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In this lesson, we’ll introduce you to the project management section of a project. We will create tasks, milestones and stage gates and use constraints to build out a project plan.
In this video, we will discuss how to create a project plan using tasks, milestones and stage gates and how to join these activities together using constraints and dependencies.
Transcript
00:09
In this video, we'll discuss how to add a task, milestone, or stage gate to a project plan,
00:14
how to use dependencies, how to edit a task, and how to use constraints in tasks.
00:20
So let's take a look.
00:24
Project Plans allow you to track the progress of your project and identify any challenges you may face.
00:31
So let's take a look at an example.
00:34
If we open up the Project Plan for our drone project, here under Project Management,
00:42
we can see it contains a standard list of tasks that our company has asked for in each of our projects.
00:49
These include tasks such as requirements, importing of the CAD assembly,
00:56
creating investigation requests, approvals, and sign offs.
01:03
To create a project plan, you have three activity types available to you: Task, Milestone, and Stage Gate.
01:11
Milestones represent key points in the project lifecycle and help keep you on track.
01:16
Stage gates indicate a decision is required in order for the project to continue.
01:21
Tasks are the most common and represent basic tasks in the project,
01:26
such as requirement gathering, importing of CAD files, and so on.
01:32
So, how do we create these tasks and build out a project plan?
01:37
Well, let's go over to a new project for a bicycle and see how it's done.
01:44
If we go into the Project Management section, we can see we've already created a couple of tasks.
01:49
We have a design kickoff task, and we also have a requirement gathering sub task.
01:59
When adding a new task, you have two options.
02:02
You can either add a main task, so if we added a main one, it would be number 2,
02:09
versus adding a sub task to our design kickoff.
02:15
To add a task, a main task, we would click the "Add" button. To add a sub task, we're going to click the plus sign.
02:22
From here, we get the pop up to create the task. The first thing we need to do is add in the workflow.
02:29
This is the process the task will follow in order to move from Draft to Completed.
02:35
Next thing we need to do is put in the name of the task, something descriptive to indicate what the task is.
02:42
For example, create requirement documents.
02:46
We then need to assign the task. You can assign a task to either a team, a person, or a role.
02:53
In this case, we're going to select the "Team" because we don't know who is going to take this on yet.
02:58
We also need to put in the duration, how long we think it will take for the task to be completed,
03:04
and then we also need to put in the constraint type.
03:08
Constraints are added to tasks to help enforce start or end dates for tasks.
03:15
For example, creating our requirement document,
03:18
we're going to set it up so that it starts no earlier than a Monday in the next month, in November.
03:31
This will give us plenty of time to ensure we can get to this task on time.
03:39
We also have the option to put in a description, add in documentation, and also associate the task with an item in the BOM structure.
03:49
Once we have all of this in, all we need to do is click on "Add" and add the task to our project plan.
03:59
You can see here we see all of the details in the fly out for the activity or the task.
04:08
So, now that we've created a requirement gather or requirement document task,
04:15
we're also going to add in a stage gate for an approval.
04:19
To do that, I would click on "Add"and from the dropdown select "Stage Gate".
04:26
In here again we need to put in the name. So this time it's going to be Requirements Review and Approval.
04:33
Again assign it to our team because we haven't decided who will be doing this review and approval, and then put in the start date.
04:42
We want to put the start date after we know the requirement documentation will be completed.
04:49
And again, give them a good amount of time to do the review and approval.
04:54
Once we've done that, we can go ahead and click on "Add".
05:01
And again, we can see all of the information here in the fly out for our stage gate.
05:07
So along with constraints in your tasks,
05:12
you can also create dependencies between your tasks, your milestones, and your stage gates.
05:18
This ensures that one task is not started before the task it is dependent on is completed.
05:25
For example, we cannot create Requirement Documentation until we've gathered the requirements.
05:32
In order to create a dependency, the tasks must be in a draft state.
05:40
To connect them, I would select the task and then click and draw the line to the task it is dependent on.
05:48
So for example, we have now connected our requirement gathering task to our requirement documentation task.
05:59
One thing to note is that Constraints and Dependencies work together when building out your project plan.
06:05
You can see here as I move the Requirement Gathering task that the Documentation task moves with it,
06:13
because they are dependent on each other.
06:17
As we move these activities or tasks in the project plan, the constraints and dependencies work together.
06:25
It should be noted that if you need to continually move your activities or your tasks in the project plan,
06:35
eventually you will reach a point where the constraint will need to be fulfilled and the task will no longer move in the plan.
06:44
This is usually when you have a constraint based on a specific date. Okay.
06:54
So now that we have created our dependencies, we've created our tasks and our stage gates,
07:02
you will, as your project progresses, may need to make updates to your tasks in the project plan.
07:10
For example, tasks will need to be reassigned, dates will need to be updated, workflows will need to be started, and so on.
07:18
To edit a task, you would select the task and in the fly out, you would click on the "Edit" option.
07:25
From here, you can then make the changes.
07:27
So for example, for our Requirements Review and Approval, we know that Dawson is going to be the one to do that.
07:34
So I can change the assignee value from the team to Dawson specifically.
07:43
Dawson will now show up in the Assignee column for this particular task.
07:50
She'll also receive an email notification telling her she has been assigned a task in this project,
07:57
so she can go ahead and check out what the details are for that particular task.
08:03
So we have seen how project plans can be created with Tasks, Stages, and Milestones.
08:10
We have seen how Constraints and Dependencies work together and how you can edit tasks.
08:16
From here, I encourage you to continue learning about what you can do with Project Management.
Video transcript
00:09
In this video, we'll discuss how to add a task, milestone, or stage gate to a project plan,
00:14
how to use dependencies, how to edit a task, and how to use constraints in tasks.
00:20
So let's take a look.
00:24
Project Plans allow you to track the progress of your project and identify any challenges you may face.
00:31
So let's take a look at an example.
00:34
If we open up the Project Plan for our drone project, here under Project Management,
00:42
we can see it contains a standard list of tasks that our company has asked for in each of our projects.
00:49
These include tasks such as requirements, importing of the CAD assembly,
00:56
creating investigation requests, approvals, and sign offs.
01:03
To create a project plan, you have three activity types available to you: Task, Milestone, and Stage Gate.
01:11
Milestones represent key points in the project lifecycle and help keep you on track.
01:16
Stage gates indicate a decision is required in order for the project to continue.
01:21
Tasks are the most common and represent basic tasks in the project,
01:26
such as requirement gathering, importing of CAD files, and so on.
01:32
So, how do we create these tasks and build out a project plan?
01:37
Well, let's go over to a new project for a bicycle and see how it's done.
01:44
If we go into the Project Management section, we can see we've already created a couple of tasks.
01:49
We have a design kickoff task, and we also have a requirement gathering sub task.
01:59
When adding a new task, you have two options.
02:02
You can either add a main task, so if we added a main one, it would be number 2,
02:09
versus adding a sub task to our design kickoff.
02:15
To add a task, a main task, we would click the "Add" button. To add a sub task, we're going to click the plus sign.
02:22
From here, we get the pop up to create the task. The first thing we need to do is add in the workflow.
02:29
This is the process the task will follow in order to move from Draft to Completed.
02:35
Next thing we need to do is put in the name of the task, something descriptive to indicate what the task is.
02:42
For example, create requirement documents.
02:46
We then need to assign the task. You can assign a task to either a team, a person, or a role.
02:53
In this case, we're going to select the "Team" because we don't know who is going to take this on yet.
02:58
We also need to put in the duration, how long we think it will take for the task to be completed,
03:04
and then we also need to put in the constraint type.
03:08
Constraints are added to tasks to help enforce start or end dates for tasks.
03:15
For example, creating our requirement document,
03:18
we're going to set it up so that it starts no earlier than a Monday in the next month, in November.
03:31
This will give us plenty of time to ensure we can get to this task on time.
03:39
We also have the option to put in a description, add in documentation, and also associate the task with an item in the BOM structure.
03:49
Once we have all of this in, all we need to do is click on "Add" and add the task to our project plan.
03:59
You can see here we see all of the details in the fly out for the activity or the task.
04:08
So, now that we've created a requirement gather or requirement document task,
04:15
we're also going to add in a stage gate for an approval.
04:19
To do that, I would click on "Add"and from the dropdown select "Stage Gate".
04:26
In here again we need to put in the name. So this time it's going to be Requirements Review and Approval.
04:33
Again assign it to our team because we haven't decided who will be doing this review and approval, and then put in the start date.
04:42
We want to put the start date after we know the requirement documentation will be completed.
04:49
And again, give them a good amount of time to do the review and approval.
04:54
Once we've done that, we can go ahead and click on "Add".
05:01
And again, we can see all of the information here in the fly out for our stage gate.
05:07
So along with constraints in your tasks,
05:12
you can also create dependencies between your tasks, your milestones, and your stage gates.
05:18
This ensures that one task is not started before the task it is dependent on is completed.
05:25
For example, we cannot create Requirement Documentation until we've gathered the requirements.
05:32
In order to create a dependency, the tasks must be in a draft state.
05:40
To connect them, I would select the task and then click and draw the line to the task it is dependent on.
05:48
So for example, we have now connected our requirement gathering task to our requirement documentation task.
05:59
One thing to note is that Constraints and Dependencies work together when building out your project plan.
06:05
You can see here as I move the Requirement Gathering task that the Documentation task moves with it,
06:13
because they are dependent on each other.
06:17
As we move these activities or tasks in the project plan, the constraints and dependencies work together.
06:25
It should be noted that if you need to continually move your activities or your tasks in the project plan,
06:35
eventually you will reach a point where the constraint will need to be fulfilled and the task will no longer move in the plan.
06:44
This is usually when you have a constraint based on a specific date. Okay.
06:54
So now that we have created our dependencies, we've created our tasks and our stage gates,
07:02
you will, as your project progresses, may need to make updates to your tasks in the project plan.
07:10
For example, tasks will need to be reassigned, dates will need to be updated, workflows will need to be started, and so on.
07:18
To edit a task, you would select the task and in the fly out, you would click on the "Edit" option.
07:25
From here, you can then make the changes.
07:27
So for example, for our Requirements Review and Approval, we know that Dawson is going to be the one to do that.
07:34
So I can change the assignee value from the team to Dawson specifically.
07:43
Dawson will now show up in the Assignee column for this particular task.
07:50
She'll also receive an email notification telling her she has been assigned a task in this project,
07:57
so she can go ahead and check out what the details are for that particular task.
08:03
So we have seen how project plans can be created with Tasks, Stages, and Milestones.
08:10
We have seen how Constraints and Dependencies work together and how you can edit tasks.
08:16
From here, I encourage you to continue learning about what you can do with Project Management.
In this video, we will discuss the workflow associated with project tasks and how the different team members will interact with the assigned task.
Transcript
00:09
In this video, we'll take a closer look at tasks in our project plan, specifically how to claim an unassigned task,
00:17
how to view an assigned task, and how to complete a task workflow.
00:23
So let's take a look.
00:31
We have been working with our team on a new bike project for the company.
00:35
The project manager has put together the project plan and has informed us that we can go in and claim any team assigned tasks.
00:43
To view the tasks, we first need to access our project.
00:48
Once we've opened up the project, we need to go under the Project Management section to view the project plan.
00:55
In the plan, we can see here the project manager has created a set of tasks and sub tasks.
01:01
A handful of these tasks are currently assigned to the Mercury team which is the team I belong to.
01:08
One of the tasks currently assigned to the team is the review of requirements for our bike.
01:13
Since my role is twofold on the project as the Mechanical Designer and Assistant Project Manager, this is a task I can perform.
01:23
To claim the task, I need to select it from the list in the project plan. This opens the fly out panel.
01:31
From here, I can see any BOM items that are associated with the task.
01:35
I can also see any documents associated with the task. For this one, we can see there is a Requirements document attached.
01:44
To assign the task to myself, I need to click on the "Claim This Task" button.
01:51
Once I've done that, the task will update the Assignee field with my name.
01:56
You can do the same thing should your project manager assign you and another team member to the same task.
02:04
Now that I have assigned the task to myself, the question is where will I be able to see it?
02:09
Well, all of your assigned tasks will show up on the main dashboard screen.
02:15
On the main dashboard, there is a My Assignment section. In here, you can see all of the assigned tasks.
02:22
If I scroll down to the bottom, I can see the task I've assigned to myself.
02:28
By clicking on it, it takes me over to the area where I need to complete the task. In this case, the Project Plan.
02:35
From here, I can see the project manager has started the workflow for the task.
02:44
To view details of it, I can review the task and see if there are any additional instructions.
02:52
You may find that you will be assigned tasks without a workflow attached to them.
02:57
When this happens, you can update the task directly and set the status for the task yourself.
03:02
This will help the project manager keep track with what work is being done and manage the completed, overdue, and critical tasks.
03:10
So now that we know what to do, let's go ahead and complete our task.
03:16
As we saw earlier, there is a document attached to this particular task.
03:21
If I click on the Documents section again, I can click on the document,
03:28
and this will take me over to the document section of the project.
03:36
From here, I will be able to check out the document to perform my review.
03:44
Again, to check out a document, I need to click on the ellipsis and select "Check Out".
03:50
This will allow me to download a local copy of the file and then open it, in this case, in Excel.
03:56
From here, I can go ahead and review the requirements that are listed in the document and put in my approval if they are correct.
04:13
Once I've updated the document, the next step is to save it and then check it back in.
04:24
You want to make sure when you check back in a document that it has the exact same name as the document currently in Upchain.
04:33
I'm also going to add in a comment indicating that I have approved the requirements.
04:39
Once I've done that, we can see the document has been checked back in and the version number has been increased from version 2 to version 3.
04:49
So, now that I have done the review of the requirements and done my approval, the next thing I need to do is take care of my task.
04:57
To do that, I need to go back over to the project management area and find my task. Again, currently in progress.
05:06
From here, I can click on the "Task Complete" button to indicate that I have completed the task.
05:17
Before I do that though,
05:18
I'm going to edit the task and put in a description indicating that I have done the review,
05:26
and approved the requirements.
05:29
Once I click on the "Task Complete"button, the status of the task will move from "In Progress"to "Pending".
05:39
Since I'm also the project manager, I can see that I can approve the task.
05:45
This view would be for your project managers.
05:49
So, I can go ahead and also approve this task in order to move the task through the workflow.
05:60
Once I've clicked on Approved, we can see that the status of the task has moved to Completed.
06:10
This is beneficial for the project manager since they can now see again which tasks are in Progress, Draft, and Completed.
06:18
So now that we've seen how to work with tasks, you'll have a better idea of how to use them in Upchain.
Video transcript
00:09
In this video, we'll take a closer look at tasks in our project plan, specifically how to claim an unassigned task,
00:17
how to view an assigned task, and how to complete a task workflow.
00:23
So let's take a look.
00:31
We have been working with our team on a new bike project for the company.
00:35
The project manager has put together the project plan and has informed us that we can go in and claim any team assigned tasks.
00:43
To view the tasks, we first need to access our project.
00:48
Once we've opened up the project, we need to go under the Project Management section to view the project plan.
00:55
In the plan, we can see here the project manager has created a set of tasks and sub tasks.
01:01
A handful of these tasks are currently assigned to the Mercury team which is the team I belong to.
01:08
One of the tasks currently assigned to the team is the review of requirements for our bike.
01:13
Since my role is twofold on the project as the Mechanical Designer and Assistant Project Manager, this is a task I can perform.
01:23
To claim the task, I need to select it from the list in the project plan. This opens the fly out panel.
01:31
From here, I can see any BOM items that are associated with the task.
01:35
I can also see any documents associated with the task. For this one, we can see there is a Requirements document attached.
01:44
To assign the task to myself, I need to click on the "Claim This Task" button.
01:51
Once I've done that, the task will update the Assignee field with my name.
01:56
You can do the same thing should your project manager assign you and another team member to the same task.
02:04
Now that I have assigned the task to myself, the question is where will I be able to see it?
02:09
Well, all of your assigned tasks will show up on the main dashboard screen.
02:15
On the main dashboard, there is a My Assignment section. In here, you can see all of the assigned tasks.
02:22
If I scroll down to the bottom, I can see the task I've assigned to myself.
02:28
By clicking on it, it takes me over to the area where I need to complete the task. In this case, the Project Plan.
02:35
From here, I can see the project manager has started the workflow for the task.
02:44
To view details of it, I can review the task and see if there are any additional instructions.
02:52
You may find that you will be assigned tasks without a workflow attached to them.
02:57
When this happens, you can update the task directly and set the status for the task yourself.
03:02
This will help the project manager keep track with what work is being done and manage the completed, overdue, and critical tasks.
03:10
So now that we know what to do, let's go ahead and complete our task.
03:16
As we saw earlier, there is a document attached to this particular task.
03:21
If I click on the Documents section again, I can click on the document,
03:28
and this will take me over to the document section of the project.
03:36
From here, I will be able to check out the document to perform my review.
03:44
Again, to check out a document, I need to click on the ellipsis and select "Check Out".
03:50
This will allow me to download a local copy of the file and then open it, in this case, in Excel.
03:56
From here, I can go ahead and review the requirements that are listed in the document and put in my approval if they are correct.
04:13
Once I've updated the document, the next step is to save it and then check it back in.
04:24
You want to make sure when you check back in a document that it has the exact same name as the document currently in Upchain.
04:33
I'm also going to add in a comment indicating that I have approved the requirements.
04:39
Once I've done that, we can see the document has been checked back in and the version number has been increased from version 2 to version 3.
04:49
So, now that I have done the review of the requirements and done my approval, the next thing I need to do is take care of my task.
04:57
To do that, I need to go back over to the project management area and find my task. Again, currently in progress.
05:06
From here, I can click on the "Task Complete" button to indicate that I have completed the task.
05:17
Before I do that though,
05:18
I'm going to edit the task and put in a description indicating that I have done the review,
05:26
and approved the requirements.
05:29
Once I click on the "Task Complete"button, the status of the task will move from "In Progress"to "Pending".
05:39
Since I'm also the project manager, I can see that I can approve the task.
05:45
This view would be for your project managers.
05:49
So, I can go ahead and also approve this task in order to move the task through the workflow.
05:60
Once I've clicked on Approved, we can see that the status of the task has moved to Completed.
06:10
This is beneficial for the project manager since they can now see again which tasks are in Progress, Draft, and Completed.
06:18
So now that we've seen how to work with tasks, you'll have a better idea of how to use them in Upchain.
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