How to update project tasks using project server workflow
Recently we did a couple of Project Server/Online Implementation based projects which involved customization’s like Demand Management Workflow, Document Approval workflow, Issue or Risk Escalation workflow and much more. During these customization’s, we were posed with a challenge on updating the complete percentage of project tasks using the project server workflow of the project to submit an event. We assumed that there should be an easy solution using SharePoint designer workflow and it should not take much time to implement. But later, we realized that project tasks could not be updated in the same way in which project-level field can be. <!– ClickToTweet Embed Code Start –> <script type=”text/javascript” src=”//clicktotweet.com/embed/3De11/1″></script> <!– ClickToTweet Embed Code Start –> Below is the detailed solution to update project tasks using Project Server Workflow. In these steps, hard-coded Task Id and its Percent Complete value is used. In your case, one can use them from any custom source. Check Out project using action Call HTTP web service. We need to build the following dictionaries In this dictionary, we are specifying PercentComplete of task to be updated with given value 50. Call HTTP Web service to draft & update the task Update the properties as below: Publish and Check-in the project using action Call HTTP web service. This method can be followed to update project tasks using project server workflow. In case of query, add your comments below.
Project management goal: Manage resources
Today, companies are under increasing pressure to deliver technologically innovative products and solutions with decreased budgets. Because of this, resources must be fully utilized and concentrated on the highest priorities at any time. Resource management is an essential element of project management. It makes certain that the project is implemented according to the scope and overview determined in the planning phase. The resource management team aids in the development and management of the project team as well. As individuals comprise teams, resource management also involves establishing various roles and assignments throughout the project. Unfortunately, ineffective resource management undoubtedly results in negative consequences like poor productivity, project delays, poor quality, increased costs, missed opportunities, and very low morale. A key part of the challenge is recognizing that high resource use is not an indicator of good resource management. The important thing is ensuring that your resources are working on projects aligned to strategic company objectives, which match their skill sets and in which they have adequate bandwidth. Determining what work or need to undertake next and when funds will be available are enormous challenges too. The Benefits of Enterprise Resource Management Resource management is a complex process, particularly in an enterprise with shared, geographically dispersed resources. Nearly half of the organizations report that they are stuck in silos. With so many approaches to make a project complete, it should make sense that resource management approaches can also vary. Regardless, you will find three capabilities every resource management software should include: Capacity and Demand Management: Resource optimization usage by prioritizing high-value work with accessible resource capacity Resource Usage: Ensure that the right resources are available to help your strategic objectives Progress and Time Tracking: Ensure that progress could be tracked, which can be especially valuable when using time tracking. Compare planned attempt vs. real effort to improve estimates and better understand where your resources are truly spending their time. Microsoft Project – Solution for Resource Planning & Resource Management Organizations often rely on spreadsheets to manage resources and projects due to their ease of use, simplicity, and ability to prepare a document quickly. But, keeping multiple or even shared spreadsheets up to date does not scale well and frequently becomes infeasible. AdValue built on MS Project will be able to help you make the best use the tools out there. Learn how.
Agile Connector wins two PPM software awards from FinancesOnline
Advaiya’s Agile Connector recently underwent the scrutiny of trusted B2B directory FinancesOnline.com and emerged with a score of 8.0 out of 10 and an absolute user satisfaction rating of 100%. FinancesOnline, under its project portfolio management software category, awards deserving products that have gained traction with customers for outstanding features and total usability. We couldn’t be more thrilled when reviewers recognized Agile Connector as an add-on to MS Project Professional, allowing you to monitor and track projects using the Scrum and Kanban Methodologies. The solution designed by Advaiya includes task boards, backlogs, tracking sprints, and agile reports for you to have a comprehensive view of your projects. Advaiya’s Agile Connector enables a centralized project management. It seamlessly provides a unified view of agile, non-agile, and hybrid projects across the organization in one interface for you to be in touch with the progression of every enterprise. FinancesOnline also recognized our advanced Agile Connector features that allow for seamless synchronization of MS Project Professional agile planning with MS Project Online. This ensures that your projects are backed up and that everyone who is working on them is on the same page to avoid confusions, backtracks, and unnecessary changes. Agile Connector also enables swift custom fields updates by letting you or your personnel update the fields from a single interface. The solution allows you to track the metrics related to projects across the organization for you to have a pulse on issues and to act on them immediately and accordingly. All these capabilities led the reviewers to include Agile Connector in their comprehensive project management resources guide and distinguished us with the 2018 Rising Star Award and Great User Experience Award. Agile connector was promoted in the directory site’s rankings and is now among the leading add-ins to MS Project Professional, joining the elite group of top name and established add-ins selected by the experts. We share these latest achievements with our users and customers who have found Agile Connector to be highly useful and practical solution to manage projects and boost productivity and efficiency.
Measure Your Project Performance – What & How
Measuring performance of any activity or task is essentially done to identify whether it is adding any value to your goal or not. This can be better understood by the example of arranging an event or building a house. In case of arranging an event, we manage logistics, contractors, and direct workers. Mostly, the objective of an event arrangement is ‘attendee’s satisfaction’ in line with the budgeted price. To achieve the desired goal, we keep a check on each aspect of the event, including verifying all materials used, communicating regularly with contractors to get the best work done at the estimated price and so on. While juggling with all this, we keep a tab on our planned budget, and schedule and compare it with actuals. Comparison of such key performance metrics provide direction and control and help us answer significant questions such as Where are we? How much have we spent? Are we over-budget? etc. Same is true for any project, measuring performance is as important as the project. The success of project directly or indirectly depends on good project performance scores. Measuring project performance while it’s in the execution phase is the best way to keep an eye on performance aspects. It not only gives reasonable room to take corrective actions but also increases your chances of project success. Now the major question is, what should be measured? Choosing measures which help in decision-making and insight alignment to organization objective is the key. For effective performance measurement following points must be considered: The measure should inherit from organization goals. Insight on how well the project has met its objectives. When detailed project planning is done at the beginning of planning phase, a baseline of this plan should be saved so that you may compare planned vs actuals. Performance measurement tracking rhythms should be set either weekly or fortnightly so that insight can be gained on the timely basis and corrective actions can be taken if needed. Know the difference between measuring the performance of team versus project. When team’s performance is measured, the impact of team’s performance on organization goal is measured. Whereas when project’s performance is measured, the impact of the project on organization goal, at a fixed period is measured. ‘What to measure?’ depends on a lot of factors such as who will use the measures and what decision they would make using this. In general, following are the key project performance measures: ROI (Return on Investment) Productivity Cost of quality Cost Performance Schedule Performance Customer Satisfaction Project Cycle time Alignment to strategic business goal Yes, we are talking about these measures and how those can be measured in Power BI in the upcoming webinar on Analyzing Project Performance with Power BI
MS Project Agile Connector Add-In | Advaiya
We are very excited to present the Agile Connector, an Add-in for MS Project Professional to facilitate agile methodology in Microsoft Project Online. What is MS Project Professional? MS Project Professional allow you to manage your projects more efficiently with the right timeline, budget, and resources. It helps you to improve project selection and delivery on time. Microsoft Project Professional now come with the Agile feature which allows us to create new agile projects or to apply agile views to the existing traditional “waterfall” project. The agile tools in Project enable us to track projects using Scrum and Kanban methodologies, including viewing task boards, creating backlogs and monitoring sprints, as well as displaying reports on agile statistics. Microsoft Project Online is a flexible online solution for project portfolio management (PPM) and everyday work. It enables organizations to get started quickly with powerful project management capabilities to plan, prioritize, and manage projects and project portfolio investments-from almost anywhere on almost any device. At the same time, if we open the project in Microsoft Project Online, it will display in the waterfall model. For now, the Agile feature is released only for MS Project Desktop version and is not available in Project Online. The custom fields used in Microsoft Project Professional for implementing Agile methodologies such as task boards, backlogs, tracking sprints and agile reports are not available in Project Online. To facilitate agile methodology in Microsoft Project Online and to provide the similar user view, Advaiya has developed an add-in for MS Project Professional which allows stakeholders to get insights into the agile managed projects in the equivalent way as they get with traditional projects. The connector provides features to synchronize Agile project tasks between Project Professional and Project Online. The Agile connector for Microsoft Project Professional add-in is designed to work with Microsoft Project 2016. Feature of Agile Connector Using the add-in, agile custom fields in Project Pro like Sprint, Agile & Board Status will synchronize with configuring enterprise custom fields in Project Online When a project is published from Project Professional – custom fields values will move from Project Pro to respective enterprise custom fields When the project is published from Project Online and is opened in Project Professional –the enterprise custom field values will move to respective custom fields in Project Pro. Key Benefits of Agile Connector: Sync Project Professional agile planning with Project Online Perform updates on agile based enterprise custom fields in Project Online Track all metrics related to agile project management across the portfolio of projects Get a unified view and centralized management of various agile, non-agile and hybrid projects across the organization Request for the Agile connector and Go Agile!
Using Kanban and Scrum in Agile Project Management
Agile Project Management: In traditional waterfall project management where the end product is visible to the client at the end of the project and adapting to change at that stage of the project is difficult to incorporate. while Agile project management is based on an incremental & iterative approach so after each iteration some features are delivered to the client and to changing requirements by the client can be addressed in the current or coming iterations. In Agile Project management during initial iteration, the prototypes can be done so the client finalizes requirements. In this blog, I am going to discuss on below two Popular Agile Project Management methodologies: – 1. Scrum 2. Kanban SCRUM: Scrum is a project management framework for structuring your project. The project begins with a vision provided by the customer with product features in order of priority. These features become part of the product backlog, which is maintained by the customer or customer’s representative referred to as the Product Owner. A time frame commonly known as an iteration or sprint is created & each iteration or sprint generally from one to four weeks. All product features are divide into these sprints. After all the sprints the final product is delivered to the client. During the sprint all team members meet around 15 to 20 minutes meeting known as a Scrum. During the scrum meeting each member tell the status of current work item which he is working, and the issues faced by him. Fig 01: – Scrum Cycle Roles and Responsibilities: There are three major roles in Scrum Planning: the ScrumMaster, the Product Owner, and the Team. · The ScrumMaster is the keeper of the process, the advocate for the team, and the protector of the team. The Scrum master facilitate team communication, mediate discussions within the team and Product owner. · The Product Owner represents the voice of the customer and has the authority to make decisions about the product development. This Product Owner create the product backlog list & priorities it. Product Owner responsible for communicating the vision to the team. The Product Owner works with the team to answer questions and provide product guidance. · The Team consists of seven plus or minus two people who are responsible for the delivery of the product. The team members report their daily progress in the scrum. Team members select the feature from the black log and work on them. Sprint Planning Meeting: The sprint-planning meeting is held on the first day of every sprint. The ScrumMaster, Product Owner, and Team member attend the meeting. The Product Owner presents the set of features to be completed in the sprint and team members determines the tasks and time needed to develop these features. Using these time estimates it is determined whether the team can accomplish these in this spirit else lower priority features go back into the product backlog or to the next sprint. Sprint Review: At the end of the sprint, the team invites stakeholders to a sprint review meeting where the features that were completed in the sprint are demoed and feedback is requested. The stakeholders feedback is noted by Product Owner and incorporates into product backlog. After the Sprint review, the team conducts a retrospective meeting to determine what they did well and what challenges they during the execution of the tasks. In the next sprint what action they can take for better execution of the project. Release Planning: Release Planning is also part of Scrum and is a way to do long-term planning for a time box that after of multiple sprints. This can be done on quarterly basis. Release planning can be feature-driven or time-driven. The release can be internal to confirm system integration and validation Kanban – Incremental Improvements In contrast to Scrum, which have time phase iteration and Spirits, Kanban advocates continuous work on tasks. When new tasks come up, the team evaluates the scope and creates acceptance criteria. Then each task goes to a back-log list. Theses task are taken by the team members on the priority. Kanban is Japanese word which means “visual signal” or “card”. Kanban is big board (as shown above picture) with story cards. These story cards are task with details. Kanban board have states/Phases as columns, which every work item passes through – from left to right. Team members pull work items from the back-log list and work on it and move it to next stage. The only management criteria introduced by Kanban is the so called “Work In Progress (WIP)” as show as the number on the top of each column. By managing WIP you can optimize flow of work items. Besides visualizing work on a Kanban board and monitoring WIP, nothing else needs to be changed to get started with Kanban. If a state reaches its pre-defined WIP limit, no new work can enter that state. The bottlenecks in the progress are visible – you can simply look at the Kanban Board to see where your process needs improvements. Once the Current work items are less than WIP a new work items comes in to the stage and team members will work on them. This is a pull system rather then pull system. In Kanban teams can meet ongoing basis and move the work item on the board. In this the team members when once completed this task and task acceptance criteria are meet can move the task to next stage and pull new task for him. The goal of Kanban is to identify potential bottlenecks in your process and fix them, so work can flow through it cost-effectively at an optimal speed or throughput. Conclusion Take a small step toward big value; get started with agile project management to create high-impact development teams with minimal business disruption. 1. Improved ability to manage changing priorities 2. Greater Productivity 3. Increased Visibility 4. Better delivery predictability 5. Increases morale and motivation MS Project 2016 latest version now offers the 2 new
Where do agile best practices fit into MS Project Technologies
I had the fortune of working for a start up about 12 years ago. They started implementing an agile methodology. The engineering manager had started using an Excel spreadsheet to collect user stories. The team was meeting daily and felt good about taking their first steps toward a more agile methodology. We quickly started pre-sprint planning meetings, conducting sprint demos and post-mortems. We advanced to playing agile poker and the $100 test with sponsors. We knew who the pigs were and who were the chickens. Team members were being added and removed as needed. We felt good about our agile approach and extending the approach to our other engineering groups. Everything was great until the CTO came to me and asked me for a schedule. I patiently explained the Agile Manifesto at which time he asked for a schedule and a roadmap. He was also considering another product line and wanted a vision, business case and release plan. I am convinced my experience is repeated over and over. I did not have Project Pro 2016 nor Project Online at the time, but this is what I would have done if I did. Earlier this year, Microsoft released a version of Project Pro that included agile features. The first place you are going to see a change is when you create a new project. The new Scrum Project, Kanban Project and Waterfall Project templates are available when you create a new project. Clicking on the Scrum Project template launches you directly into the Scrum view. You can change this by clicking on Project > Agile and updating the Agile setting, including None to switch back to a Waterfall methodology. You can start entering user stories and tasks. Of course, if you are like me, I would want a view where I could copy and paste my list of user stories from my Excel file. To do this, simply click on the Sprint Planning Sheet. I can now schedule and manage my backlog and sprints including dates. Microsoft Project also includes a couple of Current Sprint views for my daily standup meetings. While these are awesome features, and something the community has been asking of Microsoft for a long time (and I mean a long time), this is not the exciting part. I now have the ability to pull in the virtually impossible phases of the project my CTO was asking for. I can build out a proper WBS for all of the phases of a project and track them in a single tool. This is what I need to do. Assuming you have a project plan template with your WBS and roadmap. First, configure your project plan to use the Scrum Methodology. For the Agile field, select No for all tasks in your WBS except those tasks that will be managed using an agile methodology. Add (or copy and paste from Excel) the list of user stories and tasks to your appropriate summary task. You will also want to add custom fields to track Story Points to better understand you sprint velocity. With a couple of sprints under your belt, you will be able to estimate the remaining number of sprints based on the story points for the tasks in the backlog. When you save your project to Project Online, you need to be a little clever to show the same views in PWA Many of the agile practitioners struggle to complying with their executives request for waterfall-like artifacts. Even more project managers struggle to find their way in the forever changing landscape of agile. Combining agile with classic PMBOK project management can bridge the divide between rapid changes and structure resulting in a more accurate, high quality project plan and thrilled sponsors. To learn more about the agile features in Project Pro, register for the recording of the webinar “Know how to use the new Project Pro Agile Features (end-to-end)”.
How to Migrate SharePoint List Items to Project Online
Recently we did a Project Online/SharePoint Online Implementation based projects which included AdValue (Project Portfolio Management Package) implementation along with the migration of list items from SharePoint 2010 to Microsoft Project Online instance and creating projects from those list items. There were around 200 list items and more than 50 list columns in the old SharePoint list. So now the question is how this could have been done efficiently. Here, for explaining the steps, I am using limited rows. You can use as many needed. Also, I am referring old SharePoint list as source list and new SharePoint list as destination list. Below are the steps to Migrate SharePoint List Items to Project Online: Step 1: Define the fields mapping strategy (source to destination): We first needed to decide with client how list columns should be mapped to PWA custom fields. An excel template would help here. List Column Name List Column Type PWA Field Name (To be mapped with list column) PWA Field Type Project Title Single line of text Project Name Text Project Start Date Date and Time Project Start Date Date Project Finish Date Date and Time Project Finish Date Date Total Team Members Number Total Team Members Number Total Estimated Cost Currency Total Estimated Cost Cost Project Description Multiple lines of text Project Description Text Project Owner Person or Group Project Owner Text Type Of Project Choice Type Of Project Text Leveraging the same template, we created our mapping strategy. Step 2: Export data (in excel) from source list to be migrated: Go to the source list i.e. Project Requests. Export list items to excel. Step 3: Normalize the Excel Data for migration: Open the excel containing source list items. Here, I am keeping all list columns for mapping and removing default columns Item Type & Path. Step 4: Define the enterprise custom fields mapping in destination list: Go to the destination list. Go to list settings. Go to Project Server settings. Map list columns to PWA fields. Note: We can’t map the list item ID here. It can be mapped using SharePoint Designer list workflow. For mapping a list column to enterprise custom field, make sure that both have same data type. Multiline text type field values will be mapped only up to 255 characters. Step 5: Importing data from excel Create a CSOM solution in visual studio. For this, you can refer my previous blog .NET Managed Client Side Object Model for Project Online. Add a new class ExcelParser.cs to your visual studio solution. Here, I have named my solution as SPListItemCreation. This class file is used to read data from excel file. Step 6: Creating bulk list items List items can be created quickly using CSOM. Modify your Program.cs as my Program.cs file. Run the solution. List items will be created in your destination list. Step 7: Create projects from list items There are two options for creating projects which can be leveraged based on requirement and data volume. 1. From list item: Select the list items, for which you want to create a project in PWA. Here I am selecting all items. Under Items, click on Create Projects. You will see a pop-up form. This form will show you details of mapping done in Step 4. Select Enterprise Project Type under which you want to create the project. Click Create Projects. Projects will be created in PWA. 2. Using workflow: In SharePoint Designer list workflow, you can use the action “Create a project from the current list item with this Enterprise Project Type” to create the project from the list item. Also, you can customize the list workflow for creating projects only after certain approvals or column values. Finally, validate list columns & enterprise custom fields mapping Open project, which you have created from list item. Validate field values. You will see the same values as there in the list item. This is how you can create bulk SharePoint list items. In case of query, add your comments below.
Scrum vs Kanban: What’s the difference?
From Agile to Waterfall to Scrum to Kanban, there are a variety of project management frameworks, and choosing which methodology to follow can be tough. Scrum and Kanban, both related to the Agile family, are trending methodologies. Both have pros and cons of using them, and the key is to figure out why and when should you go for Scrum or Kanban. Let’s understand a bit about agile before we get into Scrum vs. Kanban. Agile project management: Agile means the ability to respond quickly to changes. In traditional project management technologies like Waterfall, the customer may get to see the end product on project completion, while in case of agile, sprints or iterations of shorter duration are delivered to the client. This way customer has more control over the projects. In Agile project management, new requirements are developed during the project execution and accommodated in the coming sprints. And this way, the outcome is different from what was thought at starting of the project. MORE INTERESTING ARTICLES REPORTS & DASHBOARDS FOR AGILE PROJECTS Now we would be comparing two agile methodologies – Scrum and Kanban. Scrum: In this methodology, we list down all features or wish list items to product backlog. Then we do sprint planning and add those wish list items to different sprints. The team then chooses which work they can complete during the sprint and moves the work from the product backlog to the sprint backlog. During this Scrum Master keeps the team focused on its goal. At the end of each sprint, the team presents the work they have completed at a sprint review and retrospective meeting. When the next sprint begins, the team chooses another chunk of the product backlog and begins working again. Kanban: Kanban is a visual system for managing work, related processes and their flow. The goal of Kanban is to identify potential bottlenecks in your process and fix them, so that work can flow through it cost-effectively at an optimal speed or throughput. Kanban board and Scrum board are usually associated with whiteboards and To Do – Doing– Done categories. As shown below, we can put the work on different categories. Things that are to be done, currently in process, and that are done. To Do – Doing – Done columns are not canonic, and usually teams expand ‘Doing’ section according to their needs (ex. Development, Testing, etc.). Kanban Methodology follows a set of principles and improves the flow of work which promotes gradual improvements to processes. These are the advantages of both Scrum and Kanban methodologies: Advantages of Scrum Advantages of Kanban Transparency Flexibility Improved credibility with clients Focus on continuous delivery High product quality Increased productivity Product stability Increased efficiency Team members reach sustainable pace Allows team members to focus Allows client to change priorities and requirements quickly Reduce wasted work/wasted time Now, let’s look at the differences: Scrum AKanban A lot of sprint planning is done in the beginning. It is open to make changes on the go. It means there is less rigidity and things can change as and when required. Work is done within time frame (usually 2-4) weeks. The goal is to produce a tangible deliverable after a sprint. There is no fixed length of sprints. Teams pull a task from backlog list and work on it. The product is released after the complete cycle of sprint. (may be 3 or 6 weeks) Release occurs continuously depending on the backlog items. Daily meetings and retrospective meeting at the end of sprint. Daily meeting not required, and Sprints are not defined in Kanban. Scrum Master will be there to drive the project No specific role required. It helps firms to save time and money. It focuses on the continuous improvement, productivity, and efficiency. The total work is done in batches/sprints. The entire project is performed on the single-threaded work item flow. It measures productivity using velocity of sprints. It measures the cycle time in the work flow process. Every individual has its role and responsibilities. No set roles, so there’s flexibility in terms of individual responsibilities. It is not possible to add new work items to the ongoing Sprint. New work items can easily be added and taken up on the basis of priority. A sprint backlog is owned by only a single team. Multiple teams can share the Kanban board. Best for teams with stable and defined priorities that may not change as much over time. Best for projects with widely-varying priorities and requirement. Conclusion No framework is perfect, and each has its own benefits and flaws. Project managers should focus on the aspects of Scrum and Kanban, which can be used effectively to develop products and services for their organizations. Given the advantages and disadvantages of both framework approaches, development and product teams can choose which framework works the best for them. Recently, some teams have also experimented by combining both frameworks and taking best practices from each of it to achieve better team synergies and improved productivity. If you don’t know already, now Microsoft Project Professional 2016 supports both Scrum and Kanban agile project boards. This opens up a world of easier scheduling for Agile methodology within projects. I hope that you enjoyed this article, and if you want to know more on this topic, you can register here for our webinar recording of – ‘The Future of PPM’ Yashwant shrimali System Analyst-EPM Advaiya Solutions Inc Udaipur, Rajasthan, India TALK TO OUR EXPERT!