My organization is small and I need to allow my resources to update their %complete on there tasks. As I've come to understand, it appears that they cannot do this in any other place than My Task or My Assignments. This is not ideal because my boss wants resources to see the complete plan and update their tasks. However, if I just work with this, the Progress still does not get reflected until I open the project in Office Project and then publish then check back in. I want it to auto publish all changes made in My Tasks or any other place on the PWA site. Is this possible?
Karrybelle wrote:
it is okay you misunderstood. I know it seems a little off.
26-Oct-09
it is okay you misunderstood. I know it seems a little off. Maybe if I ha
explained the way it is now would have made it more clear
Currently my organization uses Journyx Time Tracking to track all types o
time. We do this on a weekly basis. The PMs pull the hours for the week fo
their projects in reports from Journyx. After having double, trippled chec
that the hours are accurate they then have to go into the desktop applicatio
of Project and manually enter a resource's time for every project. You ca
see how this would be very time consuming if a PM had serveral projects
My organization is looking for a way to minimize all the manual labor an
possibly cut down how many applications we use. Currently there is a way fo
Journyx to link to Project Server to import time into the plans but if we ca
cut out having to use an extra application it would be more beneficial
So the bottom line is we are looking for one application that resource ca
enter the time they spend on projects and a way to make it so the PMs did no
have to manually enter time into their projects. If all it takes is for th
PM to approve of the time the resource and then publish the project plan s
it adjusts the actual work time spend on the project, that is a one step m
PMs will not mind taking over having to manually enter time for each resourc
into each project
:
Previous Posts In This Thread:
"My Task" to Project Plan
Hi
I know this question may be a very obvious one but I actually have not foun
the answer. Currently my company is using PS 2003 and we are looking to g
to a clean cut to PS 2007. We are also looking to find a new way of trackin
time. Currently we use another system to track time and the project manager
need to manually update their projects by pulling a report for the othe
application
In PS 2007, if a resource updates his/her task with the hours that they hav
worked and the project manager approves of the time, does it automaticall
update the project plan for the manager or is there another step the projec
manager needs to take to pull the time into his/her project
Thanks for answering my simple question!
Karrybelle --When a team member enters progress on the My Tasks page, Project
Karrybelle -
When a team member enters progress on the My Tasks page, Project Server 200
does NOT automatically update the Microsoft Project plan with the tas
progress. The project manager must review the updates on the Task Update
page, where he/she can approve or reject the updates as needed. This mean
that the PM is the "gate keeper" who can prevent "dirty data" from gettin
into the enterprise project. It is possible for the PM to create a Rule t
automatically approve all task updates, but then the PM is no longer th
"gate keeper" and there is nothing to prevent "dirty data" from getting int
the enterprise project. And keep in mind there is no "Undo" button t
reverse the updates once "dirty data" has gotten into the Microsoft Projec
2007 plan. Trust me on this: your project managers NEED to be the "gat
keepers" for each of their projects!
Hope this helps
-
Dale A. Howard [MVP
VP of Educational Service
msProjectExpert
http://www.msprojectexperts.co
http://www.projectserverexperts.co
"We write the books on Project Server"
Hi Karrybelle,As a current user of PS 2007 and with PS 2010 on the horizon,
Hi Karrybelle,
As a current user of PS 2007 and with PS 2010 on the horizon, unless you
have a very acute pressure to move out from PS 2003, I would consider waiting
for the release of PS 2010. From what I have seen and heard so far, PS 2010
addresses several core issues of PS 2007 - user friendliness and better focus
on the work resources among them. At the very least, look into what the new
version will bring and evaluate whether or not the new features and
improvements outweigh your need to upgrade.
There are pros and cons, of course. PS 2007 is mature and most bugs have
been ironed out. It is more or less stable technology with a wide
implementation base and available expertise. PS 2010 is new technology with
quite a few big changes and improvements over the previous version, but when
it is released, you would be among the early adopters and would have to live
with the more than likely ailments that plague a new release. Otoh, you would
be implementing a service with a longer end of life than PS 2007 and avoid
transitioning from 2007 to 2010 in the future.
I will freely admit that I am not planning on the upgrade in our environment
just yet - but if I was upgrading from PS 2003, I would more than likely skip
PS 2007.
Just some food for thought,
- Jussi
:
I am sorry, I did forget to include that my PMs will DEFINATELY be
I am sorry, I did forget to include that my PMs will DEFINATELY be approving
the time on the tasks. That I cannot see would not be a given. Until the day
resources put their time in right every single time I do not ever see a time
where PMs will not be approving project time.
I am sorry I should have made myself more clear on that point. I meant to
ask is AFTER the PMs had approved the task time would it automatically update
in the project plan. However, I think thinkOrdie had answered my question.
Just to make sure though...
So after a resource enters their time into "My Task" and the PM approves of
the time, the PM has to publish those particular tasks for it to update the
project plan? Or do they go into the desk top application and just repubish
the plan. I am sorry if it sounds like I am asking stupid questions but my
PMs can be very particular on how to do things. And I am going to have to
end up training new people who have never used Project and I want to be able
to break it down like and "idiot guide".
:
Karrybelle --The project manager can approve task updates in either the Task
Karrybelle --
The project manager can approve task updates in either the Task Updates page
in PWA, or directly in the enterprise project in Project Professional 2007.
We recommand the second option as a best practice, because it allows the
project manager to immediately do the following:
1. View the updates in the Microsoft Project 2007 plan.
2. Reschedule uncompleted work from the past into the current reporting
period.
3. Do variance analysis.
4. Do plan revision as needed to bring the project back on track.
5. Save and PUBLISH the project.
When a project manager saves a project, Project Server 2007 saves the
project in the Draft database. When a project manager publishes a project,
the system saves the project in both the Published and Reporting databases,
which makes the information visible to all interested parties, including
both team members and executives.
Therefore, you will need to make publishing a training and performance
issue. Teach your PMs to publish the latest schedule changes at the end of
every round of accepting task updates, and then hold them accountable for
this behavior. Hope this helps.
Thank you for the answer.
Thank you for the answer. But I just need to know, will the PMs have to
manually update the project plan with the tasks hours they had approved or
after approving the tasks provided by the resource does it automatically
update the project plan.
:
Karrybelle --When the PM approves the task updates, the system automatically
Karrybelle --
When the PM approves the task updates, the system automatically applies the
task updates to the Microsoft Project 2007 plan. The PM does NOT have to
manually update the projects. Hope this helps.
YES!
YES! Thank you that was the answer my PMs wanted to desperately have.
:
Karrybelle --You are more than welcome, my friend!
Karrybelle --
You are more than welcome, my friend!
I'd like to add some practical advices.I agree with Dale.
I'd like to add some practical advices.
I agree with Dale. Project managers need to be a "gate keeper".
In this case, on Task Updates page, project managers not only have to
"approve" all tasks, but also have to "publish" them in order to
update project plan.
There is another important point.
I suppose that the time tracking system you use now naturally has a
functionality
of automatically showing the total of actual working hours of each
day.
However, in PWA 2007's "My Tasks" page will never show the total of
actual work hours
of each day. If your staff need it, you should introduce "Time Sheet"
functionality of PWA 2007.
If you decide to use "Time Sheet", your staff have to "import" their
Time Sheet after filling out it
to "My Task" page for every defined period (e.g. monthly or weekly-
base).
I personally think the "My Tasks" page of PWA 2007 should have the
total bottom line of
actual working hours of each day. No total line is really inconvenient
for your staff
because your staff have to calculate MANUALLY to make sure that the
total is e.g. 8 hours.
This actually happens in my organization. Almost all project members
complain by saying,
"Why does not My Tasks page of PWA 2007 show me the total hours of each
day????"
Regards,
msprojectexperts(dot)com> wrote:
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Hi,Sorry but please ignore my previous post at 10/25/2009 8:31 PM PST.
Hi,
Sorry but please ignore my previous post at 10/25/2009 8:31 PM PST.
I misunderstood the point of Karrybelle's question.
Regards,
Hi, Karrybelle and Dale,I am sorry but I'd like to confirm one thing again.
Hi, Karrybelle and Dale,
I am sorry but I'd like to confirm one thing again.
Are you sure that PMs do NOT have to manually apply (=3Dpublish) the
approved task updates?
Please refer to the following link.
http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/projectserver/HA101485031033.aspx
Indeed you can automatically APPROVE the task updates submitted by
project members if you define the automatic "approval rules" on PWA
2007 mentioned in the link page above.
However, PMs can NOT automatically apply (=3Dpublish) the manually or
automatically approved task updates to the project plan.
Even if PMs use Project Professional 2007, PMs have to approve the
submitted task updates and then publish it in order to move DRAFT data
to PUBLISHED data, unless PMs do not define the automatic "approval
rules" mentioned above.
And even if PMs define the automatic "approval rules" on PWA2007, it
is not PUBLISH action but APPROVAL action that is automated.
Here let us go back to Karrybelle's original question.
I suppose that Karrybelle's organization wants PMs to check not only
the progress (i.e. percentage) but also the daily acutal work hours of
each task of each member.
In this case, if you automate the APPROVAL action of the submitted
task updates, PMs will lose the chance to check the daily actual work
hours of each task of each member.
Once the submitted task updates is approved, PMs have to crawl
Resource Allocation View on Project Professional 2007 in order to
check the daily actual work hours of each resource (=3Dmember) of each
task.
I think the important point is that Karrybelle's organization has a
kind of time tracking software and whether PMs' approval actions will
be more efficient or not after replacing it with Project Server 2007
(and PWA2007).
My answer is "Naturally it will become much more efficient, but PMs
still have to do two actions, i.e. approval and publish because in
Karrybelle's organization, PMs seem to have to check the daily actual
work hours of each member of each task".
Even if PMs do not have to check the actual work hours on daily-base
any more, PMs still have to manually PUBLISH the automatically
approved task updates.
Regards,
msprojectexperts(dot)com> wrote:
perts.com
e.
s
ve to
it is okay you misunderstood. I know it seems a little off.
it is okay you misunderstood. I know it seems a little off. Maybe if I had
explained the way it is now would have made it more clear.
Currently my organization uses Journyx Time Tracking to track all types of
time. We do this on a weekly basis. The PMs pull the hours for the week for
their projects in reports from Journyx. After having double, trippled check
that the hours are accurate they then have to go into the desktop application
of Project and manually enter a resource's time for every project. You can
see how this would be very time consuming if a PM had serveral projects.
My organization is looking for a way to minimize all the manual labor and
possibly cut down how many applications we use. Currently there is a way for
Journyx to link to Project Server to import time into the plans but if we can
cut out having to use an extra application it would be more beneficial.
So the bottom line is we are looking for one application that resource can
enter the time they spend on projects and a way to make it so the PMs did not
have to manually enter time into their projects. If all it takes is for the
PM to approve of the time the resource and then publish the project plan so
it adjusts the actual work time spend on the project, that is a one step my
PMs will not mind taking over having to manually enter time for each resource
into each project.
:
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