Attask_administrator_course_book.pdf

Administrator

Course and Exercise Manual

Copyright © 2014 AtTask, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in any retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means, whether electronic, mechanical, photocopying, sound recording, or otherwise, without the prior written consent of AtTask, Inc. except as permitted by law. Printed in the United States of America. October 2013 (rev. 201400205)

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How to use the participant workbook This workbook is designed to increase your knowledge of the AtTask tool. The margins on the left are indented to take notes and record any “ah ha” moments you want to remember as you progress through the course.

To Get the Most From This Course: ∞∞

 our instructor will guide you through the objectives and give examples Y throughout the course. Follow along as the instructor demonstrates AtTask using a real-life scenario.

∞∞

 efrain from distractions. It is best to find a quiet workspace R where you can focus your attention fully on the course.

∞∞

 ait until the instructor gives you directions to begin the simulated W exercises. Once you understand the concepts, you will be able to complete the exercises.

Objectives ∞∞

 his training is objective based. Each chapter begins with an objective and T explains the specific skill or process you will be able to accomplish once you complete this course.

Scenario / Simulation ∞∞

 ou will have opportunities to practice what has been taught in a simulated Y environment. It is recommended you complete all exercises to allow the instructor to see if there are concepts that need to be discussed further.

∞∞

 he scenarios present a possible “real life” use case that relates to the topic T discussed.

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Table Of Contents Chapter 1- Organizing Requirements

5

Determining Requirements My AtTask Application 

6 8

Chapter 2- System Preferences

12

Customer Preferences System Preferences Email Setup

14 16 19

Chapter 3 - Customizing Work Flow Setup

22

Custom Statuses

Chapter 6 - Organizational Setup Event Notifications  Reminder Notifications Frequency of Notifications Email Templates Audit Trails Schedule Setup Creating New Schedules Roles Companies User Groups Portfolios Program Creation

Chapter 7- Customizing the AtTask Interface 28

Preferences for Projects Preferences for Tasks & Issues 

29 33

Modifying Access Levels Layout Templates

Chapter 8 - User Setup

Timesheet Preferences  Hour Types Recurring Timesheet Profiles Bulk Timesheets Expense Types Exchange Rate Preferences

54 56 57 58 60 61 62 64 67 69 72 75

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Chapter 4 -System Preferences: Work Setup

Chapter 5 - Time and Expense Preferences

53

36 37 41 43 46 48 50

Importing Users and Adding User Accounts Email Notifications Teams Done Button

77 78 83

102 103 104 108 109 110

Issue Management Overview  Request Queues Queue Properties  Routing Rules and Queue Topics  Routing Rules  Queue Topics

Chapter 10 - Consistency 

112 113 120 121

Approval Processes Viewing Approval Details Best Practices for Approvals Reviewing Items Awaiting Your Approval Global Reports and List Controls Shared Reports List Controls Custom Forms

122 126 127 128 130

Chapter 11- AtTask Support & Services

134

87

88 96 97 100

135 136 139 140 141

AtTask Community Education Services Support Services Consulting Services Customer Success Program

Chapter 9 - Request Queues and Internal Support Systems  101

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Chapter 1 Organizing Requirements

Objectives After completing this chapter, you will be able to: ∞∞

 evelop questions to ask during the D Discovery Phase

∞∞

Identify common system requirements

5

Determining Requirements Successful implementations of AtTask require translating requirements into system configuration choices. Often there is more than one “right” way to configure AtTask to achieve goals. However, along the way you also need to consider a balance between the simplicity and accuracy of data generated and stored in the system, and how it is accessed. The purpose of this chapter is not to train you on how to make all the decisions you will need to make during implementation – this is something an AtTask Consultant can do. Rather, this chapter identifies questions you should be asking during the Discovery phase of your AtTask implementation. It also provides a list of common requirements; this list of requirements will be used throughout the course as administration topics are presented. If your organization is working with an AtTask consultant, you will become very familiar with the AtTask Implementation Methodology. The implementation methodology is designed to add a single existing process and/or key project(s) into AtTask. By the end of your initial implementation, you will have configured AtTask to meet the requirements of your processes or project(s). This course is not designed to make you an expert in each facet of the methodology. Instead, it will focus primarily on some of the design and configuration activities you will do.

Chapter 1—Determining Requirements

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Understanding AtTask Relationships

There are two primary AtTask components: People and Work. Nearly everything in the system can be directly connected to one or both of these components. ∞∞

This is not meant to illustrate a comprehensive diagram of all the relationships to AtTask objects on the people profile.

∞∞

This is not meant to illustrate a comprehensive diagram of all the relationships to AtTask objects for work.

As you begin implementing AtTask, you can usually categorize each security, process or other requirement as a People or Work requirement.

Chapter 1—Determining Requirements

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My AtTask Application Storyline You have been assigned to set AtTask up for your organization, and are designated as the system administrator. Your responsibilities include setting up your organization's instance of AtTask to make sure it works within the organization's defined processes.

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Asking the Right Questions The following represents the types of questions you should ask your implementation team and other stakeholders. This list is not comprehensive.

Initiative Review ∞∞

What problems are you trying to solve that prompted this initiative?

∞∞

What are the strategic questions you hope to answer through purchasing AtTask?

∞∞

What metrics have been established to determine the success of implementing AtTask?

Business Processes/Project Management ∞∞

How are projects managed today? Include any documentation or illustrations for clarification.

∞∞

With regards to project management, what does the ideal future state entail?

∞∞

What constitutes a successful project management implementation?

∞∞

Identify current projects you will be migrating into AtTask. What application or tool are they currently stored in?

∞∞

Do you have a diagram or documented work flow for each project defining the process, tasks, resources, and flows?

Chapter 1—Asking the Right Questions

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Asking the Right Questions Continued... Resource Management ∞∞

How are resources managed today? Please include any documentation or illustrations for clarification.

∞∞

What constitutes a successful resource management implementation?

Issue Management ∞∞

Will you be tracking issues against projects in the system?

∞∞

Please describe the desired process of how project issues should be handled in the system.

∞∞

Will you be using AtTask as a help desk or issue management system outside of projects?

∞∞

Please describe the requirements of how you would like this process handled in the system.

Chapter 1—Asking the Right Questions

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Asking the Right Questions Continued... Business Users ∞∞

Which departments/divisions will be involved in the initial roll out? Which additional departments will be involved in the final roll out?

∞∞

How many unique processes will be involved in the initial roll out? Final roll out?

∞∞

When are you expecting to roll out your first process to the implementation team? Each additional process?

∞∞

How many users will need to be trained in the initial roll out? Final roll out? (Please segment users into the following groups, Administrators, Project/Program Managers, End Users, and Executives.)

∞∞

Can you provide an organizational chart that defines the user community with locations?

Reporting ∞∞

Describe in detail all the reports you plan to generate in AtTask by group/department.

∞∞

What dashboards are required for the Executive team to improve visibility and management capabilities?

Other ∞∞

Describe additional requirements determined by your desired work flow and/or corporate culture that may impact your AtTask configuration.

Chapter 1—Asking the Right Questions

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Chapter 2 System Preferences

Objectives After completing this chapter, you will be able to: ∞∞

Identify System Preferences

∞∞

Setup password and security Preferences

∞∞

Establish Email Preferences

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My AtTask Application System Preferences Primary Audience Top Pains

AtTask Tool Primary Benefit

Administrator In the past, your organization has had a high number of hackers gaining entry into your system, and accessing sensitive information. Since your organization has many well-known, national clients whose information is extremely confidential, you need more security and passwords with a higher complexity. General Preferences, HIGH password complexity requirement and Incorrect Password Timeout Function. A higher password complexity requirement will make your organization more secure. There is also an automatic account freeze period that is triggered after five consecutive failed log in attempts.

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Customer Preferences The Customer object represents your organization, an AtTask, Inc. customer. Several global options appear in this area of the application. System Administrators can access and make modifications to their Customer profile by going to: Setup › System › Customer Info From the Customer Info area, click the Edit Customer link in the left side bar. The primary fields of importance are Time Zone, and Locale.

Time Zone This field represents the default time zone for your organization. It will be the selected time zone as new users are created, but can be modified for each user. It will set the outgoing date/time format for the company.

Locale Supported Languages

English

French

German

Spanish

Japanese

Chinese

The Locale field controls the date and number format used in outgoing email messages. The value selected here acts as a default for new user creation, but can be modified on a user-byuser basis so individuals in remote offices can view dates and numbers in conventional formats familiar to their country’s language. The Locale also controls the language format of outgoing emails. The list of supported languages is provided.

Chapter 2—Customer Preferences

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Practice Exercises 1.    Set the default timezone for new users to Eastern (US) Timezone. 2.    Set the Locale to English (United States). 3.    Make note of the values for these settings you will use in your account of AtTask.

Use the space below to identify the settings you will use in your account of AtTask: Timezone _____________________________ Locale _____________________________

Chapter 2—Customer Preferences

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System Preferences Preferences addressing system security are located in the Systems area. All AtTask users will be impacted by the preferences established here. System Preferences include both Security and General Preferences for your company. This area is only accessible to users with System Administrator access. To access the System Preferences area click: Setup › System › Preferences

Security Passwords As System Administrator, you have the ability to set the password complexity, frequency of password resets, and lockout length for incorrect password submissions. All users are required to use passwords that are not a recognizable dictionary term. If using LDAP or SSO, password requirements will be dictated by your active directory configuration.

Access The System Admin determines if users can access AtTask on Mobile devices, how users will collaborate with external users, and browser security. When working with external users (collaboration package required) you can require external users to set a password should they log into AtTask.

Chapter 2—System Preferences

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General Preferences Help URL When users access Help in AtTask they are automatically routed to help.attask.com. However, the default destination can be overridden, sending users to a location better suited for your organization.

Document Integrations The System Admin can enable which document integrations are available for users. Users will link their specific account by providing permission between their account and documents.

Chapter 2—System Preferences

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Practice Exercises 1.    Set the password complexity to require 3 characters, passwords to be reset after 60 days and lock people out of the system for 30 minutes if they provide an incorrect password 5 consecutive times. 2.    Identify the settings for the following System Preferences fields that you will use in your account of AtTask: ∞∞

Password Complexity

∞∞

Incorrect Password Timeout

∞∞

Session Timeout.

Use the space below to identify the settings you will use in your account of AtTask: Password Complexity ______________________________________ Incorrect Password Timeout ______________________________________ Session Timeout ______________________________________

Chapter 2—Practice Exercises

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Email Setup SCENARIO Your company has decided to enable replying to comments via email. You want to display comments as close to real time as possible. It has been decided that all system-generated emails should come from the following email address: [email protected].

The Email Setup page controls: ∞∞

Incoming Mail preferences

∞∞

Outgoing Mail preference

Access the Email Setup page by going to Email › Setup

Incoming Mail Comments on a work item (issue, document, task, etc.) can be replied to within AtTask or from an email message notifying the user of the comment. To utilize replying to comments in an email, the system admin will need to enable this feature and indicate the POP account to store these communications. The System Admin can indicate how often the POP account will be checked by AtTask. The shorter the time frame used the more comments will display in real time in AtTask.

Chapter 2—Email Setup

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Outgoing Mail System Email Address This field is the ‘From‘ address for most emails sent from AtTask. It is suggested this value is changed to something end users will recognize as coming from an AtTask account. Suggested Value: [email protected]

Sending Emails Users can utilize the AtTask mail server (default option). Alternatively, if preferred, your company’s mail server may be used.

Testing Testing both POP and mail server settings is encouraged to confirm configurations.

Note: Default Port should be set to 25, and 465 if SSL is enforced. It should be grey when the default is not changed.

Chapter 2—Email Setup

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Practice Exercises 1.    Update the system email address field to use the following address: attask@yourcompanydomainname. com. 2.    Set up a POP Account: use Notes@yourcompany. com, Username- AtTaskNotes, server-Mail, Password= PassWord . 3.    Set up all outgoing emails to use the AtTask mail Server.

Chapter 2—Practice Exercises

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Chapter 3 Customizing Work Flow Setup

Objectives After completing this chapter, you will be able to: ∞∞

Configure AtTask to match existing work flow terminology through custom status labels.

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My AtTask Application Customizing Workflow Setup Primary Audience

Administrator

Top Pains

Several departments of your organization have a different lingo for what they call in-process work, planning work and finished work. You have to remember who you’re talking to and what department they are from. You need a way to standardize it.

AtTask Tool

Custom Statuses

Primary Benefit

Establishes a standardize method for referring to the work flow process.

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Custom Statuses

SCENARIO Your organization has decided to relabel some of the task status options and add two additional task options. The hope is to translate this part of AtTask into terminology your team members are already familiar with and to support your unique process for identifying tasks that will not be completed. Modify the task statuses to reflect the following requirements:

Previous Statuses

New Names

New Statuses

Equates With

New

Not Started

-

New

In Progress

Started

-

In Progress

Complete

Finish

-

Complete

-

-

On Hold

In Progress

-

-

Canceled

Complete

AtTask allows administrators to customize the status options presented on Projects, Tasks, and Issues. This customization provides flexibility to an implementation team in defining statuses to meet an organization’s unique needs and vocabulary. It is strongly recommended that custom statuses are set up prior to a general roll-out of the software. System Administrators can set these preferences by going to: Setup › Processes › Configure Status 1.    Navigate to the Configure Status page and click the ‘Task Statuses’ button. 2.    Click the cell that reads ‘New’, and input ‘Not Started’. 3.    Choose the cell that reads ‘Add a new status’, and input ‘On Hold’. 4.    Select a color to display the status on reports. 5.    In the Key column, input ‘ONH’ and change the ‘Equates With’ value to ’In Progress’. 6.    Click into the cell that reads ‘Add a new status’, and input ‘Canceled’. 7.    Select a color to display the status on reports. 8.    In the Key column, input ‘CAN’ and change the Equates With value to ‘Complete.’ 9.    Save all changes.

Chapter 3—Custom Statuses

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Issue Status There are four issue types in AtTask: Bug Report, Change Order, Issue, and Request. These issue types can be reclassified to meet the needs of issue management for your organization. Renaming issue types allow the further development and support of managing issue statuses. There are three statuses that cannot be configured (New, In Progress, Complete). When setting up Issues statuses, flexibility exists to change the remaining seven statuses to meet your organization’s naming and use needs.

Project

Task

Issue

Approved

Complete

Awaiting Feedback

Complete

In Progress

Cannot Duplicate

Current

New

Closed

Dead

In Progress

Idea

New

On Hold

On Hold

Planning

Reopened

Rejected

Resolved

Requested

Verified Complete Won’t Resolve

Chapter 3—Custom Statuses

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Custom Priorities and Severities Project, Task, and Issue priorities (and severities) can be updated on the Configure Statuses page. The foundation for updating priorities and severities has already been covered. There are a few distinctions when updating Priorities and Severities. Unlike Status, pre-built options can be both deleted and hidden. Priorities and severities cannot be completely removed; at least one must be available in AtTask. The order of displayed statuses can be reordered in the dropdown menu. The options can be dragged and dropped into the order best displayed on a project, issue or task. As the System Administrator, you are able to define the default priority/severity. Using the Default Priority drop down, you can set the priority or severity that will display on work items.

Chapter 3—Custom Statuses

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Practice Exercises Rename or add several status options, priorities, and severities for the Issue object. 1.    Status: ∞∞

Change ‘Won’t Resolve’ to ‘As Designed’

∞∞

Add a status ‘Escalated’

Once changes are complete, go to an issue on the Cruzer Project and observe the changes. 2.    Priorities: ∞∞

Change ‘None’ to ‘Code White’

∞∞

Change ‘Low’ to ‘Code Blue’

∞∞

Change ‘Normal’ to ‘Code Yellow’

∞∞

Change ‘High’ to ‘Code Orange’

∞∞

Change ‘Urgent’ to ‘Code Red’

Change the colors to match. 3.    Severities: Change all values to reflect customer impact, ∞∞

‘No Customers’

∞∞

‘One Customer’

∞∞

‘Several Customers’

∞∞

‘All Customers’

Chapter 3—Practice Exercises

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Chapter 4 System Preferences: Work Setup

Objectives After completing this chapter, you will be able to: ∞∞

Access Preferences for Projects, Tasks and Issues to set defaults for new project and task creation.

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SCENARIO When creating new projects, your organization wants all projects to begin in ‘Planning’ status.

Preferences for Projects The Project Preference page impacts the properties of projects and their sub-units (tasks and issues). When defined well, project managers can spend less time setting these values as they create new work items and can get right to planning. Administrators have the ability to set global preferences for project work, which cannot be overridden when creating work items. This section presents a number of scenarios and suggests alternative defaults from those shipped with AtTask. The instructions for completing each scenario assume you already know how to navigate to the Preference page. Access the preferences page by going to: Setup › Project Preferences › Projects

Project Status To Set the Default Status of New Projects 1.    Open the Project Preferences section on the Setup area. 2.    Select and open the Project Status drop-down. 3.    Select the ‘Planning’ option.

Calculating Percent Complete A Project’s or parent task’s percent complete is based on the overall progress of tasks. This information can be calculated based on either Duration or Planned Hours of tasks. For example, using duration will factor each task on the project to determine the overall percent complete for the project or each subtask for the parent task.

Chapter 4—Preferences for Projects

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Condition SCENARIO Your organization wants to have a consistent method of observing the condition of projects. Set your project preferences to create consistent visibility for project conditions. Update the Condition field to support this request from Executives.

This option allows users to control setting the condition of a project (On Target, At Risk, In Trouble) or having AtTask set the condition (progress status) automatically based on the project’s progression on the timeline.

Create Baseline Automatically When projects are created from a template or when the status changes to Current, AtTask will automatically create a baseline (snapshot) of task and project details.

To Enable Automatic Baseline Creation 1.    Open the Preferences section, Projects area. 2.    Under the Project Status section, locate Create Baselines Automatically.

SCENARIO As already identified, projects will be created in the Planning status. While in this phase the WBS will be planned. When the project status is changed to Current, you want the system to create a baseline automatically. The baseline will be used to measure current progress and scope creep against the originally approved plan.

3.    Select the check-box to activate the option. Save your changes.

Calculate Performance Index System administrators can set whether Hours or Costs recorded on projects will be used to calculate the Earned Value Metrics such as Cost Performance Index (CPI) and Estimated Actual Cost (EAC). For example, if hours are used make sure costs are either associated with job roles (best practice) or with each user.

Chapter 4—Preferences for Projects

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SCENARIO Your organization wants to have all new projects scheduled based on the start date of a project. Set your project preferences to create consistent project timeline creation. Update the Scheduling of Project Dates to support this desire.

Timelines Schedule Mode for Projects This sets the default date that project schedules are based on when they are created. Using Start Date, new tasks will default to the As Soon As Possible task constraint and project managers will be prompted to provide a Planned Start Date for the project. Using Completion Date, new tasks use the As Late As Possible task constraint and project managers are prompted to provide a Planned Completion Date for the project.

Automatically Recalculating Project Timelines When projects are created, the timelines can be adjusted to account for changes. Admins can determine when this will happen for projects in your system. Project Managers will be able to recalculate a timeline manually, or choose to run automatic recalculations as conditions are met.

Multiple Users Assigned to a Task SCENARIO As already identified, projects will be created in the Planning status. While in this phase the WBS will be planned. When the project status is changed to Current, you want the system to create a baseline automatically. The baseline will be used to measure current progress and scope creep against the originally approved plan.

In a collaborative work environment it is not uncommon to assign more than one person to complete a task. Users can have unique schedules from one another (personal time, daily schedule, etc.). In these situations, the System Admin will indicate to AtTask which schedule to use in the event there is a conflict between multiple users’ schedules on a task. Either the project schedule can be used or the Primary user assigned to the task.

Timeline Calculations System Administrators can set the number of hours in a typical work day (8 hours is the default). They can also set the standard work week for their organization. AtTask is set to 5 days by default. These values will be used in planning projects.

Chapter 4—Preferences for Projects

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SCENARIO Individuals initiating Project Requests want a simple interface that does not include unnecessary tabs. According to the project management best practices you have adopted, project initiators will not be using the Goals component of the Business Case, but they will need to access the Custom Data form. Update the Preferences to reflect these requirements.

Business Case Default Business Components These preferences determine which tabs are visible on the Business Case form.

Life after Death SCENARIO Your organization has decided it does not want to allow users to delete issues or tasks from complete or dead projects. Your organization does want to allow editing issues, adding documents and templates to completed project. Using Project Preferences establish these guidelines for your organization’s projects.

As a System Administrator, establishing preferences sets your organization’s rules regarding what will happen to Task; Issues, Documents, and other data with a project after it has been marked as Complete or Dead. The rules established will determine what users can update or remove from a project once it is no longer active.

Chapter 4—Preferences for Projects

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SCENARIO You want to create consistency in project planning by establishing that all new tasks created use the same start date based on the project’s start date. Your project managers have indicated that when they create tasks they want to quickly assign a resource and independently control the duration and effort required to complete the task.

Preferences for Tasks & Issues New Task Defaults Start Date on New Tasks As System Administrator, set the default start date for new tasks. New tasks start date can be based on the day the task was created or the project’s planned date (Start or Completion) .

Duration Type Business analysts need to produce financial estimates based on the amount of effort planned for tasks and the number of hours actually recorded. Specifically, business analysts want to derive revenue and cost estimates from the rates defined on the user profile. Change the Revenue Type field to User Hourly.

A task’s Duration Type controls the relationship between the number of resources (and their percent allocation) and duration or total effort for the task.

Revenue Type This field is used to calculate planned and actual revenue estimates for a task. When Revenue Type is set to Not Billable, the hours planned and actual hours recorded will not generate a revenue estimate for the task. In addition, work on the task will not contribute to project-level revenue.

Cost Type This field is used to calculate planned and actual cost estimates for a task. When set to No Cost, hours planned and actual hours recorded will not generate a cost estimate for the task. Furthermore, work on the task will not contribute to projectlevel costs.

To Set the Default Revenue and Cost Types for New Tasks 1.    Open the Tasks & Issues preferences section. 2.    From the New Tasks Defaults section, locate and expand the Revenue Type field. 3.    Select the ‘User Hourly’ option.

Chapter 4—Preferences for Tasks & Issues

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Issues SCENARIO Your organization wants to allow primary contacts to access issues after they have been converted to both tasks and projects. Furthermore, you want to see when task and issues are actually started and completed. Update the Tasks & Issues preferences to reflect the information your organization wants to have in place for users.

Organization’s can establish rules for working with issues. For example, an issue’s status can automatically mirror that of a resolvable object (e.g. if converted to a project or task). In addition, when converting Issues (to task or project), you can determine if the originator of the issue can retain access to the new item. Setting these options as part of global preferences creates consistency, while helping to ensure they are maintained throughout your organization.

Actual Dates When a user creates or completes a task (or issue) rules are established to indicate what the desired dates for these items should be. For instance, your organization wants to track all information in real time, managers want to know the actual start date of a task and have that information reported rather than using the planned start date.

Chapter 4—Preferences for Tasks & Issues

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Practice Exercises Establish your organizations preferences in the Setup Area. 1.    New projects status should reflect projects in the ‘idea’ status. 2.    Your organization wants to create baselines automatically and schedule projects based on start date. 3.    Your Project Managers will not be using the Goals feature on the Business Case. Update the Business Case area in the Project Preferences to reflect that change. 4.    Allow users to delete Tasks and Issues after a project has been marked complete. 5.    When new tasks are created, they should be based on the day the task was created. 6.    Establish your revenue and cost types to reflect your focus on roles. 7.    Automatically have issue status match the resolvable object.

Chapter 4—Practice Exercises

35

Chapter 5 Time and Expense Preferences

Objectives After completing this chapter, you will be able to: ∞∞

Update Timesheet Preferences

∞∞

Set Hour Types

∞∞

Establish Recurring Timesheet creation

∞∞

Set Expense types and Multi-currency support

36

SCENARIO People accessing timesheets need the ability to: ∞∞

Record time at the project level

∞∞

Record future time

∞∞

Record expenses toward work items

Some options are set by default for AtTask accounts. Review the options in the Timesheets & Hours Preferences. Where the option is not set according to the requirements listed above, update the setting.

Timesheet Preferences An important part of preparing timesheets for end users is setting Timesheet and Hour Preferences. These preferences will determine the fields that appear on each timesheet. To set timesheet preferences go to: Setup › Timesheet & Hour > Preferences

To Update Timesheet and Hour Preferences 1.    Navigate to the Timesheet page. 2.    Locate the preferences section containing the field that needs to be enabled or deactivated. 3.    Select the check box next to the field. A check enables the item; removing a check disables the item. 4.    Click Save.

Chapter 5—Timesheet Preferences

37

General Preferences These fields will allow System Administrators to determine what users see on their timesheet or are able to do with their timesheet.

Log hours directly on projects This field activates the ability to log time on a project (via updates tab and a timesheet). If users are not recording time at a project level, keep this option unchecked.

Log Hours on projects that are complete. This field allows users to record time on a project that has been marked complete in the system. If this option is disabled, users will not be able to record time for the work they have completed.

Log hours on projects that are complete Like the previous preference, if enabled users can log hours on projects in the ‘dead’ status.

Log hours on future dates When enabled users will record future time on a timesheet or on an item). Organizations may wish to have users record time on a task or issue in the future because they will be away from the office.

Add expenses from a timesheet This field enables users to record both time and expenses while they are in the timesheet.

Chapter 5—Timesheet Preferences

38

Pre- Populate Timesheets Pre Populate timesheets with work Typically, planned tasks and issues will display during the time frame of the timesheet. System Admins can extend the time frame to include planned tasks and issues up to four weeks outside of the timesheet’s date range in either direction (before or after).

Pre Populate Timesheets with... Completed If multiple resources are typically assigned to a single task, it is recommended this value be set to ‘Yes’. This means when one resource records time against the task and marks it as complete, the other resources assigned to the task will still be able to view the item on their timesheet to record hours.

Planned Dates When set to ‘Yes’ the timesheet will include tasks and issues that have either a Planned Start Date or Completion Date that falls within the time frame of the project.

Projected Dates When set to ‘Yes’ the timesheet will include tasks and issues that have either a Projected Start Date or Completion Date that falls within the time frame of the project, even if the planned date of the issue or task falls outside of the timesheet date range.

Chapter 5—Timesheet Preferences

39

Practice Exercises Set up Timesheet and Hour Preferences for your organization using the provided test environment. 1.    Your organization wants to record time on projects. 2.    Your organization wants to log hours on future dates. 3.     Y  ou want to have timesheets display work within 3 weeks of the timesheet’s dates. 4.     Y  ou want to have timesheets display work with both planned and projected dates within the timesheet’s date range.

Chapter 5—Practice Exercises

40

SCENARIO Your team of business analysts wants more information about the hour-based reports generated from AtTask. Specifically, they want to know how people are spending their time. They have requested the following hour types be added to the system so they can look for trends of what people are doing to complete tasks: ∞∞

Meeting Time

∞∞

Research Time

∞∞

Travel Time

They want to use the default Task Time hour type shipped with AtTask to collect work that cannot be tied to Meetings, Research, or Travel time.

Hour Types An Hour Type is a label that allows System Administrators to categorize an hour entry. Depending on reporting requirements for hours, this may be an essential step. Customizing hour types or building a list of available hour labels will provide consistency in reporting. Alternatively, Admins can instruct end users to be consistent in recorded hour comments. Timesheets provide a list of General Hour types, which let your users track hours not related to projects or tasks. You can also create a project-specific hour type. This hour categorization allows organizations to further identify hours entered for the project time and it’s associated tasks and issues. Custom hour types (both project-specific and general) are created and managed by going to: Setup › Timesheet and Hours › Hour Types

To Create the Meeting Time Hour Type 1.    Navigate to the Hour Types page. 2.    Click the ‘Add More Hour Types’ link below the table. 3.    Input an Hour Type name (Meeting Time). 4.    Change Scope Value to ‘Project Specific’. 5.    Change Count As Revenue to No. 6.    Click Save. The Scope field is used to identify hour types from the generic (general) option or one that is tied to projects and tasks.

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Explanation of Fields Hour Type Enter a name for the hour type in the Hour Type field (this is required). The value entered here displays as the hour type label on hour entry and hour reports.

Description Enter a description, as needed.

Scope Scope field controls whether the hour type created is used for General Hours or project specific. This means the label will be available at the project, task, and issue hour-entry screens.

Count As Revenue The Count As Revenue radio button indicates if the revenue preferences defined on a task should be ignored when the hour type is coupled with hour entry.

Is Active Checking the ‘Is Active’ check-box will make the hour type active. This provides the same result as clicking the Enable light bulb icon from a list of hour types.

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SCENARIO Users in the Marketing department need a timesheet profile to generate timesheets on a weekly basis. These timesheets should be approved by Jennifer Campbell. Users in the IT department need a timesheet profile to generate monthly timesheets. As a cost center, IT’s work does not need to have the same degree of oversight, so no approver is necessary.

Recurring Timesheet Profiles Recurring timesheet profiles automate timesheet creation. The timesheet profile identifies the duration of the timesheet based on normal pay period types (Weekly, Bi-Weekly, SemiMonthly, and Monthly). When the profile becomes associated with a user, AtTask generates new timesheets automatically, reducing the administrator’s need to create new timesheets each pay period. To access this Recurring Timesheet area go to: Setup › Timesheet and Hours › Recurring Timesheets

To Create the Marketing Timesheet Profile 1.    Navigate to the Recurring Timesheet Setup page. 2.    Click the New Recurring Timesheet button from the tool-bar. 3.    Provide a name for the profile (Marketing Timesheet Profile). 4.    From the Pay Period Type field, select the Weekly option. 5.    Select the date you want the system to begin generating timesheets. (Select last Saturday’s date). 6.    In the Approver field, search for and select Jennifer Campbell. Adding the Recurring Timesheet Profile to user profiles can be done either through individual edits or through a bulk edit.

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Recurring Timesheet fields Name Enter the name of the profile in the Name field. This is a required field.

Description Enter a description to identify to other administrators the purpose of this recurring timesheet profile.

Recurring (Pay Period Type) Choose a pay period type from the Pay Period Type menu. The default is Monthly. However, you can also choose Weekly, Biweekly, and Semi-monthly.

Starts On
 The ‘Period Starts On’ will change depending on the pay period Weekly and Type.

Start Date Enter an Effective Start Date in the field, or click the calendar icon to choose a date.

Approver Choose an approver from the Approver drop-down. An approver has the authority to approve or reject a timesheet after it is submitted. Click the search icon to find an approver that does not appear on the list.

Select General Hours From the Select General Hours menu, select one or more general hour types to appear on the timesheet. Use the Control (Windows) or Command (Mac), and Shift keys to select multiple hour types.

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When to Create Multiple Recurring Timesheet Profiles Generally, approvers are not project managers. They are typically a functional manager or an HR/Payroll representative. By not selecting a general hour type, such as ‘sick’ time, all available general hour types will display by default. When to create Multiple Recurring Timesheet Profiles: ∞∞

When there are unique pay periods

∞∞

When there are unique approvers

∞∞

When there are unique general hours

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Bulk Timesheets Recurring timesheets are a great way of tracking time on a regular basis. However, your organization may choose to only track time as the occasion arises. Using Bulk Timesheet creation allows for the use of a one-time timesheet for users. To create these unique timesheets, Admins will navigate to the timesheet page. It’s important to keep in mind that only one timesheet at a time can be active for users, so both recurring and bulk timesheets (or any combination) can’t be used with simultaneous dates. To access Bulk timesheets go to:

Timesheets > All Timesheets > + New Timesheet

How to create a one-time Timesheet Profile: 1.    Navigate to the timesheet page. 2.    Select the All Timesheets tab. 3.    Click on the ‘+ New Timesheet’ button. 4.    Input who will use the timesheet. 5.    Provide start and end dates. 6.    Assign approvers, if needed. 7.    To save the timesheet, select ‘Create Timesheet’. Timesheet Administrators come to the timesheet area to search for timesheets. Direct all timesheet approvers to find and review timesheets in the Timesheet area.

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Practice Exercises 1.    Add the following project-level hour types to the system, so that Project Managers can better track how employees are using their time:

Meeting Time



Travel Time



Research Time 2.    Create two recurring timesheet profiles. One for the Marketing department and another for the IT department. 3.    Set Jennifer Campbell as an approver for Marketing and Ray Andrews as an approver for IT. 4.    Set the Marketing timesheet to generate on a weekly basis and the IT timesheet to generate on a monthly basis. 5.    Create a one time use timesheet for Jennifer for this week. Marc Lewis will be the approver.

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Expense Types Expenses represent non-labor costs on tasks or projects. The image displays a list of expenses that have been planned and recorded for the Cruzer Web Site project. The Expense Type is a label that is used in reporting. It will allow managers to look for patterns and consistently see how money is being spent from project to project, or across projects. AtTask has built-in expenses which cannot be modified or deleted. You have the ability to create additional expense types to support your financial reporting needs. Custom expense types can be managed and created by going to: Setup › Expense Types

To Create the Mileage Expense Type 1.    Navigate to Setup and select Expense Types. 2.    Click ‘Add More Expense Types’. 3.    Input the name for the expense type. 4.    Select the Miles option from the Calculated Units field. 5.    Input the rate per mile. 6.    Click Save.

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Expense Type Provide a name for the Expense Type. Expense labels are defined by the implementation team or by your Finance Department.

Calculated: Units and Rate When set Miles, Kilometers, or Other, the expense form will prompt for a numeric unit that will be multiplied by the rate specified.

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Exchange Rate Preferences AtTask is designed to support multiple currencies within a project. Exchange Rates are accessible by the System Administrator and users with appropriate editing rights for exchange rates. In order to set exchange rates on a project go to: Project Preferences > Exchange Rates

∞∞

More than one currency needs to be present in order to adjust currency on a project.

∞∞

Any newly created project will default to the “base” currency defined in Setup.

∞∞

A project’s currency cannot be changed if there is already financial information on it.

∞∞

Rates are used for labor cost and revenue calculations and will be used in the future for reporting purposes.

∞∞

By default, all full license users have access to view currencies and exchange rates. System Administrators need to grant a user Edit Exchange Rates access to set specific rates on projects.

∞∞

On any list, objects related to the project will be shown using the project currency code. Any fields not related directly to the project (e.g. User rates, Job Role rates, etc.) will be shown in the system default currency.

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To Create the Exchange Rates: 1.    Navigate to Preferences for Exchange Rates. 2.    Click the ‘Add Currency’ button. 3.    Input the name for the currency. 4.    Select the exchange rate. 5.    Click Save.

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Practice Exercises 1.    Add a new Expense Type called ‘Mileage’, so that individuals can record mileage on project-related activities. 2.    Set ‘Exchange Rate’ Preferences to reflect the most common way to calculate and look at revenue in your organization.

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Chapter 6 Organizational Setup

Objectives After completing this chapter, you will be able to:

∞∞

Identify and set up Notifications

∞∞

Establish schedules

∞∞

Establish Job Roles for assigning resources to work

∞∞

Create companies and know how they are used on user profiles

∞∞

Map the groups object to departments in your organization

∞∞

Distinguish between Portfolios and Programs

53

SCENARIO As an implementation team (in discussion with your project managers) you decide project managers should receive an email when… ∞∞

Issues are added

∞∞

Milestone tasks are completed

∞∞

Tasks’ progress status changes from ‘On Time’ to ‘Late’ to the projects they own

Event Notifications Event Notifications allow administrators to turn on email notifications for users. When Event Notifications are enabled, AtTask adds the item to the email notification list for users. Each person has the ability to turn off individual notifications to match their preference for emails they receive from AtTask. System Administrators will want to consult with Project Managers and Executives to identify which email notifications best meet your organizations needs. The Event Notifications area is accessible to users with System Administrator access by going to: Setup › Email › Notifications › Event Notifications

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A partial list of the available Event Notifications is shown below.

To Activate the Event Notifications 1.    Navigate to the Event Notification page.

Name

Description

All Predecessor Task Completion to Task Dependents

When all predecessor tasks have been completed, the assigned resources for dependent tasks will be emailed.

Milestone Task Completion to Project Owner

Task Progress Change to Project Owner

Unassigned Issue Added to Project Team

Approval Decision to Object Assigned To

Object Pending Approval to Approvers

When a task designated as a milestone is completed, the Project Manager receives an email. Other options send the notification to the entire team or the Project Sponsor. When a task on a Current project regresses from the On Time to At Risk, Behind or Late progress status, the Project Manager will be notified. Another option emails the assigned resource. When an issue is added to a Current project and no user resource is assigned to it, the entire project team will be notified. When a project, task, or issue has an approval attached to it, AtTask emails the assigned resource when the work item is approved or rejected. When a project, task, or issue has an approval attached to it, AtTask emails the designated approvers to inform them a work item is awaiting their approval.

2.    Locate and select the check boxes to the left of the Event Notification(s) you wish to enable. ∞∞

‘Issue Add to Project Owner’

∞∞

‘Milestone task Completion to Project Owner’

∞∞

‘Task Progress Change to Project Owner’

3.    From the header bar, click Activate. A red check mark will appear next to the newly activated Event Notification(s).

To Deactivate an Event Notification 1.    Left of the Event Notification select the check-box. 2.    On the header bar click on the Deactivate button – a red check mark will disappear on the Event Notification. Review the full list of Event Notifications in your AtTask account and discuss which events should be enabled to best facilitate communication and not be a nuisance to recipients. Keep in mind some Event Notifications can be redundant. For example, if you enable the Issue Completion to Project Team email, you likely do not need to enable the other ‘Issue Completion to…’ emails.

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Reminder Notifications Reminder Notifications are time-based notifications. These notifications allow an administrator to define a before and after threshold to send an email to users. An email template needs to be created and associated with a reminder notification. Furthermore, a notification must be associated with an item to complete the setup process. To access reminder notifications go to: Setup > Email > Notifications > Reminder Notifications Reminder Notifications can be associated with Issues, Projects, Tasks, and Timesheets.

To Create a Reminder Notification: 1.    Navigate to the Reminder Notification page. 2.    Select ‘New Reminder Notification’. 3.    Name the notification and select the object type. 4.    Indicate duration. 5.    Identify when the email should be sent (before or after) and the dates to be used for that information. 6.    Choose the criteria used to trigger the email. 7.    Select the Recipient(s). 8.    Attach the email template. 9.    Save the Reminder Notification. Remember an email template must be associated with a reminder template. This option will not show if none exist in AtTask.

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Attaching Reminder Notification Once Reminder Notifications are created, they must be attached to a specific object to generate the requested notification.

To attach a reminder notification: 1.    Go to the object. 2.    Edit the item. 3.    Reminder Notifications will be visible. 4.    Select your reminder notification. 5.    Save Changes. Once a reminder notification is attached, an email will be sent if the conditions of the notification are meet.

Frequency of Notifications As a System Administrator you can determine how often a user receives email notifications. This includes both Event Handler notifications as well as Reminder Notifications. Frequency of notifications can be set for either Daily or Hourly emails. To access these settings go to: Setup > Email > Notifications> Settings In settings, establish your company’s preference.

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Email Templates Email Templates are created and attached to Reminder Notifications. Like Reminder Notifications, they can be associated with issues, projects, tasks and timesheet objects. Email Templates allow Admins to provide content messages to users when they receive a reminder email. To access Email Templates go to: Email > Notifications > Email Templates

To Create a Email Template: 1.    Navigate to the Email Templates page. 2.    Select ‘New Email Template’. 3.    Name the template and select the object type. 4.    Provide a subject for the email. 5.    It’s optional to provide a description and message in the email. 6.    Save the Email Template. Remember an email template must be associated with a Reminder Notification. Email Templates will not show in reminder notifications if there are none in the AtTask. It is recommend that you create these first.

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Automatic Reminders Reminder Notifications are time-based notifications. These automatic notifications allow the administrator to define a before and after threshold to send an email to users. These notifications once established will apply to both task and issue work items, on a global level. Where Reminder Notifications can be controlled on a work item by work item basis. Automatic Reminders do not need to be associated with email templates or a specific item, like a task, in order to function. To access reminder notifications go to: Setup > Email > Automatic Reminders

To create an Automatic Reminders: 1.    Navigate to the Automatic Reminders page. 2.    Identify when and who should receive an email. 3.    Set the time frame for when the email should be sent. 4.    Save the Automatic Reminders.

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SCENARIO Your organization wants to know when someone deletes a task from a project. Establish an audit trail to display information in the updates feed of a project.

Audit Trails Using Audit Trails allows organizations to track what is happening to select items in AtTask. As a System Administrator, you can select which objects to track, including custom fields. All items tracked will display on the updates feed. The Actions tab will display which feed will show the changes. For example, if you track when issues are deleted this will show on the projects feed, whereas logged hours will show on projects, tasks, and issue feeds. Audit Trails are created by going to: Setup › Interface > Update Feeds

To setup your Audit Trails to display on an update feed: 1.    Navigate to the Update Feeds page. Clicking the schedule takes you to the edit screen. 2.    Select ‘+Add Fields’. 3.    Select the object field, then identity the object you want to track. 4.    Select ‘Add Fields’ to begin tracking that field. All items displayed on the updates fields will be tracked universally. They cannot be hidden on the update status feed unless they are no longer tracked by AtTask.

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Schedule Setup

SCENARIO The default schedule provided with all new AtTask accounts assumes a Monday through Friday 9 AM to 5 PM schedule (no time for lunch) for the Mountain Standard Time zone. Update the Default Schedule provided with your AtTask account to change the time zone to match the system setting. Update the Schedule Exceptions to match the established corporate holidays.

Schedules represent the normal work schedule. They are necessary to identify when project work will occur, or more importantly, when it will not occur. AtTask is shipped with a ‘Default Schedule’ for a typical workweek (Monday through Friday, 9 am to 5 pm). Organizations schedule exceptions to account for corporate holidays.

New Year’s Day

Independence Day

Schedules are created (and updated) by going to: Setup › Schedules

Presidents Day

Labor Day

To edit the Default Schedule:

Good Friday

Thanksgiving and Day After

1.    Click the Schedule named Default Schedule. 2.    Clicking the schedule takes you to the edit screen. Memorial Day

Christmas Eve 3.    Rename the Schedule and make other changes, as needed.

Christmas Day Boxing Day Rename the schedule to US East Coast.

4.    Go to the Schedule Exceptions tab and select each day of the year that represents a corporate holiday. 5.    Click the ‘Edit’ icon to the right of the November 21, 2013 entry. 6.    De-select the Entire day off check-box. 7.    Set the start and end range to reflect the time that people will be working. 8.    Repeat step 5 to 7 for the next three to five years. 9.    Click Save to store the changes to the date. Generally, the Default Schedule is updated to match your requirements as early as possible. Schedules can be copied and updated. Chapter 6—Schedule Setup

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Creating New Schedules

SCENARIO Chris Manning is going to do his project work during normal business hours – 9 am to 6 pm Pacific time zone – with a 1-hour lunch break. He and possibly others working on the West Coast should also have the normal corporate holidays built into the schedule: New Year’s Day

Labor Day

Presidents Day

Day Before Thanksgiving (Half Day)

Good Friday

Christmas Eve

Memorial Day

Christmas Day

To Create the US West Coast Schedule 1.    Navigate to the Schedules area. 2.    Click on the New Schedule button. 3.    Input a name for the schedule, identify the groups that should have modification rights, and select the time zone the schedule supports. DO NOT mark it as the default schedule; this will automatically assign it to new users as they are created. 4.    Navigate to the Schedule tab.

Independence Day Boxing Day Create a schedule called US West Coast.

5.    Select the Monday 9 AM cell and drag it to the Monday 12:30 PM cell. 6.    Click the Monday 2 PM cell and drag to the Monday 5:30PM cell. 7.    Repeat steps 7 and 8 for each weekday. 8.    Navigate to the Schedule Exceptions tab. 9.    Click each day of the year where project work will not be done because of corporate holidays. 10.    Repeat step 9 for the next three to five years. 11.    Select Save to submit the schedule. 12.    Choose Save again to save the user profile.

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When to Create Multiple Schedules Reason

Tip

Users In Different Time Zones

Create a master schedule with your Schedule and Schedule Exception tabs defined, then copy that Schedule and change the time zone.

Offices With Different Holidays

Create a master schedule, then create a copy of it, and then modify the Scheduled Exceptions tab. You may also need to adjust the time zone for the schedule.

Part Time Employees

You will then be able to modify only the Schedule tab, without having to set corporate holidays again.

Schedule

Description

User

Whenever a user is assigned to a task, the schedule assigned to the user, combined with the user’s PTO schedule, will be used for the given task. Exception: When multiple users are assigned to the same task, and if any of the user schedules conflict, AtTask will either: Use the schedule assigned to the project where the task resides. Use the schedule assigned to the default assignee of the task. The behavior described in this exception depends on the preference set on the Project Management Preferences page.

Project

The project schedule is utilized when any of the following conditions are met: A user has not been assigned to the task. Several users with differing schedules are assigned to the same task.

Default Schedule

The system default schedule will be used if no schedule has been set for the project and when the conditions for using the project schedule are met.

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Roles

SCENARIO Project managers in the Professional Services group need to make sure they are assigning the resources with the specific skill sets. Additionally, resource availability is a primary concern. Project managers will build templates with job role assignments and use the Team Builder to satisfy those requirements.

Professional Services Roles Cost Rate

Billing Rate

Associate Consultant

$25

$50

Consultant

$50

$100

Solutions Architect

$45

$90

Technical Consultant

$60

$125

Job roles in AtTask are affiliated with both users and work (tasks and issues). Each user may be assigned a job role or a skill set. It is important to note the job role a user has in AtTask is more closely tied with the function they perform in the tool and not necessarily the job title they have in your organization. Users can, and often do, have multiple job roles within the tool. A user will have a default/primary role and other roles they may perform. By assigning a user a specific job role, you qualify them to perform any task that requires the said job role. Assigning a specific job role to a user does not determine what group or company they belong to, nor does it define who their manager is. A job role defines what skill set the user will fill for an assigned task.

An Administrator can create new job roles by going to: Setup › Job Roles page

To Create Job Roles: 1.    Click the ‘Add More Job Roles’ link. 2.    Input Associate Consultant in the name field. 3.    Provide a description, as needed. 4.    Input the Cost Per Hour and Billing Per Hour for this role.

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Cost Per Hour SCENARIO The following roles have incorrect cost rates. Existing Roles

New Cost Rate

Consultant

$65

Project Manager

$45

Sales Representative

$28

When a task has a role-based cost rate and a job role assigned to the task, this value will be used to estimate a planned cost and the actual cost of the task.

Billing Per Hour When a task has a role-based revenue rate and a job role is assigned to the task, this value will be used to estimate a planned billing amount and the actual revenue of the task.

Max Users Use the in-line edits to make the necessary updates.

When max users are set, it limits the number of users who can be assigned to the job role. By Default, a max user is set to zero, allowing for an unlimited number of users to be assigned to the job role.

Keep in Mind: The Job Role name must be unique. If you are attempting to import a job role that already exists in the system, you will receive a message indicating you should check for duplicates.

To Edit Job Roles 1.    Select the job role you wish to edit. 2.    Make any changes you need to make and click the Save button. Associating job roles with users will be discussed in the User Setup lesson.

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Practice Exercises 1.    Update the default schedule to change the timezone to Eastern Standard Time. 2.    Update Schedule Exceptions to include the following corporate holidays:

New Year’s Day

Thanksgiving

Presidents Day

Day after Thanksgiving

Memorial Day

Christmas Eve

Independence Day

Christmas Day

Labor Day

Boxing Day

3.    Rename the schedule to US East Coast. 4.    Create a US West Coast schedule to show typical work hours from 9am-6pm with a 1 hour lunch break. 5.    Add all corporate holidays, including Groundhog Day. 6.    Create the following job roles: Associate Consultant

Graphic Designer

Technical Consultant

Solutions Architect

7.    Input Cost and Billing rates for each job role created.

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SCENARIO Create a Company to represent your organization.

Companies The next several sections will focus on setting up both organizational components as well organizing projects. Companies are associated with both user profiles as well as with projects. A company is associated with a user to help identify available resources within an organization. Companies are associated with Projects so that reports can be created and information tracked. Since companies can be linked with projects, a company and an external client often have a 1:1 relationship for an organization. Not every organization has external clients, so Company may not be used to track projects. Later in this chapter, others ways projects can be organized will be discussed. System administrators can access Companies by going to: Setup › Companies

To Create a New Company: 1.    Access the Companies Page. 2.    Select the ‘New Company’ button.

How are Companies used? Companies are used to identify an user’s organization in AtTask. It makes it easier to find users when they are associated with a company. Associating users with Companies can help identify direct report relationships. Companies are also used for organizing projects. For example, if you wanted to look at the projects completed for the Acme company, associating projects with that company will allow that information to be found quickly. Our Project Management course goes in-depth regarding updating project information.

3.    Type the name of the Company. 4.    Update additional Company information if relevant. Like Custom Data and Company Billing Rates. 5.    Save your company. Users can be added during this process, it’s recommend that you add users to companies via their profiles.

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Practice Exercises 1.    Create a company to represent your organization so during user creation you can make managersubordinate relationships. 2.    Your organization completes projects for several companies. You want to associate an external company with each project. Create the following companies: ∞∞

Acme co.,

∞∞

Widgets of New York,

∞∞

XYZ, Inc.

3.    Set up special contract rates for Widgets of New York & XYZ, Inc. Widgets of New York

XYZ, Inc.

Job Role

Rate

Job Role

Rate

Associate Consultant

$40

Associate Consultant

$45

Consultant

$80

Consultant

$90

Solutions Architect

$72

Solutions Architect

$81

Technical Consultant

$100

Technical Consultant

$113

Graphic Designer

$60

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SCENARIO The following departments will be using AtTask to manage their unique projects: Create these groups. ∞∞

Development

∞∞

Marketing

∞∞

Professional Services

∞∞

Information Technology

User Groups Groups represent a unit distinct from companies. In general, groups coincide with departmental divisions. Groups serve primarily two purposes: to organize projects and keep department information separate from other departments (such as templates, custom data, and projects). When creating a user profile, you should add that person to the appropriate group. This gives the user abilities to access objects associated with the group. For example, if you associate a new template project with an IT group, then users who are in the IT group can access that template. Users in the marketing group will not be able to access the template. Your organization may have several departments work together to manage projects and the resources working on these projects. If this is the case, it may not be necessary to divide departments into separate groups. A few high-level groups may suffice. A project can only be assigned to a single group. That is not to say users from different groups cannot work on the same project, but only one group name can be associated with that project. This can be thought of as the primary group responsible for completing the project.

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System Administrators access the Groups area by going to: Setup › Groups

To Create a New Group: 1.    Access the Groups page. 2.    Click the ‘New Group’ button. 3.    Provide a group name and description (Optional). 4.    Save your Group. Users can be individually added to a group. They can also be bulk added during user creation or when editing a user’s profile.

Remember: Group membership impacts what a person can see. Most default access levels do not allow project collaborators to view work items on projects associated with other groups unless they are specifically on the project team.

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Practice Exercises 1.    Create the following User Groups:

Development

PMO

Professional Services



Marketing Design

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Portfolios You have already learned how projects can be organized by way of Companies and Groups. Projects can be additionally organized with the use of Portfolios and Programs. This lesson will show how to set up a Portfolio. Our Portfolio and Resource Management course will go into further depth regarding how Portfolios can be used in your organization. An important part of Portfolio (and Program) setup is to understand the difference between a Portfolio and Program.

What is a Portfolio? A portfolio is a collection of projects competing for the same resources, budget, and schedule slot. The projects in a portfolio are similar enough that they would use the same Resource Pool and are measured against the same scorecard. This often means there is a 1:1 relationship between Portfolios and Resource Pools.

General Examples of a Portfolio: Portfolios are often grouped by product line, by division, by department, by company, or other business units.

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What is a Program? A program is essentially a subdivision of projects in a Portfolio. Programs allow Portfolio Managers to delegate certain responsibilities (i.e., Business Case completion, or Business Case approvals) to Program Managers.

General Examples: Programs are based on projects grouped by a common goal, such as increasing customer base, product improvement, client retention, decreasing costs, etc. Projects in Programs are not prioritized solely against each other; instead, the projects are optimized against all projects in the Portfolio. It is sometimes necessary to create the Resource Pool relationship with Programs instead of doing it at the Portfolio level.

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To Access the Portfolios area, go to Projects › Portfolios To Create a Portfolio 1.    To get to the Portfolio page, navigate to the projects area and select the portfolio tab. 2.    Select the ‘New Portfolio’ button and give the Portfolio a name. 3.    Select the Portfolio Details tab. Click Overview and ‘Edit Overview’ to identify a Portfolio Manager. 4.    Add a description, scorecard, and status of the Portfolio. Enabling these options will only record changes to the portfolio definition. It will not record changes to the project in the portfolio notes.

Fields on the Edit Portfolio page ∞∞

Name: Give your portfolio a name.

∞∞

Description: Optional but often useful.

∞∞

Portfolio Manager: Who will oversee the Portfolio?

∞∞

Scorecard: Assign a scorecard to the portfolio.

∞∞

Groups with Access: Selected Groups will be able to see this portfolio on the Project Request.

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Program Creation Similar to Portfolios, programs can also be used to organize projects in AtTask. Programs must be associated with a portfolio. A Program is subcategory of a Portfolio. To see Programs within a Portfolio go to: Projects › Portfolios › Programs tab

To Add Programs to a Portfolio 1.    Click the portfolio where you want to add the program (Marketing). 2.    Click the Programs tab. 3.    Select ‘New Program’; give the program a name (Client Retention). 4.    Select the Program Details tab, Edit Overview sub tab. Here you will assign a program manager. 5.    Choose Save.

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Practice Exercises 1.    Create the following Portfolios:



Marketing



Professional Services 2.    Create the following Programs for the IT Portfolio:



Quality Assurance



Process Improvement



Systems Stability

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Chapter 7 Customizing the AtTask Interface

Objectives After completing this chapter, you will be able to: ∞∞

Understand Access Levels

∞∞

Create Layout Templates

77

Modifying Access Levels

Default Access Levels Name

Rank

Explanation

System Administrator

99

User can have administrative access to AtTask and can access all functions and information. Very few users should have this set of permissions.

Multi-Group Administrator

85

User can access all AtTask information and functions within any of the assigned groups.

Group Administrator

80

User can access all AtTask information and functions within this user’s home group.

Portfolio Manager

65

User can access information and functionality that is generally limited to this person’s own portfolio.

Executive

60

User can view everything, but can only edit his or her own tasks, documents, and issues.

Project Manager

50

User can access and edit information and functions within this person’s own projects.

Individual Contributor

25

User can access and edit information and objects that are directly assigned to this person.

Team Member

25

User can access and edit information and objects that are directly assigned to this person.

Timesheet User

10

User can view only limited project information. This access level requires only a Limited-Use license.

Help Desk Requester

5

User can only submit help desk requests, and requires only a help desk requester license.

Access Levels are applied to user profiles to determine what a user is able to see and do inside AtTask. As an administrator, you have the ability to create a copy of an existing Access Level and modify a copy to restrict or grant access to meet your organization’s security requirements.

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SCENARIO The implementation team has determined that the default Project Manager access level is too strong. It gives the project managers the ability to add tasks and modify task details on any project where they are a member of the project team. You need to create a Project Owner access level that only allows a project manager to add and edit tasks on projects where he/she is the project owner.

System Administrators navigate to the Access Levels area by going to: Setup › Access Levels Access Levels can be created from scratch by clicking the New Access Level button. However, it is recommended you create a copy of an existing access level and then make changes as necessary. To make a copy of an access level, decide which of the access levels best meets the permissions for the resource.

To Create a Copy of the Project Manager Access Level 1.    Navigate to the Access area. 2.    Click the Project Manager access level. 3.    Make a copy of the Project Manager access level; rename it Project Owner. 4.    Click Save.

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Understanding the Moving Parts of Access Levels Access Levels are defined on two tabs. The Access Level Details tab contains general access permissions that can be granted or restricted. The Access Scopes tab identifies individual Add, Delete, Edit, and View rights for each object. Once you make a copy of an access level, you can then make changes to it.

Definitions Access Area

Access Areas allow administrators to review the permissions for an Access Level on an object-by-object basis. Help Article Link: https://help.attask.com/#url=/index.php/node/load/107

Access Action

Combined with the Access Scope, Access Actions determines the activities a person can perform. The actions common to most Access Areas are: ∞∞

Add

∞∞

Delete

∞∞

Edit

∞∞

View

Some Access Areas provide additional activities, such as: ∞∞

Change Status

∞∞

Custom Data

∞∞

Request

∞∞

Update

Help Article Link: https://help.attask.com/#url=/index.php/node/load/106 Access Scopes

Combined with Access Actions; Access Scopes determine the criteria for permissions assigned. Help Article Link: https://help.attask.com/#url=/index.php/node/load/119

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Edit the Project Owner Access Level SCENARIO

1.    Navigate to Setup > Access Levels > New Access Level

The implementation team has determined that the default Project Manager access level is too strong. It gives the project managers the ability to add tasks and modify task details on any project where they are member of the project team.

2.    Name it Goal Sports Project Owner. 3.    Go to the Access Scopes tab. 4.    Select Task from the Access Area drop down.

Create a Project Owner access level that only allows a project manager to add and edit tasks on projects where he/she is the project owner.

5.    Change the Add, Edit, and Delete actions to the Owned by Me Project Tasks access scope. 6.    Select the Change Status and Custom Data actions to include Project Tasks, Assigned To Me or Entered by Me Tasks. 7.    Click Save. According to the scenario, the View action can remain on the Home Group, Project, or Entered By Me Tasks scope. This access scope allows users to view any project in their Home Group, any project they are assigned to as a project team member, and any project they created.

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SCENARIO After creating the Project Owner access level, you decide you also want to restrict which projects users with this access level are allowed to edit. Go to the Project access area and reduce the access to edit only those projects where they are set as the project owner.

Group associations and project team membership impact what users can see and do more than any of the other user profile conditions. Individuals using the same access level may see different results or totals on reports because of the groups and/or projects they belong to. 1.    Select the Goal Sports Project Owner access level you just created. 2.    Go to the Access Scopes tab and select Project. 3.    Make the necessary changes and click Save.

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Layout Templates Layout Templates provide administrators with the option to place reports directly in front of individuals. Administrators can customize the workspace tabs on the following pages: ∞∞

AtTask Home

∞∞

Global Areas-Projects, Requests, Reporting

∞∞

Task, Project, Issue, and Portfolio Tabs

A well-defined layout template can significantly reduce the learning curve for the application because it streamlines click paths and makes navigation to relevant data easier. To Access the Layout Template page go to: Setup › Interface › Layout Templates

To Create a Layout Template 1.    Navigate to the Layout Template page. 2.    Select the ‘New Layout Template’ button. 3.    A Light Box will generate; name the template. 4.    On the Set Details tab, set the default login Area. 5.    In the Customize Tabs section, set any specific views or reports for users. 6.    Customize Lists allows you to set specific list controls for the layout. 7.    The last tab, Assign People, allows you to connect the template to job roles, teams, or specific people.

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Layout Template options On Login Determines the default login area for the user. For example, My Work will take the User to the My Work area each time they log in—this will be their home screen.

In the Global Navigation Bar This option will allow areas to be turned off or on for a user. By default My Work and Projects cannot be removed. Adding Reporting will provide access to reports for users with a team member license. Any Personal Preferences a user sets will override layout preferences.

Customize Tabs A Maximum of six viewable tabs can be placed on any global area or page setup. The default tab will be the farthest tab option on the left. Any additional tabs will reside in the More drop-down. Reporting elements like dashboards can be added here. If you add a report for Late Tasks on the Project area, by default the report will pull the available late task information on the selected project.

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Layout Template options Customize Lists This section allows the customization of list controls within the different reports. As the System Administrator, you can specify what Views, Filters, and Groupings you want to have available on a report type using the Layout Template. Customized reporting elements or standard elements can be incorporated into the template for use. Add to a menu by selecting the Add Filter, View, or Grouping link and search for the element you wish to incorporate.

Assign People Layout Templates can be assigned to specific users, job roles, or teams of people. By assigning a template to a job role or team, any user with that classification on their profile will have the template automatically applied to their settings. When assigning templates, personal preferences will override layout template settings. Any individually assigned layout will supersede a team or Job Role layout. Job role layouts supersede Team layouts. It is a good idea to test new Layout Templates before distributing them to actual resources. To do this, assign the Template to your own user account and verify it meets the requirements for those users.

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Practice Exercises 1.    Create a Project Owner Access Level that only allows a Project Manager to add and edit tasks on projects where he/she is the project owner. 2.    Navigate to the Layout templates section and create a new Layout Template. Call It ‘Project Managers’. Locate the ‘customize Tabs’ and on a ‘project’ remove the documents and risks tabs. Add the Approvals Tab. Navigate to the Customize Lists tab and hide the “Over Cost Budget” filter. 3.    Assign the new layout template to Jennifer Campbell and observe the changes.

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Chapter 8 User Setup

Objectives After completing this chapter, you will be able to: ∞∞

Add users to the system

∞∞

Incorporate the building blocks to develop user profiles

∞∞

Develop Teams for work management

∞∞

Discuss Personal Notifications

87

Importing Users and Adding User Accounts

SCENARIO The Development group needs to add a scrum team with four individuals that do not have user accounts. User Names

Email/Username

Access Level

Group

Adam Michaelson

[email protected]#

Project Manager

Development

Jason Waters

[email protected]#

Team Member

Development

Jesse Dowdle

[email protected]#

Team Member

Development

Sean Stephenson

[email protected]#

Team Member

Development

Creating user accounts is easy. When users are created, a System Administrator can invite them to join AtTask (they create their own password) or set them up with a password. To Access where people are added navigate to People › People

To Import Users Additional requirements for these user accounts will be provided in the subsequent lessons.

1.    Navigate to the People page. 2.    Select the ‘New Person’ icon. 3.    Choose Import People. 4.    In the light box, download the Sample File. (This is a binary file and will open in excel). 5.    Update First Name, Last Name, Email Address, and Access Level for each user. 6.    Upload the updated file. 7.    Utilize Bulk Edit to update the important details of a user’s profile including group, job role, and schedule information. 8.    When users are imported, you will be asked to invite users with an email or choose to manually set their passwords in the system. You will need to set up invitation details for users.

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Invitations AtTask creates user profiles for each person inputted into the form and sends an invitation to those individuals. The specifics of the invitations are determined in the Setup area. System Administrators can manage the invitations at Setup › Email › Invitations The image shows what the preference page looks like. Organizations can set the number of days the invitation is active and set the details of the welcoming email sent recipients. In addition to establishing preferences for invitations, System Administrators will see a preview of the AtTask and Help Desk Invitations.

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Creating Individual Users using a template Users can be created on an individual basis. A user can be created from another user’s profile. This method essentially uses the selected person’s profile as a template for new users.

To Create a New User with a Template 1.    Navigate to People › People 2.    Select the user who will serve as the template, mark the check-box next to the name. 3.    Using the ‘New Person’ button, select ‘New From Selected Person’. 4.    In the light box, provide the new user name. 5.    Notice that their profile details are replicated based on the selected user. The user can be invited to by email to register. 6.    Make sure to select the ‘Add This Person’ button.

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Adding Individual Users So far, we’ve covered how to add users by importing them and using current users to serve as a template for profiles. System Administrators may find that establishing a user profile from scratch is necessary.

To Create a New User 1.    Navigate to People › People 2.    Click the ‘New Person’ button. A light box appears. 3.    In the light box, provide the new user name, email and access level. 4.    The user can be invited to by email to register. 5.    Make sure to select the ‘Add This Person’ button. Advanced Options will provide all of the specific profile details allowing you to designate a job role, group, or schedule, etc. Do not forget to set these fields for the user.

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Practice Exercises 1.    Navigate to the People tab and add six new employees:

Adam Michaelson Jason Waters Jesse Dowdle Sean Stephenson Natalie Johnson Paul Hancock 2.    All new users should be assigned the Team Member Access Level and all should be assigned to the Development Group. 3.    Provide each new user with a unique AtTask email address. Suggested email @GoalSports.com

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Updating User Profiles: In-line & Bulk Edit SCENARIO

There are several ways a user’s profile can be edited on the People page.

The Development users you imported in the last lesson require the following Access Level and Company associations, which can be done through the User Worksheet. User Names

Access Level

Company

Adam Michaelson

Project Manager

Goal Sports

Jason Waters

Team Member

Goal Sports

Jesse Dowdle

Individual Contributor

Goal Sports

Sean Stephenson

Team Member

Goal Sports

In-line editing, is an option available throughout AtTask, allowing for quick updates to viewable information. While modifying specific users on an individual basis is helpful, it can also be very time consuming. However, several users can be edited at the same time through Bulk Editing. Bulk Editing is the same as editing an individual user, except multiple users are updated at a single time. Bulk Editing is ideal for making multiple updates to several users.

To Bulk Edit Users 1.    Navigate to People › People. 2.    Select the check boxes to the left of the user. 3.    Select the ‘Edit’ button. 4.    Marking the check-box to the left of a field activates the field. Only active fields can be modified. These fields are included in the edit when you click Save. 5.    Make the necessary changes and click the Save button. To modify Custom Data fields, change them on the Custom Data form.

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Updating User Profiles: Individual Edit SCENARIO Ray Andrews is part of the IT group and works primarily on his group’s projects. Ray’s job role is also incorrect. Change his job role to Engineer and change his home team assignment to Infrastructure.

It is usually not necessary to use the multi-user edit options when modifying a single user profile. Additionally, certain user attributes are easier to modify in an individual edit. In this lesson, you will learn how to navigate to and modify a user profile.

To Update Ray’s Profile 1.    Use the quick search field in the top right of the interface to search for Ray Andrews. 2.    Click on Ray’s name in the search results. 3.    Select ‘Edit Ray’s Info’ from the information header. 4.    Go to the Organization section. 5.    Change Ray’s home team association. 6.    Modify Ray’s default job role. 7.    Update Ray’s time zone to Pacific Standard Time. 8.    Expand the Schedule field and select the US West Coast schedule. 9.    Click Save. When a person is given a default job role, the job role is also assigned as one of the selected options in the Job Roles field, which shows all job roles the individual can fulfill. In Ray’s case he shouldn’t have been assigned as a Support Engineer, so he needs this option to be deselected in the Job Roles field.

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Practice Exercises 1.    Do a Bulk Edit on the following individuals:



Adam Michaelson



Jason Waters



Jesse Dowdle 2.    Change their Access Level to Project Manager and assign the ‘Project Manager’ Layout Template. 3.    Update their Primary Role to Project manager.

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SCENARIO Go into your user profile and deactivate the following notifications:

Email Notifications

∞∞

The status changes on my request

Each user has the option to unsubscribe from AtTask generated emails, particularly Event Handlers. Unsubscribing from emails is done in the My Settings on a user profile.

∞∞

The status changes on one of my work items

To Update Your Email Notifications Preferences

∞∞

I get a new work request

∞∞

A Document upload request is fulfilled

1.    Click your avatar in the Global Navigation Bar. 2.    Select My Settings. 3.    Navigate to the Preferences Section. 4.    Using the ‘Email Me When’ drop-down, unselect the identified notifications. 5.    Click Save. Additional notifications are automatically added to the ‘Email Me When…’ list and enabled when System Administrators enable Event Notifications. See the section on Event Notifications for more information about these items. Some notifications are redundant. However, do not spend too much time making sure redundant emails are accounted for. When redundant notifications could be issued, AtTask is smart enough to only send one.

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Teams

SCENARIO Project mangers in the Development and Marketing groups are not required to review resource availability before making specific user assignments. To simplify and streamline the project manager’s planning activities, team assignments should be made in the Gantt Chart instead of role-based or user-based assignments. According to the requirements you identified, you need the following teams:

Development Teams

Marketing Teams

Product Management

Creative

∞∞

Dave Parker

∞∞

Elizabeth Powell

∞∞

Paul Turner

∞∞

Ken Sato

∞∞

Jona Matsu

∞∞

Marci Watson

Quality Assurance

Events

∞∞

Marshall Thompson

∞∞

Anita Jordan

∞∞

Ray Andrews

∞∞

Carlos Rodriguez

∞∞

Jennifer Campbell

Scrum Team 1

Teams are a collection of individuals that work together. The individuals on a team may have different job roles or responsibilities. However, because they work closely together, their goals are intertwined. The purpose of teams in AtTask is to allow project managers to quickly assign work. Through in-line editing or other tools, project managers can assign task and issue work to the team. Members of the team see these work requests on the Team Requests page and can then volunteer to take on the work. This generally works well in cultures where individuals have a strong sense of ownership for their work and where the skill set required to do the work is universally shared among all Team members. Teams also allow other users (non-project mangers) to request work from other teams. This is especially useful when you are not completely sure of whom to assign, but you know it will be someone from the Team. Try not to confuse Teams with Project Teams. A Project Team consists of all individuals who are assigned to the project. Where as a Team is assigned work, perhaps on a task in a project or on an issue.

Lead Generation

∞∞

Erin Davis

∞∞

Jack Oliver

∞∞

Kim Louis

∞∞

Marc Lewis

∞∞

Pam Reynolds

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Teams SCENARIO To navigate to the Teams Area go to People › Teams The following departments will be using AtTask to manage their unique projects:

To Create a Team 1.    Navigate to the Teams Page.

∞∞

Development

∞∞

Marketing

∞∞

Professional Services Review the groups already created in your demo accounts of AtTask and add the missing groups.

2.    Select the ‘New Team’ Button. 3.    Identify a Team Name. 4.    Identify team members. 5.    Provide a description (Optional). 6.    Select ‘Create Team’. It is strongly recommended to discuss your organization’s team needs with all stakeholders before creating teams.

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Team Settings Once teams are defined, team settings help define the team home and work flow to meet the work process. To access the Team Settings go to: People › Teams › Selected Team › Team Settings

Views The structure of the My Work and the Requests areas can be customized to reflect information important to users. To Create a Custom View go to Setup › Interface › Views Here System Administrators can set a unique view for these areas. When adjusting Team Settings the custom view will be found available in the View drop down.

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Done Button The Done button allows System Administrators to control which status options appear when a Team Member finishes a task. A System Administrator can customize these options to display only those that best fit within an organization’s structure. These selections are made individually for the task object and the different issue types.

To Alter the Done Button 1.    Navigate to the Team Home page. 2.    Select ‘Team Settings’. 3.    Go to the Done Button section. 4.    From the list below, select the status you want to appear when your team members finish a task. You may select more than one option if you want a variety of statuses to apply to a finished task or issue. Be sure to save your changes.

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Chapter 9 Request Queues and Internal Support Systems

Objectives After completing this chapter, you will be able to: ∞∞

Establish Request Queues for both issue and service support

∞∞

Establish Automatic Request Routing

101

Issue Management Overview Your organization’s implementation plan for AtTask should include strategies for providing internal support to your userbase. These support options can include documentation, training seminars/workshops, video tutorials, and an AtTask help desk. This chapter suggests one way that an internal support system can be implemented within the application. Requests are used in two ways. To either represent obstacles to completing project-related work (Issue) or to represent a request to a service queue.

Issues Submitted to Projects: Managing issues along side the tasks allows Project Managers to see a consolidated snap shot of the work and priorities. Project Managers would triage new issues and assign them out to the person most capable of resolving the impediment.

Request Submitted to services Queues: Service queues can be very useful for internal support systems. Examples of service queues may include a traditional IT Help Desk, a bugs queue in a development environment, or an internal support system, like Marketing Requests. Request Queues can be defined as public, where they are open to all AtTask users; or private, where just certain users are allowed to submit issues. The Request form can be customized for the information needed to manage requests, then route the request to a single person or group of people.

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Request Queues The Requests area in AtTask is a central place where various issues and requests are collected and managed. For instance, many companies have a system or a help desk where employees can submit computer related problems and requests to IT personnel. Once an issue is submitted, an IT person can review the issue and make an appropriate decision. In the scenario below, you will record a request to the Infrastructure Request Queue, identifying a problem with your telephone connection.

To Record an Issue to a Service Queue 1.    Navigate to the Requests Area. 2.    Select the ‘New Requests’ button. 3.    Select a request type from the drop down. 4.    Name the request and input the values you need. 5.    Click the ‘Submit Request’ button to send the request.

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SCENARIO Your users need a place to submit issues, requests, and questions about AtTask. Create a queue called AtTask Help where end users in your environment can submit support and change requests for AtTask.

Queue Properties In AtTask, a Request Queue is a project designated as a receptacle. A benefit of utilizing request queues is once a Request Queue is published, users can submit issues or requests without actually accessing the project. When you set a project as a queue, you indicate that the project will be published to the Request area and that is where information is submitted. You can set up any kind of queue you want. Many organizations have multiple queues to meet their particular needs. These queues are internal and specific to your organization. Do not confuse the Request feature with AtTask Support.

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To Create an AtTask Request Queue 1.    Go to the Projects page, selected the ‘New Project’ button (Don’t use a template). 2.    Provide a name for the project (AtTask Help). 3.    Navigate to the More drop-down and select the queue setup option. 4.    Using the tab Queue Setup, select ‘Publish Request Queue’. 5.    Set the viewing privileges to Public. 6.    Navigate to the Queue Properties tab. 7.    Identify the types of issues you will record (Issue, Request, and Change Order). 8.    Input the amount of time you expect requests to take to resolve in the Default Duration field. 9.    In the New Issue Fields section, identify the fields you want displayed on the Request Form page. 10.    Change the ‘Show All Fields’ option to ‘No Users’. 11.    Click Save.

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Queue Details Queue Types Publish as Help Desk: Selecting this option makes the Request Queue Active.

Who can add requests to this queue? ∞∞

Anyone This is a default option. When this option is selected, the queue will be open to all users to submit requests.

∞∞

Project Team Members When this option is selected, only individuals (Team Members) on the project will be able to submit requests to the queue.

∞∞

People in this project’s company When this option is selected, only users associated with the company and the assigned to the project can see it on the Request page.

∞∞

People in this project’s group (Default Group) When this option is selected, the project is published as a request queue; however, only users associated with the group the project is assigned to can see it on the Help Desk page.

The group on the project must match one of the groups assigned to the user.

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Queue Properties Types of Issues One or more issue types can be chosen. The ‘Issue’ type is selected by default. Other options include: Bug Report, Request, or Change Order. When multiple types are selected, users can pick one of these issue types when submitting an issue. The labels for these issue types can be modified when creating custom issue statuses.

Default Duration The default duration for incoming issues is set.

Default Form Choose a custom data form to be attached to all requests submitted to the queue. Use this if custom information needs to be entered. If no issue form exists then the default form will not appear on the request form.

New Issue Fields Choose from any of the 12 fields to appear on the New Issue form. Description, Priority, and Document Upload are selected by default.

Show All Fields Choose which users can see all 12 issue fields when they create a new issue. You have three choices: ∞∞

Members on the project (Full License)- only those associated with project will see all the fields

∞∞

All Users (Full License)- any one with full license

∞∞

No Users- will only see the selected fields

Selecting the No Users option does not allow any user to see non-selected fields.

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Routing Rules and Queue Topics

SCENARIO Create the following Routing Rules and Queue Topics to support an internal AtTask Help queue.

Topic

User Assignment Route Role Assignment Route

Access Level Change Admin User General Support

Project Manager

Process Change

Project Manager

Report Request

Jennifer Campbell

System Settings

Chris Manning

Routing Rules and Queue Topics allow for the automatic assignment of new requests to a specific user, job role, or team based on the Topic selected on the Request form. Routing rules work together with queue topics. Routing rules control what AtTask does with the Request (assign to a user resource or job role, and/or move the to a different project) when a Topic is selected on the form. Topics are used to control which category (or custom data form) and which routing rule will be applied to the new request. Because a routing rule is assigned to a queue topic, it is customary to create a list of rules before creating the topics. Therefore, it is suggested to write down topics and rules on paper before attempting to configure this part of a project. The following table is one example of how routing rules and queue topics might be organized. When multiple Topics are routed to the same person or job role, the Routing Rule only needs to be created once for the project.

Chapter 9—Routing Rules and Queue Topics 108

SCENARIO

Routing Rules To Create a Routing Rule

Follow the steps to create the other Routing Rules for Jennifer Campbell and Chris Manning.

1.    Go to Request Queue project. 2.    Select the Queue Setup Tab.

Name It is recommend you provide a clear name so others who use the routing rule will know what it does. It is a good idea to identify it by the Assignee or the Topic where it will eventually be added.

3.    Select the Routing Rules sub-tab, New Routing Rule button. 4.    Input ‘Route to Admin User’ in the Name field.

Description Give the rule a description, if needed. Default Assignee From the Default Assignee, choose the name of the user you want to assign the incoming issues. If you do not see the person you want to assign, use the search icon to find a user. Default Team You can make team assignments for new requests by selecting a default team in the Default Team field.

5.    Select the Admin User from the Default Assignee dropdown. 6.    Click Save. It is recommended to provide a clear name for rules, so others who look at the routing rule will know what it does. It is a good idea to identify it by the Assignee or the Topic it will eventually be added to.

Route to Project Usually if an issue is submitted to a help desk, you want that issue to be routed to the Help Desk project. Therefore, from the Route to Project dropdown, you select that project; however, it is possible to route the issue to some other project using this drop-down menu.

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SCENARIO Follow the steps o create the other Queue Topics for the scenario listed on pg 108. Name and Description Enter a name for the topic. This is a required field. Enter a description to explain whom accessed this area and what the topic is meant to do. Default Category This will add custom data fields to your queue topic. This category and its parameters must be set up before the topic is defined.

Queue Topics Queue Topics are used to designate which route to use on the new issue form. Topics can be used for reporting purposes. For example, an IT request queue is created, and users need to indicate if it’s a software-related problem or hardware-related problem, create queue topics called Software Problems and Hardware Problems. When a user submits an issue, they select one of these topics. Based on the topic chosen, the form will display different custom data and issue types, and the new issue will be assigned different duration and routing rules.

To Create the Access Level Change Queue Topic Parent Topic Your queue topics can be hierarchical. If you already have topics in the system, and you want to make this queue topic a subtopic to one of those topics, you can do so with the Parent Topic menu. Default Duration The Default Duration sets an automatic duration period for each incoming issue. Default Route The Default Route comes from routing rules that have been set up earlier, as you did in the previous section. Issue Types Choose one or more issue types for the topic. The Issues option is selected by default. You can also choose Bug Report, Request, or Change Order.

1.    Navigate to the Request Queue project. 2.    Select the Queue Setup Tab. 3.    Select the Queue Topic sub tab, ‘New Queue Topic’ button. 4.    Input a Name for the topic (Access Level Change). This is the value displayed in the Topic drop down on the New Issue form. 5.    No categories have been created to support this queue yet, so leave the Default Category value as ‘N/A’. 6.    Input an appropriate duration for this type of request in to the Default Duration field. 7.    Select the appropriate Routing Rule for the Default Route drop-down. 8.    De-select the Issue and Request issue types. 9.    Click the Save button.

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Practice Exercises 1.    Create a Request Queue called ‘Marketing Requests’. ∞∞

Allow all users in the system to submit requests to this queue.

∞∞

Allow users to submit Requests or Issues.

∞∞

Set the Default Duration to 2 days.

∞∞

Add Severity and Status to the new issue fields.

∞∞

Save and Submit a Request to Order New Business Cards.

2.    Create two Routing Rules. One to route all Service Requests directly to Marci Watson and a second to route all Feature Requests directly to the Product Marketing Team. 3.    Create two Queue Topics. Name the first Service Requests and add the Service Request custom form and route it to Marci Watson. Call the second Feature Requests, add the Feature Request custom form and route it to the Product Marketing Team.

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Chapter 10 Consistency

Objectives After completing this chapter, you will be able to: ∞∞

Create an Approval Process

∞∞

Attach an Approval Process

∞∞

Utilize List controls

∞∞

Utilize Global Reports

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Approval Processes While each task is integral for project completion, certain tasks may become more important than others and hinder progress on the project until the task is completed properly. AtTask provides the ability to attach Approval Processes to critical tasks that require approval from a manager or colleague. Approval Processes are made up of a number of individual Approval Paths, each corresponding to a status option in your account. Approval Paths are made up of Approval Steps, and the sequence of Approval Steps determines the order each step’s designated approver(s) will be prompted for their input. Throughout this chapter, you will be provided with several examples of Approval Processes used to meet common business objectives.

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Creating new Approval Processes Administrators (users with System Administrator, Multi-Group Administrator, or Group Administrator access levels) have the ability to create global Approval Processes that may be utilized by portfolio owners as projects are defined and by project managers as new tasks or issues are created. To create a new Global Approval Process go to Setup › Process › Approvals As with other configuration options, organizations should decide what Approval Processes are needed before doing any configuration steps. System Administrators can create global Project, Task and Issue approvals. The process for creating a global approval is the same as creating an approval on a work item. This topic will focus on creating them at the global level.

Approvals Settings When establishing global approvals, System Administrators can choose to add time to a work item’s planned duration to account for the approval process. In addition, Admins can require that an approver be on the project team. To access global approval settings go to: Processes > Approvals > Settings

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Object Type

#

Project

1

Issue

Process Description

Purpose

Project Approval by the Portfolio Manager on Completion of the Business Case, and by the Portfolio Manager and Project Sponsor when the Status is Changed to Current, and by the Project Owner when the Status is Changed to Complete and then by the Project Sponsor.

Utilizes multiple Approval Paths and Approval Steps to create staged approvals as a project progresses through the project life cycle.

Table of Sample Approval Requirements The two issue Approval Processes could be combined as unique steps on a single Approval Path. The QA representative can then review a completed issue and then the originator provides a final check.

Issue

3

Task

4

2 Ideal when AtTask is used Issue Approval by the QA Engineer on Issue Closed/ in a software development environment and the Resolved. QA department relies on the AtTask Help Desk to track issues and requests. This process can easily be adapted to any other industry where the Help Desk is utilized.

Issue Approval by the Issue Primary Contact on Issue Closed, Resolved, Will not Resolve, and Cannot Duplicate.

Can be used along with the AtTask Help Desk so the originator of an issue can verify the issue is completed to their satisfaction.

Approval of Document Creation Provides a solution to allow Tasks on Task Completion by the document approval. When a document is attached Project Manager. to a task, project, or issue with an Approval Process, then you might assume the approval or rejection is based on the contents of the document. Task

5 Task Approval by the Assigned Resource’s Manager on Task Start, and by the Project Manager on Task Completion.

Allows a resource’s functional (organizational chart) manager to approve the work his/her resources complete, and then through a separate Approval Path, allows the project owner to verify satisfactory completion.

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To Define a Multi-Part, Multi-Step Project Approval Processes SCENARIO Create a new Project Approval Process that satisfies the requirements of Process 1 in the Table of Approval Requirements. The Approval Process will allow the assigned manager an opportunity to approve the work when the status of the project changes.

1.    Go to Setup › Processes › Approvals 2.    Click the Project Approvals Tab, then the ‘New Approval Process’ button. 3.    Name and describe the Approval Process. Click ‘New Approval Path’. 4.    Select ‘Requested’ from the Status drop-down. 5.    Choose the ‘User’ option from the Approval Type dropdown. 6.    Under Approvers, type Jennifer Campbell. 7.    Click ‘Add Approver’. From the second Approvers dropdown, select the Project Sponsor option. 8.    Set the radio button on the right to the ‘All Approvers’ option. 9.    Select ‘New Approval Path’ and then choose ‘Current’ from Target Status drop-down. Select the User option from the Approval Type drop down.

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10.    From the Approvers drop-down, select Portfolio Owner. 11.    Click the ‘New Approval Path’ button. 12.    Choose the Complete option from the Target Status dropdown. 
 13.    Select the User option from the Approval Type drop-down. 14.    From the Approvers drop-down, choose the Project Owner option. 15.    Click on the ‘Add Approval Step’ button.
 16.    Select the User option from the Approval Type drop-down. 17.    From the Approvers drop-down, choose the Project Sponsor option. 18.    Save the Approval Process.

At any point a specific user may be chosen instead of the ‘wildcard’ options. However, only do this if it is always going to be the same person performing the approval on all projects using this Approval Process. If a Project Owner, Project Sponsor, Portfolio Owner, etc. has not been assigned, or if a Portfolio and/or Program has not been assigned to the project, then the ‘wildcards’ will indicate no user is available to approve the task, project, or issue. If this is the case, Project Managers will have unnecessary delays on a project, so either make the appropriate Project Owner, Project Sponsor, or Portfolio Owner assignment, or change the approval to utilize a specific, named resource.

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Attaching Approval Processes SCENARIO The Cruzer Web Site project (and others) need approvals as different statuses are achieved. Attach the approval process you created in the previous section to the Cruzer Web Site project.

Because attaching a pre-defined Approval Process is identical at the project, task, and issue levels, this section will only outline how this is done on a project. Approval Processes are typically defined globally or attached to templates so tasks on projects will follow the same approval work-flow regardless of the project. This definition also ensures the correct people approve projects moving through the project life cycle. Issue approvals are treated in the same manner.

To Attach an Approval Process to a Project 1.    Navigate to the Cruzer Web Site. 2.    Select the Approvals tab. 3.    Click the ’Use an Existing Approval Process’ button. 4.    Select the ‘Standard Project Approval’ process (or whatever you named your approval process). 5.    Click the Save button.

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The Approval Process has now been attached to the project and will become active once the task status is changed to complete. Users who have access to assign Approval Processes also have the ability to create ad hoc Approval Processes to manage the one-off approval needs. This is done by navigating to the Approvals tab and clicking the Create a Single-Use Approval Process button. The remaining steps in this activity are identical to those used to create a global Approval Process. Single-use processes will not appear in the global list of approval processes. The single-use process cannot be reused unless it is part of a template or template task definition. If you select an existing approval process first and click Submit to save the preference, you can then select the Create a Single-Use Approval Process button to make deviations to the predefined process. If changes to the process need to be made the modifications need to occur before any of the approval steps become active.

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SCENARIO The Cruzer Web Site project (and others) need approvals as different statuses are achieved. Attach the approval process you created in the previous section to the Cruzer Web Site project.

Viewing Approval Details When updating a task with an Approval Process, a change in the status options will occur. Each status option will appear with the ‘ – Pending Approval’ notation to indicate the status cannot progress to the selected state until an approval is provided. Users can tell when an approval process has been attached to an object because the approval indicator becomes illuminated. Users can review the entire Approval Process attached to a task by going to the Approvals tab through the More menu.

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Best Practices for Approvals At the project and issue levels, approvals may be necessary on initiation of the project request or at issue creation. This standard Approval Process should be associated with each template in your account. As projects are created from templates, the Approval Process will be set, allowing the process to take effect from the Idea status on. The Queue Properties tab for each
project provides a Default Approval field. This will automatically attach a predefined Approval Process to each issue recorded on the request queue. The Default Approval field is also available on Queue Topics. Therefore, each type of issue recorded on the project or queue can have a different Approval Process. For consistency, define the Default Approval at the template level so each project’s Queue Properties and Topics are identical throughout the system. Defining the Queue Properties and Queue Topics are discussed in detail in this course.

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Reviewing Items Awaiting Your Approval After defining an approval task, the approval process launches upon completion of the task. Then the status of the task is set to Complete - Pending Approval by the assigned resource, and the task will not be marked as Complete until the designated approver(s) have reviewed and approved the task. Users set as approvers will want to regularly review the ‘Items I Need to Approve’ report in the My Approvals area or have this report placed on a Dashboard or Portal Profile tab. This report displays all projects, tasks, and issues with an active Approval Step where you are an approver.

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Items I Need to Approve The ‘Items I Need to Approve’ report provides a comprehensive list of all projects, tasks, and issues awaiting your feedback.

To Approve an Item 1.    From the My Work page, select the Approvals tab. 2.    Click on the project/task/issue name you wish to approve or reject to review the item. 3.    The item can be approved directly from the Approvals tab. 4.    Click Save. If approval of a task is rejected, AtTask will create an issue on the task, revert it back to the previous status, or revert to another status identified in the Approval Path. If an issue is created, the issue will be assigned to the default resource on the task. The task status will change to ‘Complete Pending Issues’. Once the issue is resolved, the task will appear in the approver’s ‘My Approvals’ report again.

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Items I Submitted for Approval The ‘Items I Submitted for Approval’ report displays all the projects, tasks, and issues with an active approval step where the logged in user is the individual who initiated the step. Notice the Recall action icon. After selecting the item(s) submitted for approval, click the Recall icon to return an item back to its previous status.

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Practice Exercises 1.    Create a new project approval process that satisfies the following requirements: Requirement When a project moves into the Requested status, the Project Sponsor must approve.

When a project moves into the Current status, the Project Sponsor & Project Owner must approve.

When the project moves into a Complete status, the Program Owner must approve then the Project Sponsor must approve. 2.    Attach the Project approval process you just created to the Cruzer Website Project.

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Global Reports and List Controls The purpose of this lesson is to identify methods for delivering the right information to the right people. As an administrator, you will do this by distributing reports and/or reporting elements. Report: A report is the combination of a view and filter (and sometimes a grouping) saved for future use and can be distributed to other individuals. Reporting Element: Reporting elements are the building blocks of reports. They include: Views, Filters, and Groupings. View: A view usually refers to the columns that appear across the top of a list of records. It can also refer to the chart displayed for a report. Filter: The filter controls the results included in a report. Grouping: Groupings are the horizontal dividers used to organize results based on common criteria. Groupings are also used to determine the axes of Matrix reports and the axes of aggregate chart reports. Once a report or reporting element is created the next step is to distribute them to others.

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SCENARIO Add the Project Milestones report created by the Administrator User to the Global List so all resources have access to the report.

Shared Reports While each person has the ability to search for and review the contents of any report, keep in mind their access rights will control which results will appear on the report. It is best to distribute high traffic reports to the general public. This is done by sharing reports company-wide. After a report is shared company-wide, the report will appear on the All Reports tab in the Reports area. The ability to share reports company-wide is dependent on the user’s access level.

To Share a Report Company-Wide and a Report to the Global List 1.    Navigate to the Reporting Area in the Global Navigation bar. 2.    Select the report you want to share. 3.    Click Report Actions, then select ‘Share’. 4.    Select the Company-wide option and then click ‘Share this Report’. Everyone in your company can now see this report.

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SCENARIO After some discovery and interviews with stakeholders throughout the organization, you have found that people in different departments and roles have very different reporting requirements.

List Controls The List Controls determine which filters, views, and groupings are displayed in the corresponding drop-downs at the top of each report.

Team members think there are too many options in the view and filter drop downs for task reports. Their managers want additional views and filters in their list menus.

The List Controls area gives the System Administrator, the option to share reporting elements you may have created with other resources in the system.

The following table shows the results of your findings for the Task object and only two of your many implementation roles.

There are two levels of list controls. Use the List Controls to determine which reporting elements should be common to all users. Admins can also use Layout Templates to distribute specific report elements to subsets of users.

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List Controls Modify the Global List Controls to distribute the common reporting elements. A System Administrator can access and modify the global List Controls by going to Setup › Interface Setup › List Controls

To Set the Common Task-Level Reporting Elements 1.    Go to the List Controls screen. 2.    Select the Task option from the Object Type 
dropdown. 3.    Click the Delete icon for each reporting element you want to eliminate from the list controls. 4.    Choose the ‘Add icon’ to search for any reports to add to the global List Controls. 5.    Select the report to add and then click Save. 6.    Selected reports appear on the List Controls. 7.    Click the Save button on the List Controls screen – the filters, views, and groupings will be distributed to all other users in the system.

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Custom Forms Custom Forms allow fields and information otherwise not included to be added to AtTask. Organizations have the freedom to customize AtTask. A System Administrator can access and modify the custom field area by going to Setup › Custom Forms

To Create a New Custom Form 1.    Click the ‘New Custom Form’ button. 2.    Select the object type where the custom form will be applied. Custom Forms can be added to Projects, Tasks, Issues, Documents, Portfolios, Expenses, Programs, and People. When a form is applied to a record, the subtab is relabeled from “Custom Form” to the name of the form you selected. 3.    Select existing custom fields to add to your form. Or create and add a new field, from the form builder. 4.    Click Save when finished.

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Terms

Purpose

Form

Provides additional fields not originally included in AtTask

Field

A customized field where you enter and view information on the form.

Section Break

A section heading or divider on the form. Helps you group and organize the various fields.

Custom Form

Allows users to enter information not otherwise included in AtTask.

Existing custom fields can be added to newly created forms. Just search for them in the field library and drag them onto the form preview on the right. A warning will show when a field is used on other forms, indicating that a change to the field settings will change the field on all forms. Creating a new field right on the form is simple as well. Just choose the type of field and drag it over to the form. Field settings and options can be modified when selecting a field in the form. Users can add choices, make a field required, set data type, and add instructions that appear as tool tips. Organize the fields on the form with section breaks and by dragging the fields into position. By dragging a field to the right of another, can add fields to share the same row. In order to create forms users must have edit rights to all custom form fields (parameters).

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Custom Form Fields There are a variety of different fields that can be used on a custom form, like check-boxes (multi-select), Radio-buttons, dates, drop-downs, or blank text fields. One option in particular will allow users to take information from AtTask and calculate their own information based on data that already exists; this option is called Calculated. Calculated Custom data involves taking expressions and using them to produce the values users would like to see, like profit. Profit is a calculated custom field that takes the value difference between Revenue and Costs. When using Calculated Custom data, users can work with mathematical, date & time, and text (example: search) options to produce the information they would like to see on a Custom Form. Visit help.attask.com to learn more about the different expressions available to use when working with Calculated Custom Data.

To create a Calculated Custom data field: (Example: Profit) 1.    Open (or Create) a Custom Form. 2.    Select the Calculated field. 3.    Name the field. 4.    Double click on the desired expression, ‘Sum’. 5.    Select the desired field, Revenue 6.    Add any mathematical signs (-). 7.    Double click on Costs. 8.    Save Custom Form and Apply to objects.

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Practice Exercises 1.    Add the Project Milestones report to the Global List so all resources have access to this report. 2.    After adding the Project Milestones report to the Global List, go back and share the report with only Chris Manning, Anita Jordan, Jenna Nunez, and Pam Reynolds. 3.    Project Managers need four custom fields on the Project level to help them track and manage their projects. Use the following characteristics to create the Custom Form:

Field Name

Field Type

Data Type

Options

Capital Budget

Text Field

Currency

None

Non-Capital Budget

Text Field

Currency

None

Is Capital Expense

Radio Buttons

Text

No Yes

Market

Check-box

Text

Asia Pacific, EMEA, North America & South America.

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Chapter 11 AtTask Support & Services

Objectives After completing this chapter, you will be able to:

∞∞

Navigate to Community Site

∞∞

Find additional AtTask Services

134

AtTask Community community.attask.com Have a question? Visit AtTask community for help articles, ondemand learning courses, register for AtTask courses, attend free webinars, or schedule post-implementation consulting services.

sign-up for the AtTask community* 1. GO TO THE COMMUNITY PAGE. community.attask.com 2. ON DEMAND USERS: SIGN IN USING YOUR EXISTING USERNAME AND PASSWORD.

3. IF YOU ARE NOT ON DEMAND, CREATE A NEW ACCOUNT BY CLICKING THE ‘ALL OTHER CUSTOMERS’ TAB, AND SELECTING ‘CREATE NEW ACCOUNT’. 4. FILL OUT THE REQUIRED FIELDS IDENTIFIED WITH AN ASTERISK (*). 5. CLICK THE ‘CREATE NEW ACCOUNT’ BUTTON. 6. GO TO YOUR EMAIL INBOX AND FOLLOW THE INSTRUCTIONS IN THE VALIDATION EMAIL. *Registration is required to access some community content.

COMMUNITY USER GROUPS User groups allows clients to collaborate and communicate with other AtTask users, read blog postings, and network with users in the work management world. You can join an existing group, or create a new group that others can join. Join a group by clicking the ‘All Groups’ tab. From the list, select the group you wish to join. Select ‘Join Group’. View your groups on the ‘My Groups’ tab.

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Education Services AtTask Education offers something for everyone: onDemand Learning for the busy professional, online webinars with certified AtTask trainers, and the Pick 3 Program; tailored, to your specific needs, and private education sessions for your business. New AtTask users and AtTask veterans, looking to expand their product knowledge or needing a quick refresher, should review the education plan and course catalog for detailed information about the right courses for your individual needs.

attask courses ∞∞

AtTask Fundamentals

∞∞

Work Management

∞∞

AtTask Administrator

∞∞

Reporting Essentials

∞∞

Portfolio and Resource Management

∞∞

Intermediate Reporting

∞∞

Advanced Reporting

Help Site When you have questions, this is the first place you should look for answers. You can access the Help Site by clicking the Help icon in the upper righthand corner of any page in AtTask.

Help Site contains: ∞∞

Announcements

∞∞

Training Videos

∞∞

Help Articles

Visit us: help.attask.com

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Education Services onDemand Learning AtTask is now offering a variety of eLearning courses to help optimize your use of the product and really drill down into the core functionality that will make work easier for you and your organization. New courses are being added all the time so check back often to see what is new.

Webinars Webinars are live, instructional sessions designed to provide information for up to one hour. Webinars are topic-specific, they are available to anyone who would like to attend. They are free of charge. You can find a list of upcoming webinars and recordings of past webinars on the community site. Visit: community.attask.com/webinars

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Support Services AtTask offers four customer support plans, ensuring you receive the level of support that is appropriate for your business. Support plans can be adjusted at any time. Online Help Desk: 24x7 Phone Support: Sunday 8pm – Friday 8pm (Eastern Time) Telephone: 801-373-3266 opt. 2 Toll Free: 866-441-0001 opt. 2 Visit the Community Site for release notes and additional support guides.

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Consulting Services The AtTask roadmap for success follows this simple formula: Success = Realistic Scope + Right Resources + Achievable timeline

Following this formula, AtTask consultants provide best practices consulting to businesses looking to implement work management principles to their projects and processes. Additionally, AtTask consultants provide design and implementation approaches, tailored to your business needs, to get your AtTask solution into production quickly and easily.

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Customer success Program The customer success program puts you, the AtTask user, at the forefront of the AtTask business model. Our customer success consultants connect and engage with you to ensure you receive maximum value from the AtTask platform by providing additional resources and expertise tailored to your AtTask solution.

Customer success program: ∞∞

Dedicated customer success consulting

∞∞

Conference calls

∞∞

Quarterly reviews of your account

∞∞

Customized success road-map

For more information contact Gwendolyn Smith VP of Customer Success Desk Phone: 801-477-9586 [email protected]

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