Company Planning Board - Update

Setup required before use	Who can use it?	Where is it?
Rates Staff Timesheet Tasks Projects Sub Projects Work Breakdown	Project Manager Director Administrator System Administrator	Projects > Resource Management > Planning Board tab

Update an appointment to change which staff member is allocated to complete a task, or change the length of the appointment. Double click an appointment item in the planning board, and the edit appointment window opens.

The following is shown in each of the drop down lists:

1. ProjectProjects created for office selected in the filter in the resource management toolbar
2. Sub ProjectThe sub projects are shown for the selected project. If the project is changed, the sub project drop down will reset back to blank to allow you to re-enter the sub project details.
3. TaskThe tasks shown are setup in Default Data > Timesheet Tasks, and any custom tasks added in the Work Breakdown tab.
4. RateAll staff and inspection rates are shown. The rates in the drop down list are setup in Practice > Rates List.
5. StaffThe staff list shown are all staff setup with access to the office, which is selected using the office filter in the resource management toolbar.
6. DescriptionEnter a note to describe the work required for the appointment. This information will appear when you hover the mouse over the appointment on the planning board. The note is also shown in the My Schedule plugin for the staff member assigned to the item. The work breakdown tab is not updated with the note entered here.
7. Start TimeChange the time the staff member is to start work on the task. Click the calendar button , and the drop down calendar will be shown. Select a new start date and start time from the calendar, then click Close.
8. End timeChange the time the staff member is to finish work on the task. Click the calendar button , and the drop down calendar will be shown. Select a new end date and start end from the calendar, then click Close.

Schedule a staff member to work outside of office hours

When planning an appointment the default scheduled hours total used is based on the office/staff calendar settings. This means that if you have set the start / end time of the appointment to be greater than those hours, only the max office hours is shown as the total scheduled time for the appointment in the capacity report. Uncheck the 'Use working hours to calculate capacity' box on a planning board appointment if you want to plan a staff member to work overtime, or outside normal office hours on weekends.

Example: Robert Howard is planning to work extra hours on a project task to meet a deadline. He will be working an 11 hour day to complete the Design work. The normal office hours are set to 8 hours. Unchecking the working hours box on the appointment will show that Robert will work 11 hours instead of 8 hours on this date.

Change the appointment to use working hours by:

1. Open the appointment and uncheck the 'Use working hours to calculate capacity' box.
2. Update the start time and end time of the appointment to include the out of office hours time required.
3. Save and close the appointment.

Click the image above to view the check box on the appointment for scheduled vs working hours.

4. The capacity report and planning board will show this appointment schedule time as the working hours selected.

Click the image above to see the appointment on capacity board using scheduled hours.

The delete option can be used if the appointment has been scheduled on the wrong date, or if the project work for the task is no longer required.

To delete a scheduled item:

1. Locate the item in the planning board.
2. Hover the mouse on the right corner of the scheduled item and an 'X' will appear on the appointment.
3. Click the 'X' to delete the appointment.
4. Click OK on the delete item pop-up box.
5. The item has been removed from the planning board, and the schedule hours column in the 'Projects to Schedule' panel has been updated to reflect the new total of hours scheduled for that work breakdown item.

In the planning board hover the mouse over a scheduled item, and more details are shown.

The details shown in the hover box are:

1. Project Number and Name.
2. Sub Project and Task.
3. Schedule Hours and Assigned Staff Member.
4. Start and End Time of the task.
5. Description entered for the scheduled item.

Click the image above to view the task hover box. The hover is shown over the 'Report' task scheduled.

The Projects to Schedule panel displays the columns Budgeted and Scheduled. This information is shown next to each Work Breakdown item. This allows you to view the number of units entered in budget within the work breakdown structure, and use it as a visual check that an item is not over-scheduled on the planning board. Check this before adding new appointments to the planning board to attempt to keep the Project Budget on-track.

Click the image above to see an item which is over scheduled, where more hours in schedule than were in the budget.

Try using the following views on the planning board before updating or adding new appointments.

1. Manager display by option Use this option in the toolbar to show the project manager name on each of the tasks in the planning board. This helps you quickly find all the tasks for projects that you manage.
2. Staff display by option View the appointments with the assigned staff member assigned, to check if the staff member you require is already booked for other project work on a set date/time.
3. Office location filter Switch between the office location using the filter, to change the planning board to only show appointments for the selected office.