Timesheet versus Tasks

[TLBartz]

In our environment, we would like to have the users enter time in PS 2007
using a similar view as they are currently in PS 2003.

The task & time entry is being used by upper management only and is not sent
to any accounting systems, etc.

Is there a way to modify the 'My Tasks' view so that it looks like the
timesheet view in PS 2003 and then have the users enter their time for tasks
and administrative time in this view only and disable the timesheet?

Thank You.

 

[Gary L. Chefetz [MVP]]

TL:

If you install SP1, you will find that the My Tasks web part has a new
option to show hours by day. To access this, you must put the page in edit
mode, and then edit the shared web part. Scroll down to the PWA section to
find the option box. Note that this approximates the 2003 interface more
closely, but there is no way to show the day of the week (it displays date
only) and the grid floats so that the current day is always in the center.
Many users find this feature annoying, so realize that you may have do some
training and reinforcement around this.

--

Gary L. Chefetz, MVP
MSProjectExperts
For Project Server Consulting: http://www.msprojectexperts.com
For Project Server FAQS: http://www.projectserverexperts.com

 

[TLBartz]

Thank You Gary. This will be so much more useful for our environment. For
our environment it is probably good that the current day is in the center as
they "should" be updating this daily.

Thank You again.

 

[ljsexton]

Gary,
Are there any plans to combine the Timesheet and Tasks views in 2007 to
approach an interface more like 2003? This new change in the time recording
for resources working on tasks in 2007 is the primary reason we have not
upgraded to 2007. The new 2007 version seems far more complex in how it
handles resource time reporting. Sorry, I may be missing something but our
user community is very opinionated about having to enter their time in two
difference places. Any positive input you can provide regarding 2007
timekeeping features would be most appreciated. There are many other features
of 2007 that are Very attractive.
Thanks,
Jackie

 

[Gary L. Chefetz [MVP]]

Jackie:

The timesheet piece is separate by design, but it does not require double
entry. You can enter time in either screen and then click to transfer it in
either direction. If you do not require an auditable timekeeping solution,
you can simply turn the timesheets off and remove them from the Quick Launch
menu. The change to the web part in SP1 does make the system behave more
like 2003.

--

Gary L. Chefetz, MVP
MSProjectExperts
For Project Server Consulting: http://www.msprojectexperts.com
For Project Server FAQS: http://www.projectserverexperts.com

 

[Scott Morrissey]

Although the SP1 does make the My Tasks window look more like the 2003
version, there are other issues that you need to be aware of:
1) You cannot control time periods - so team members can log time as far
back or as far ahead as they want.
2) Daily total hours are not displayed. If you want to know how much time
you have entered for a day or the week - you have to manually calculate it!
3) Administrative time does not show up here. You may have to have a
separate project plan to do this & assign everyone to it.
4) Project Managers cannot adjust actuals here as they could in 2003.
5) Beware that team members can change task start and end dates and can also
request to delete tasks. If this is not monitored, tasks can be removed and
end dates can changed without the Project Manager knowing it.
6) As mentioned earlier, the week is not displayed as Sunday - Saturday
(rolling window with the current day in the middle). This can cause
difficulties when trying to get a true weekly view of your time.

These are just a few differences that you should be aware of.

 

[ljsexton]

These are all major concerns for us. We currently use 2003 PWA timesheet View
screen for our internal company Timesheet reporting by period for Accounting
dept and to manage project progress updating. Works Great. do not see how we
can do this in 2007 version as it appears some of the functionality available
in 2003 has been removed in 2007 regarding resource actual work tracking.

 

[TLBartz]

I am hoping that once I apply SP1 I will be pleased with what it offers. Our
company is currently using PS2003 and I kind of wish we could stay with it.
The users in our environment enter their time into Peoplesoft for payroll
purposes and then into PS2003 for the project management and labor reporting
that management does. Therefore, the more streamlined I can make this
process the better. Since we are not using this for payroll or accounting
purposes I do not want to use the timesheet portion if I do not need to. As
someone commented earlier, their users are opinionated - so are mine; so the
easier the better.