Gauging Length of Tasks
Asked by Lida Peat:

Our team is trying to gauge how long tasks for each category (Easy, Medium, Hard) are taking to complete. We are currently using the Time In List powerup and labels to help track. However, we are needing to also report on how long blocked items in each category are taking as well. What would be the recommended approach? Just use more labels (i.e. "Blocked Easy")?

Any guidance or advice is welcome!

Thank you!


Answers:
author: Genti Tola
body: Hi there!

[Card Time In List](https://trello.com/power-ups/6211e70cf500cc8f17546a80/card-time-in-list#:~:text=Measure%20the%20time%20each%20card,been%20in%20the%20current%20list.) for Trello can do the following for you:

- Track time spent in each list

- Track cumulative times spent on the list you specify

- Track time until or past due date

- Export durations to make advanced reports like average times, track stuck cards on a single list etc.

- And many more features...

Cheers!


author: Robin Warren _Blue Cat Reports_
body: Hi [@Lida Peat](/t5/user/viewprofilepage/user-id/4577953) Robin from the team behind Time in List here :)

I would generally recommend adding a 'blocked' label. That is what I always recommend for teams tracking blocked items. The biggest benefit is if you have multiple lists a Card could get blocked in, this way you can see which step of your process each blocked card is in. Having a Blocked list doesn't work so well for that (but can be a fine solution if it works for you).

I think by doing that you would see the data you wanted in the Time in List charts. But if you also wanted some more robust historical charting you could look at [Blue Cat Reports](https://trello.com/power-ups/5d9c90aa18965066fcd44730/reports-by-blue-cat) or if you are following a Scrum/Kanban approach [Corrello](https://trello.com/power-ups/568c2b6c7d2758a55ac48c98/agilescrum-kanban-dashboards-charts-corrello).

Blue Cat has a Time to Complete chart which can show a breakdown of time to complete cards and allows filtering by label etc.

Corrello has a Cycle Time chart which if youn know what that is you don't need me to explain it to you :)

Hope that helps :) And feel free to contact out support email if you want any further help.

Robin
> Founder: Blue Cat [Reports for Trello](https://trello.com/power-ups/5d9c90aa18965066fcd44730/reports-by-blue-cat) and more :)


author: marin
body: Hi [@Lida Peat](/t5/user/viewprofilepage/user-id/4577953) , can you elaborate more on what is a "blocked item"? Can you describe your workflow with an example maybe?

comments: author: Lida Peat
body: We currently have four lists going: Icebox, Backlog, Work In Progress, and Done.

Each card is considered a task with a level of difficulty associated with it using labels: Easy (Green), Medium (Orange), and Hard (Red).

We are able to track the length of time it takes for each card to go through the process using the TIme In List Power Up.

However, we need to start tracking (separately) how long a task is being blocked for...or how long it takes to clear a blocked task.

Blocked tasks, meaning it can not be worked on until something else is completed or it is in a holding pattern of some kind.

What is the best approach to tracking?


author: marin
body: I see. A possible solution would be to move a card in a separate list called "Blocked". That way you can see how much time the card stayed there. We are doing something similar at my company (btw we are developing a similar tracking power-up called <https://assista.io> if you want to check it out)

Would this suggestion work for your workflow?


author: Lida Peat
body: Ahh! Thank you so much! So simple I love it! :)

I'll be sure to check out the power-up!

Thanks!


author: marin
body: Glad I was able to help :)