Access

  • Project panel → Project Core Data

Information

  • In this module, the most important data and parameters of a project are created and maintained.
  • Whether the logged-in user can change the data in this module or only view them depends on his/her Rights. The Project Core Data module is opened by default during the creation of a project.

Project Header Data

Create Project

Procedure

  • The process of creating a new project can be started in various modules by using the New project button or the New project link in the user menu.
  • As a result, the blank Project Core Data module is opened and the functional ID is automatically generated in the project header.
  • Enter the project name in the field next to the ID (here, the Please enter a name) dialog will be displayed by default.
  • Save.

Details

  • The project base has now been created. You are advised to also define the Basisdaten and Ecktermine of the project in this step. For this purpose, see the chapters of the same name below. Other entries may be added at a later point in time if required.

Authorizations

Change Functional ID

Information

  • PLANTA project distinguishes between functional ID and technical ID.
    • They are both generated automatically when a project, proposal, idea, or program is created and are equal at that point.
    • The functional ID is visible in various modules and can be changed if required for certain reasons.
    • The technical ID must not be changed. It is not visible in the module and remains unchanged even if the functional ID is changed.

Change functional ID

  • In the header bar area (in the Subprojects module in the box of the required subproject), click on the button with a pen on the right hand side.
  • The Do you really want to change the functional ID system wide? dialog message will be displayed.
  • Confirm it with Yes.
  • A dialog window containing an input field is opened.
    • The functional ID needs to be defined uniquely in the system. If you enter an already existing ID and click outside the field, the The required object ID is already used message will be displayed and the value will be reset. 
    • Enter the new ID here.

The ID will be changed throughout the system by default (global Change functional ID globally project parameter is activated by default) hence e.g. also in already existing status reports.

Behavior in Project Structures

  • The functional ID in the Project Core Data module can only be changed manually (as described above) for unstructured projects or main projects of the structured projects.
  • When the functional ID of the main project is changed in structured projects, the IDs of all subprojects are changed automatically as well. As a result, the order of subprojects which are at the same structural level in the Subprojects module may sometimes vary.
  • Manual changing of the functional ID of individual subprojects is only possible in the Subprojects module.

Authorizations

Delete Project

Procedure

  • Click on the button with an X on the right hand side of the header bar area.
  • The Delete module, in which the project or the individual subprojects (if it is a structured project) can be deleted, is opened.

Behavior in Project Structures

  • Subprojects can only be deleted from the main project. There is no delete button in the Project Core Data module of subprojects.

Note

  • Rights to delete projects are granted to users with multi-project manager or multi-portfolio manager or multi-project/request manager rights.
    • If the user does not possess any of these rights, no delete button will be displayed in the Project Core Data module and the Delete module can thus not be opened.
    • If the project to be deleted already has actual postings (recorded hours worked, posted costs or revenues) the deleting user requires an authorization to delete postings in addition to the rights mentioned above. If the user does not possess either of these authorizations, a message will be displayed in the Project Core Data when the delete button is clicked on, which indicates that the user is not entitled to delete actual postings and the Delete module will not be opened.

Mark Project as a “Favorite”

Information

  • Projects which are marked as favorites are displayed in the Benutzermenü of the logged-on user at the top of the Favorites area. This allows you to access projects more quickly from the menu without having to navigate.

Procedure

  • Click on the blue star symbol directly next to the header bar. The star turns yellow and the project is thus turned into a favorite.

Basic Data

Information

  • The area of the same name contains core data of the project.
  • When you newly create a project, some fields are automatically filled with default values. However, you can change them immediately after creation or at a later point in time.
    • Manager: The creating user is automatically entered as the manager of the new project in the field of the same name.
    • Priority: The new project automatically has the lowest priority of 999
    • Code: The new project automatically belongs to the "New Projects" category (code)
  • Further parameters can be defined upon requirement. The descriptions of the individual parameters can be retrieved directly from the program by pressing F1, or they can also be found here.

Key Dates

Information

  • The Key dates area shows dates and duration of the project.
    • You can define a time frame for the project by making manual entries in the Requested start and Requested end fields.
    • The calculated dates and the durations are only written automatically in the respective fields after creation of a schedule and calculation of the project.
    • The actual dates are also automatically written in the respective fields when the project is calculated.
      • The actual start date of the project is filled as soon as one of the tasks has an actual start date, e.g. as soon as the first hours worked have been reported to the project; or if the actual start date has been entered manually on one of the tasks.
      • The actual end date is filled when all tasks of the project have an end date.
    • As the project proceeds, the calculated dates, the durations, and the actual dates are updated during each recalculation.

Details

  • Via the Schedule with gates checkbox you can determine whether master milestones (in structured projects master milestones of the main project) are additionally displayed as gates on the horizontal axis directly below the time scale in the Schedule of the project.
  • From the Main milestone listbox you can select one of the project master milestones which is to be defined as a project main milestone. The main milestone is used as a reference point in time for different analyses and calculations. Since the time interval to the main milestone in the Schedule and Milestone Overview modules is shown on the gate symbols, you have to activate the Schedule with gates checkbox in addition.
  • If the project is planned in one or more portfolios and if it has been included in the road map in the simulation, the road map dates (Road map: start and Road map: end) will be displayed here in addition, so that the multi-project manager can use these dates as reference points in his/her planning.

Descriptive Data

Information

  • In the Descriptive Data area, further project information on the project can be entered in the continuous text fields.

Stakeholder

Information

  • In this area you can define stakeholders of the project and categorize them at the same time.
  • You can view absence data of the respective employees.
  • You can send information to stakeholders.
  • You can now report hours worked for the respective employees.
  • When you create a proposal, the manager of the proposal will automatically be added as a stakeholder. In the Comment field, this is indicated by the Taken from manager field note.
    • If the project manager is changed, a query is displayed on whether the respective stakeholder is to be replaced or the new one is to be added in addition.

Create Stakeholders

Assign stakeholder

  • Click on the Assign Stakeholder button in the Stakeholder heading line.
  • The To which category do you want to assign stakeholders? query is displayed.
  • Click on the button of the required category.
  • The dialog module for stakeholder selection will be opened.
    • Select the required stakeholders in this module and copy them to the previously selected category by clicking on the respective button.

  • Define the role of each stakeholder in the project via the listbox of the same name (do not confuse with the user/PLANTA roles).
  • Define stakeholder rights for the project by activating or deactivating the Modification access checkbox: See also Rights Management.
  • Save.

Interaction with other modules

  • Upon login, the planning objects for which the current user is stakeholder will automatically be displayed in the My Planning Objects module in the Stakeholder with Modification Rights (if the Modification access checkbox is activated) and Stakeholder without Modification Rights (if the Modification access checkbox is deactivated)
Assign further stakeholders individually
  • Right-click on the required category or on an already assigned stakeholder and select the Insert → Stakeholder command from the context menu. A new stakeholder record is inserted.
  • Select the required stakeholder from the Stakeholder listbox and save.
  • Define further parameters as described in the procedure above.

Generate team from schedule

It is possible to create all resources already planned in the project (Schedule module) as stakeholders at once.

  • To do so, click on the Generate team from schedule button in the stakeholder heading line.
  • The stakeholders are assigned to the "New" category and in the Comment field, the Copied from schedule note is displayed. The category can be adjusted later.
    • Only those schedule resources the persons of which possess Stakeholder person attributes and have not yet left the company will be assigned as stakeholders.

Time Recording, Absence Information

Information

  • By right-clicking on the required stakeholder and selecting one of the appropriate context menu commands, you can carry out the following actions for stakeholders:
    • Show absence: As a result, you switch to the Absence module in which vacation and absence data of the corresponding employee is displayed.
    • Send info : As a result, the Send Info module is opened, in which you can write a message to the corresponding stakeholder and have it sent automatically via e-mail.

    • Time Recording: The Time Recording dialog module in which the selected project is already preset.
      • Enter hours in the Actual load field. The following restrictions apply:
        • Stakeholder without modification rights are only allowed to record their own hours worked.
        • Stakeholders with modification rights, project managers, and multi-project managers can record hours worked for all stakeholders of the project.

Evaluation Data

Information

  • In the Evaluation Data area,
    • parameters for project analysis are defined,
    • calculated values like, e.g., NPV are displayed
    • objective contributions can be evaluated and risk values of the project can be determined ( only possible if you use PLANTA portfolio at the same time).

Objective Contributions and Risk Values

Caution

  • The evaluation criteria and their weighting as well as risk checklists on the basis of which objective contribution and risk values are detected are portfolio master data and must have been created upfront in the Evaluation Criteria and Risk Checklist modules.
    • The creation of the evaluation criteria and risk checklists is done per area. The area acts as a grouping element, so that different evaluation criteria and risk checklist constellations can be created and can be used at a later point.

Information

  • Only one area can be selected for each project.
    • The area defines which evaluation criteria or which risk checklist is used (see also Notes in the "Evaluation Data" section).

    Select or change area

    • Select the required area from the listbox in the Area field.
      • If you have already selected an area the Evaluation criteria already exist for the current planning object. Do you want to delete them? message will be displayed. Confirm it with Yes. The evaluation criteria and risk checklists of the old area are deleted and the values in the Objective contribution and Risk value fields are reset. Objective contributions can be reevaluated and the risk values can be recalculated.
    • Save.

Evaluate Objective Contribution

Procedure

Determine Risk Value

Procedure

  • If no area has been selected yet, select an area.
  • Click on the Evaluate button at the Risk value field.
    • The risk checklist which is assigned to the selected area is displayed grouped by category.
  • Answer questions with Yes or No.
  • Add a comment if necessary.
  • Click on the Finish evaluation button in the header area of the module. The data is saved.
    • The total risk contribution is determined by the yes/no answers of all criteria and is displayed in the Risk value field.
      • In the master data, every answer option for every question is preset with a particular score which weights the corresponding answer.
      • The risk value is only copied to the Risk value field if the risk checklist has been filled completely.

Key Performance Indicator

Information

  • A key performance indicator (KPI) is a measurement variable that can be used to measure the achievement of an objective.
  • in the Key Performance Indicator
    • already existing key performance indicators are displayed and can be edited.
    • new key performance indicators can be created.
Procedure
  • Insert a new record for a key performance indicator
    • by clicking on the Insert KPI button in the area header or
    • by right-clicking on the area heading and selecting Insert → Key Performance Indicator from the context menu.
  • Define/name the Key Performance Indicator in the field of the same name.
  • Save.
  • Insert a new record for benefit
    • by clicking on the plus symbol in the KPI line or
    • by right-clicking on the newly created key performance indicator and selecting Insert → Benefit from the context menu.
  • Enter the year in the Year field.
  • Fill the Planned benefit and Comment fields.
  • Save.

Attributes/parameters

Information

  • By entering or modifying the required project parameters in the Attributes/Parameters area, you can edit additional project parameters, e.g. Status, etc.­

Here you will find a list and description of all project fields/parameters.

Notes

  • If the Locked parameter is activated (which means that hours worked cannot be reported to the project), a lock symbol is displayed in the area bar.
    • All newly created projects are initially locked for the reporting of hours worked by default.
  • The External system parameter is used to control the elements which are required for the operation of the interface between PLANTA project and Jira or PLANTA pulse. It is only displayed in the Project Core Data when the interfaces to the systems have been configured accordingly. For details, see the following chapter.

See the peculiarities of the inheritance behavior of the following parameters in project structures (structured projects)

Synchronize Tasks with External Systems (for Agile Project Editing)

Information

  • PLANTA provides an option for linking tasks from projects which are planned in PLANTA project with other systems in order to plan and control them agilely there.
  • Currently, PLANTA provides links to two agile systems by default: PLANTA pulse (in the context of PLANTA Hybrid) and Jira. A project can only be linked to one of these systems.

Caution

Procedure

  • Select the required system in the External system field.
  • Click on the Synchronize button next to the External system field to open the Synchronizable Tasks module. 
    • Activate the Relevant for external system checkbox for tasks which are to be synchronized.
      • As a result, only tasks which have not yet been synchronized will be displayed.
    • Click on Synchronize.
  • As soon as the synchronization is completed, a message will be displayed which informs you on whether the synchronization was completed successfully or whether problems occurred.


Allocate Costs to Systems

This area is no longer contained in PLANTA standard. However, it can be displayed and used individually, if required.

Allocate Costs to Cost Centers

Information

  • In the Allocate Costs to Cost Centers area, costs of the projects/proposals can be allocated to the cost centers responsible.
    • The costs of a project / proposal can be allocated to several cost centers (on a percentage basis).

Allocate costs to cost centers

  • Insert a new record for a cost center
      • by clicking on the Insert cost center button in the area header or
      • via one of the other Default insert options.
    • Select the required cost center from the listbox in the Cost center field.
    • Enter the percentage share in the Share field.
    • Save.

    Details

    • The costs automatically calculated from percentage values will be displayed individually for each cost center in the Budget, Planned, Actual, Remaining, and Total fields
      • and additionally
      • summarized across all assigned cost centers (in the area header).

    Note

    • For each cost center, it is not possible to enter a value > 100% in the Share field. The entry will not be accepted. If the sum of the percentage shares is greater than 100 %, a red traffic light is displayed on area level.

Portfolio Assignment

Information

  • If the project / proposal / idea has already been assigned to one or several portfolios, they will be listed here.
  • Via the link in the Portfolio field, you can switch to the corresponding project.

To assign the project / proposal / idea to the new portfolios,

  • click on the Assign portfolio(s) button in the area header.
    • The Assign Planning Object to Portfolio(s) module will be opened.
      • Activate the Select checkbox for the required portfolio in the Assign Planning Object to Portfolio(s) module and click on the Assign to the selected portfolios button. As a result, the project/proposal/idea is assigned to the selected portfolio(s), the dialog module is closed and the selected portfolio is displayed in the Portfolio assignment area.
        • if the project/proposal/idea is already assigned to all portfolios in which the logged-on user is portfolio manager, or if the user is not a portfolio manager of any portfolio, a respective message is displayed when the Assign to the selected portfolio(s) button.

To remove the project / proposal / idea from the required portfolios,

  • mark the record with the required portfolio and delete it via the Delete button in the toolbar.

Notes

  • If the logged-on user is no portfolio manager and therefore does not possess any portfolios, he/she is informed about this by a message when clicking on the button, and the Assign Planning Object to Portfolio(s) module is not opened.

  • Only main projects can be assigned to a portfolio.
  • Only projects that are not assigned to any program can be assigned to a portfolio.
    • If a project is assigned to a program and you try to assign it to a portfolio, a message will be displayed which informs you that this is not possible.

Program Assignment

Information

  • In this area, the program to which the current project is assigned, is listed.
  • Via the link on the Program field you can switch to the corresponding project.
  • This area is only displayed if the project is assigned to a program.

Notes

  • A project can only be assigned to a program if it meets the following criteria simultaneously. It
    • is a main project.
    • is not assigned to any program.
    • is not assigned to any portfolio.
    • has status = (1) active