Valentina Akpan: Founder of Rellatech, providing administrative and operations support to executives, founders, business owners and teams. Her background combines technical support, customer success, administration and operations.
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The Starting Point
The client was using ClickUp as their main project tool, but resource management still happened in spreadsheets, calendar invites, and side conversations. Nobody could see who was overloaded, who had room, or whether upcoming pipeline work would exceed what the team could take on.
They needed a ClickUp systems consultant who could design and build a resource management layer inside the existing workspace, automate the parts that would otherwise drift out of date, and hand over a setup their VP of Operations could run without a developer on call. This was a contract build with a clear scope: time tracking, approvals, views, dashboards, capacity forecasting, and time-off integration.
What I Did
I started by mapping the existing workspace structure, the roles, and the data they already had. The team had estimates on tasks and a Forward Revenue View showing pipeline value, but those pieces were not connected to anything that showed actual capacity. My job was to make the data they already had useful inside ClickUp, without forcing them to rebuild their project structure.
I set up project time tracking with estimated hours on each task and a timesheet approval flow so logged hours had to be reviewed before they counted. That gave the leadership team reviewed numbers to look at for utilization.
For visibility, I configured a Gantt view to show project timelines and dependencies, and a utilization dashboard that compares time tracked against time estimated per person and per role. The dashboard is the first place the VP of Operations looks when deciding whether to take on new work or redistribute a project.
The workload view depends on a Make automation. It runs on a schedule, reads each task's estimated hours and tracked hours, subtracts the two, and writes the difference to a custom field in ClickUp as planned remaining hours. The workload view then uses that field instead of the original estimate. A person who has logged half their estimated hours shows up with half the planned load, not the full estimate. This is a planning calculation: it assumes the estimate was right, and it does not measure how much work is left in practice. Because the automation runs on a schedule, the view shows the figures from the last run rather than the moment someone logs time.
For capacity forecasting, I connected the existing Forward Revenue View so pipeline value could be translated into projected hours by role. That gave the team a forward-looking view of where demand would outpace capacity before the work was even assigned. I also integrated the time-off calendar so any approved day off zeroed out the person's available capacity in the workload and forecasting views, so those views do not show capacity for someone who is away.
Every automation was documented with a written standard operating procedure that includes what it does, what triggers it, common failure points, and who owns it. I finished with a live handoff session with the VP of Operations, walking through every view, every automation, and every troubleshooting step so the team could run it without me.
What Went Into the Build
Timesheet approval flows
I set up a structured review path inside ClickUp so logged hours move through submit, review, and approve stages before they count toward utilization or billing.
Project time tracking that feeds the dashboards
Every task carries estimated hours and tracked hours in the same view, so the team can see where a project is heading over its budget without opening a second report.
Gantt view for project timelines
I configured the Gantt view to show dependencies, milestones, and role assignments so the leadership team can scan progress across active projects in one place.
Utilization dashboards
A dashboard compares time tracked against time estimated per person and per role, using live data from the timesheet and task fields already in use.
Workload view driven by planned remaining hours
I built a Make automation that subtracts tracked hours from estimated hours on a schedule and writes the result to a custom field in ClickUp. That field powers the Workload view, so the view is based on the planned hours left rather than the original estimate. It is a planning figure, not a measure of the work left in practice.
Capacity forecasting from Forward Revenue View
Using the existing Forward Revenue View, I translated pipeline value into projected hours by role, so the team can see where demand is about to exceed capacity before it happens.
Time Off integration that zeroes capacity
I connected the time-off calendar so any approved day off sets the person's available capacity to zero in the workload and forecasting views.
Standard operating procedures for every automation
Each automation has a written SOP covering what it does, what triggers it, how to troubleshoot it, and who owns it after handoff.
Live handoff with the VP of Operations
I walked the operations lead through every view, every automation, and every edge case, so the team can run the system without calling me back in.
Why It Matters
Resource management breaks when the numbers are stale. A workload view that still shows the original estimate after half the hours are already logged points new work at the wrong person. A capacity forecast that ignores time off promises delivery dates the team cannot meet. The automation I built refreshes the planned remaining hours on a schedule, so nobody has to recalculate them by hand, and the views are as current as the last run.
The main change is that the VP of Operations now has one place to look when deciding whether the team can take on more work, and the figures there update on each scheduled run as hours are logged, projects move, and people take time off.
The point of a resource management system is not to predict the future. It is to stop promising work the team does not have room to finish.
Tools Used
Who This Is For
This case study is worth reading if you are:
- ●Running projects in ClickUp but still managing resource allocation in spreadsheets or side conversations
- ●Needing a workload view that reflects planned remaining hours, not just the original estimate
- ●Looking for capacity forecasting that uses your pipeline data and respects approved time off
- ●Wanting Make automations that are documented well enough for your operations team to maintain after the consultant leaves
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