The following section will provide you with an in-depth guide on adding new projects within the PMS:
1. In order to add a new project, simply click on the
"Add" icon next to the "Projects" option in the "PMS" tab's drop-down menu.
2. Once you have clicked on the
"Add" icon, you will be presented with the "Project Form" window, which contains various fields to be filled in with the client's details.
Client Field:
- In order to select the company, department, or individual client that you would like to connect this project to, simply click on the appropriate magnifying glass icon:
. (If the desired client has not yet been added to the Contact Relationship Management system (CRM), you must first click on the appropriate green "+" icon, specify the type of contact, and fill out the provided fields. For more information on how to go about this, please see our sections on
Adding Companies and
Adding Contacts).
- In the "Select Contact" window which will appear after clicking on the magnifying glass icon, choose the appropriate client type ("Corporate" or "Individual"), enter the first few letters of the name of the company, department, or individual client, and, in order to further limit the results, feel free to specify the appropriate "Contact Type" (should you know what type the contact was specified as upon being added to the system).
- After setting the search criteria, click on the "Search" button. From the resultant list, displaying all contacts within the system that meet the specified criteria, select the desired client (by clicking within the adjacent circle) and click on the "Choose Selected" button at the bottom of the screen.
In order to complete the "Partner " field, simply follow the same process as described above.
Project Name:
Enter the desired name for your project into the "Project Name" field. It is best to choose as short a name as possible (you can specify further details about the project later, within the project's description field).
Priority:
In the "Priority" drop-down menu, change the project's priority from the default setting of "None" to an appropriate number (10 being the highest priority, and 1 being the lowest).
Status:
Choose an appropriate status for your project from the "Status" drop-down menu. In most cases, the "In-Queue" option should be used, as it will place the project in a queue of projects to be completed by the employee(s) it is assigned to (when a project is completed, the PMS will automatically move to the next assigned project in line for the particular employee to work on).
Other common possibilities include "In Process," when you would like for the assigned employee(s) to begin work on the project immediately, rather than have the project wait in a queue, and "Perpetual," when the project is more general and ongoing in nature, and thus does not fit well within a set time-table or queue of projects (it can be worked on at any time, even while other projects in queue are active).
"Quality Control" is generally selected when the project has been completed by the designated employee(s), so that it can be reviewed by the project's leader to ensure it has been done well. Once checked for quality, the status can then be changed to "Completed."
Choose Leader:
From the "Leader" drop-down menu, simply select the desired employee to act as the leader for the project (for information on how to create and modify the list of employees found in the "Leader" drop-down menu, please see our section on "Project Management Administration").
Assigned To:
Select the employee(s) you wish to assign the project to by clicking on their name(s) within the provided list (using the "Ctrl" key for multiple selection). (For information on how to create and modify the list of employees, please see our section on "Project Management Administration").
Start Date:
By default, the box within this field, labeled "Open," will be selected, signifying that the start date will be left open. In order to specify a particular start date, simply click within the box in order to uncheck it, and select the desired day, month, and year from the provided calendar. If you wish, you can specify a particular time to start the project as well.
Deadline:
As with the "Start Date" field described above, by default, the box within this field, labeled "Open," will be selected, signifying that the deadline for the project's completion will be left open. In order to specify a particular date for the project's deadline, simply click within the box in order to uncheck it, and then select the desired day, month, and year from the provided calendar. If desired, you can also enter a particular time for the deadline.
Details/Requirements:
In this field, you have the opportunity to write a detailed description of the project. As the space within this field is limited, however, the description should be kept relatively brief. You will have the opportunity to write a more detailed description and include additional relevant information later within the
"Notes" field, which can accomodate larger texts.
3. After completing all of the relevant fields, simply click on the "Save" button, and the project will be created. If you would like to continue working with the project and keep the project "Edit" window opened, click "Apply" instead of "Save." This way, the information will still be saved, and you will have the opportunity to add files and notes without going through the process of
searching for the project within the system.
