What do I do on my first day using Zenhub?
Essential tasks and navigation tips to get productive quickly in your new Zenhub workspace
Your first priority is locating the work assigned to you. Click "My Work" in the left sidebar to see all issues assigned to you across every workspace you have access to. This personal dashboard shows your responsibilities regardless of which team workspace originally created the issue.
If you don't see any assigned work, check with your team lead about getting issues assigned to you, or look at the main Work Tracker to understand what work is available for the team.
Understand Your Team's Workflow
Navigate to Work Tracker in the left sidebar to see your team's main project board. Issues are organized in pipeline columns that represent workflow stages like "Backlog," "In Progress," and "Done."
Your team may have customized these pipeline names to match their specific process, so "In Progress" might be called "Development" or "Review/QA" might be "Testing." Look for pipeline descriptions or ask a teammate to explain your team's specific workflow stages.
Key things to notice:
- Which pipeline contains work ready to be started
- Where work goes when you begin working on it
- What pipeline means "completed" for your team
- Whether certain pipelines are assigned to specific team members
Create Your First Issue
Practice creating a new work item using the green "Create" button in the top-right corner. You'll choose between:
- GitHub issues if your team uses GitHub repositories
- Zenhub issues for work that doesn't require GitHub access
When creating an issue, you'll set:
- Title - Brief description of the work
- Assignee - Yourself or the responsible team member
- Story points - Complexity estimate (ask your team about their scale)
- Sprint - Current iteration if your team uses sprints
- Labels - Categories or tags your team uses for organization
Don't worry about getting everything perfect - you can always edit issues later as you learn your team's conventions.
Move Your First Issue
Once you start working on something, practice moving an issue through your workflow. Find an issue assigned to you (or create a test issue) and drag it from one pipeline column to another. This action shows your team that you've begun work and helps everyone track project progress.
Some teams have automation that updates issue details when you move them between certain pipelines. If an issue's metadata changes automatically after you move it, that's normal behavior designed to keep information consistent.
Participate in Team Communication
Daily Standup View If your team uses the Daily Standup feature, click on it in the left sidebar to see what everyone worked on recently, what they're currently tackling, and where they might be blocked. This view helps you understand team priorities and identify opportunities to help colleagues.
Issue Comments Open any issue and scroll down to see the comments section. This is where your team discusses work details, asks questions, and coordinates efforts. Practice adding a comment to introduce yourself or ask clarifying questions about the work.
Goals & Planning Context Click the Goals & Planning panel (if visible on your Work Tracker) to see how daily work connects to larger projects and company objectives. This view shows the bigger picture behind individual tasks and helps you understand project priorities.
Learn Your Team's Conventions
Every team develops specific ways of working in Zenhub. During your first few days, ask teammates about:
Estimation Practices
- What story point scale does your team use (1-5, Fibonacci, t-shirt sizes)?
- How does your team approach planning poker or estimation sessions?
- Do certain types of work typically get specific point values?
Label and Priority Usage
- What labels does your team use for categorizing work?
- How do you indicate urgent or high-priority issues?
- Are there specific labels for different types of work (features, bugs, improvements)?
Sprint and Planning Rhythm
- How long are your team's sprints or iterations?
- When does sprint planning happen and who participates?
- How does your team handle work that doesn't complete within a sprint?
Explore Reporting and Progress Tracking
Sprint Progress: If your team uses sprints, look at the Reports section in the left sidebar and explore the Sprint Burndown to see how your current sprint is progressing. This chart shows completed work versus remaining effort over time.
Timeline View: Click Timeline in the left sidebar to see longer-term project planning. This view shows how current work fits into larger initiatives and helps you understand upcoming deadlines or dependencies.
Personal Productivity: Use filters on the Work Tracker to create focused views of your work. Try filtering by your name in the assignee filter to see only your responsibilities, or filter by current sprint to focus on immediate priorities.
Common First-Day Questions
"I don't see any work assigned to me" Check with your team lead about getting initial assignments, or look for unassigned work in your team's backlog that you can volunteer to take on.
"I don't understand what this issue is asking for" Add a comment to the issue asking for clarification, or message the person who created it. It's better to ask questions early than to work on the wrong thing.
"I accidentally moved an issue to the wrong pipeline" Simply drag it back to the correct column. Issue movement is reversible and your team expects some learning curve as you get familiar with the workflow.
"I'm not sure how long this work should take" Ask your team about their estimation practices and don't worry about being precise initially. Estimation accuracy improves with experience working together.
Getting Help
Immediate Questions
- Ask teammates directly for workflow clarification
- Check issue comments for context and discussion history
- Look for team documentation about specific processes
Product Questions
- Use the changelog in your left sidebar for recent feature updates
- Contact support@zenhub.com for technical issues
- Join the Slack community for tips from other users
Your first day focus should be understanding your team's workflow and starting to contribute productively. The specific features and advanced functionality will become more familiar as you work with the system daily.
FAQ
Q: What should I focus on during my first week?
A: Master the basics: finding your assigned work, creating and moving issues, and understanding your team's workflow. Advanced features like reporting and automation can wait until you're comfortable with daily operations.
Q: How do I know if I'm using Zenhub correctly for my team?
A: Ask your teammates for feedback on your issue creation, estimation, and workflow practices. Every team has different conventions, so local guidance is more valuable than general best practices.
Q: What if I make mistakes while learning the system?
A: Most actions in Zenhub are reversible - you can move issues back, edit details, and update assignments. Focus on learning rather than perfection, and ask for help when you're unsure.