vpvi-33 · 2019. 10. 30. · security cheat sheet in the vantagepoint portal security: keep it...
TRANSCRIPT
VPVI-33Simplifying Your Project Planning Process
Barbara Bunting, Stambaugh Ness
Introductions
Audience
Basic Planning Concepts
Planning
Vision Planning
Vantagepoint 2.x Planning
Agenda
Reporting
Vision Navigation Tree
Vision Dashboards
Where to Start?
Conclusion
Come See Us
Introductions
Stambaugh NessProvides Professional Services Firms with a Future-
Ready approach that aligns services to our client’s
needs
Years of Professional Experience
in the Architectural and Engineering industries
Years of Experience working with Deltek solutions
Nationally Recognized Deltek Platinum Partner
Clients in 43 States & Canada
Barbara Bunting, Senior Consultant
20+ years working with Deltek systems
Specializes in:Resource Planning (Vision, iAccess, Vantagepoint)
Project Management Training
Project Management Process Assessments and Development
Info Center Design
Security / System Administration
Workflows
Audience
• Actively using Planning• iAccess
• Vision
• Vantagepoint
• Currently implementing iAccess, Vision, or Vantagepoint
Planning
• Possible future implementation of iAccess, Vision, or
Vantagepoint Planning
Audience
Basic Planning Concepts
• What is ETC?• Estimate to Complete
• The effort remaining to finish the project regardless of the
remaining budget (the hours and dollars you have projected
from tomorrow forward to complete the project)
• What is EAC?• Estimate at Completion
• The sum of JTD (Job-to-Date) + ETC (Estimate to Complete)
• Predicts the financial outcome of the project
Terminology
Terminology (cont.)
• Planning % Complete: JTD / EAC• Suggested Vision system wide % Complete: JTD / (JTD +
ETC)
• Automatically set in Vantagepoint as JTD / EAC
• If % Complete seems low, you have too much effort
planned in the future (ETC is too high)
• If % Complete seems high, you don't have enough effort
planned in the future (ETC is too low)
Terminology (cont.)
• Manage projects
• Manage expectations
• Help identify overruns/underruns before they occur
• Conduct project status review meetings
• Identify over/under utilized resources in future time
periods
• Make better business decisions
• Possible revenue projections/forecasting
• Revenue recognition
Uses for Planning Information
• Practice, Practice, Practice! • Update plans weekly/after each timesheet period instead of at
the end of each period (more frequent = better/more accurate)
• Resource Management: base all hiring/layoff decisions
on the information; hold firm
• Hold Resource Management meetings frequently to
balance staff resources
• Use deputy PM’s/task managers to help update plans
• Review ETC/EAC information with your manager/CFO
Ideas to Improve Planning Use / Accuracy
• Review the My Weekly
Schedule report (Labor
Resource Forecast report)
to review assignments with
your project team and ask
for feedback from the
employees doing the work
• Review the Actuals and
Planned report
Ideas to Improve Planning Use / Accuracy
• Talk with other firms using Planning or talk with a
consultant
• Top down / bottom up support with regards to Planning
• Review existing business processes and revise as
needed
• Decide if your firm will use iAccess, Vision Planning,
both iAccess/Vision Planning, or Vantagepoint Planning
Implementation Suggestions
• The functionality of Planning must be incorporated into
your firm’s business processes
• Determine proper Configuration and Security settings
• Review the data that is used in Planning and update as
needed
• Create Planning searches, reports, alerts, and
dashparts
• Less is more. Keep it simple!
Implementation Suggestions (cont.)
Planning
• How• How will we plan? Cost, Billing, or Cost & Billing?
• Remember security settings in this decision
• What• What will be planned and maintained? Labor, Expenses,
Consultants, Units?
• When• When is a plan created?
• When is a plan maintained and which tabs are maintained?
Process Development
• Who• Who will create the plan and from what (opportunity, template,
project)?
• Who will maintain the plan?
• Who will monitor plans (perform “clean up”, monitor for process
compliance, monitor that maintenance is complete, etc.)?
• Document process development• Ensures everyone is on the same page with requirements
• Useful for new hire / new promotion training
• Simple checklists / help text via screen designer
Process Development (cont.)
• Configuration > Plan
Settings• Decimals
• % Complete Formula [Vision]
• Default WBS Mapping [Vision]
Configuration: Keep It Simple!• Configuration > Planning
Grids• Turn off all columns and
rows not needed
• If modifying plans in Vision only, make sure to set
iAccess Project Planning Access to Read Only
• Only give access to what is needed
• Hide unused tabs for each security role
• Consider giving Read Only access to Billing Terms so
Planning rate source can be verified by PM or pull the
billing term information + Planning rate source onto the
project record (via workflow) to compare
Security: Keep It Simple!
• Be aware of what
affect the Labor Cost
Rates/Amounts has on
Planning
• Review the Labor Cost
Rates and Amounts
Security Cheat Sheet
in the Vantagepoint
Portal
Security: Keep It Simple! (cont.)
• Terminology
• Basic functionality: • Tabs
• Toolbars
• Various right-clicks [Vision]
• Shift [Vision]
• Schedule tab [Vision]
Training Tips
• Work left to right• Description/WBS [Vision] or Level/Resource [Vantagepoint]
• Dates
• Planned / ETC
• Fee [Vision]
• Dates• Importance of Start / Finish dates
• Reschedule / Reassign [Vantagepoint]
• Right-click functionality [Vision]
• Shift button [Vision]
Training Tips (cont.)
• Plan maintenance• Clearing the red [Vision]
• % complete “gut check”• If % Complete seems low, too much effort is planned in the future
• If % Complete seems high, not enough effort is planned in the future
• Company business process and plan maintenance
requirements
• Individual or team workshops immediately following
training
• Weekly check-in calls for 4-6 weeks
Training Tips (cont.)
Vision Planning
• Can include user defined fields on the
General tab and/or user defined tabs
• Displays Planned and Actuals as subrows
• Displays unposted time in a different color
• Can plan at labor code level
• Can plan units
• Includes a Gantt chart Schedule tab
General Information
• Fast methods for spreading values / copying a user-
defined pattern
• Flexibility that does not necessarily follow the Project
WBS• Can have more than one Project in a Plan
• Can have a Plan within more than one Project
• Can Plan at the Project, Phase, Task or Labor Code – which
ever works for this specific Project and Plan
• Includes Fee columns which can be different than the
project’s Budget & Revenue tab
General Information (cont.)
• Vision General tab• Hide fields
• Screen layout
• Help icons
• Help text
Screen Designer: Keep It Simple!
• Weekly Maintenance tab• Maintenance
instructions
• Fields to
update weekly
Screen Designer: Keep It Simple! (cont.)
• Planning Tabs• Reorder remaining tabs
• Create a Weekly Maintenance tab for fields to review weekly
• Suggested Standard Column Order• Description, WBS Level, Project/Phase/Task, Start, Finish,
Planned Hrs, Baseline, JTD, ETC, EAC, % Complete, Fee -
work left to right
Additional Tips
• Plan Templates• Show Unposted Actual Labor checkbox
• Set Default WBS Mapping (if different for various projects)
• Create global searches; organize in folders
• Create global reports
Additional Tips (cont.)
Vantagepoint 2.x Planning
• Accessible from any browser, tablet, or personal
computer
• Easy, graphical interface showing key project metrics
• User friendly: numerous info bubbles, tool tips, and
help buttons throughout
• A tool where project managers can review the status of
their project without having to run multiple reports for
the information
General Information
• Includes visual indicators to alert
project managers to possible
issues so that they can respond
proactively
• Automatically uses the project
WBS from the Projects Hub
• Includes the fee from the Budget
& Revenue tab in the Projects
Hub (not Contract Management)
General Information (cont.)
• Resource management [Resource & Project View]• Can now start the planning process/add assignments in
Resource Management
• No labor code or unit planning in Vantagepoint 2.x
• No Gantt/task dependencies in Vantagepoint 2.x
General Information (cont.)
• Labor must be planned at the lowest WBS level of the
project
• Spread hours proportionally in plans• No right-click spreading (i.e. spread per business day or copy)
• No copying rows and replacing resource name
• Entry of ETC hours in summary (left side) and on
calendar (right side) at all levels• Can only plan “tomorrow” forward;
no backwards planning/updating
General Information (cont.)
• Not able to see Planned and Actuals in a timescale view
in Vantagepoint 2.x but can see Planned and Actuals in
the Resource Management list view report
General Information (cont.)
• Project planning dashparts in Projects hub dashboard
• Project Review in browser with plan data• No screen designer available
General Information (cont.)
• Pin important columns for the
“Show less” view
• Suggested Column Order• Dates, Contract, JTD, ETC, EAC,
Contract Less EAC, % Complete,
Contract Less JTD, Notes
• Create global searches;
organize in folders
• Create global reports
Additional Tips
Reporting
• Rename the column headings by using terms that PM’s
are more familiar with – for example:• Rename Total Compensation to Total Project Contract or Total
Project Budget
• Rename JTD Amount Bill to JTD Spent @ Billing Rates
• Rename JTD Billed to JTD Invoiced or to JTD Billed (Invoiced)
Rename Column Headings
• Add letter designations to the columns to clarify
calculations – for example:• Total Project Contract [A]
• JTD Spent @ Billing Rates [B]
• Contract Remaining [A-B]
• % Contract Spent [B/A]
Rename Column Headings (cont.)
Report Dividers / Report Footers
• Create new fields under Configuration
> General > User Defined Components
• Create several new fields
(i.e. Report Divider 1, etc.)• Data Type: Character
• Default Value: |
• Hide the fields in the Info Center
• Add the fields as a column
in the report
Report Dividers / Report Footers (cont.)
• Edit the report footer to include
the original name of the report
(i.e. based on Project Earnings)
• Add help text to guide the user
of the report • Calculations
• Terminology
• Help text
• Report purpose
• Etc.
Report Dividers / Report Footers (cont.)
• Calculations for
Labor/Expense/
Consultants/Total Project
• % Complete (JTD/EAC)
• % Budget Spent
• Potential Overrun /
Underrun
• Remaining Budget
• % Revenue Recognized
Calculated Fields: Examples for PM Reports• Calculations for
Expenses/Consultants
• JTD (Direct + Reimb.)
• Total Budget (Direct +
Reimb.)
• Remaining Budget
• (for Planning users)
• A high-level summary of financial activity for all projects
• Has 467 standard columns available + user defined
fields + calculated columns
• Includes many columns for current, year-to-date, job-to-
date, and custom timeframe totals
• Widely used for Project Managers
• Financial Managers/Accounting tend to use the Office
Earnings report instead
Project Earnings Report
• With Planning:• Include ETC/EAC for areas maintained in Planning
• Without Planning:• Can’t include ETC/EAC
Examples for Project Managers
Vision Navigation Tree
• PM Tools• One-click key reports
• Master documents (i.e. cost
spreadsheet, insurance
certificates, consultant
agreement, etc.)
• Terminology
Modifying the Vision Navigation Tree• Links
• Payroll company site
• 401(k) site
• Intranet
• Firm Wide Documentation• Vision process guides
• Training materials
• HR forms
• Security settings apply to the
Navigation Tree
• If you add an item, you must grant
access to the security roles
• If a security role has Full access to all
menu items, they will see the
Navigation Tree changes immediately
• Other roles won’t see the changes
until access has been granted
Security and the Vision Navigation Tree
Vision Navigation Tree Icons
Vision Dashboards
• Create a user for the “master” role-based Dashboard
(i.e. DASHBOARD_PM, DASHBOARD_EMP)
• Apply the appropriate security role for this user account
and apply a password to the user account
• Create and maintain the “master” role-based,
“actionable” Dashboard under this user
• “Actionable” dashparts should be blank unless there is a
record that needs attention (should say Select data for
this dashpart by clicking Options above this text)
Vision: General Information
• Create “actionable” searches in the Info Centers so they
are easy to apply to the Dashboard searches and can
be used for future reference• Expiring or expired licenses/certifications
• Projects that have spent over a certain amount
• Projects with last posted activity over a certain timeframe
• Projects with missing billing rate transactions
• Expiring or expired contracts
• Expiring or expired vendor insurance certificates
Vision: General Information (cont.)
• Alerts
• AR Invoice Review
• Expiring or expired licenses / certifications
• List of active opportunities with other actionable
information (if using CRM)• Stage
• Probability
• Due dates
Dashparts: Examples for PM’s
• List of active, regular projects with other actionable
information• Contract expiration date
• Last posted activity date
• % of contract spent
• List of active plans (if using Planning)
• List of active plans not maintained within the firm’s
maintenance timeline
• Upcoming deliverables / activities
Dashparts: Examples for PM’s (cont.)
Where to Start?
• Project Management Assessment• Includes a review of the firm’s project management processes,
review of project manager use of Vision, and review of project
management configuration/security settings
• Resource Planning Configuration/Security Review• Includes a review of Planning configuration and Planning
security settings
Suggested Next Steps
• Review/Refine/Simplify Current Planning Process
• Planning Training/Refresher
• Vision Security Role Review
• Vision User Defined Component Review
• Vision Search and/or Report Review
• Vision Workflow Review
Suggested Next Steps (cont.)
Conclusion
• KEEP IT SIMPLE!
• Top down / bottom up support with regards to Planning
• Make business decisions based on the data
• Turn off/hide items not needed
• Use the various tools to simplify the process for the end
users (i.e. iAccess, reports, Navigation Tree,
Dashboards, etc.)
Conclusion
Questions
VPVI-38 Adding UDF’s & Workflows – Where Do You Start?
VPVI-37 Transaction Center – Which Transaction Type Should I Use?
VPVI-55 Don’t Just Fly, Soar (Dumbo) – See How Vision Customization Can Work for You
VPVI-34 Build Out a Marketing Infrastructure – More Than Just an Accounting System
VPVI-56 The Magic of AP Approvals in Vantagepoint and Vision
VPVI-87 Reduce Time & Expense Error & Delays
VPVI-42 Play Nice Together to be More Efficient and Effective in Our Roles
VPVI-88 Leave the Imagination to Disney – Avoid Custom Invoices
VPVI-18 Creating Actionable Vantagepoint Dashboards
VPVI-89 Eliminate Spreadsheets & Harness the Power of User Defined Info Centers
Come See Us Check out the sessions that our team will be presenting!
Contact Information
Barbara Bunting, Senior Consultant
Visit us at www.stambaughness.com/events
Sign up for our virtual user group meetings