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PCW03 Maximizing the Ajera Project Management Tools for YOUR Firm.
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We have a LOT of ground to cover in the next few hours!!
Welcome!! Login to Ajera click on the Internet Explorer icon on your desktop to launch Ajera User Name: used to register for class Password: Not2Easy! You will be prompted to change your password. We suggest: Here2Win! Once you have logged in please launch the Project Command Center We have a LOT of ground to cover in the next few hours!! Please put away cell phones. Check s and phone messages during breaks. The House Rules
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Valerie Higgins Deltek PMO Leader North America SMB Professional Services Val brings 29 years of management experience in the A/E consulting industry into each of her engagements. A/E specific experience includes resource and project management, contract negotiations, business development processes and financial management. Having worked in Vice President, CFO, and Project Controls positions in Civil and MPE Engineering firms Val brings a blend of experience from both the Accounting and Project Management perspectives into each of her engagements. She has worked with many clients to help their teams succeed in the adoption of best practices for successful Project Management and to maximize the benefit of the project management tools in Ajera. Today as the PMO Leader of North American SMB Professional Services Val partners with the Delivery Leaders & Consulting team to continually improve delivery content, quality, and to add value for our clients throughout the various stages of conversion, implementation, and daily use of Ajera. Please feel free to reach out via to arrange a time to talk about your Ajera training experience or needs. Phone LinkedIn
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AGENDA 9:00 AM - 10:30 AM 10:40 AM – 12:00 PM
Introductions Top 10 Things that Effective Project Managers Do Business Development Project Budgeting Methods and Techniques 10:30 AM Break - 10 Minutes 10:40 AM – 12:00 PM Resource Allocation & Schedule Manager Project Maintenance Project Closeout Dashboards & Widgets
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Icebreaker Come up with 10 things effective project managers need to do? Take ownership See the Big Picture Communication Client Management Know Your Team Define Scope, Budget, Schedule Continual Project Oversight Change Management Effective Billing & Collections Project Closeout
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Top 10 Things Effective Project Managers Do
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Top 10 Things Effective Project Managers Do
#1 Take Ownership! Project Managers have to take the good and the bad. Ethics, leadership, mentoring, walk the talk. Project Managers are Motivating, Innovative, & Creative Finds the solution. Take ownership and ask for access
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Top 10 Things Effective Project Managers Do
#2 See the BIG Picture Your organization’s success relies upon your abilities as a Project Manager Understand the Company’s common goals Understand your piece of the puzzle Establish and practice Project Management Standards Understand ALL aspects of your project (multi discipline, contractors, etc.) Business Development & Dashboard Reporting ® Deltek, Inc. - All Rights Reserved
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Top 10 Things Effective Project Managers Do
#3 Know Your Team Understand team members’ capabilities Mentor and build team skills Identify Discipline Leads – people you can lean on Track performance through utilization & budget vs actual ® Deltek, Inc. - All Rights Reserved
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Top 10 Things Effective Project Managers Do
#4 Client Management - know your value, know your client. Communicate your value to your client Project Management isn’t free … 10% Rule Create a relationship with your client Understand your client’s product & processes Become an expert that your client can rely on Tap into client/contact records & notes ® Deltek, Inc. - All Rights Reserved
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Top 10 Things Effective Project Managers Do
#5 Communication Communicate constantly – to your team and your client Set expectations for communication Project kick off meetings – every team member should walk away knowing Their scope Their budget Their deadlines Project status meetings Prior period review - no items should lag more than 1 period Current period review – more financial & timeline focused than technical Next period action items – PMs are the bulldozer meant to remove all obstacles blocking your team from meeting deadlines – do that Document everything Take corrective measures immediately Utilize tasks, Project Plan report, and the Schedule Manager Top 10 Things Effective Project Managers Do ® Deltek, Inc. - All Rights Reserved
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Top 10 Things Effective Project Managers Do
#6 Define Scope, Budget, and Schedule Define success by establishing a Baseline Establish milestones – Yours and Your Clients Budget using resources Define budget and schedule with consultants Use phases, resources, and tasks in the Manage Tab ® Deltek, Inc. - All Rights Reserved
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Top 10 Things Effective Project Managers Do
#7 Continual Project Oversight Ensure project spending is accurate Review time & expense charges weekly Project maintenance Utilize dashboards/widgets & reports to track KPIs and project spending ® Deltek, Inc. - All Rights Reserved
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Top 10 Things Effective Project Managers Do
#8 Change Management Document to client and EITHER obtain formal authorization for additional services OR stop out of scope work Communicate to the client and the team that the PM is the Gatekeeper for the project Communicate with the team Scope Schedule Budget When scope creep occurs break out a separate phase immediately. Document with timesheet notes ® Deltek, Inc. - All Rights Reserved
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Top 10 Things Effective Project Managers Do
#9 Effective Billing & Collections Touch base with client after submitting invoices Verify they have everything they need to approve and process invoices This is a time when the client will feel most compelled to tell you what they truly think about the services/progress on the project Every “soft touch” communication with the client is an opportunity to strengthen your relationship Asking for feedback after the project is complete is bad practice; it leaves no opportunity to: address client concerns change the overall result from the Client’s POV strengthen your firm’s standing with the Client Project Managers should participate in AR collections efforts Review AR and make monthly calls Be clear on your client’s payment terms Use Paperless Billing Review & AR Collections Notes ® Deltek, Inc. - All Rights Reserved
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Top 10 Things Effective Project Managers Do
#10 Project Closeout Why close projects? Who starts the process? What is the closeout process? Who closes a project? Lessons Learned meetings are valuable What did we do well? Do better? Never again? Define and publish your firm’s project closeout process Review baseline vs final results by utilizing the Project widgets Record Lessons Learned and historical information (construction cost, sf, project details) utilizing custom fields and the Business Development area of the project. ® Deltek, Inc. - All Rights Reserved
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Top 10… Wrap Up Take Ownership See the Big Picture Know Your Team
Client Management Communication Define Scope, Budget, and Schedule Continual Project Oversight Change Management Effective Billing & Collections Project Closeout
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Four Project Management Sins
Level 1 Letting the job get into trouble Level 2 Not knowing it’s in trouble Level 3 Knowing, but not asking for help Level 4 Hiding the fact it’s in trouble Take Ownership!
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Project Budgeting Methods &Techniques
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What is Bottom-Up Budgeting?
Project Budgeting Methods and Techniques Estimating is the process of forecasting or approximating the time and cost of completing project deliverables. What is Bottom-Up Budgeting? Bottom-up budgeting: detailed estimates of work packages made by those who are most familiar with the task. Each task is budgeted with resources building the overall contract for the project. Accuracy: -10% to +30% Bottom Up
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What is Top-Down Budgeting?
Top-down budgeting: usually are derived from someone who uses experience and/or information to determine the project duration and total cost. An example would be taking the overall construction cost and estimating your fee as a percentage of that cost. $1,000,000 construction cost, fee is 8% or $80,000. The estimated fee is pushed down to phases by pre-determined %. Top Down Accuracy: -20% to +60%
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Effective Budgeting Requires Multiple Methods Real World Top Down
Proposed Budget/Fee Bottom Up
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Business Development Demonstration
Add a BD Opportunity Budget a BD Opportunity Define the Baseline in a BD Opportunity BD Reporting
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Hands On Setup BD Tools & BD Opportunity
Review/Build BD Stages Review/Build BD Final Disposition Reasons Build a Business Development Opportunity Build a Business Development Opportunity using your template Include resources, hours, dates BY PHASE – Build the Baseline Review Business Development Dashboard with Instructor Review Project Workload report with Instructor Review Employee Workload report with Instructor
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Winning the Work Resource Allocation Schedule Manager 10 minute break
Up next….at 10:40 Winning the Work Resource Allocation Schedule Manager
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Resource Assignment & Schedule Manager
Winning the Work: Simple steps to transition from Opportunity to Active Triggers Win/Loss reporting for trending & opportunity to improve BD processes Resource Assignment Provides: Ability to report budget vs actual to project teams Ability to assign tasks & receive completion feedback from project team Ability to review man hours by employee type for staffing assessment Transfers ownership for scope/budget to team members Sets up the Schedule Manager for easy use & reporting Schedule Manager: Ability to report schedule & budgeted hours to project teams Ability to review team workload and adjust as necessary Ability to share project schedule to clients when required
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& Schedule Manager Demonstration
Resource Assignment & Schedule Manager Demonstration Winning the Work Resource Assignment Schedule Manager Time Entry
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Hands On Win Work, Resource, Schedule, & Add Time Schedule Manager
Win Your Project Assign a project number Update the BD records to transition from Opportunity Complete the BD stage that is In Progress Assign a Final Disposition Status & Reason Review project info and make changes where necessary Resource Assignments Add resources in the Manage Tab (do not assign all phases) Add a consultant in the Manage Tab Schedule Manager Add resources to remaining phases via Schedule Manager Schedule employee hours on your project Time Entry Add hours to your project Review budget to actual and schedule to actual hours on your project
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Project Maintenance & Project Closeout
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Project Maintenance & Project Closeout
Maintaining Projects Regularly: Results in real time and accurate data that your team can rely on Engages Project Managers to be accountable for their project budgets & timelines Provides up to date and accurate information to share with clients Project Closeout Process: Provides an opportunity to engage in a Lessons Learned meeting Provides an opportunity to record important data for future use Results in a clean database Results in more relevant and quick reporting Process should be developed from team collaboration Accounting Technical Teams Project Management Business Development
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Best Practices for Project Managers - Ajera Project Maintenance
Daily Input time daily Review Project summary widget Weekly Project maintenance – dates, status, & budgets Weekly PM time review Bi-Weekly Update Reported Percent Complete Update Business Development Opportunities; notes & % Chance of Winning Aging reports – WIP & Client Invoice Aging Collection calls Be clear on the payment requirements for your client before calling. Ask for help if the time is not available. Create a schedule specific to your company’s requirements and PUBLISH it. You cannot hold your team accountable if requirements are not in writing.
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Project Maintenance Demonstration
Update phase status Update Reported Percent Complete (RPC) Update dates & input Actual Completion Date Add project notes Review AR & WIP Balances on Project Managers Dashboard Business Development Maintenance Update % Chance of Winning Update BD Stage, Notes, Due Date Time Review Review timesheet approval process Review Daily Time Entry widget
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Hands On Update your Project Maintenance
Update a phase (or two) status to shut it down from time entry Open a timesheet and confirm the completed phases are not active Update the Reported % Complete on a Phase (or two) Update the Reported % Complete on the Project Update the Actual Completion Date on Phase(s) put on Work Hold Update dates on Phase(s) Add project notes Review the AR and WIP Balances on your Projects Review the AR and WIP balances on the Project Manager dashboard Update you Business Development Opportunities Review the process of updating the % Chance of Winning Review the process of updating BD Stages/Notes/Due Dates Time Review Review the process to approve time on your projects Review the Daily Time Entry widget
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Dashboards & Widgets
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Dashboards & Widgets Dashboards & Widgets: Dashboard Security:
Information at your fingertips in real time Easily customizable for YOUR firm’s requirements & KPIs Widgets should be organized onto dashboards by role & purpose Principals Accounting Project Managers Division/Department Managers Employees Dashboards & widgets should not be stored outside of Ajera Dashboard Security: Dashboard security s/b assigned by Role rather than Employee whenever possible Drilldown or child dashboards will not be available to employees until security is set at all levels
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Dashboard & Widget Tour
Instructor will provide a tour and explanation of the BONUS dashboards provided as part of this class. These dashboards are available for download in the Kona space you were invited to prior to the class. If you have not joined the Kona space please see the instructor during a break.
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Let’s Review!
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Project Templates Business Development Resourcing & Scheduling
Solid Foundation for consistency & accuracy Should do 80-90% of the work for a Project Manager Project Managers shouldn’t build templates but they MUST have input Business Development Provide pipeline tracking & revenue projections Gives transparency into tracking tasks to win work Provide reporting for future workload/hours projections Provides win/loss trending reporting Resourcing & Scheduling Ability to report budget vs actual to project teams Ability to assign tasks & receive completion feedback from project team Ability to review man hours by employee type for staffing assessment Transfers ownership for scope/budget to team members
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Project Maintenance Project Closeout Paperless Billing Review
Results in real time and accurate data that your team can rely on Engages Project Managers to be accountable for their project budgets & schedules Provides up to date and accurate information to share with clients Project Closeout Provides a clean database & quicker reporting Opportunity to review results in comparison to baseline Record Lessons Learned & historical data for future Business Development efforts Paperless Billing Review Expedites billing process by electronically routing through the office Transparency into the billing cycle – you can see where all invoices are at any time Allows for Principals and PMs to work on billing outside of the office Allows for easy collaboration for multi discipline invoicing Creates billing review history
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Security Roles Custom Fields Dashboards & Widgets
Safe and effective collaboration between Project Managers & Accounting Allows for different levels of access based on employee role Allow employees access required to do their job without compromising confidential (payroll) information Custom Fields Track information pertinent to YOUR firm Easily report on information stored in custom fields Custom fields are available on all primary records in Ajera Dashboards & Widgets Information at your fingertips based on user requirements & KPIs Easily customizable Dashboards should be relevant and organized Widgets can be organized onto dashboards by role & purpose
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Questions?
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Additional Training Options
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Custom PM Adoption Boot Camps
Our PM Adoption Consultants guide you through Template setup Security setup Dashboard modification & security Everything taught in the 2 Day workshop customized for YOUR team Onsite or remote Boot Camps taught on your data Take your Project Managers to the next level! Always here to help with your Project Management Adoption training. Contact our PM Adoption sales team for more info. Michael McCaffrey
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Ajera Workshops!! Project Management Financial Widget Design
Consider attending one of our 2 day hands on workshops!! See the full schedule: Project Management Financial Widget Design Best Practices for Project Management Financial Workflow/Reporting Hands on Widget Design Training Understanding and Optimizing Ajera PM Tools KPIs Benchmarking Against Industry Standards Hands on Inquiry Training Hands on Training for Business Development & Project Setup & Reporting Improve Accuracy of YOUR Firm’s Financial Reporting Learn the Most Effective Use of Ajera’s Reports and Reporting Tools BONUS Dashboards Customized Boot Camp Available Individual Training Available
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Michael McCaffrey – Solution Sales Specialist
Thank You! Always here to help with your Project Management Adoption training. Custom onsite and remote packages available. Contact our PM Adoption sales team for more info. Michael McCaffrey – Solution Sales Specialist
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