Project Task Planning

The project task plan (sometimes referred to as the ‘Work Breakdown Structure’ or WBS) defines the detailed tasks that need to be fulfilled to complete the project. This will typically involve planning the work in a hierarchical structure and include task constraints, predecessors, assignments, and milestones.

Organisations can choose whether a task plan is used in favour of or in parallel to a task board. The task board represents a more fluid form of task planning and may be used by projects operating an ‘agile’ methodology. Refer to the separate end-user guide for Task Boards for further details. Task boards can be referenced within a plan to support a hybrid planning approach.

The task plan can be as detailed as is required by the organization or could, for example, just be used to track milestones.

When the task plan includes detailed tasks with allocated project resources, it represents the ‘bottom-up’ view of resource requirements. Separate to the task plan is the resourcing plan which defines the staffing requirements of the project or ‘demand’ as well as the assignment or ‘allocation’ of resources to that demand. The resourcing plan represents a ‘top-down’ view of resource requirements. It is possible to compare the resourcing plan and task plan to ensure they are broadly aligned. Refer to the separate end-user guide for Project Resourcing for further details.

Task plans can be integrated with Microsoft Project, if required.

• A projects task plan is accessible from multiple places:

  • 1. Project Overview Page . The task plan page is accessible by drilling-down from the ‘Project Timeline’ content are on the project overview page. This is the primary location for managing project task plans.

    2. Project Workbook provides a view of the project milestones only. The task plan cannot be edited from this location.

    3. Project Status Report. Provides a way to update project milestone estimated/actual completion date, RAG status and state of completion.

• Changes to task plans save automatically.

• The last save time is shown on the right hand side of the screen to the title (above the units drop-down list)

• Large projects are likely to have large plans that do not all fit on the page. Use the ‘Collapse' and 'Expand' links next to summary tasks to make it easier to find demand.

• Use the browser search capabilities to search for a Task by name.

• The task plan can be shown in Days, Weeks, Months or Years

• Use the drop-down to the right of the icon bar to switch to a different time range.

It is possible to control which columns are displayed within the table view and the table section of the hybrid view. This can be used to exclude attributes that are not used and to re-sequence columns in a different order.

• Click on the 'Choose Columns' icon (represented by 3 vertical squares) in the task bar

• In the pop-up, deselect/select columns as appropriate

• Re-sequence columns by dragging them up or down

• Navigate to the task plan page as described in the section How to access above.

• Click on the '+' icon in the task bar to add another line.

• Tasks are added below the currently highlighted task

• Navigate to the task plan page as described in the section How to access above.

• Highlight the task to be deleted

• Click on the 'Delete Task' icon in the task bar (represented by a bin/garbage can)

• A warning will be displayed asking for confirmation of the deletion. Click on 'Yes, delete' to proceed with deletion or on the 'X' to close the warning without deletion.

• Navigate to the task plan page as described in the section How to access above.

• Highlight the task to be re-sequenced.

• Position the cursor over the task number and it will change to two vertical columns of 4 dots

• Drag the task to the new position in the plan

Task dates can be shifted in one of two ways:

• 1. By editing the start and/or end date attribute directly (in hybrid or table mode)

  2. By dragging the right and left hand edges of the task (in hybrid or gantt mode). Drag the right hand side of the task to adjust the end date. Drag the left hand side of the task to adjust the start date.

• Navigate to the task plan page as described in the section How to access above.

• Highlight the task to be Outdented or Indented

• Click on ‘Outdent’ (left arrow) or ‘Indent’ (right arrow) on the task bar 

• When indenting a task, the one above will become a summary task (if it is not already)

• When outdenting a task and this is the last subtask, the one above will no longer be a summary task.

• A task becomes a summary task when another task is indented into it.

• A summary task takes the earliest start date and end date of its children.

• If a child has an MSO constraint and is the earliest start date of its siblings, the summary task takes the MSO constraint as well.

• If a child has an actual start or end date, it uses those dates.

• A summary task's percent complete is the average of all its children's percent complete.

• A summary task's effort is the sum of all its children's effort.

• A summary task cannot be a predecessor of any of its children but can be the predecessor for a task or summary task outside of its tree.

• If a milestone is turned into a summary task, it is automatically changed to a task.

• If a summary task is given a predecessor, all its children inherit the predecessor.

• External tasks are tasks that have been added to a task plan from another task plan.

• Navigate to the task plan page as described in the section How to access above.

• Click on ‘Add External Task' (to the right of the '+' icon) on the task bar to bring up a list of all tasks in all projects.

• Select an external task from the list and click on ‘Apply’.

• External tasks are not editable but can be reordered and deleted just like any other task.

• When a task plan is loaded, it checks all external tasks to see if they have been updated in their original plan. If an external task has been updated, a prompt will appear allowing you to update the task if needed.

• When an external task is updated, it triggers a timeline reflow. The reflow will not update any external tasks.

• Bi-directional Integration of task plans with Microsoft Project is supported. There are a number of possible approaches.

• Microsoft Project is used to build the initial plan which is then imported into a new project. All further updates are made in PPMAnywhere.

• Plans can be exported to Microsoft Project for use by someone without access to PPMAnywhere, for example a 3rd party.

• Microsoft Project is used to build the initial plan and make updates to existing plans. The plan in PPMAnywhere is used to communicate progress and/or to track actuals against from time sheets.

• During the integration process, PPMAnywhere will conduct integrity checks. Plans which fail these checks will not be imported from Microsoft Project. These scenarios are listed in the section Importing a task plan from Microsoft Project below.

• A task plan can be imported from Microsoft Project. The import process will overwrite the existing plan (if there is one) with the contents of the file.

• Only files of type XML can be imported. Be sure to use the ‘Save As’ feature and when providing a file name, select ‘XML Format’ for the ‘Save as type’ field.

• Navigate to the task plan page as described in the section How to access above.

• Click on ‘Import MSP’ (cloud with up arrow) in the task bar and then select the XML file with the project plan.

• Navigate to the task plan page as described in the section How to access above.

• To export a plan to Microsoft Project, click on ‘Export MSP’ (cloud with down arrow) in the task bar.

• The file will be exported in XML format to your download area.

• Navigate to the task plan page as described in the section How to access above.

• To baseline a project task plan, click on ‘Baselines’ in the task bar (represented by a set square icon)

• Click on the ‘+’ icon in the right-hand pane to create a baseline.

• Provide a name for the baseline and click on ‘Create’.

• Navigate to the task plan page as described in the section How to access above.

• Click on ‘Baselines’ in the task bar (represented by a set square icon).

• Click on the id of a previous baseline. The baseline is displayed in read-only mode.

• To exit the baseline and return to the plan, click on the 'Baselines' icon again in the task bar

• Navigate to the task plan page as described in the section How to access above.

• Click on ‘Critical Path’ (represented by the target icon) in the task bar.

• The critical path will be highlighted.

• Navigate to the task plan page as described in the section How to access above.

• To export a plan to Microsoft Excel, click on ‘Export Excel’ in the task bar (right hand block arrow in white box)

• The file will be exported in XLS format to your download area.

• Sometimes it is advantageous to create a template of a task plan which can then be used as a starting point for future projects. This avoids the need to build a plan from scratch and helps to ensure a consistent approach/methodology

• To create a template of the plan, click on ‘Copy to Template’ in the task bar (represented by 2 overlapping documents icon)

• A pop-up will be displayed requesting confirmation of the template name. By default this is the name of the current project prefixed 'Template from', but can be changed.

• Click on 'Create' in the pop-up to create the template. Following this the task plan template editor is displayed where changes can be made to the template.

• The same functions are available when editing the template as when editing a normal task plan. As for the task plan, changes are saved automatically.

• To return to the original task plan, use the main pull-down menu to return to the project and open the plan as described above in 'How to access'

• To change a work plan template that has previously been created, navigate to the 'Admin Center' (via the Administration section of the menu) and select 'Plan Templates' from the 'Templates' section.

Sometimes it may be beneficial to create different task plan 'what if' scenarios. For example, having built an initial task plan, stakeholders might ask if the project can deliver it's outcomes sooner. Alternatively, the PMO might want to model additional contingency time to mitigate against certain risks. The Anywhere Platform allows you to model these different task plan scenarios and then turn one of these into the 'Active' plan.

• To create a scenario, it is necessary to start with an initial plan. 

• Once the plan is ready to be turned into a scenario, click on the 'What-If's' icon (up arrow with right branch) in the task bar.

• A list of any existing scenarios is shown. Click on 'Create What If?' to create a scenario.

• The 'Create What If' pop-up is displayed. Enter a description that describes the scenario being modelled, for example 'Aggressive Scenario' or 'Additional contingency for supplier delays'. Click on the 'Create' button to create the scenario.

• The workplan view is displayed allowing for the plan to be edited according to the scenario. Editing the what-if plan is the same as editing the live plan. It is possible to tell that a scenario is being edited because there is a field at the top of the page with the prompt 'What If Title'.

• Changes to what if plans are saved automatically.

• There are 2 additional icons in the task bar when editing a what if plan. The 'House' icon, returns the user to the active plan. The 'Lightening' icon turns the what-if plan into the active plan. Remember, that at this point the user is simply editing a scenario. The original (or 'live') plan remains unchanged.

• There is no limit to the number of scenarios that can be created.

• To return to the active plan from the what if plan, click on the 'Back to Plan' icon, represented by a house.

At any point in time, a portfolio entity has only one 'active' plan, but can have one or more 'what if' scenarios. There may come a point at which there is a decision to turn one of the scenarios into the active plan. It might be, for example, that the different scenarios have been presented to stakeholders or other governance groups and a decision made that a given scenario should be adopted.

• Start by accessing the active plan as described in the section 'How to access'.

• Click on the 'What Ifs' icon (up arrow with right branch) in the task bar. The list of scnearios will be displayed.

• Select the scenario that is to be made the active plan by clicking on the id.

• Click on the 'Make Active Plan' icon (represented as a bolt of lightening) in the task bar. A warning is displayed to confirm that this is to be made the active plan. The currently active plan will become a what if so that you can always refer back to it later (and even make it active again). 

• Click on 'Yes, make plan active' to make the plan active.

• Recommended: Once the what if plan has been made the active plan, click on the 'What Ifs' icon again. The list of scenarios now includes one called 'Generated Copy' which is an automatically created copy of the previously active plan. It is recommended to give this a more meaningful name. To do so, click on the id of the generate copy and in the title field at the top, give it a more meaningful name for example 'Original Plan' or 'Plan as at <date>'. Changes to the title are saved automatically.

The Anywhere Platform supports the ability to plan in a hybrid manner using a combination of more traditional structured plans, integrated with task boards to support agile ways of working. For example an overall task plan might want to include design stages which are themselves run as a sprint and managed as a task board. Adding the design task board to the plan allows the design team to operate in an agile manner, whilst still tracking completion of the design activity within the overall plan.

• To add a task board to the plan, click on the 'Add Board' icon in the task bar (represented by a window).

• Select a board to add to the plan. Any board can be added. The board is added as a single line, regardless of the number of tasks within the board.

• Once added the board is identified by the window icon to the left of it's name. Click on the icon to open the board.

• % completion of the line in the plan is based on the number of tasks in the board and how many of these have reached the 'Completed' list. 

• Important: One list in the board must be tagged as the 'Completed List'. Click on the 3 vertical dots in the board list and select 'Set as Completed List'.

The Anywhere Platform supports the ability to model business processes as a form with an associated workflow. There might be a scenario where a work plan has a dependency on completion of a form. For example, a Change Request is identified that needs to go through a change approval process that may take a few weeks to complete and there are tasks in the plan that are dependent on completion of that process.

• To add a form to the plan, click on the 'Add Form' icon in the task bar (represented by a single document).

• Select a form to add to the plan. Important:  Any form can be added however the form process template must be configured so that each step in the workflow has a defined value for the '% Complete' attribute for the step. Without this setting, the form will not appear in the list as the plan cannot track the percentage completion

• Once added the form is identified by the document icon to the left of it's name. Click on the icon to open the form.

• % completion of the line in the plan is based on the the current step in the workflow. Assuming the last step is marked as '100' percent complete, the line in the plan will change to complete once the form reaches that step. As the form moves through the process, the percent completion of the task is adjusted accordingly.

Q: Why am I getting the message ‘Not all required tasks or tasks that have time booked against them were present in the imported plan. Plan import was not attempted’?

A: This message means that time has been booked to a task in a task plan and that task cannot be found in the plan being imported from Microsoft Project. If the plan were imported it would result in a compromise to data integrity. The resolution is to first export the task plan to Microsoft Project, then make the updates and then re-import the plan with updates. Be sure not to delete any tasks from the plan where time has already been reported against that task.