msps 2003 timesheet approvals

[projectserverdragon]

I am in a pickle and need some help....

I have RMs acting as PMs which is causing for timesheets to be routed
incorrectly.

The RM is publishing tasks as a PM and is now getting their timesheets for
approval when they are not in his RBS structure.

Is there a way to structure the Security Matrix to allow an RM to be a task
owner of an assignment and only recieve timesheets for their directs?

 

[Reid McTaggart]

Yes, there is.

The easiest way, rather than modifying Group permissions settings, is to
make this person a member of both the PM and RM groups.

You might want to look at the security templates (if they are still intact)
that came out of the box. Those are set up so that RMs can review and
approve timesheets for their own resources, and PMs can publish assignments
and receive/approve updates.

This might or might not be enough direction to get you straightened out.
so, let us know if this helps move you in the right direction, and if you
have any follow-up questions.

 

[projectserverdragon]

Thanks for the reply. We already have that structure in place and it works
correctly.

I am dealing with a unique situation here however.

I have an RM who is publishing project plans to resources who are not on his
team which is causing for him to recieve timesheets for resources who do not
report to him.


This is why I am trying to see if there is a way for an RM to act as both RM
and PM w/ out impacting the category permissions.

 

[Reid McTaggart]

I am wondering now if we may have a terminology problem.

There is no reason an RM cannot also be a PM, and that should not cause his
to start receiving TIMSHEETS from resource who do not report to him.

As a PM, he would receive TASK UPDATES from resources on his project(s).

In my answer, I am making some assumptions about your permissions
configuratoin. Chief among them is that the ONLY permissions anyone has are
a result of their membership in one or more GROUPS. That is, no one has any
global or category permissions assigned directly to them. You have assigned
users to Groups, and have associated only Groups with Categories.

If these asumptions are true, and if you are using out-of-the-box security
settings, then PMs would see only task updates from resources on their
projects, and RMs would see only timesheets from resources they oversee (via
RBS). A person who is both a PM and an RM would get both of those, but there
would be no overlap; they would not get task updates from all the people they
oversee, and they would not get timesheets from people who are merely
resources on their projects but whom they do not oversee.

If you're sure we are both using terminology the same way, then there must
be something in your security confiuration that explains why the sytem is
misbehaving. If that is the case, I can help you further investigate and fix
the problem.

 

[projectserverdragon]

Correct, user permissions are inherited from Groups and Groups inherit the
Category permissions ONLY.

I allow the PM and RM groups to Publish/Update/Status
I allow the RM group to Approve Timesheets.

This resource is a member of both groups.

This resource is receiving the correct task updates.
Unfortunately what I am encountering is that the same resource is getting
timesheets to approve from resources who do not report to him.

I discovered that he is recieving timesheets to approve from resources who
he has published assignments to (because publishing makes him the Task Owner)

So I cannot see how I can allow a single resource to act as a PM and RM with
respect to timesheet approval.

I wish the RM could manage a project and only receive updates instead of
updates and approvals.

 

[Reid McTaggart]

I still suspect we may have a terminology problem, because you seem to be
suggesting that being a Task Owner causes one to receive Timesheets.

Being a Task Owner (in Project Server 2003) causes one to receive Task
Updates, which are different from Timesheets. Are you sure you're clear on
the difference?

I am triple checking because some of what you write makes me suspect some
confusion.

Another thing that is odd is that you have changed the permissions to allow
RMs to "Publish/Update/Status." Since you've done that - insteead of just
making such people both PMs and RMs - it is very possible that you gave RMs
some other category permissions you did not intend. I would recommend going
back to the "out-of-the-box" settings for RMs.

 

[Reid McTaggart]

In Admin, check the permissions for the Resource Manager group:

The selected categories should include "My Direct Reports." When you click
on My Direct Reports, the Permisions box should show a Allow for "Approve
Timesheets for Resources." When you click on any other category for this
group, the Permisions box should NOT show a Allow for "Approve Timesheets for
Resources."

Does that match what you have?