Project - Tasks

Owned by Chris McFarlane (Deactivated)
Last updated: Dec 08, 2023
5 min read

Contact Projector Support to enable the Smartsheet integration or to get access to predefined Smartsheet templates.

The tasks tab is used to manage detailed task plans through a Smartsheet integration in Projector. Task plans are designed to support organizations that plan out delivery efforts at a detailed level and wish to track performance of delivery teams using those detailed plans. Projector's task planning functionality is not meant to be as versatile as dedicated project planning applications such as Microsoft Project. Rather, its strength lies in its ability to integrate typical project management activities into operational management functions such as planning, staffing, and analytical reporting. It also transfers the administrative burden of time and task status collection from the Project Manager to the delivery team, allowing the PM to instead focus on value-added activities. Finally, it provides real-time visibility of project health. The following four areas highlight some of the benefits of Projector's DTM module.

  • Planning – Project Managers create hierarchical task plans that describe the tasks necessary to deliver a project. These task plans are constructed by modeling how much work is required to complete a task (effort), what resources are assigned to the task (allocation), and how long the task will take (duration). Projector allows planners to specify the timing of tasks in relation to other tasks - allowing the actual work completed to date to drive your plan.

  • Staffing – From the task plan, Project Managers can understand what their staffing needs are and initiate the scheduling workflow by requesting resources or committing resources to their project. They have the flexibility to either use the task planning data as is or, as is often needed, perform a round of smoothing on the resource needs before requesting/booking resources.

  • Time Entry – Once assigned to a task, resources see on both their dashboard and time entry screens tasks they need to complete. In addition they provide a valuable feedback loop of task completion progress.

  • Performance Analysis – Project Managers collect time entered against tasks and can quickly visualize performance of the entire project team against the current task plan or against snapshots of the plan taken in the past.

To learn about enabling web-based task planning, review the Task Management - Smartsheet Implementation Guide

To reach this section search for and open a Project, and select the Tasks tab. If your project is set up for Smartsheet you will see an embedded Smartsheet user interface.

Permissions and Settings

To access project tasks you must have the Project Management module and Smartsheet integration enabled.

To configure a project for use with Smartsheet, either create the project under an Engagement Type that initializes projects with a Task Management Approach of Smartsheet Integration, or update the project’s task management approach to Smartsheet Integration and select a template from which to create and automatically link to a new Smartsheet sheet.

To turn on task management, select the Smartsheet Integration task management approach on the Project | Setup | Workflows tab.

The following people can update the task management approach:

Smartsheet Task Management

Projects configured for “Projector Task Management Classic”, formerly known as “Detailed Task Management” will see in information panel instead of an embedded task planning interface.

 

Time Entry

Tasks from the task plan will appear automatically on the resource’s timesheet for time to be entered against them.

Scheduling

You can use the task hours from your task plan to schedule hours on role(s) by using the “Fill Special.. → Task Hours” option in the Role Schedule Editor.

Role Types

Role Types are used to analyze types of roles created across projects and for templating purposes. By leveraging Role Types, you can add them to your templated task plan and assign them to your tasks. Visit the help pages for Role Types and Roles to learn more.

Save and Sync

Remember to SAVE and SYNC your task plan so that data gets synchronized to Projector. An auto-save does happen in the sheet itself after being idle for 2 minutes, but it’s good practice to save and sync to ensure you are getting the most updated data in both systems. Stay tuned for updates as there will be improvements for this procedure!

FAQs

  1. What happens when multiple users are editing in the same sheet?

    1. The last user to SAVE the sheet gets the saved version. Content changes from other users are overridden.

  2. What if I delete a task from the sheet?

    1. Tasks with time entered against them will not be lost if deleted from the sheet. Otherwise, the task will simply be deleted.

  3. If I’m currently using Projector Task Management Classic (formerly known as DTM-Detailed Task Management), can I switch to Projector Task Management?

    1. Yes, but your project’s existing task plan will be completely erased. The team is working on a plan for this transition.

  4. What happens when I change my task planning template?

    1. A new sheet will be generated; the old sheet is erased.

More FAQs are answered on the Smartsheet Task Plans in Projector Web FAQ page.

Need more assistance?

Contact Projector Support at support@projectorpsa.com