Microsoft EPM - Managing Programs/Master Projects, Part10 – inserting/ embedding Sub-Projects into Master Projects

In this post, we will review how we bring everything together i.e. inserting/embedding Sub-Projects into Master Projects.

Once all the projects are published, return to the master project.

• In the master project, click Insert > Project.
• Next, select the projects to insert, one at a time. Ensure that each Project being selected is Checked-in and also the option 'Link to Project' is selected. See below for further details. Remember to insert the Projects in the order you want them to appear on the Program schedule.

Note: If you don't want to update the subproject with changes from the original project, or if you don't want to show changes from the subproject in the original project, clear the 'Link to Project' check box.

The Master Project/Program structure will start taking shape as you add/insert the Sub-projects. See example below.

If an inserted Sub-project needs to be moved/relocated to another part of the overall WBS, this can be done just as easily as you would move a task/summary task.

Critical Note: After the sub-projects are inserted, it is important to expand them so that their data is refreshed.

Configuring Cross-Project Dependencies

Once the sub-projects are inserted in the Master Project/Program, it is important to review and set up (as necessary) the dependencies on the various components that make up the overall Program.

Create dependency links between tasks and milestone across projects as necessary. See example below.

!	Important Note: It is recommended that cross-project dependencies are not created at summary task level. It is recommended that users add associated notes to cross-project linked tasks and milestones for ease of reference.

The procedure for creating dependencies on tasks and milestones across inserted sub-project projects is very much similar to that within the same project. For example, select the tasks/millstones to link and then click the 'Link Tasks' button on the toolbar. Refer to example below.

Linked tasked and milestones can be viewed easily by adding the 'External Tasks' column to your view and then setting auto filter to quickly filter in and out these links.

Once the dependencies are created, external dependent tasks and milestones will show up as 'ghost' tasks within the sub-projects. See example below:

!	Important Note: It is recommended that for ease of reference, appropriate task notes are added when external project dependencies are created.

Saving & Publishing Master Project with Sub-Projects

Once all the sub-projects have been inserted and the required dependencies created, it is time to save the projects.

· Expand all sub-projects that have not been expanded since inserting into the Master Project/Program.

· Select File > Save

· Ensure that you select 'Yes to All' in the save dialogue to save changes on all inserted sub-projects and the Master Project/Program.

· Close the Master Project/Program including associated Sub-project.

Note: If there are some changes pending, the above save dialog box will appear.

· Ensure that the Master Project/Program and all the associated Sub-projects are properly checked in prior to exiting the application.

You can review the cache status via the File > Open Dialog box.

Setting Baselines (Optional if required)

Open individual sub-projects and baseline as required by your Business Processes.

· Open each sub-project via File > Open

· From the toolbar select Tools > Tracking and then select 'Set Baseline'.

Note: User may choose either to baseline the entire project or selected tasks.

· Save, Close and Check-in the Sub-project.

· Repeat the above steps for each Sub-project.

That’s all for now folks. In the next post, we will review process for updating sub-projects.

SP2010–Getting to grips with PowerShell commands

Here are some nice Tips from Niklas Goude for PowerShell commands for SharePoint.

In SharePoint 2010 you can manage sites through Windows PowerShell. You can create new sites in a site collection using the New-SPWeb cmdlet

New-SPWeb http://SP/TeamSite -Template “STS#0” –Name “Team Site” `
-Description “Description of Site” –AddToTopNav –UseParentTopNav

You can retrieve an existing site using the Get-SPWeb cmdlet:

Get-SPWeb http://SP/TeamSite

You can configure a site through the Set-SPWeb cmdlet:

Get-SPWeb http://SP/TeamSite | Set-SPWeb -Description “New Description”

And finally, you can remove a site using the Remove-SPWeb cmdlet:

Remove-SPWeb http://SP/TeamSite -Confirm:$false

Setting the –Confirm switch parameter to $false omits the confirmation returned from PowerShell.

Microsoft EPM - Managing Programs/Master Projects, Part9 – Creating Sub-Projects

Hope you have been following the previous steps ok. Once the programme is published, it's time to create the projects i.e. ask the PMs to create their individual plans for their work-packages. Do so within Project Professional.

· Create a new project using an appropriate Enterprise Project Template.

· Update/set the Project Start date and Project attributes as appropriate.

· Create/Add new project tasks in the usual way, as appropriate for the project. There may be some additional activities that you may wish to add, i.e. in addition to those inherited from the Enterprise Project Template. Here is one of the example projects that will be part of the overall programme.:

· Build Project Team and assign Enterprise Resources to Project activities/tasks as necessary.

· Save the new Project using the 'agreed' naming convention for the Program and its constituents.

For example, use a common prefix for all components, say Project number or Project Keyword e.g. ‘Gemini Product_00_Program’, ‘Gemini Product_01_Screening’. This is so that all the components of the Program appear together when opening via Project Professional > FILE > OPEN and also with PWA > Project Centre view when sorting by file name. See example below showing Program and Sub-projects;

· Then publish the project. On first Publish, be sure to select to provision the Project workspace as a sub workspace of the Program workspace.

· Once the Project is published, close and check-in the Project.

· Repeat this for any other projects that are part of the overall Program.

In the next post, we will review how we bring everything together i.e. inserting/embedding Sub-Projects into Master Projects.

Gartner: Combine strategy and leadership to maximise the contribution of IT

Interesting Reading for Managers……

Strategy and leadership are the two most important disciplines for CIOs to exercise to drive sustained success, writes Dave Aron, vice-president and Gartner Fellow.

Few would argue with the fact that strategy and leadership have an interdependent and symbiotic relationship. Successful CIOs use leadership skills to energise people behind their IT strategy, which, in turn, provides the needed focus to leadership to maximise IT's business contribution.

I would go yet further and say that strategy and leadership are the two most important disciplines for CIOs to exercise to drive sustained success. This is particularly true during highly dynamic and uncertain times, when the content of other management disciplines - such as process and metrics - are prone to frequent change. In such environments, strategy is central to providing vision and direction, and leadership is required to inspire people to take the needed actions.

Read Further….

SharePoint - Social Tagging; what is it?

I often get asked this question?

This is a new feature of Sharepoint 2010, which takes Sharepoint to a whole new level. social tagging is also referred to as folksonomy.

Tagging of a content is basically assigning description words or categorising the content. There are two types of tagging social and expertise tagging. social tagging refers to content and adds metadata to content, i.e describes what th content is and what it is about. Expertise tagging is related to a person and describes the person. For example skills, projects they have worked on etc.

Social tagging helps users to grow the portals information architecture over time where as expertise tagging helps build relationships and connections to others in the organisation.

Hope this helps.