Project Planning Board - Update

Update the Project Planning Board when the date/time of the work breakdown item has changed to, or to assign a different staff member to complete the work. NEW 4.8

*Synergy Enterprise Feature* 

ClosedGetting Started

Setup required before use

 Who can use it? Where is it?

Rates

Staff

Timesheet Tasks

Sub Projects

Work Breakdown

Assistant Project Manager

Project Manager

Director

Administrator

System Administrator

 Projects > Project Plan > Schedule > Planning Board tab

Tips:

Why update the Project Planning Board?

Update the Project Planning Board when:

  1. Extra tasks have been added or existing tasks updated within the work breakdown tab.
  2. A scheduled task is to be deleted from the planning board.
  3. Sub Projects or Sub Project Tasks are delayed, and the work will be completed at an alternate date.
  4. The staff member assigned to the task does not have capacity to complete the work.

Tip: Adding a staff member to the scheduled task, shows the task in their My Schedule plugin on the My Synergy dashboard, and displays the task in their timesheet history on the scheduled date.

How to update items on the Project Planning Board

ClosedDelete a scheduled item

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.

Tip: Delete is allowed for all scheduled items. Whether the item is marked as complete, or if transactions have been allocated to the item via staff timesheet entry.

ClosedEdit a scheduled appointment item

Edit 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 edit appointment window allows you to change:

ClosedExample 1 - Change the date/time of the appointment

The appointment for Robert Howard's site inspection has been added to the project. The task was initially scheduled for October, however Robert was not able to complete this work. Edit the appointment to re-schedule Robert to complete the task.

Complete the following steps:

  1. Edit the appointment by locating it in the planning board.
  2. Double click the appointment to open the edit window.
  3. Use the Start time field to change the start date/time of the appointment by:
    1. Click the calendar button .
    2. Select the date from the calendar.
    3. Select the time from the clock panel.
    4. Click Close.
  4. Use the End time field to change the end date/time of the appointment by:
    1. Click the calendar button .
    2. Select the date from the calendar.
    3. Select the time from the clock panel.
    4. Click Close.
  5. Click OK on the edit appointment window.
  6. The appointment has now been updated to display a different date/time in the project planning board.

Click the image above to view the start time of the appointment being updated.

ClosedExample 2 - Change the staff member assigned to the appointment

After checking the Project Capacity Board, the staff member assigned to the task is not available to complete the work. The appointment in the planning board needs to be updated to a staff member that is available.

Complete the following steps:

  1. Edit the appointment by locating it in the planning board.
  2. Double click the appointment to open the edit window.
  3. Select a staff member from the 'staff' drop down list.
  4. Click OK.
  5. The appointment is assigned to the selected staff member to complete the task on the scheduled date/time.
ClosedExample 3 - 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.

  1. 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.

Tip: Uncheck the working hours box to plan staff members to work on weekends, and have that task show in the My Schedule plugin and timesheet history for that staff member.

More Information

Other tips that make updating the Planning Board easier:

ClosedHover over a scheduled item to view more details

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.

ClosedCheck the Budgeted and Scheduled Hours in the Projects to Schedule panel

The Projects to Schedule panel displays the columns Budgeted and Scheduled next to each Work Breakdown item. This allows you to view the number of units entered in the work breakdown structure. Use these fields as a visual check that an item is not over-scheduled on 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.

Want to learn more?

Looking for more help? Try reviewing the following Resource and Capacity Management topics: Concept Link IconView Topics

 

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