working on tasks in microsoft project web access

Working on tasks in Project Web App:A guide for team members

My Project Web App administrator is: [name][contact info line 1][contact info line 2]

My Project Web App address is: [URL]

Author, 01/03/-1,

Don’t forget to update this with your organization’s details!

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Copyright

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Table of Contents 3

Table of Contents

Table of Contents 3

Introduction 7

Hold on, what’s Project Web App?..........................7Is this guide for Project Online or Project Server?. .8I need help!............................................................8

1 10

Get your bearings 10

Quick Launch.......................................................11Ribbon.................................................................11Main display area.................................................12Just want to see a list of projects?.......................12

2 14

Turning in timesheets 14

Why are timesheets important?...........................14Okay, I’m convinced. Now how does it work?......15Let’s fill out your timesheet!................................16

Ready to enter your hours?............................................................17Don’t see the task you worked on?................................................17What about hours that aren’t part of a project?.............................18How do I get a task off of my timesheet?.......................................19Need to enter hours for a different timesheet period?...................19

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And…SUBMIT!......................................................20Peek at what’s going on behind the scenes.........22

3 24

More than just hours: Updating task progress 24

Time vs. task progress: What’s the difference?. . .24Let’s look at an example….............................................................25Okay, but remind me, why are we doing this?...............................26

Where do I enter my task progress?....................27How do I know which way my organization is set up?....................28

My organization is using separate views.............28Report the percent of work you’ve completed...............................28Update how much work you have left to do...................................32

My organization is using one view.......................34Report the percent of work you’ve completed...............................34Update how much work you have left to do...................................37

Add comments about your work..........................40In the Tasks view….........................................................................40In the Timesheet view….................................................................41

Capture issues and risks......................................43Add an issue..................................................................................43Add a risk.......................................................................................45

I need to look at a project document…where is it?48Hand off work to someone else...........................50

4 53

Vacation, sick leave, and other non-project hours 53

Ahead of time......................................................53Let your project manager know.....................................................54Assign someone to enter your time and task progress..................54

While you’re out...................................................55After you’re back.................................................56

Table of Contents 5

5 57

Uh oh, I didn’t mean to submit that! 57

Take back a timesheet that you sent for approval57Delete a timesheet and start over.......................59

6 60

Rejected! Now what? 60

How do I know if my updates were rejected?.......60Why were my updates rejected?..........................61What do I do now?...............................................61

Okay, but how?..............................................................................62When in doubt, add comments…...................................................62

Appendix 63

In Project Web App, how do I…............................64

Introduction 7

Introduction

If you have been assigned a task in a project, this guide can help you learn how to stay plugged into the project and keep your project manager up to date on how your task is progressing, using Project Web App.

Send us your feedback ([email protected]). Please let us know what you think about the quality of this content. If this guide does not meet your needs, let us know how we can improve it. If this guide was helpful to you, let us know how it helped. We love feedback!

Hold on, what’s Project Web App?

Project Web App is a project management application that you access in a web browser. It is connected to a database, behind the scenes, that stores information about the projects going on in your organization, including:

The tasks that are part of each project.

All of the people who are available to work on those tasks.

The materials needed to complete tasks for each project.

The costs associated with the people, materials, projects, and tasks in your organization.

Is this guide for Project Online or Project Server?

Project Web App is a part of Project Server 2013 (on premises), or Project Online (in the cloud). From a team member perspective, it

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really doesn’t matter whether you’re using Project Web App as part of Project Server 2013 or Project Online. The functionality is mostly identical, and the steps in this guide apply regardless of which option your organization has chosen.

For more information about Project Online and Project Server 2013, go to: http://office.com/project

I need help!

If this guide doesn’t answer your questions, you can try a few different things:

Ask your peers! The people you work with are often the best source of information about working in Project Web App. They’re familiar with how your organization has customized things, and what processes are in place. If you need help, don’t be shy! Your coworkers may be just as confused as you are, and working together may make things easier.

Search on Office.com. Articles on Office.com are designed to help you learn how to use Project Web App, but may not cover specific details about how your organization has set things up. Try searching for “Find information about Project Server 2013” or “Find information about Project Online.”

Ask on the Project forums! The Project discussion forums on TechNet tend to be very active, with subject matter experts and Microsoft MVPs responding to posts, as well as some folks from Microsoft Support and Engineering. This makes them a great resource for finding others who may have worked through similar issues, or who have encountered the same situation. Take a look at: http://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/projectserver

Introduction 9

And if none of that works, ask your administrator! When you simply can’t find the answer you’re looking for, try asking your Project Web App administrator.

My Project Web App administrator is:

[name][contact info line 1][contact info line 2]

1Get your bearings

Ready to dive in and start using Project Web App? This chapter will help you figure out what you’re looking at when you log in, so you know which pieces do what.

The Project Web App window is made up of three main areas: the Quick Launch, the ribbon, and the main display area.

Ribbon

Author, 01/03/-1,


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Quick Launch

The Quick Launch lists the main views and pages that you are able to access. You can click these links to navigate to different areas of Project Web App.

Some pages in Project Web App do not include the Quick Launch. For example, when you fill out a form, you must complete and save the form, or cancel out of it, in order to see the Quick Launch.

Ribbon

The ribbon is the toolbar that you use to perform actions on what's currently in the main display area.

Quick Launch

Main display area

Introduction 11

Main display area

The main display area contains information about your projects and tasks. This is the main focus of each page, and is where you will enter and review data.

There may be multiple tabs on the ribbon, to change between different sets of actions.

Each tab contains groups of related buttons that you can use to interact with the page content.

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That’s it! You’ve got the basics of how to get around within Project Web App.

Just want to see a list of projects?

Most of the time, you’ll probably be entering time and task progress for tasks that you’re assigned to. Occasionally, though, you might want to look at a list of all the projects you’re working on. The Project Center shows a list of of your projects.

1. Click Projects on the Quick Launch.

This shows a timesheet in the main display area. Other pages will also display here.

Introduction 13

2. Click the name of a project in the list to view that project’s tasks and schedule.

3. Click through the links below the project name on the Quick Launch to view information about the project.

4. Scroll through the list of tasks, and view them on the Gantt chart on the right, to see the work planned for this project.

��

TIP Slide the splitter in the middle over to see more of either side of the view.

Also, what’s a Gantt chart? A Gantt chart is a fancy timeline. It shows time going across the top, with bars for each row. Progress is shown within each bar, and arrows show how one task or project

List of tasks

Gantt chart

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relates to another.


2Turning in timesheets

Timesheets are the core of what you, as a team member, will do in Project Web App. This chapter covers why timesheets are important, how timesheets work overall in Project Web App, and how you can get yours filled out and turned in.

Why are timesheets important?

Nobody loves filling out timesheets. If you’re working on a lot of different tasks at the same time, it can be hard to figure out how much of your day was spent on each task. It’s also sometimes tough to commit to having worked a set number of hours. Maybe you feel like you should be working more hours, or maybe you feel like you’re working too much. In either case, you might not feel inclined to draw attention to your work hours.

When it comes to managing projects, the focus really isn’t on your work ethic, although of course that’s still important. The focus is about making sure the right things get done on time and within budget. It’s about making sure there are enough people to get the work done without burning anyone out, or costing the organization more money than planned.

The focus is about making sure the right things get done on time and within budget.

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Project managers use timesheet data to help them figure out how many people need to be assigned to similar tasks in future projects. Your HR department might use this data to make sure they have appropriate headcount allocated to certain roles. And yes, timesheets can translate to dollars in your pocket if you’re paid hourly. But it’s important to remember that’s not all your timesheet data is…there are bigger-picture benefits for your organization, that result in better planning and efficiency going forward.

And you’ll see the benefit of that better planning and efficiency too, because you won’t end up having to put in a ton of overtime trying to get your work done on time. Your project manager will have a realistic expectation of how long things take to get done, or how many people are actually needed on a given task, and you might end up getting your weekend back.

Okay, I’m convinced. Now how does it work?

Behind the scenes, an administrator sets up the timesheet periods for your organization (for example, each week might be a separate timesheet).

When your project manager assigns you to a task, that task shows up on your timesheet during the period when it is scheduled in the project plan.

You fill out the actual hours you spend on each task during the timesheet period, and then you submit it.

Every person in Project Web App is assigned a timesheet manager


(sometimes more than one). Your timesheet manager might be the project manager, or it might be someone else, like a resource manager that is responsible for people across your entire organization.

Your timesheet manager receives the timesheet that you turned in, and reviews it. If everything looks good, your timesheet is approved. If things look different than expected, your timesheet manager might reject it and add some comments about why it’s being rejected.

If your timesheet is approved, the time you submitted counts toward the total amount of work done on the task, and the amount of work remaining on the task is reduced. This is recorded in the overall project plan, so that the project manager can accurately account for whether the project is progressing as planned.

Let’s fill out your timesheet!

First, we need to get to the Timesheet view.

On the Quick Launch, click Timesheet.

The Timesheet view is made up of a table with two sides, and a splitter in the middle.

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��

TIP Slide the splitter in the middle over to see more of either side of the view.

Ready to enter your hours?Find the task that you worked on in the list on the left side, and then follow the row across to the right side of the view.

Don’t see the task you worked on?Tasks assigned to you that are scheduled for the dates in the current timesheet period will be automatically included on your timesheet. Sometimes, however, you might start work on a task early, for example, and need to add a task to your timesheet that isn’t automatically included. You can add a task to your timesheet, and your time will be accounted for in the project.

The left side lists your tasks, as well as things like sick time and vacation.

The right side is where you enter the actual hours that you spent per day on each task.

Fill in your hours across the top row of the grid, next to Actual.

The bottom row of the grid shows the Planned hours, from the when the task was initially scheduled in the project.

Do this ▶


1. Click the Timesheet tab on the ribbon.

2. Click Add Row, and then choose the kind of task you want to add.

What about hours that aren’t part of a project?Your timesheet may also include non-project lines, to represent things like training, travel, or even sick time and vacation. These are referred to as administrative tasks, and you fill out hours in those rows the same as any other task. The difference with administrative tasks is that the hours don’t roll up to any particular project.

When the Project Name column lists Administrative, hours in that row won’t roll up to a project.

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▶ NOTE There’s more to read about sick leave and vacation time in Chapter 4: Vacation, sick leave, and other non-projecthours.

How do I get a task off of my timesheet?If your timesheet includes a task that you aren’t currently working on, it’s really best to just leave it there. It may look a bit cluttered, but removing it can cause issues for other time periods. However, if a task on your timesheet isn’t really yours, you can remove it from your timesheet. This submits a request to be removed from the task altogether, and your project manager can decide whether this is the right call.

1. Select the check box for the row.

2. Click the Options tab on the ribbon.

3. Click Remove Task.


Need to enter hours for a different timesheet period?There may be times when you need to enter time for a different period than the current one. Maybe you forgot to fill out your time for a previous week, or you might want to put in hours ahead of time because you know you’ll be in training or on vacation when timesheets are due.


2. Click Select Period, and then choose which period you want to show.

If you don’t see the period you want listed, click Select Period to set specific dates. Older periods may be closed for editing.

And…SUBMIT!After you’ve entered your hours on a timesheet, the next step is to submit it to your manager for approval.

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2. Click Send > Turn in Final Timesheet.

��

TIP When you choose Turn in Final Timesheet, your timesheet is locked for editing. If you’re not ready to commit to that, click Send Progress for All Tasks or Send Progress for Selected Tasks.


Peek at what’s going on behind the scenes

After submitting your timesheet, it should theoretically go to your manager for approval. Sometimes, however, things go a little sideways and something might get stuck in the system. It’s a complicated system…these things happen.

You can check on the things you’ve submitted using the My Queued Jobs page.

1. Click Settings > PWA Settings.

2. Click My Queued Jobs.

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3. Use the Jobs > View list to narrow down what’s displayed in the grid.

In the grid, you can see all of your actions in Project Web App, including the state of each action, and whether it is complete.

If something doesn’t seem to be acting the way you expect, take a look in your queued jobs to see if something is stuck. If you see anything that looks problematic, it might be worth chatting with your project manager or administrator.


3More than just hours: Updating task progress

While it’s important to turn in the hours you work on your tasks, it’s equally important to communicate with your project manager about how things are going in a more general way.

This chapter covers what the differences are between reporting time and updating task progress, why it’s important to keep your project manager up to date, and how to submit your task progress in Project Web App. We’ll also cover how you can capture issues and risks, and where you can store documents.

Time vs. task progress: What’s the difference?

Before we talk about how to report on task progress in Project Web App, it’s important to make sure we’re clear on the differences between time and task progress.

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Time is the actual number of hours you spend working on a specific task. This is what you fill out on your timesheet (covered in Chapter 2: Turning in timesheets), to capture the number of hours you spent on different things during your work week.

◔ Task progress is an umbrella term for things like the percent of work that is complete for a task (percent complete), and how much work is left to do before the task is finished (remaining work).

Submitting task progress is a way to capture a broader description of how you think things are going with your tasks.

Let’s look at an example…

Task A: 40 hoursIn this example, you are assigned to a task that is scheduled to take 40 hours.

You spent 8 hours on the task on Monday, 4 hours on Tuesday, and 8 hours on Wednesday, for a total of 20 hours.

Mon Tues Wed

sThur

sFri Total

Actual 8 4 8 0 0 20Planned

8 8 8 8 8 40

This is the time that you would enter on a timesheet.


Now, let’s look at the work you did from a task progress perspective.

Even though 20 of 40 hours have been spent on the task, you may not feel that you are 50% complete.

You may think you are farther along, say 75% complete, or a bit behind, maybe 25% complete.

20 of 40 hours looks like this

▶ ◑But really, you may beahead of schedule, like

this ▶ ◕Or behind schedule,

like this▶ ◔

When you communicate your estimated percent complete, this is your task progress. Communicating your estimated number of hours left on the task (remaining work) is also considered your task progress.

Continuing with our example, after completing 20 of the 40 scheduled hours, you may feel like you have more than 20 hours of work left to do before the task is finished. By submitting your estimated remaining work to your project manager, you are communicating task progress.

Okay, but remind me, why are we doing this?Remember, just like with timesheets, reporting on task progress, frankly, isn’t about you. It’s about the project itself, and making sure things get done on time and within budget.

If the task you’re working on is taking longer than expected, for whatever reason, your project manager may be able to rearrange things down the road so that the overall project isn’t derailed.

Even when you do your job to the best of your abilities, things don’t always work as planned. Every good project manager knows this, so

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don’t stress it if your task progress doesn’t line up with the schedule. Just be honest, share how things are going, and you’ll be doing your part to keep the project on track.

Where do I enter my task progress?

This is kind of a tricky question. There are two ways to set up Project Web App for entering task progress.

Separate views for time and task progress. If your organization has set up Project Web App this way, team members enter and submit time in the Timesheet view, and task progress in the Tasks view.

Time Hours in the Timesheet view

Task progress

Percent complete in the Tasks view+Remaining work in the Tasks view

One combined view for time and task progress. If your organization has set up Project Web App this way, team members can capture both time and task progress in the Timesheet view. Task progress is represented by your hours, in this case, rather than percent complete, in addition to remaining work.

Time Hours in the Timesheet view

Task progress

Hours in the Timesheet view+Remaining work in the Timesheet view

The “combined view” method (which your administrator might know as “single entry mode”) eliminates having to record things in two places, but you lose the ability to report percent complete in a more general sense (“I’m about 25% done with this task”). So, there are pros and cons. Ultimately, as a team member, you’re just going with whatever your organization has chosen, but sometimes it’s helpful to know the behind-the-scenes details.


How do I know which way my organization is set up?You could ask your Project Web App administrator about whether your organization is using single entry mode, but an easier way to figure it out on your own is to look at the Quick Launch.

If your organization is tracking time and task progress separately, you’ll most likely see both the Tasks and Timesheet views listed on the Quick Launch.

If you’re still not sure, ask your coworkers! They’ve probably already been submitting time and task progress, so they should know where you should be entering your hours.

My organization is using separate views

Report the percent of work you’ve completed1. Click Tasks on the

Quick Launch.

Got both? You’re probably tracking things separately.

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2. Fill out your hours on the right side of the grid.

The % Work Complete column, on the left side of the grid, will be automatically updated with the percent complete.

Actual Work= % Work CompleteActual Work

+ Remaining Work

If you don’t see the task that you want to update, click Tasks > Add Row.

If you’re completely done with a task, select the check box for the task, and then click Tasks > Mark Complete. Percent complete is updated to 100%.


3. Send your updates to the project managers for your tasks.

If you’re ready to send all of your updates, click Tasks > Send Status > All Tasks.

If you only want to submit some of your updates, select the check box for each task, and then click Tasks > Send Status > Selected Tasks.

But the percentage doesn’t look accurate…what do I do?

Remember how percent complete is calculated?

20 hours completed = 50%

complete40 hours scheduled

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You know how much you worked, and you have an idea about what percentage of the total work that represents, so what you’ll need to adjust is the number of hours that are scheduled for the task.

For example, let’s say you’ve worked 20 hours, but you really only feel about 25% complete on the task. That means that you really think the task will take 80 hours, not 40, because 20 hours is 25% of 80 hours. Here’s what the math looks like:



To adjust the hours scheduled, you can either change the hours in the Work column, to reflect the 80 total hours, or you can change the hours in the Remaining Work column, to reflect the additional work left to do.

In this example, you’re saying that you think the whole thing will take 80 hours, and you’ve already completed 20 of those hours. That means you have 60 hours of remaining work. When you enter 60 in the Remaining Work column, the % Work Complete column is updated to reflect the percentage that you feel is more accurate.

Keep reading. The next section talks about how to submit your remaining work to the project manager.


Update how much work you have left to do1. Click Tasks on the

Quick Launch.

2. Update your tasks.

In the grid, fill out the Remaining Work column.

If you don’t see the task that you want to update, click Tasks > Add Row.

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If you’re completely done with a task, select the check box for the task, and then click Tasks > Mark Complete. Remaining work is set to 0 hours.


If you’re ready to send all of your updates, click Tasks > Send Status > All Tasks.

If you only want to submit some of your updates, select the check box for each task, and then click Tasks > Send Status > Selected Tasks.


💡Not ready to submit? If you aren’t ready to send your remaining work to the project manager, click Tasks > Save to save your updates and submit them later.

My organization is using one view

Report the percent of work you’ve completedWhen your organization uses one view to track time and task progress, the hours that you fill out on your timesheet are used to calculate percent complete.

1. Click Timesheet on the Quick Launch.

2. Use the right side of the view to enter the hours you worked on the task.

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If you’re ready to send all of your updates, click Timesheet > Send > Send Progress for All Tasks.

If you only want to submit some of your updates, select the check box for each task, and then click Timesheet > Send > Send Progress for Selected Tasks.


4. After you’ve sent your updates, the task will be updated on your timesheet, with the new percent complete in the % Work Complete column.

But the percentage doesn’t look accurate…what do I do?

Remember how percent complete is calculated?



You know how much you worked, and you have an idea about what percentage of the total work that represents, so what you’ll need to adjust is the number of hours that are scheduled for the task.

For example, let’s say you’ve worked 20 hours, but you really only feel about 25% complete on the task. That means that you really think the task will take 80 hours, not 40, because 20 hours is 25% of 80 hours. Here’s what the math looks like:

20 hours completed

= 25% complete

80 hours

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scheduled

However, you’re a team member, not the project manager, so you can’t just go in and change the project plan to get your numbers to work out. You need to communicate this part of your task progress to your project manager. You do this by submitting the remaining work on the task.

In this example, you’re saying that you think the whole thing will take 80 hours, and you’ve already completed 20 of those hours. That means you have 60 hours of remaining work.

Keep reading. The next section talks about how to submit your remaining work to the project manager. Once you do that, the percent complete should look accurate.

Update how much work you have left to do1. Click Timesheet on

the Quick Launch.


2. Find the task that you want to update on the left side of the view.

3. Use the scroll bar at the bottom of the grid to scroll right, to the Remaining Work column. Add the hours you think are still required to get the task done.

If you don’t see the task that you want to update, clickTimesheet > Add Row.

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If you’re ready to send all of your updates, click Timesheet > Send > Send Progress for All Tasks.

If you only want to submit some of your updates, select the check box for each task, and then click Timesheet > Send > Send Progress for Selected Tasks.


Add comments about your work

Another way to communicate task progress is by simply adding some comments when you send updates to your project manager. Sometimes you may need to explain why things are taking longer than planned (“I added 20 hours of remaining work because…”), or you might want to give a few more details about the work you did that week (“I spent 6 hours on that task on Tuesday doing…”).

“I added 20 hours of remaining work because…”

You can add comments to your timesheet and task progress when you send them to your project manager.

In the Tasks view…1. Click the Tasks tab,

and then select the Comment on Submit check box in the Show/Hide group.

2. Fill out your task progress and then click Tasks > Send Status to choose what you want to send.

If you’re not sure which option to choose, take a look at the sections earlier in this chapter.

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3. Fill out the comment box, and then click OK to send your updates to your project manager.

In the Timesheet view…1. Click the Options

tab, and then select the Comment on Submit check box in the Show/Hide group.


2. Fill out your timesheet and then click Timesheet > Send to choose what you want to send.

If you’re not sure which option to choose, take a look at the sections earlier in this chapter.

3. Fill out the Comment box, and then click OK to send your timesheet to your manager.

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Capture issues and risks

Projects very rarely go exactly as planned. (Talk about stating the obvious!)

Issues may come up along the way that have an impact on the project schedule. Maybe someone you need to talk to goes out on leave unexpectedly, or a tool you need to get the work done breaks.

Risks are things that can impact the schedule, and that you’re aware of when the project is planned. These may be things like an upcoming personnel change, or a tight turnaround time on a particular deliverable.

As a person who is assigned to do the work on a project, you may have the best perspective on exactly what risks there are, and you certainly know what issues you run into.

By planning for a project’s risks ahead of time, and recording the issues that come up as the project progresses, your project manager is better able to manage the project schedule. Sometimes, the project manager will do this work without asking team members to add anything. In other cases, project managers will ask team members to help fill out issues and risks on the project site.

Add an issue


!


2. Click the name of a project in the list.

3. Click Project Site on the Quick Launch.

4. Click Issues on the Quick Launch.

5. Click New Item.

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6. Fill out the form, including as many details as you can about the issue.

7. When you’re done, click Edit > Save.

Add a risk





4. Click Risks on the Quick Launch.

5. Click New Item.

6. Fill out the form, including as many details as you can about the risk.

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The Probability, Impact (which is a general score, in comparison with other risks), and Cost of the risk help your project manager understand the risk, at a glance.

The Description should cover why the risk is a possibility, and what will happen if it occurs.

The Mitigation Plan is what you need to do to try to avoid the risk occurring.


The Contingency Plan is what you’re going to do if the risk actually does occur.

The Trigger Description and Trigger are the things that happen that will indicate when the risk is occurring, and when you need to put the contingency plan into action.

7. When you’re done, click Edit > Save.

I need to look at a project document…where is it?

Projects sometimes come equipped with a lot of documents, from proposals and planning documents, to research and presentations.

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Each project in Project Web App has an associated project site, with a spot for storing and working with documents.




4. Click Documents on the Quick Launch.


5. Click the name of the document in the list, to open it.

Hand off work to someone else

There are a lot of reasons why you’d need to reassign one of your tasks to someone else. Here are some examples:

Maybe you’re being pulled onto another, higher-priority project, and you need someone else to take on part of your existing workload.

Maybe another person on the team has more experience than you do with a certain aspect of the project, and your project manager has asked you to transition your work to that person.

Or…maybe you’re just really good at delegating.

Regardless, reassigning a task is easy.

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1. Click Tasks on the Quick Launch.

2. Click Tasks > Reassign.

3. Find the task that you want to reassign in the Select New Resources grid, and choose a new team member in the Reassign To column.


4. Set a Start Date for when the transition should happen, and add Comments if you’d like.

5. Click Submit to send the reassignment to the project manager.

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4Vacation, sick leave, and other non-project hours

Hard work frequently results in one of two things: a well-deserved vacation, or a miserable, knock-you-off-your-feet headcold.

Okay, maybe there isn’t a direct correlation, but in the course of working on a project, you will surely have some time that you’ve spent doing things other than working on your tasks. Sometimes it’s vacation, sometimes it’s sick leave, and sometimes it’s work-related (but not project-related) things like training or business travel.

This chapter covers what you need to do ahead of time, while you’re out, and after you’re back from time spent outside of your assigned tasks.

Ahead of time

There are a couple of things that you can do ahead of time, when you know you’re not going to be working on your tasks for a certain day or


set of days. You can let your project manager know, for planning purposes, and you may be able to assign someone to enter time and task progress for you while you’re out.

Let your project manager knowIf you know ahead of time that you’re going to be out of the office, or not able to work on your tasks for some other reason, you can do your project manager a huge favor by sharing that information as soon as you know you’re going to be out.

Your project manager can enter your planned time away into a calendar that reflects your working hours. Project Web App uses that calendar to determine the project schedule, and your task work will be automatically pushed out until you get back.

Assign someone to enter your time and task progressDepending on how your organization uses Project Web App, you may be able to identify someone who can enter and submit time and task progress on your behalf while you’re out. This person is know as a “delegate.”

Before you leave for vacation (or whatever else has you away from your project for a short period), set up a new delegation in Project Web App, so that someone else can log in for you while you’re out.


2. Under Personal Settings, click Manage Delegates.

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3. Click Delegations > New.

4. Use the From and To dates to set the time period when you’ll be away.

5. Enter the name of the person that you want to enter things for you while you’re out.

6. Click Save.

After you get the delegation saved, don’t forget to chat with the person you just assigned to let them know that they’re set up.

While you’re out

Time spent away from your project tasks can make for a refreshing change of pace…especially if that time is spent poolside with a tasty beverage. But even if your time away is spent in a training session, or under a blanket on the couch with a box of tissues, you’ll probably find that when you return to your task work, you have a new perspective.

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�Really, the only thing you need to worry about while you’re out is making sure that your time and task progress gets submitted on time. In some cases, you can submit your information ahead of time, but not always. Some organizations require that you submit things only on specific days or dates. That’s where your delegate comes in.

If you assigned a delegate to enter time and task progress for you, that person can log in by clicking Settings > PWA Settings, and then clicking Act as a Delegate under Personal Settings.

After you’re back

Welcome back to your tasks! Now that you’re back, you need to account for your time away on your timesheet. Time spent on non-project work, including vacation and sick time, is called administrative time in Project Web App.

1. Click Timesheet on the Quick Launch.

2. Fill out the Actual row, on the right side of the grid, for vacation, sick time, or another category of administrative time.

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If the administrative task you need isn’t listed on your timesheet, click Timesheet > Add Row > Add Non-Project Line.

3. Continue filling out the rest of your timesheet, and submit it whenever you’re ready. For more information on this, see Chapter 2: Turning in timesheets.


5Uh oh, I didn’t mean to submit that!

Maybe you were working from home and your four-year-old accidentally submitted your timesheet, or your cat walked across your keyboard and entered some extra hours for you. Or, more likely, you forgot to add some task work to your timesheet before sending it to your project manager. Whatever the reason, sometimes, you just didn’t mean to submit things yet.

This chapter covers how to recall a timesheet you’ve already submitted, and how to delete a timesheet altogether.

▶ NOTE You can only recall or delete timesheets that are not yet approved. If they’re approved, you’ll need to chat with your project manager about your changes.

Take back a timesheet that you sent for approval

If you realize, after you’ve sent your timesheet for approval, that you need to make changes, you can recall your timesheet if it hasn’t been approved yet.

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2. Under Time and Task Management, click Manage Timesheets.

3. Click the row for the timesheet you want to recall.

4. Click Timesheets > Recall.

5. Click OK to confirm the recall.

Delete a timesheet and start overSometimes it’s easier just to start a timesheet over from scratch. You can delete the existing timesheet, as long as you haven’t sent it for approval yet.



2. Under Time and Task Management, click Manage Timesheets.

3. Click the row for the timesheet you want to delete.

4. Click Timesheets > Delete.

5. Click OK to confirm the deletion.

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6Rejected! Now what?

If your timesheet or task progress doesn’t match what your manager was expecting, you may find out it’s been rejected. This never feels great, but it’s probably not personal, and hopefully your project manager has included some comments outlining why your updates were rejected.

This chapter covers how to figure out if your updates are rejected, how to find out why they were rejected, and what you should do to get your time and task progress resubmitted.

How do I know if my updates were rejected?

When your time or task progress is rejected, this status shows up in the Process Status column on the Timesheet or Tasks view.


In the Timesheet view… In the Tasks view…

Why were my updates rejected?

Hopefully, your project manager will chat with you about why they’re rejecting your updates. If not, he or she may have added a comment before sending it back to you. If you see an update that has been rejected, it’s best to look closely at the task and see if a comment has been added, before hunting down your project manager to ask questions.

1. Click the name of the rejected task in the list on the Timesheet or Tasks view.

2. Comments are listed under Recent Task Changes.

What do I do now?

Once you’ve reviewed comments, and chatted with your project manager if needed, the next step is to make appropriate changes to your timesheet and task progress, and then resubmit it.

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When you see that your updates have been rejected…

…you figure out what you need to do to fix them…

…then you resubmit your updates…

…and your project manager can approve them if they make sense.

Okay, but how?This process doesn’t require anything different or fancy…you just do things the same way you submitted things initially:

If you need help resubmitting your timesheet, see Chapter 2: Turning in timesheets.

If you need help resubmitting your task progress, see Chapter 3: More than just hours: Updating task progress.

When in doubt, add comments…Adding comments when you resubmit your updates can help your manager understand what changes you made, and how they address the issues that came up initially. Chapter 3: More than just hours: Updating task progress covers how to add comments in the Timesheet and Tasks views.

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Appendix

In Project Web App, how do I…

See a list of my projects? Click Projects on the Quick Launch.

Add a task to my timesheet? Click Timesheet > Add Row.

Enter vacation or sick time? Fill out the Administrative lines on your timesheet.

Switch to a different timesheet?

Click Timesheet > Select Period.

Add a task in the Tasks view? Click Tasks > Add Row.

Add comments about my work in the Timesheet view?

Choose Options > Comment on Submit.

Add comments about my work in the Tasks view?

Choose Tasks > Comment on Submit.

Hand off work to someone else?

Click Tasks > Reassign.

Find out why my updates were rejected?

Click the task name on the Timesheet or Tasks view, and look under Recent Task Changes.

My Project Web App administrator is:

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My Project Web App address is:

[URL]

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