Investment Visibility - Crawl

Build R&D Time Allocation Reports

(Timesheets)

Leadership gets a first data-backed view of where R&D time goes, built from hours your teams already log.

1. Define the investment questions

Meet with leadership and agree on three to five questions they want answered, for example "How is time distributed across product initiatives?" or "Are we investing enough in Initiative X?" These determine how you group and filter, so settle them before pulling data.

2. Pull the Logged Time report by space

Go to Tempo → Reports → Logged Time. Set the date range for last month or last quarter (set the range after creating the report). Filter by Space, select the relevant Jira spaces, then group by Space (optionally add Account as a sub-grouping via Account Category → Account), then by User. Export before changing the grouping. Logged Time Reports

3. Pull a second view by Tempo Team

Run the same report grouped by Tempo Team (optionally add Account as a sub-grouping), then by Space. This shows how each team's effort spreads across Jira spaces, often more useful to leadership than the space view. Export before changing the grouping.

4. Pull a third view by Account Category

(If Tempo Accounts are configured). Group by Account Category (optionally add Account), then by Space, to add the CapEx/OpEx layer. If Accounts aren't set up yet, skip this and note it as a future improvement. Video: creating a report on CapEx accounts

5. Export to CSV/Excel and consolidate

Export each view separately, then build one summary worksheet: Initiative/Space | Team | Total Hours | % of Total R&D Hours | CapEx/OpEx Split (if available). To keep a standing report, use Save Report inside Tempo (browser bookmarks won't persist). Exporting Time Reports · Saving and Editing Reports

6. Add context for leadership

For each major initiative, add a one-line narrative, for example "Project Alpha: 1,200 hours (32% of total R&D). Expected given Q1 release target. On track."

7. Deliver and baseline

Share the report with leadership and use it as your Day 0 baseline. Note how long it took to build.

Establish Investment Review Cadence

(Timesheets)

Leadership gets the investment picture on a known date, and ad-hoc report requests drop cycle over cycle.1

1. Define the cadence

Set a fixed monthly schedule before you start, for example: period closes last business day → admin builds report by Day 3 → leadership reviews in a standing meeting by Day 5. Document it and share with leadership before the first cycle.

2. Standardize the report template

Build a reusable Excel template from your first allocation report, with four fixed sections: R&D Time Allocation by Initiative, Team-Level Effort Distribution, Period-over-Period Trends, and Notable Variances and Admin Commentary.

3. Build the period-over-period comparison

Each month, add a column showing the previous period alongside the current one, so trends surface; for example "Initiative Alpha increased from 28% to 35% of total R&D hours this month." Trends are more useful to leadership than a single snapshot.

4. Set the review agenda

Keep the meeting to 30 minutes and distribute the report 24 hours ahead. Structure it around three questions: Where did R&D time go this period? How did allocation shift from last period? Do we need to change anything?

5. Capture action items

When leadership flags misalignment (for example, over-investing in sustaining versus the new platform), record the specific reallocation decisions and track whether next period's report reflects them.

6. Measure and refine

Each cycle, track two numbers: how long the report took to build, and how many ad-hoc requests arrived outside the cadence. Both should fall over time. For self-paced reinforcement, the Tempo Learning Center covers all Tempo products.