Working with Projects

This how-to article will help users to create a new project using the TDNext interface. The user must have the "Create Projects" permission in TDNext. This article is NOT geared for projects that come through approval process from portfolio planning. This is only for TDNext users who have permissions to create projects directly.

Overview

This article describes how to create a project and manage high level changes. Each project can have different settings and sections based on its type and the settings defined by your organization's administrators.

All the pieces of information that make up projects are referred to as settings. There are settings that are shared across all projects, including custom attributes defined by your organization, custom settings based on the project's type, time and expense attributes, and advanced attributes.

Setting Up a Project

Creating a New Project

To create a project:

1. Navigate to TDNext > Applications > Projects.
2. Click the + New button and select Project.
3. Select a Type. If you don’t know the type names, click the magnifying glass icon.

   Different project types have different custom attributes associated with them. This is based on how those custom project attributes were set up in TDAdmin and were associated with project type(s).

4. Make selections for Acct/Dept, Start and End Date, and Description if desired.
5. If you will be tracking time and expenses for the project, enter values in the Time & Expenses section.
6. Configure any advanced fields as directed by your organization’s procedures.

   Advanced settings are not used by all organizations, so check with your organization to understand how or when these fields are used.

7. Click the Save button at the top of the page.

The popup window will refresh, and you will be on the Project Details page.

Adding Resources

When setting up your project, you’ll need to add people that will perform the work ask resources to your project. There are some rules you should understand about adding resources.

The licensed users in your systems are assigned functional roles, which helps project managers assign the right resources to a project. Learn more about functional roles.

Check a user’s availability and schedule their time for your project.

Adding Plans

To make an organized list of tasks and track progress, create a project plan and then add it to your project.

Plans can be added to projects at any time, and it is possible to have more than one plan on a project. This can be useful when you are working on larger projects with multiple facets to them.

Project Settings

Many of the fields on the Settings page have helpful tips. To see them all inline, click the + Expand All Help button.

To add more information or parameters to your project:

1. Navigate to TDNext > Applications > Projects.
2. Click a project Name in the left navigation.
3. Click Manage under the project name in the left navigation.
4. In the Project Details navigation, click Settings.
5. Make setting selections, referring to the help tips if needed.

   Learn more about Choosing Manage by Project vs Manage by Plan.

6. When finished, click the Save button.

Updating the Status and Other Details of a Project

The project manager or alternate manager on a project may update the project status and make comments that will be presented to the executive reporting tools. All other project details can be edited following these same instructions. There are a few different paths to update the details of a project.

To update the project status from the Projects application:

1. Navigate to TDNext > Applications > Projects > Manage Projects.
2. Click the project name in the left navigation, then click Manage.
3. In the Project Details window, click the Update button.
4. In the Update Project Status window, select the appropriate Status.
5. Update the Percent Complete.
6. Enter a Comment relative to the status.
7. Click the Save button.

To Disable Emails About Project Hours Limits

By default, TeamDynamix will notify project managers if their projects are using more hours than allocated.

To change this:

1. Navigate to TDNext > Applications > Projects.
2. Click the project name in the left navigation, then click Manage.
3. Click Settings in the Project Details menu.
4. On the Settings page, under Options uncheck one or both of the checkboxes:
   • Notify me when the assigned hours for plans exceed the scheduled hours for this project.
   • Notify me when the estimated hours for plans exceed the estimated hours for this project.
5. Click the Save button.

Changing a Project's Manager

If a new project manager or alternate manager needs to be assigned to a project, the new project manager will need to already be a resource on the project. Once the change is made, the current project manager will no longer be able to access the project in the Projects application.

To verify that the new manager is already included as a resource:

1. Navigate to TDNext > Applications > Projects > Manage Projects.
2. Click the project name in the left navigation, then click Manage.
3. In the Project Details window, click Resources in the left navigation.
4. Verify if the resource that is to become the new project manager is a resource.
5. If not, follow the adding and editing project resources instructions to add the needed resource.

To change the project manager on a project:

1. Navigate to TDNext > Applications > Projects > Manage Projects.
2. Click the project name in the left navigation, then click Manage.
3. In the Project Details window, click Resources in the left navigation.
4. Click the Actions button. then select Change Manager from the dropdown menu.
5. Select the desired project manager from the New Manager dropdown.
6. Click the Save button.

Gotchas & Pitfalls

• You can only see projects for which you are a resource. To see all projects, use the Analysis application.
• Closed/inactive projects will not appear in the Projects area for resources.