG on Investment Health roll up from these figures.

Baseline the work packages

Baselining locks the agreed budget and planned dates so drift stays measurable. It’s part of Initiation — the morning after approval.

On the Work Packages register, choose Set baselines.
Review the preview table. By default every lockable work package is selected; deselect any you’re not ready to lock.
Choose Save to lock the budget baseline and planned-dates baseline on the selected work packages.

Keep actuals and forecasts current

Baseline values read as locked. Actuals and forecasts (actual/forecast dates, budget forecast and actual) stay editable — this is your day-to-day “keep it current” lane. Editing them updates Health and Portfolio reporting.