Capabilities of Salesforce for Project Management
Learn more about some of the common business capabilities that are needed for the smooth running of Projects, Portfolios and PSA, including functions, best practices & KPI's along with how those capabilities might map to your Salesforce instance.
Learn more about some of the common business capabilities that are needed for the smooth running of Projects, Portfolios and PSA, including functions, best practices & KPI's along with how those capabilities might map to your Salesforce instance.
Methodologies
PPM
Initiation
Timelines
Resources
Documents
Controls
Methodologies
Methodologies Overview
A foundational system of methods, principles, and rules for project work. They leverage time-tested processes to form a foundation that is open to tailoring according the organizations specific needs including:
- Industry
- Preference
- Regulatory practices
- Contractual obligation
Functions
- Readymade templates
- Training materials
- Best practice recommendations
- Data-driven & experience supported resources
- A global community of experts
KPIs and Impacts
- Process Standardization
- Organizational Knowledge
- Portfolio Development
- Non-Standard Proposals
- Time To Customize
- Time To Make Decisions
Best Practices
Methodologies provide a basis for short and long-term success by adding security and providing guidance. Modifying instead of creating assets is significantly less burdensome and the benefits of collaboration can clear the way for positive outcomes. The decision to use a prescribed methodology will have a long-lasting downstream impact on future projects and team members by establishing repeatable processes that make it easier to manage changing or shifting circumstances for individual projects and contribute to improving the body of knowledge across all projects.
Methodologies Overview ON SALESFORCE
There are AppExchange solutions for all the most popular project methodologies, and those that are native to Salesforce can be configured to your unique business needs. Not all solutions will support all methodologies so look for one that supports the methodology you want, or an app like Cloud Coach that supports multiple methodologies.
Waterfall
A predictive model for project life cycles that relies on discrete and sequential tasks grouped in phases with a completed result delivered at the end of the project. Each phase is terminal and cannot be revisited, and duration is not prescribed.
Functions
- Time-based sequences
- Logical activity groupings
- Practical workflows
- Low flexibility
- High discipline
KPIs and Impacts
- Process Standardization
- Process Improvement
- Analytics & Reporting Efficiency
- Time To Customize
- Non-Standard Proposals
Best Practices
Waterfall is named for the way work flows downward through its phases, just as a river flows over rocks, and is best for projects with sequential dependencies that mean the completion of a task will flow into the beginning next. The focus on process is likely to produce high-quality data and the logical, sequential nature means it is well-liked by executives and project managers, but rigid and disciplined processes that leave the client out until the very end are not as attractive to project team members and clients.
Waterfall ON SALESFORCE
Waterfall relies on dates and sequences, and reporting on object relationships with a combination of standard and custom fields is likely to be straightforward. Displaying a visual representation of the project is a programmatic solution, but custom visualforce does make it possible to view a project schedule including phases and tasks with dependencies from one page instead of clicking-through multiple detail pages, reports, list views, and related lists to get the right information. Gantt charts are a feature of many of the AppExchange apps shown on the ‘Compare Solutions’ page.
Water-Scrum-Fall
Water-Scrum-Fall is a hybrid of waterfall and scrum project management methodologies. “Water” defines the upfront work of the project, such as direction, timeline, and budget, while “Scrum” defines the middle of the process and focuses on the teams and team dynamics involved. The combination of the two provides a flexible approach where the team can utilize the best parts of both methodologies while working on a project.
Functions
- Increased flexibility and adoption
- Speed and control
- Enhanced adaptability
- Practical and priority-based workflows
KPIs and Impacts
- Collaboration / Communication
- Lean Operations
- Project Optimization
- Project Fulfillment Time
- Time to Customize
Best Practices
Many organizations will utilize various types of project management methodologies in order to be efficient as possible depending on the task at hand. Organizations will often leverage agile and sprint methodologies to complete day-to-day development and operations, while traditional waterfall methodologies are still used for the overall planning, budgeting, and documentation of the project’s progress.
Water-Scrum-Fall ON SALESFORCE
Water-scrum-fall is complex to pull off in a user friendly manner, as it involves connecting many moving parts and blending the best of waterfall with the best of agile, and would typically only be found in more advanced solutions like Cloud Coach.
Kanban
An adaptive methodology that seeks to align consumption and replacement, build stable/consistent processes to organically balance workloads, and provide visibility to stakeholders. Managing a project using Kanban means:
- Visual workflow or board view
- Work In Progress (WIP) limits
- Flow management
- Explicitly stated processes
- Feedback loops
- Collaborative & iterative improvement
Functions
- Priority-based workflows
- Effort based activity groupings
- Moderate flexibility
- Moderate discipline
KPIs and Impacts
- Collaboration / Communication
- Lean Operations
- Project Optimization
- Time To Customize
- Project Fulfillment Time
Best Practices
This approach ensures the regular cadence of deliverable outputs by tying the release of new work to the completion of existing work. Collaboration is an expectation, not a suggestion and works best with teams who feel enthusiastic about this tenet. Clients are pulled in early and often and with continuous delivery cycles it is well received. Team cohesiveness is imperative and when it works, it works. For project managers and executives, the benefits of lean data collection and reporting effectively neutralize concerns or drawbacks.
Kanban ON SALESFORCE
Salesforce embraces the “Start where you are” tenet of Kanban project management by giving Lightning users the ability to switch between a standard list view and a Kanban board view, these Kanban’s are however very simplistic and not process driven. When you are looking for more efficiency from your processes and workflows then upgrading functionality to a more robust on-platform tool will provide extensibility that standard Salesforce doesn’t offer declaratively.
Agile / Scrum
An adaptive methodology characterized by its iterative and incremental approach to delivering requirements throughout the project life cycle. It focuses on short, fixed-duration development sprints or scrums to produce a working product that is improved or refined with each new iteration.
Functions
- Priority-based workflows
- Effort based activity groupings
- High flexibility
- Low discipline
KPIs and Impacts
- Collaboration / Communication
- Lean Operations
- Project Optimization
- Time To Customize
- Non-Standard Proposals
Best Practices
Agile methodology offers a shift in priority and focuses on people and relationships to produce successful outcomes and respond to changes. Due to the trust placed on team members, this methodology works best with skilled subject matter experts who are independent workers with the ability to collaborate effectively. It is well-liked by both project team members and clients, but it is harder to quantify success and therefore not a favorite with executives and project managers.
Agile / Scrum ON SALESFORCE
The nature of Agile is to be adaptable and responsive and the relationships among project team members (Users) and with stakeholders (Contacts) can be both simple and transparent. Salesforce’s own Agile Accelerator is a great free App available on the AppExchange for Agile management and a good starting point before looking at the paid solutions.
PPM
PPM Overview
Project Portfolio Management (PPM) is the centralized management of the processes, methods, and technologies used by portfolio managers and project management offices to analyze and collectively manage current or proposed projects based on numerous key characteristics. The purpose of PPM is to give the organization’s executives and managers the ability to see the big picture and provide oversight to manage any competing resources between related or unrelated projects.
Functions
- Scope, change, and quality management
- Manage risk
- Predictive capabilities
- Resource allocation and management
- Manage and visualize budget
- Increased success in project delivery
KPIs and Impacts
- Analytics & Reporting Efficiency
- Portfolio Optimization
- Project Optimization
- Time to Make Decisions
- Cost of Failure
Best Practices
As organizations move to institutionalized portfolio management practices, they need to utilize a solution that allows them to quickly evaluate all current projects and resources, work through a PMO with centralized project processes and project oversight, adhere to project evaluation criteria, and follow a risk management strategy. PPM tools offer functionality that will allow you to do things like capture demand from your business, organize portfolios, perform cost vs. benefit analysis, manage approvals, and track project execution to achieve a full 360 degree view of your business.
PPM Overview ON SALESFORCE
Salesforce, being a multipurpose platform, supporting use cases such as client lifecycles from Marketing Cloud through to presales and post sales activities within Sales and Service Cloud, makes Salesforce a massive ecosystem of data that can impact the strategic direction of project initiatives. With project demand potentially coming from sales opportunities(Sales Cloud Opportunities), Operation teams (Service Cloud Cases), and more; housing your system in support of the PMO, maintaining the alignment of these initiatives on Salesforce can be very advantageous. The advanced needs of a true PPM tend to only be achievable with an enterprise grade solution, it’s unlikely to be something you could create custom.
Portfolios & Programs
A portfolio is a group of different programs and/or projects within the same organization, which may be related or unrelated to one another, whereas a program is defined as a group of projects that seek to achieve a shared outcome, and are often managed and coordinated as a group.
Functions
- Prioritize and fund initiatives
- Ensure resource capacity and availability
- Controlling interdependencies between projects
- Ensure program-level goals are met
- Centralization
- Real-time analytics to measure and manage your projects and resources
- Strategic planning
- Roadmapping
KPIs and Impacts
- Portfolio Development
- Time to Analyze Information
Best Practices
In order for an organization to correctly structure their PPM efforts, they need to first understand the hierarchy and management overlap that occurs within Project Portfolio Management. At the highest level, portfolios are the collection of certain projects, programs or even portfolios that are being collectively managed as a group to achieve strategic objectives; while programs are the collection of similar projects that have similar desired value or expected outcomes. Typically, a project manager would be responsible for the day-to-day management in ensuring a project’s delivery, whereas a program manager would be more concerned with the strategic alignment of these projects, and how support can be provided to those project managers. At the highest level, portfolio managers are focused on the coordination between their programs, so they can stay on track and ensure the organization is reaching their strategic goals.
Portfolios & Programs ON SALESFORCE
While you could create a custom field on a project or a custom object to track portfolio information, you are unlikely to realize the true value of PPM on Salesforce without utilizing a third-party solution like Cloud Coach.
Strategic Goals
Strategic goals are the specific financial and non-financial objectives and results a company aims to achieve over a specific period of time, usually the next three to five years. Strategic goals are often a combination of “hard” (measurable) and “soft” (unmeasurable) goals and can involve customers, employees, and/or stakeholders.
Functions
- Identify opportunity
- Track business efforts against goals
- Identification of strategic issues
- Quantitative or qualitative
KPIs and Impacts
- Lean Operations
- Process Standardization
- Process Improvement
- Wasteful Spend
Best Practices
With strategic planning and goal setting, there is no “one-size-fits-all” approach for all organizations. Companies that achieve and gain the most from reaching their strategic goals follow a structured and organized process to identify and consider potential strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. Some best practices for strategic-planning activities include:
- Evaluating goals from the short, medium, and long term
- Refresh, reinvent, and stimulate the questions and conversations surrounding your strategic goals (bring in new ideas)
- Engage and leverage new and diverse stakeholders
- Enforce execution and progression of turning strategic goals into strategic results
Strategic Goals ON SALESFORCE
There is no standard strategic goals component in Salesforce, so vendors like Cloud Coach have solved this by creating an area to capture these and then tie them to initiatives like Projects and Portfolios, which in turn allows for reporting of alignment to Strategic Goals across the organization.
Demand Intake
The prioritization and management of project intake by resource or organizational demands and relationships to strategic organizational goals. The value created for the organization might be capital, operational, or informational by balancing the triple constraints: scope, schedule, and budget.
Functions
- Formal Intake Process
- Evaluate for strategic fitness
- Prioritize competing projects
- Determine downstream benefit
KPIs and Impacts
- Asset Utilization
- Process Standardization
- Portfolio Optimization
- Backlog Volume
- Unrealized Revenue
- Time To Make Decisions
Best Practices
A formal demand management process that collects standardized data about a project before it begins will help to determine how that project fits with the existing body of projects and how it contributes to the strategic goals of the organization. By building this efficiency into the intake process, it ensures that projects are designed with success in mind.
Demand Intake ON SALESFORCE
The standard Salesforce data model doesn’t include an intake form in order to manage demands using records, so those using a formal Demand Management process will either create a Project Intake/Request object so that individual intake forms can be entered OR a use a standard object like the case record. In either situation, a register or log should be used to track the requests and decisions, then related to a project when appropriate. This functionality can be handled by solutions like Cloud Coach out of the box.
Scenario Planning
Scenario planning is about making informed decisions about the future and running simulations to see what might be the best path forward for the business in terms of project selection. Specifically, scenario planning is identifying a specific set of uncertainties, different “scenarios” of what might happen in the future of your business.
Functions
- Create flexible long-term plans
- Account for uncertainties
- Identify key drivers of change
- Determine implications of each scenario
KPIs and Impacts
- Organizational Effectiveness
- Outcome Predictability
- Cost of Failure
- Inefficiency
Best Practices
A scenario planning tool should provide managers with the ability to capture a large range of possibilities through identifying issues, trends, and uncertainties of current and future projects. The solution should be able to identify patterns and highlight issues where the project could run off schedule or go over budget. By utilizing a tool that allows you to account for multiple scenarios in the future, your organization will be more prepared to adapt to change, rather than get disrupted by it.
Scenario Planning ON SALESFORCE
Scenario planning involves a series of objects to capture resource and financial impacts along with the ability to visualize the data through reporting, dashboards and lightning components. Leveraging an AppExchange app like Cloud Coach is the best way to run scenarios on Salesforce.
Stage Gate
A technique to manage project activities by dividing work into groups or phases punctuated by decision points that unlock the next group or phase of work, also known as a phase gate. Senior Leadership evaluates the project to pass or fail the gate review and possible decision outcomes include: go, kill, hold, or recycle.
Functions
- Sets data-driven benchmarks
- Performance drives advance/terminus
KPIs and Impacts
- Analytics & Reporting Efficiency
- Project Optimization
- Lean Operations
- Cost of Failure
- Over-Servicing
Best Practices
Using performance-based gates to ensure outcomes are aligned with indicators of success works as an early warning system. Projects that are unlikely to result in success, as determined by the indicators defined by the organization, are pruned before they become problematic so that activities that have shown potential for positive outcomes are better able to thrive. Because decisions offer more than simply “go” or “no-go” even work that comes from a terminated project can be recycled or put on hold.
Stage Gate ON SALESFORCE
Using approval processes in Salesforce will allow for board-based approval for these gated checkpoints. The logic behind unlocking records when a gate is passed can be complex, making a custom build difficult. Apps like Cloud Coach have Stage Gate functionality inbuilt to their solutions.
Scaled Agile Framework
Scaled Agile Framework is a set of organization and workflow patterns intended to guide organizations in scaling lean and agile practices. This framework seeks to address the problems encountered when scaling beyond a single team. It was developed by leveraging three bodies of knowledge: agile software development, lean product development, and systems thinking.
Functions
- Lean portfolio management
- Agility through the organization
- Enterprise solution delivery
- Promotes culture of learning
- Agile product delivery
KPIs and Impacts
- Lean Operations
- Process Improvement
- Stability at Handoff/Transition
- Time to Complete
- Project Fulfillment Time
Best Practices
Scaled Agile Framework is based on the ideas of agile development, lean, and systems thinking which applies its principles, benefits, and values to the wider enterprise. As many organizations begin to recognize the need for more adaptability and abilities to detect and respond to changes in the market, they look to adopt a tool that encompasses a scaled agile framework within their solution. By leveraging the quickness and flexibility of agile, and combining it with lean development, you create efficiencies and link strategy to execution at every level of the organization.
Scaled Agile Framework ON SALESFORCE
Using an Agile solution such as Salesforce’s ‘Agile Accelerator’ combined with either custom objects or a PPM solution like Cloud Coach will allow you to build your Scaled Agile Framework on the Salesforce platform.
Initiation
Initiation Overview
Initiation is the starting point in the project journey and focuses on creating the right project at the right time, minimizing manual labor and decisions, and following best practices. This is the formal acceptance of a project and details how projects are created, who is involved with them, and naming the project’s basic structure.
Functions
- Authorize project launch
- Guide project creation
- Identify Stakeholders
- Gather Requirements
- Define work
- Plan activities
KPIs and Impacts
- Efficiency
- User Productivity
- Stability at Handoff / Transition
- Time To Make Decisions
- Processing Time
Best Practices
The project schedule, budget, and resources of a project are typically defined and planned during initiation. Foundational elements such as dates, goals, and key players are established in this process to be referenced throughout the life of the project as milestones, baselines, and more.
Initiation Overview ON SALESFORCE
Initiation of a project is often tied to standard Salesforce records and triggered using automation such as process builder, for instance:
- A Campaign to market a Trade Show is approved and launches a new project with all the tasks to prepare, attend, and conclude the event.
- An Opportunity is marked Closed – Won, a template is selected based on the opportunity details, line items, or CPQ records, and a new project is created as a result.
Goals
Goals are the desired outcome of the project’s deliverables and dates, but they are more complex than their simple output. The lifecycle of a goal itself is broken into three parts: defining, seeking, and realizing.
Functions
- Measure progress
- Evaluate performance
- Promote adherence
- Purpose-driven activities
KPIs and Impacts
- Productivity
- Speed of Execution
- Project Optimization
- Project Fulfillment Time
- Time To Make Decisions
- Defects and bugs
Best Practices
Communicating, referencing, and reinforcing a goal that is specific, measurable, and attainable is essential and should provide an answer to who, what, where, when, why, and how for the project. While it seems obvious that the point of setting a goal is to meet it, additional benefit is found in the pursuit. Achievement thinking elevates the focus when multiple people and teams are involved in defining, seeking, and realizing goals together.
Goals ON SALESFORCE
Goals may manifest themselves in different ways in Salesforce such as custom object records, files or attachments, or a text field on a project record with a simple statement. The way the goal is defined and tracked will be different according to project maturity of the organization.
Scope
The boundaries of a project that define what will be included or excluded from the process and deliverables. Defining scope sets expectations between the client and the business as well as the power and influence that should be given to those who are impacted directly and indirectly in downstream and adjacent positions.
Functions
- Define inclusions
- State explicit exclusions
- Specify known factors
- Prevent scope creep
KPIs and Impacts
- Estimate Accuracy
- Activity Effectiveness
- Project Optimization
- Discovery Time
- Project Fulfillment Time
- Over-Servicing
Best Practices
Defining scope is a process of refining and honing with greater precision over time. By gathering requirements as quickly and completely as possible, the time to refine and iterate is reduced and reduces the overall time to fulfill the deliverables. Scope is not about doing less, it’s about making activities leaner.
Scope ON SALESFORCE
Defining scope requires inputs from other project artifacts like a project charter and requirements so it’s likely that meetings, workshops, focus groups, and questionnaires have already been involved in composing the project. Salesforce is designed for inter-related records and tools like Cloud Coach are available to integrate requirements, files, and documents into the scope of project work.
Stakeholders
A user or contact who is directly or indirectly related to the activities, outcomes, or deliverables of a project. They can be either internal (like the project manager, team members, and executives) or they can be external (like clients, sponsors, and end users).
Functions
- Make decisions
- Guide activities
- Advise performance
- Determine completion
KPIs and Impacts
- Analytics & Reporting Efficiency
- Collaboration / Communication
- Time To Make Decisions
- Project Fulfillment Time
Best Practices
Managing stakeholders means that communications and relationships are prioritized to the best advantage of the project. Information is both tiered and timed based on the recipient’s power and interest. Sending too frequently or the wrong content can sour a relationship in the same way that not sending enough or content that is mismatched to the skill or interest of the recipient.
Stakeholders ON SALESFORCE
There are two main objects that will be leveraged in order to relate Stakeholders to other records (like Projects) in Salesforce: Contacts and Users. Both are standard to Salesforce and it simplifies using Communities, Chatter, and emails to produce the type of tiered communications that are valuable to relationship building during your project.
Templates
A predetermined pattern for the structure of a project, typically including tasks, milestones and deliverables. By capturing best practices and reusing successes, teams are able to update templates to enhance efficiency, optimize workflows, and replicate benefits on projects with a similar output or goal.
Functions
- Streamline processes
- Operationalize successful outcomes
- Improve predictability
- Enhance estimate precision
KPIs and Impacts
- Process Standardization
- Speed of Execution
- Stability at Handoff / Transition
- Non-Standard Proposals
- Processing Time
- Time To Make Decisions
Best Practices
A template adds long-term value by providing stability, consistency, and repeatable processes to project creation and execution. The value added by a template will diminish over time if it is not maintained and kept in alignment with industry, organization, methodology, and project best practices. A template does not belong in a museum; as needs and tools change, the template must adapt to fit.
Templates ON SALESFORCE
Salesforce allows for cloning of records such as a project template. When cloning a record, consideration should be given to managing the relationships of related records as well as accessibility of the “template” and object record types. It should be noted that when a record is cloned, all the fields with values will be cloned as well, so the template should only contain best practice instructions and not data that won’t add value to the new project.
Project Charter
Provides authorization for a project to be initiated, sets goal, defines scope, and sanctions activities to begin and resources to be used. This document will influence the plan and output of the project for the duration of the project lifecycle so it should provide a succinct description of the goal, scope, and stakeholders.
Functions
- Authorize project
- Identify Stakeholders
- Grant authority to Project Manager
- Define high-level requirements
KPIs and Impacts
- Collaboration / Communication
- Asset Utilization
- Stability at Handoff / Transition
- Discovery Time
- Time To Make Decisions
Best Practices
Authorization for a project can be formal or informal; an example of a formal document is a standalone Project Charter artifact, though it is common to see authorization granted by an informal project charter in the form of an invoice, a contract or bill of sale, or an opportunity. The recommended practice here is to define, by organization, authorization practices tailored by need.
Project Charter ON SALESFORCE
Project Charters on Salesforce can be either individual records that can be entered by a user OR a document that is uploaded to the project as a file. Informal Project Charters might grant authorization and provide scope from other Salesforce records including Opportunity, Quote, or Custom Object record.
One-off Projects
The process described when human intervention is required, due to skill or judgment, for producing a new one off or ad hoc project. Creating something “from scratch” offers more flexibility in the foundational structure of the plan; from the budget to schedule the resources.
High Control
Low Efficiency
Functions
- High Control
- Low Efficiency
KPIs and Impacts
- Estimate Accuracy
- Activity Effectiveness
- Cost of Failure
- Unrealized Revenue
Best Practices
One off projects offer a high degree of flexibility and the characteristics of these projects typically include undefined scope, unknown requirements, or produce a net-new output. One off projects are typically the playground of a trusted and experienced project owner or change agent, and granting the authority to step into the unknown and off the prescribed path can be both brave and risky.
One-off Projects ON SALESFORCE
‘Ad Hoc’ or one-off project creation is supported by almost, if not all the available project management and PSA solutions that are available on the Salesforce AppExchange, with one-off projects ranging from a single record on the simple end to thousands of project tasks on the more complex side.
Automated Creation
The process described when pre-defined criteria are used to trigger the creation of a new project. This removes work that is tedious, repeatable, and requires little critical thinking and frees up time and thought-capacity for more meaningful activities.
Functions
- Low Control
- High Efficiency
KPIs and Impacts
- Process Standardization
- Resource Efficiency
- Project Optimization
- Time To Make Decisions
- Time To Customize
Best Practices
Automating repeatable activities is recommended for repeatable projects with low variability. This method offers a high degree of efficiency and is encouraged when creating from a template and the criteria are simple. Characteristics of these projects include well-defined scope, known requirements, standardized processes, or produce an established output.
Automated Creation ON SALESFORCE
Automating the creation of records is part of the standard power of Salesforce. Using Processes and Flows that are triggered by specific criteria, projects can be deployed in a matter of moments without human intervention. For example, when a Sales Rep marks their Opportunity status as ‘Closed – Won’ a new project is launched. Important values can be carried over into the project at the time of creation and the tedious details are already in place by the time it reaches a project manager. Tools like Cloud Coach make it even easier to create projects with all the phases and tasks from a single template or à la carte by phases from across templates to create a unified and unique project.
Timelines
Timelines Overview
Timelines are where the time-constrained project work is found. They are all about tracking what tasks or activities need to happen when what tasks are dependent upon others and encompass the planned activities in a time-bound body of work. Timelines apply to all projects regardless of project methodology that is being run.
Functions
- Display project information
- View plan/schedule
- Manage work
- Collect data
KPIs and Impacts
- Analytics & Reporting Efficiency
- Project Engagement
- Time To Analyze Information
- Time To Make Decisions
Best Practices
Timelines allow project work to be managed from a single view to progress the project toward completion. The preferred display of Project Timelines is different for everyone and can be based on methodology, individual, organization, or industry. Ultimately, this display should align with both task management while gathering task data that enables current and future project success. Upfront, they are used to complete work, but the unspoken and equally important use is to progress toward the end goal.
Timelines Overview ON SALESFORCE
Timelines come alive on Salesforce with the ability to visualize and interact with timelines in modern agile boards or more traditional waterfall gantt charts, allowing users to be able to view the entire data model for a project in a single page instead of using individual records, or multiple reports.
Gantt
A Gantt is a time-based bar chart used to illustrate a schedule in a graphical output. It helps with planning, coordination, and project or task management. The bars on a Gantt represent projects, phases, or tasks and are associated with units of time.
Functions
- Show relationship between work and time
- View plan/schedule
- Manage work
- Collect data
KPIs and Impacts
- Activity Effectiveness
- User Productivity
- Time To Analyze Information
- Project Fulfillment Time
Best Practices
A project, by definition, is time-bound in nature and it makes sense to display work as it relates to time so that team members can see the value of their work in the overall scheme. By using a visual representation of a project’s timeline, a Gantt provides an at-a-glance view that helps users see project status quickly and easily. This type of standardization breeds efficiency into the day-to-day functions of the project.
Gantt ON SALESFORCE
There is no standard gantt reporting component in Salesforce, so vendors like Cloud Coach have solved this by creating visual user interfaces. These interfaces as well as visually representing the traditional single project view, also allow for visualization across multiple projects either at the whole project level or on a more granular basis such as assigned tasks by the user.
WBS
WBS stands for Work Breakdown Structure and is a project artifact that is composed of a list of project activities split into digestible bites. The goal is to create smaller and smaller pieces before stopping at the smallest level that could reasonably be managed to. This process is known as decomposition.
Functions
- Organize work
- Facilitate schedule development
- Estimates effort
- Identify blockers/hurdles
KPIs and Impacts
- Project Optimization
- Collaboration / Communication
- Estimate Accuracy
- Time To Find Experts
- Time To Make Decisions
- Over-Servicing
Best Practices
The decomposition process inherently raises the overall knowledge of the project and closes gaps. Experts are able to spot possible risks or issues and accurately estimate and advise on the activities in the project and, as that knowledge is handed off to the project manager and the team, the overall skill level and knowledge is improved. Predictability helps to stabilize delivery and the WBS actively seeks it.
WBS ON SALESFORCE
Decomposition of a project on Salesforce can be viewed in a couple of ways, the most common being where the WBS is integrated in an AppExchange app on the schedule/plan visualization or report. Alternatively if the WBS is considered an additional project artifact, it might be uploaded as a file so that the document can be accessed in the project’s document repository.
Dependency
A dependency is the relationship between two tasks when action or activity on one determines key dates for the other. Start and finish dates of the task are the focus of the relationship between a predecessor and successor activity with logical relationships. Task dependencies come in four types (shown below in order of common use):
- Finish to Start – Task B can only start when Task A is complete
- Start to Start – Task B can only start when Task A starts
- Finish to Finish – Task B can only finish when Task A finishes
- Start to Finish – Task B can only finish when Task A starts
Functions
- Create downstream sightlines
- Link tasks in a logical relationship
KPIs and Impacts
- Outcome Predictability
- Analytics & Reporting Efficiency
- Time To Customize
Best Practices
Operationalizing dependent relationships between tasks means that estimates are more accurate and predictability is increased. The timing between related tasks combined with managing the resources associated with them as well as the interplay between start and end dates and how they relate to budget and people requires a big picture view and dependencies provide essential granularity.
Dependency ON SALESFORCE
Though relationships between records are possible in Salesforce, dependencies use multiple types of logical relationships between tasks which are best represented in third-party apps from the AppExchange. For example, if a task changes and triggers a recalculation on the predecessor and successor tasks, the manner or order in which the project is re-calculated based on those logical relationships.
Critical Path
The longest sequence of scheduled activities to determine the shortest duration of the project. The tasks that formulate this sequence are on the Critical Path. In simple terms, if any of these tasks expand in duration the project’s duration will also expand by the same amount.
Functions
- Strategize change management
- Prioritize task management
- Enhance schedule understanding
KPIs and Impacts
- Analytics & Reporting Efficiency
- Outcome Predictability
- Time To Respond
- Time To Make Decisions
Best Practices
Tasks on the Critical Path have the individual power to make or break project success. The Critical Path helps to prioritize the management of critical tasks to ensure that the project baseline is maintained. All tasks are important, but the Critical Path gives project managers more insight to individuate a response strategy.
Critical Path ON SALESFORCE
The Critical Path is found using calculations that seek to find and evaluate the space between one task and another and using formulae to perform calculations is exactly the kind of thing Salesforce excels at. However building a formula that looks at estimated dates for tasks in dependent relationships, sometimes with multiple predecessors or successors, is complex, and leveraging an existing AppExchange solution like Cloud Coach will give a much quicker time to value.
Kanban Board
A Kanban board is a tool to visualize work with cards in columns headers that distinguish status values such as To Do, Work In Progress, that are to be managed on a project. Boards are used to govern the release of available activities, make work in progress collaborative, and optimize workflows for efficiency.
Functions
- Intuitive and user-friendly
- Simplifies data collection
- Collaborative ethos
KPIs and Impacts
- Lean Operations
- Analytics & Reporting Efficiency
- Employee Satisfaction
- Service / Support Costs
Best Practices
If data maintenance and accuracy is a struggle, a Kanban Board makes entering basic information easy. The act of moving a card to a new column claims the work by someone and updates it’s status and that rolls up to the project level. The data collected here is simple and basic, and if additional data is needed, then additional interface optimization will streamline click-paths and workflows to ensure data collection is balanced with user behavior.
Kanban Board ON SALESFORCE
While a standard Salesforce list view will allow a user to see records in a Kanban view, they are however driven from picklist values which may well not be optimal for more experienced project organization. Additionally, it is not possible to group records by formula fields which make the usability of this Kanban challenging. There are however on the Salesforce AppExchange, tools that provide feature rich Kanban boards including the functionality not available in a list view, with many more usability features baked in.
User Story
A user story is used to gather requirements on a project using the Agile / Scrum methodology. Taken from the user perspective, it describes a requirement and the current limitations in the form of simple, need based statements commonly added to Cards to be prioritized and managed by the project.
Functions
- Self-contained
- Delivers end-user value
- Summarizes essence of needs
- Room for negotiation/solutions
KPIs and Impacts
- Collaboration / Communication
- Backlog Volume
- Over-Servicing
Best Practices
User stories come directly from end-users, so they seek to gather accurate requirements and allow the subject matter experts to find creative solutions without locking them in to a certain path or output. They cut out the layers that may dilute a story as it passes through different hands by putting the needs of the end-user in front of the project team in its most concentrated form.
User Story ON SALESFORCE
The data modeling capabilities native to Salesforce make capturing both requirements and user stories customizable, and the fields on objects that capture this information are equally so. Lookup relationships between these objects enable transparency in communications and reporting capabilities.
Card
A card is the visual representation of requested, in progress, or completed project work in Kanban methodology. Literally translated, Kanban means visual (kan) card (ban), and individual cards placed on the board display basic task details like name, key dates, and status.
Functions
- Intuitive information display
- Signal demand/production status
KPIs and Impacts
- Productivity
- Collaboration / Communication
- Time To Analyze Information
Best Practices
Cards are used to simplify claiming, actioning, and reporting on project work. Intent and activity should be clear at a glance, though it is common practice for the card to have a front-side with the high-level summary information displayed and a back-side where the granular detail is located. Cards can be a physical item that is manually moved or passed, or they can be digital.
Card ON SALESFORCE
Using the Kanban native to Salesforce, cards are displayed in groups and summarized. Preliminary configuration for visualizing and managing cards by a System Administrator is needed, and additional settings must be chosen by the user. For those looking for more advanced ways to interact with cards this capability is available in several of the AppExchange apps.
Checklists
A list of items that are used to spell out the definition of completion. A checklist might appear at the project (macro) or activity (micro) level, and guide the owner of the work to identify steps or process queues to reach completion.
Functions
- Maintain output consistency
- Cut unnecessary training
- Align process across team
KPIs and Impacts
- Outcome Predictability
- Process Standardization
- Over-Servicing
- Time To Customize
Best Practices
We all know that micromanaging hurts teams and checklists occupy the space in-between over and under communicating. Where a project manager assigns work, the selected individual contributor should be trusted with how it will be completed. A checklist provides detail and information to maintain consistent processes and outputs among both new and established team members as well as freeing-up training and audit time for the manager to focus on leading.
Checklists ON SALESFORCE
Project checklists are dynamic and change based on the activity. Because of this, custom checkbox fields are unlikely to provide the kind of flexibility that make a checklist valuable. Using object records for items in a checklist makes more sense, but accessing those records would mean using a related list, or filtering them by task and project in a separate report or list view page. When adding clicks or loading additional pages/reports isn’t a desirable user experience, a third-party solution like Cloud Coach gives checklist access and direct visibility in the user interface.
Resources
Resources Overview
In project management, resources are required to carry out the project tasks. While resources can be people, equipment, facilities, funding, required for the completion of a project activity, by far the most common type of resource is the human resource aka people
Functions
- Track skills, availability, and capacity
- Define your resources
- Assign resources to work
- Plan and execute on assignments
KPIs and Impacts
- Resource Efficiency
- Resource Utilization*
- Labor Resources on the Bench
- Labor Resources on the Bench
Best Practices
Optimizing your resources through proper resource management allows your organization to always prioritize high value work with your current availability of resources. In order to have effective resource management, you need to leverage a tool that will deliver the functionality needed for project and resource managers to plan and execute their projects. Ensure your tool is capable of capacity and demand management, resource utilization, and can track both time and progress.
Resources Overview ON SALESFORCE
A resource on Salesforce can be anything that is needed to execute a task or project, such as a user with a specific skill set. Resources are often tagged against Salesforce records to track what is assigned and planned for. Having an effective resourcing tool as part of your project management solution can help you troubleshoot gaps or problems before they happen, avoid overallocation and build visibility across your team
Skill Matrix & Capabilities
The skills matrix of your organization is a way for you to define all the skills that people in your company possess (or you would like them to possess). Capabilities are the assignment of individuals to the skills matrix and display people’s proficiency in specific skills and knowledge in regards to the business. In order to properly evaluate what projects your team is capable of, you first need to know what each team member can handle through a visual skills matrix.
Functions
- Map project tasks to skills for resource assignment
- Create skills to match your business
- Add secondary skills and work types
- Drive capacity planning with assignments
KPIs and Impacts
- Asset Utilization
- Estimate Accuracy
- Resource Efficiency
- Time to Analyze Information
- Time to Make Decisions
Best Practices
Skill Matrices and Capabilities are used to give project and resource managers more visibility and flexibility into managing and assigning their resources. The best approach for leveraging a skill matrix is to match your business’s unique requirements through creating custom work roles, and then further specializing them through secondary skills for more dynamic resource assignment. Ensure your resource management tool allows you to map your resources to multiple work-types and skills, which will enhance your capacity planning and give you more secondary options as a manager.
Skill Matrix & Capabilities ON SALESFORCE
Project managers are able to utilize skill matrices and capabilities to match any resource’s roles, skills, or knowledge to a corresponding project, task, or assignment. When evaluating project management and PSA tools on Salesforce, there is some functionality you should consider:
- Mapping your project tasks to your skills
- Ability to create custom work roles
- Deeper resource planning with secondary skills
- Driving capacity planning with assignments
- Creating skills that match your unique business
Assignments
An assignment is a task or piece of work assigned to someone as part of a job or project. Assignments may range in time length from an hour or less up to weeks or even months
Functions
- Individual or bulk assignment
- Templatize task assignments
- Automate assignment
- Assign to existing projects or during creation
KPIs and Impacts
- Activity Effectiveness
- Analytics and Reporting Efficiency
- Resource Efficiency
- Over-Allocation of Resources
- Backlog Volume
Best Practices
Planning and executing projects requires the alignment of many moving parts and pieces. The human resources on a project must be planned for and assigned to the right tasks at the right time to ensure the successful delivery of products, services, or results. Assigning resources to deliverables and tasks is the most efficient when users can easily visualize and access the work assigned to them. To ensure workload visibility within teams and organizations, it is important to utilize a tool where users can have an individual view of their future assignments.
Assignments ON SALESFORCE
The assignment of a resource on Salesforce is primarily driven by Salesforce users being the owner of a record, through a lookup to Users or Contacts, that represents work to be completed. These can be assigned at the time of creation for both manual project creation and automated creation from a template. Salesforce reporting can be a valuable tool to surface visibility across users and the work they are assigned so a resource manager can then make the best assignments due to the added visibility.
Resource Load
Resource load is the summation of the allocation of manpower, equipment, or material necessary for the completion of an assignment as scheduled. As a project manager, understanding your team or organization’s resource load allows you to effectively plan out the optimal way to utilize and distribute those resources in order for the project to be successful.
Functions
- Creating visibility
- Visualize available capacity
- Optimize assigned resources
- Plan based on future capacity
KPIs and Impacts
- Asset Utilization
- Resource Efficiency
- Backlog Volume
- Time to Make Decisions
Best Practices
Visualizing your resource load through a resource management solution gives you a realistic view of both demand and capacity in order to deliver on projects. When you assign the right resources to the right work at the right time, you determine your true resource availability and are able to spot problems earlier, connect strategy to execution, and manage and prioritize work to set accurate expectations with your stakeholders.
Resource Load ON SALESFORCE
Visualizing your resource load in Salesforce gives you a thorough understanding of and transparency into your objectives and capacity. Oftentimes resource load and available capacity can be visualized through reports and dashboards in Salesforce at the task level by comparing estimates. However, through a solution on the Appexchange, you can expand into real time resource loading and visualize the availability of resources at the organizational level, not just at the task level. Top Salesforce solutions should allow you to:
- See all your users or filter by team, skill, etc.
- View availability in a color-coded resource load chart or graphic
- Drill into users to see more of what they are assigned and working on
Capacity Planning
Capacity planning is a process that balances the available hours of teams against the forward looking needs of the business. Capacity is the most work that can be done over a certain timeframe.
Functions
- Balancing demand
- Selection of work
- Assignment through skills and competencies
- Upcoming capacity by month
- View as a percentage of capacity
KPIs and Impacts
- Analytics & Reporting Efficiency
- Asset Utilization
- Estimate Accuracy
- Outcome Predictability
- Resource Efficiency
- Backlog Volume
- Over-servicing
- Time to Analyze Information
- Time to Make Decisions
Best Practices
Capacity planning is often done at a strategic level, by the project and resource managers who decide on the work or projects the business can take on. Utilizing a project management tool with resourcing capacity capabilities that allow you to make resourcing decisions based on available hours, skills, and competencies of your resource pool will help prevent the likeliness of unplanned issues, roadblocks, and missing skills.
Capacity Planning ON SALESFORCE
Before an organization takes on any additional work or projects, you first need to evaluate whether or not you have the capacity, or the resources, to do the work. To successfully measure and track your organization’s capacity within Salesforce, we suggest leveraging a resource management tool from the Appexchange that will provide insights on metrics such as:
- Upcoming capacity by month
- Filtering by skill type
- Viewing the percentage of total capacity remaining
Time Tracking
Time tracking keeps track of the hours spent on individual tasks, on the project as a whole and on any other work one of your team is doing such as support work. Diligent time tracking results in visibility across the organization to help you assess the accuracy of work estimates and the effectiveness of your employees.
Functions
- Track time against anything in Salesforce
- Be reminded on what you spent time on
- Multiple ways to enter time
- View weekly timesheet summaries
- Route and approve completed timesheets
KPIs and Impacts
- Analytics & Reporting Efficiency
- Estimate Accuracy
- Process Improvement
- Over-Servicing
- Cost of Billing
Best Practices
While tracking time is often one of an employee’s least favorite aspects of the workday, it is extremely important for the organization to track their performance to measure against set KPIs. To get the most accurate time data at the executive level, it is crucial to leverage a time tracking tool that will drive user adoption and encourage your end-users to correctly and promptly enter in time.
Time Tracking ON SALESFORCE
Time can be tracked, rolled-up, and reported on against any object or record in Salesforce. Solutions on the Appexchange can provide some additional functionality such as providing multiple ways to enter time, routing approvals, exporting timesheets into another system, or dynamically rating time entries. Some types of businesses are completely dependent on tracking time and need to leverage a solution that will allow them to gather accurate data from their end users. Some examples of time tracking dependent businesses are:
- Professional services teams
- Organizations with hourly employees
- Companies working with freelancers
- Businesses that use cost-plus pricing
Documents
Documents Overview
Documents are a designated digital or physical space to collect and store artifacts, records and files for a single project, including (but not limited to) meeting minutes, requirements, specifications, status reports and lessons learned.
Functions
- Centralize project collaboration points
- Preserve auditable supporting content
- Keep project team aligned
- Add specificity
KPIs and Impacts
- Revenue per Project
- Client Satisfaction
- Over-Servicing
- Time to Complete
Best Practices
Each project is unique, so it follows that each project should have a repository to contain the artifacts relating it such as documents, presentations, meeting minutes, and links for archival reference. A hub for collaboration on project artifacts. All supporting project documents are curated and archived. These artifacts live in a repository and provide a single source of truth. Though communication methods vary by channel, the volume and content must be fit to the recipient.
A repository provides appropriate access to project documents and keeps team members working toward the common goal. Because the document repository offers an audit trail, accurate versions can be referenced or updated as needed, ensuring transparency and alignment. A document repository means that everyone is working from the same set of goals, definitions, and rules to make communication misfires less likely.
Documents Overview ON SALESFORCE
Your document repository on Salesforce typically consists of both records (for items like requirements) and files / links for physical documents. Files can be stored in a couple of ways in Salesforce; uploading files directly to a record or entering the URL for an external cloud storage solution. Uploading files directly in Salesforce is a great solution because it’s on-platform and the team doesn’t have to navigate from the project to find supporting information. However, storage on Salesforce is limited by default though upgrades can be purchased. Because of this, external storage is common and apps to integrate a 3rd party solution in the Salesforce UI are available on the AppExchange. This type of solution will require additional consideration to document access and security to ensure document access and record access are aligned.
Requirements
Requirements are the guard-rails that keep the project on the right track by defining the conditions and capabilities needed to meet the goal. Projects exist to fill a need that is determined by the goal, refined by the scope, and honed by the requirements.
Functions
- Add specificity
- Provide hierarchical texture
- Encourage inventive solutions
- Stimulate something about a project
KPIs and Impacts
- Collaboration / Communication
- Project Engagement
- Project Fulfillment Time
Best Practices
In order for the correct solution to be applied, the problem must be thoroughly understood. Gathering requirements is integral to project delivery to make sure that solutions are in alignment with goals and expectations. Solutions may come in all shapes and sizes, the one that will work best for the project will match the problem.
Requirements ON SALESFORCE
Requirements might be captured in a text field, but will be more trackable if standalone records are used. A third-party project management-specific app, like Cloud Coach, will have a way to manage the Requirements records for a project and make reporting on project Requirements an integrated experience for users and clients.
Meetings
A live discussion producing an agenda, taking minutes, and following up with action items regarding the project or attributes in service of project progress. Meetings are not limited to in-person events and include telecommunications and web-based tools to bridge geographical distances.
Functions
- Status inquiries
- Change management
- Problem-solving
- Brainstorming
- Team building
KPIs and Impacts
- Collaboration / Communication
- Project Engagement
- Discovery Time
- Time To Make Decisions
Best Practices
Managing events and attendees across multiple projects can be complicated, but effective management can be crucial to the overall success of the project(s). Events can usually be planned, but there may be times when an impromptu session is held. Regardless of the case for the meeting, the result should be the same: documentation that describes the reason, content, and outcome of the meeting.
Meetings ON SALESFORCE
Salesforce does offer some ability to produce meetings, minutes, and action item records on standard objects like Events, and Tasks to manage Activities. Additionally, a calendar can help to plot out a schedule but for users who have purpose-built Project Management tools like Cloud Coach, meeting management that is integrated with the fabric of the project works to maximize meeting productivity.
Stakeholder Management
Project Stakeholder Management involves identification of stakeholders, analysis of their expectations and influences, development of appropriate strategies to work with the stakeholders and executing the process. RACI is commonly used with stakeholder management to keep everyone on the same page.
Functions
- Audience-specific content
- Quantity of communication governance
- Build relationships
KPIs and Impacts
- Client Satisfaction
- Organizational Knowledge
- Time to make decisions
Best Practices
Identify your stakeholders as early in your project process as possible, and document everyone’s role. Treat your stakeholders as partners throughout the project lifecycle, by making project information transparent to your stakeholders. As your project progresses you should monitor your stakeholder engagement and adapt as necessary to help ensure a successful conclusion to your project.
Stakeholder Management ON SALESFORCE
Because Stakeholder Management will leverage both internal Users and external Contacts, tagging the records to a project might be complicated. Custom configuration, such as a utility bar item with a custom flow, can be helpful from the user interface side and simplify stakeholder entry. Once they’re added, display in related lists or reports is simple once the records are in place. For those who are using a Project Management tool on-platform, like Cloud Coach, Stakeholder Management is available out of the box.
RACI
Managing stakeholders is an experience that should be tailored to each individual. RACI creates a matrix that can be used to account for power, interest, and role in order to fit project communications for the audience. RACI stands for Responsible, Accountable, Consult, and Inform.
Functions
- Audience-specific content
- Quantity of communication governance
- Build relationships
KPIs and Impacts
- Collaboration / Communication
- Asset Utilization
- Time To Find Experts
Best Practices
RACI is used to optimize Stakeholder management and communication paths. The chart is most valuable to the project manager, stakeholders, and team when it’s stored in a centrally located repository so that it can be referenced as needed. Project communications and stakeholder management are complex but the right tools and practices simplify who gets what information and when.
RACI ON SALESFORCE
Because RACI leverages both internal Users and external Contacts, tagging the records to a project might be complicated. Custom configuration, such as a utility bar item with a custom flow, can be helpful from the user interface side and simplify stakeholder entry. Once they’re added, display in related lists or reports is simple once the records are in place. For those who are using a Project Management tool on-platform, like Cloud Coach, RACI is available out of the box.
Artifacts
Anything that needs to be recorded as part of a project is an artifact. Artifacts cannot be the project itself but are the collection of documents and files that make up the project. They’re used to form foundations, set goals or benchmarks, and some will continue to grow throughout the project’s life.
Functions
- Present data/document/presentation
- Register related image/audio/video
- Archive
- Code
KPIs and Impacts
- Project Optimization
- Stability at Handoff / Transition
- Service / Support Costs
Best Practices
Artifacts are all the things that support a project from the Charter to status reports to meeting minutes. Because of the way that artifacts contribute to the completion of a project, they should be aggregated to enable referential access for the duration of the project. It is likely that the volume of artifacts on a single project will increase throughout its lifecycle, and effective organization techniques are recommended for diligent documentors.
Artifacts ON SALESFORCE
Artifacts might be files or attachments on a record and the security model in Salesforce will determine who is able to upload, audit, and view uploaded files. In addition to an external file, an artifact might be a Salesforce record itself or even the chatter on a record. Both files and related records should roll up under the project for transparency, reportability, and reference purposes.
Audit Trail
Details the life of an artifact from creation/upload to viewership and offers version control. This sequenced log of meaningful interactions traces and tracks any additions and modifications to a single artifact through the course of the project.
Functions
- Provide transparency
- Offer version control
- Maintain accuracy
KPIs and Impacts
- Analytics & Reporting Efficiency
- Process Standardization
- Processing Time
Best Practices
As knowledge about the project grows, it makes sense that not only will additional artifacts be added, but existing artifacts are developed, experiencing modification of their own. An audit trail is the system of checks and balances that log reflects who made the change and what change was made so that it can be rolled back to an earlier version if needed.
Audit Trail ON SALESFORCE
Because there are two types of artifacts for projects in Salesforce, records and files, there are different processes for auditing each. The audit trail for a record can be found in the [Object] History related list or in an [Object] History report. If a file is added to a record, the record’s audit log will show that a file was added to the record, but it won’t display the audit trail for the file, itself. Files uploaded to a record will have their own audit trail available; showing the file details, versions, security, views, and downloads. File information is also available via the File and Content Report type.
Status Reports
A document to inform stakeholders about current project conditions. A status report works to summarize and synthesize critical project information regarding the budget, schedule, resources, and controls to create a snapshot of the project at a moment in time.
Functions
- Inform stakeholders
- Raise risks/issues
- Showcase progress
- Create accountability
KPIs and Impacts
- Project Optimization
- Process Standardization
- Time To Configure
Best Practices
Status reports are often presented during a project status meeting which occur on a fixed cadence. A status report looks at the current status of the project to tell a story about progression toward the goal. The contents of this report will be a combination of data and analysis so that an accurate picture of the project can be represented here.
Status Reports ON SALESFORCE
Reports in Salesforce are powerful, and reporting across multiple objects based on their relationships is part of the core functionality. Combining multiple reports in a dashboard for a visual display can help deliver important details and trends at a glance. Because of the extensibility of the Salesforce platform, more opportunities for displaying and exporting a uniquely formatted Status Report are opened up with the use of lightning components.
Lessons Learned
The advancement of knowledge through the execution of project activities for the improvement of similar projects or processes in the future. Lessons Learned should be logged through the duration of the project and stored in a project-based log as well as the master repository of Lessons Learned.
Functions
- Future-proofing
- Provide accountability
- Benefits from failure
KPIs and Impacts
- Organizational Knowledge
- Process Improvement
- Service / Support Costs
Best Practices
Lessons can be learned at any point in a project and documenting them allows other people to learn through the experience, whether it was shared or not. Retrospectives and post-mortems are a normal part of the close out process, lessons should be logged organically throughout the duration of the project, not only at predetermined checkpoints.
Lessons Learned ON SALESFORCE
Because there is likely to be a Lessons Learned Log on an individual project, as well as a repository of all Lessons Learned org-wide, using a custom object to display these makes sense. It would be as simple as relating the individual record to a project to establish the log, with the sum of all records accessible from a list view.
Controls
Controls Overview
Every project has different conditions and people involved with it that make every project unique. Even when a project is created from a template and uses familiar processes, it will have a mix of unknowns that can get thrown at the project owner. Controls on a project seeks to help juggle variables that come up throughout the life of the project such as change management, risks or issues:
Functions
- Create actionable plans
- Schedule with accuracy
- Account for uniqueness
- Proactive response strategies
KPIs and Impacts
- Project Optimization
- Resource Efficiency
- Processing Time
- Time To Customize
Best Practices
Change control processes, in practices and terminology, are as varied as projects. The most effective way to manage change is through tailoring change management practices to provide strategic action, thoughtful decisions, and process transparency to key stakeholders. They’re ad hoc operations that offer predictability in response, they can be either proactive or reactive, but ultimately seek to defend the plan.
Controls Overview ON SALESFORCE
Project controls are known, repeatable processes that are strategically applied on an as needed basis and because of their variability and repeatability, applying multiple record types to an object will balance the administration of these operations with the functional implementation of them. Objects like Salesforce Tasks or Cases can work for Controls records, but could become an issue with scalability in the long term. The recommendation is to use a solution from the AppExchange that supports controls or to create a custom object to define bespoke business logic and rules for best scalability and sustainable organizational design in the future.
Risks
Unknowns like these are called risks and make the execution of familiar or repeatable projects different. The word ‘risk’ has a generally negative association in its everyday use, but risks in project management could be positive, too. They’re simply uncertain events, positive or negative, that could impact the project. A risk that will negatively impact project outcomes is a threat and one that will have a positive impact is an opportunity.
Functions
- Prepare for threats
- Accept opportunities
- Future thinking
KPIs and Impacts
- Speed of Execution
- Revenue Per Project
- Time To Respond
- Unrealized Revenue
Best Practices
By definition, risks do not yet exist which makes them more of a theory than a fact. Using the best available knowledge to deploy a strategy, while not a guarantee of success, will increase the chance of a favorable outcome not only for the risk but for the project as a whole. The strategic approach to managing risks leverage the decision-makers’ best judgment in order to minimize/neutralize threats or maximize/amplify opportunities.
Risks ON SALESFORCE
Because there is likely to be a Risk Register on an individual project, as well as Risk records by the specific owner or group, a unique Risk record type on a custom object to display these makes sense. It would be as simple as relating the individual record to a project to establish the register, with the sum of all records accessible from a list view. Several of the solutions on the AppExchange such as Cloud Coach support ‘Risk’ management out of the box.
Issues
Active conditions or situations that affect or might affect project objectives. A part of integrated change management processes, a project is successful because the issues are managed effectively, not because there were no issues to manage.
Functions
- Solve problems
- Address concerns
- Neutralize situations
KPIs and Impacts
- Resource Efficiency
- Revenue Per Project
- Time To Respond
- Time To Make Decisions
Best Practices
Issues share some qualities with Risks and with Lessons Learned, but they sit in a unique space in the Change Management process Where Risks are uncertain, Issues are definite. Where Lessons Learned offer future strategies from failures, Issues require strategic action to reach success. Because of these differences, Issues stand on their own as a project Control for real-time problem-solving.
Issues ON SALESFORCE
Because there is likely to be an Issue Log on an individual project, as well as Issue records by the specific owner or group, a unique Issue record type on a custom object to display these makes sense. It would be as simple as relating the individual record to a project to establish the log, with the sum of all records accessible from a list view. Several of the solutions on the AppExchange such as Cloud Coach support ‘Issue’ management out of the box.
Assumptions
Any presumptive facts used for planning that are considered to be accurate, legitimate, or certain without proof or substantiation. Assumptions might originate from cultural, biological, intellectual, and idiosyncratic information.
Functions
- Plan schedule
- Estimate budget
- Define scope
KPIs and Impacts
- Estimate Accuracy
- Revenue Per Project
- Time To Analyze Information
- Service / Support Costs
Best Practices
Assumptions are the documented thoughts and considerations by the Project Manager, Team Members, or Subject Matter Experts that would have gone unvoiced otherwise. They give an opportunity for the group to benefit from understanding the reasoning operating behind the scenes.
Assumptions ON SALESFORCE
Because there is likely to be an Assumptions Log on an individual project, as well as Assumption records by the specific owner or group, a unique Assumption record type on a custom object to display these makes sense. It would be as simple as relating the individual record to a project to establish the log, with the sum of all records accessible from a list view.
Dependencies
A relationship between two or more activities that presents a contingency to begin or complete the work. Dependencies can exist between tasks, projects, or external elements and be logical, resource-based, or preference-based.
Functions
- Determine schedule
- Coordinate resources
- Manage changes
KPIs and Impacts
- Process Improvement
- Portfolio Optimization
- Time To Make Decisions
Best Practices
Dependencies exist in both Timelines and Controls. When viewing them through the lens of Controls, we’re using them to make decisions after the planning is complete. Understanding Dependencies for the purpose of better controlling changes means looking beyond the micro, task-level, or predecessor and successor tasks and that the macro, cross-project, or portfolio level is considered.
Dependencies ON SALESFORCE
Because there is likely to be a Dependencies Log on an individual project, as well as Dependency records by the specific owner or group, a unique Dependency record type on a custom object to display these makes sense. It would be as simple as relating the individual record to a project to establish the log, with the sum of all records accessible from a list view. Multiple relationships are encouraged here, including Project/Project, Task/Project, and KPI/Project relationships between records can be created to allow for dexterity in reporting.
RAID
A specific configuration of change management mechanisms that includes Risks, Assumptions, Issues, and Dependencies. Structuring controls in this way seeks to surface and plan for all the factors that directly or indirectly affect the outcome of the project.
Functions
- Manage influences
- Govern responses
- Shape successful outcomes
KPIs and Impacts
- Collaboration / Communication
- Analytics & Reporting Efficiency
- Time To Analyze Information
- Time To Respond
Best Practices
While RAID seems pretty clear cut, some find that Actions and Decisions instead of Assumptions and Dependencies works better. Ultimately, the nature of Change Management is that there is no single, correct way and practices are meant to be tailored to fit the need. Documenting the things that could, would, should, and did affect the project will lead to better outcomes and accuracy.
RAID ON SALESFORCE
Because there is likely to be an RAID Log on an individual project composed of a view that includes Risk, Assumption, Issue, and Dependency records, a dashboard is recommended to display an overall view. Using components to display each control record type on the dashboard will provide visibility into the records, and additional filtering by project can be applied.
Change Requests
A formal request to alter the scope of a project. Other mechanisms of change (like Issues or Defects) can trigger Change Requests, though it’s lifecycle is the same regardless of origin; the request is submitted, decision-makers determine acceptance or rejection, then communicate the result.
Functions
- Maintain agreements
- Prioritize efficiency
- Manage engagement
- Document entry
KPIs and Impacts
- Collaboration / Communication
- Project Optimization
- Time To Make Decisions
Best Practices
Whatever the reason a change is proposed, the core processes will be the same; submit, decide, and communicate. When submitting a change request, the entry form should be standardized to the best advantage of both the submitters and decision-makers so that upstream and downstream Communications are optimized.
Change Requests ON SALESFORCE
Because there is likely to be a Change Log on an individual project, as well as Change Request records by the specific owner or group, a unique Change Request record type on a custom object to display these makes sense. It would be as simple as relating the individual record to a project to establish the log, with the sum of all records accessible from a list view. Additionally, change requests commonly go through an approval process before they are authorized and actioned as part of the overall project delivery. Several of the solutions on the AppExchange such as Cloud Coach support ‘Change Request’ management out of the box.
Defects/bugs
A flaw or weakness detected in a project element or output requiring repair or replacement in order to meet the quality standards or requirements. These can be entered on a scale, prioritized by impact and probability, or ranked by value.
Functions
- Prevent flaws
- Ensure quality
- Test functionality
KPIs and Impacts
- Project Optimization
- Stability at Handoff / Transition
- Service / Support Costs
Best Practices
Failure is a historical event, but Defects and Bugs are current. They can be discovered and corrected at any time during the life of a project, but the best time to seek them is through active, thorough, rigorous testing. While no one wants to produce something that doesn’t function as designed, discovery before the handoff to the client is critical to both project success and business reputation.
Defects/bugs ON SALESFORCE
Because there is likely to be a Defect or Bug Log on an individual project, as well as Defect or Bug records by the specific owner or group, a unique Defect or Bug record type on a custom object to display these makes sense. It would be as simple as relating the individual record to a project to establish the log, with the sum of all records accessible from a list view. Several of the solutions on the AppExchange such as Cloud Coach support ‘Defect’ management out of the box.
Punch List
A list of work or corrections to work that must be completed in order to close out and handoff a completed project. These lists provide the final validation of deliverables and corrections compiled between a business and client.
Functions
- Identify errors/defects
- Mutually agreed upon corrections
- Ensure quality
KPIs and Impacts
- Stability at Handoff / Transition
- Client Satisfaction
- Service / Support Costs
Best Practices
Punch lists are most effective when generated at the start of a construction project. And though they may see last-minute additions, punch lists are created collaboratively. The client and contractor discuss and determine “must-have” action items. Punch lists offer contractors a window of opportunity to make sure details aren’t forgotten or miscommunicated as a project progresses. If misunderstandings do arise, contractors can resolve them thanks to the punch list and still get paid at the end of the day.
Punch List ON SALESFORCE
Because there is likely to be a unique Punch List on an individual project, as well as Punch List records by the specific owner or group, a unique Punch List Item record type on a custom object to display these makes sense. It would be as simple as relating the individual record to a project to establish the list, with the sum of all records accessible from a list view.
Methodologies
Methodologies
Agile / Scrum
An adaptive methodology characterized by its iterative and incremental approach to delivering requirements throughout the project life cycle. It focuses on short, fixed-duration development sprints or scrums to produce a working product that is improved or refined with each new iteration.
Functions
- Priority-based workflows
- Effort based activity groupings
- High flexibility
- Low discipline
KPIs and Impacts
- Collaboration / Communication
- Lean Operations
- Project Optimization
- Time To Customize
- Non-Standard Proposals
Best Practices
Agile methodology offers a shift in priority and focuses on people and relationships to produce successful outcomes and respond to changes. Due to the trust placed on team members, this methodology works best with skilled subject matter experts who are independent workers with the ability to collaborate effectively. It is well-liked by both project team members and clients, but it is harder to quantify success and therefore not a favorite with executives and project managers.
Agile / Scrum ON SALESFORCE
The nature of Agile is to be adaptable and responsive and the relationships among project team members (Users) and with stakeholders (Contacts) can be both simple and transparent. Salesforce’s own Agile Accelerator is a great free App available on the AppExchange for Agile management and a good starting point before looking at the paid solutions.
Methodologies
Kanban
An adaptive methodology that seeks to align consumption and replacement, build stable/consistent processes to organically balance workloads, and provide visibility to stakeholders. Managing a project using Kanban means:
- Visual workflow or board view
- Work In Progress (WIP) limits
- Flow management
- Explicitly stated processes
- Feedback loops
- Collaborative & iterative improvement
Functions
- Priority-based workflows
- Effort based activity groupings
- Moderate flexibility
- Moderate discipline
KPIs and Impacts
- Collaboration / Communication
- Lean Operations
- Project Optimization
- Time To Customize
- Project Fulfillment Time
Best Practices
This approach ensures the regular cadence of deliverable outputs by tying the release of new work to the completion of existing work. Collaboration is an expectation, not a suggestion and works best with teams who feel enthusiastic about this tenet. Clients are pulled in early and often and with continuous delivery cycles it is well received. Team cohesiveness is imperative and when it works, it works. For project managers and executives, the benefits of lean data collection and reporting effectively neutralize concerns or drawbacks.
Kanban ON SALESFORCE
Salesforce embraces the “Start where you are” tenet of Kanban project management by giving Lightning users the ability to switch between a standard list view and a Kanban board view, these Kanban’s are however very simplistic and not process driven. When you are looking for more efficiency from your processes and workflows then upgrading functionality to a more robust on-platform tool will provide extensibility that standard Salesforce doesn’t offer declaratively.
Methodologies
Water-Scrum-Fall
Water-Scrum-Fall is a hybrid of waterfall and scrum project management methodologies. “Water” defines the upfront work of the project, such as direction, timeline, and budget, while “Scrum” defines the middle of the process and focuses on the teams and team dynamics involved. The combination of the two provides a flexible approach where the team can utilize the best parts of both methodologies while working on a project.
Functions
- Increased flexibility and adoption
- Speed and control
- Enhanced adaptability
- Practical and priority-based workflows
KPIs and Impacts
- Collaboration / Communication
- Lean Operations
- Project Optimization
- Project Fulfillment Time
- Time to Customize
Best Practices
Many organizations will utilize various types of project management methodologies in order to be efficient as possible depending on the task at hand. Organizations will often leverage agile and sprint methodologies to complete day-to-day development and operations, while traditional waterfall methodologies are still used for the overall planning, budgeting, and documentation of the project’s progress.
Water-Scrum-Fall ON SALESFORCE
Water-scrum-fall is complex to pull off in a user friendly manner, as it involves connecting many moving parts and blending the best of waterfall with the best of agile, and would typically only be found in more advanced solutions like Cloud Coach.
Methodologies
Waterfall
A predictive model for project life cycles that relies on discrete and sequential tasks grouped in phases with a completed result delivered at the end of the project. Each phase is terminal and cannot be revisited, and duration is not prescribed.
Functions
- Time-based sequences
- Logical activity groupings
- Practical workflows
- Low flexibility
- High discipline
KPIs and Impacts
- Process Standardization
- Process Improvement
- Analytics & Reporting Efficiency
- Time To Customize
- Non-Standard Proposals
Best Practices
Waterfall is named for the way work flows downward through its phases, just as a river flows over rocks, and is best for projects with sequential dependencies that mean the completion of a task will flow into the beginning next. The focus on process is likely to produce high-quality data and the logical, sequential nature means it is well-liked by executives and project managers, but rigid and disciplined processes that leave the client out until the very end are not as attractive to project team members and clients.
Waterfall ON SALESFORCE
Waterfall relies on dates and sequences, and reporting on object relationships with a combination of standard and custom fields is likely to be straightforward. Displaying a visual representation of the project is a programmatic solution, but custom visualforce does make it possible to view a project schedule including phases and tasks with dependencies from one page instead of clicking-through multiple detail pages, reports, list views, and related lists to get the right information. Gantt charts are a feature of many of the AppExchange apps shown on the ‘Compare Solutions’ page.
Methodologies
Methodologies Overview
A foundational system of methods, principles, and rules for project work. They leverage time-tested processes to form a foundation that is open to tailoring according the organizations specific needs including:
- Industry
- Preference
- Regulatory practices
- Contractual obligation
Functions
- Readymade templates
- Training materials
- Best practice recommendations
- Data-driven & experience supported resources
- A global community of experts
KPIs and Impacts
- Process Standardization
- Organizational Knowledge
- Portfolio Development
- Non-Standard Proposals
- Time To Customize
- Time To Make Decisions
Best Practices
Methodologies provide a basis for short and long-term success by adding security and providing guidance. Modifying instead of creating assets is significantly less burdensome and the benefits of collaboration can clear the way for positive outcomes. The decision to use a prescribed methodology will have a long-lasting downstream impact on future projects and team members by establishing repeatable processes that make it easier to manage changing or shifting circumstances for individual projects and contribute to improving the body of knowledge across all projects.
Methodologies Overview ON SALESFORCE
There are AppExchange solutions for all the most popular project methodologies, and those that are native to Salesforce can be configured to your unique business needs. Not all solutions will support all methodologies so look for one that supports the methodology you want, or an app like Cloud Coach that supports multiple methodologies.
PPM
PPM
Scaled Agile Framework
Scaled Agile Framework is a set of organization and workflow patterns intended to guide organizations in scaling lean and agile practices. This framework seeks to address the problems encountered when scaling beyond a single team. It was developed by leveraging three bodies of knowledge: agile software development, lean product development, and systems thinking.
Functions
- Lean portfolio management
- Agility through the organization
- Enterprise solution delivery
- Promotes culture of learning
- Agile product delivery
KPIs and Impacts
- Lean Operations
- Process Improvement
- Stability at Handoff/Transition
- Time to Complete
- Project Fulfillment Time
Best Practices
Scaled Agile Framework is based on the ideas of agile development, lean, and systems thinking which applies its principles, benefits, and values to the wider enterprise. As many organizations begin to recognize the need for more adaptability and abilities to detect and respond to changes in the market, they look to adopt a tool that encompasses a scaled agile framework within their solution. By leveraging the quickness and flexibility of agile, and combining it with lean development, you create efficiencies and link strategy to execution at every level of the organization.
Scaled Agile Framework ON SALESFORCE
Using an Agile solution such as Salesforce’s ‘Agile Accelerator’ combined with either custom objects or a PPM solution like Cloud Coach will allow you to build your Scaled Agile Framework on the Salesforce platform.
PPM
Stage Gate
A technique to manage project activities by dividing work into groups or phases punctuated by decision points that unlock the next group or phase of work, also known as a phase gate. Senior Leadership evaluates the project to pass or fail the gate review and possible decision outcomes include: go, kill, hold, or recycle.
Functions
- Sets data-driven benchmarks
- Performance drives advance/terminus
KPIs and Impacts
- Analytics & Reporting Efficiency
- Project Optimization
- Lean Operations
- Cost of Failure
- Over-Servicing
Best Practices
Using performance-based gates to ensure outcomes are aligned with indicators of success works as an early warning system. Projects that are unlikely to result in success, as determined by the indicators defined by the organization, are pruned before they become problematic so that activities that have shown potential for positive outcomes are better able to thrive. Because decisions offer more than simply “go” or “no-go” even work that comes from a terminated project can be recycled or put on hold.
Stage Gate ON SALESFORCE
Using approval processes in Salesforce will allow for board-based approval for these gated checkpoints. The logic behind unlocking records when a gate is passed can be complex, making a custom build difficult. Apps like Cloud Coach have Stage Gate functionality inbuilt to their solutions.
PPM
Scenario Planning
Scenario planning is about making informed decisions about the future and running simulations to see what might be the best path forward for the business in terms of project selection. Specifically, scenario planning is identifying a specific set of uncertainties, different “scenarios” of what might happen in the future of your business.
Functions
- Create flexible long-term plans
- Account for uncertainties
- Identify key drivers of change
- Determine implications of each scenario
KPIs and Impacts
- Organizational Effectiveness
- Outcome Predictability
- Cost of Failure
- Inefficiency
Best Practices
A scenario planning tool should provide managers with the ability to capture a large range of possibilities through identifying issues, trends, and uncertainties of current and future projects. The solution should be able to identify patterns and highlight issues where the project could run off schedule or go over budget. By utilizing a tool that allows you to account for multiple scenarios in the future, your organization will be more prepared to adapt to change, rather than get disrupted by it.
Scenario Planning ON SALESFORCE
Scenario planning involves a series of objects to capture resource and financial impacts along with the ability to visualize the data through reporting, dashboards and lightning components. Leveraging an AppExchange app like Cloud Coach is the best way to run scenarios on Salesforce.
PPM
Demand Intake
The prioritization and management of project intake by resource or organizational demands and relationships to strategic organizational goals. The value created for the organization might be capital, operational, or informational by balancing the triple constraints: scope, schedule, and budget.
Functions
- Formal Intake Process
- Evaluate for strategic fitness
- Prioritize competing projects
- Determine downstream benefit
KPIs and Impacts
- Asset Utilization
- Process Standardization
- Portfolio Optimization
- Backlog Volume
- Unrealized Revenue
- Time To Make Decisions
Best Practices
A formal demand management process that collects standardized data about a project before it begins will help to determine how that project fits with the existing body of projects and how it contributes to the strategic goals of the organization. By building this efficiency into the intake process, it ensures that projects are designed with success in mind.
Demand Intake ON SALESFORCE
The standard Salesforce data model doesn’t include an intake form in order to manage demands using records, so those using a formal Demand Management process will either create a Project Intake/Request object so that individual intake forms can be entered OR a use a standard object like the case record. In either situation, a register or log should be used to track the requests and decisions, then related to a project when appropriate. This functionality can be handled by solutions like Cloud Coach out of the box.
PPM
Strategic Goals
Strategic goals are the specific financial and non-financial objectives and results a company aims to achieve over a specific period of time, usually the next three to five years. Strategic goals are often a combination of “hard” (measurable) and “soft” (unmeasurable) goals and can involve customers, employees, and/or stakeholders.
Functions
- Identify opportunity
- Track business efforts against goals
- Identification of strategic issues
- Quantitative or qualitative
KPIs and Impacts
- Lean Operations
- Process Standardization
- Process Improvement
- Wasteful Spend
Best Practices
With strategic planning and goal setting, there is no “one-size-fits-all” approach for all organizations. Companies that achieve and gain the most from reaching their strategic goals follow a structured and organized process to identify and consider potential strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. Some best practices for strategic-planning activities include:
- Evaluating goals from the short, medium, and long term
- Refresh, reinvent, and stimulate the questions and conversations surrounding your strategic goals (bring in new ideas)
- Engage and leverage new and diverse stakeholders
- Enforce execution and progression of turning strategic goals into strategic results
Strategic Goals ON SALESFORCE
There is no standard strategic goals component in Salesforce, so vendors like Cloud Coach have solved this by creating an area to capture these and then tie them to initiatives like Projects and Portfolios, which in turn allows for reporting of alignment to Strategic Goals across the organization.
PPM
Portfolios & Programs
A portfolio is a group of different programs and/or projects within the same organization, which may be related or unrelated to one another, whereas a program is defined as a group of projects that seek to achieve a shared outcome, and are often managed and coordinated as a group.
Functions
- Prioritize and fund initiatives
- Ensure resource capacity and availability
- Controlling interdependencies between projects
- Ensure program-level goals are met
- Centralization
- Real-time analytics to measure and manage your projects and resources
- Strategic planning
- Roadmapping
KPIs and Impacts
- Portfolio Development
- Time to Analyze Information
Best Practices
In order for an organization to correctly structure their PPM efforts, they need to first understand the hierarchy and management overlap that occurs within Project Portfolio Management. At the highest level, portfolios are the collection of certain projects, programs or even portfolios that are being collectively managed as a group to achieve strategic objectives; while programs are the collection of similar projects that have similar desired value or expected outcomes. Typically, a project manager would be responsible for the day-to-day management in ensuring a project’s delivery, whereas a program manager would be more concerned with the strategic alignment of these projects, and how support can be provided to those project managers. At the highest level, portfolio managers are focused on the coordination between their programs, so they can stay on track and ensure the organization is reaching their strategic goals.
Portfolios & Programs ON SALESFORCE
While you could create a custom field on a project or a custom object to track portfolio information, you are unlikely to realize the true value of PPM on Salesforce without utilizing a third-party solution like Cloud Coach.
PPM
PPM Overview
Project Portfolio Management (PPM) is the centralized management of the processes, methods, and technologies used by portfolio managers and project management offices to analyze and collectively manage current or proposed projects based on numerous key characteristics. The purpose of PPM is to give the organization’s executives and managers the ability to see the big picture and provide oversight to manage any competing resources between related or unrelated projects.
Functions
- Scope, change, and quality management
- Manage risk
- Predictive capabilities
- Resource allocation and management
- Manage and visualize budget
- Increased success in project delivery
KPIs and Impacts
- Analytics & Reporting Efficiency
- Portfolio Optimization
- Project Optimization
- Time to Make Decisions
- Cost of Failure
Best Practices
As organizations move to institutionalized portfolio management practices, they need to utilize a solution that allows them to quickly evaluate all current projects and resources, work through a PMO with centralized project processes and project oversight, adhere to project evaluation criteria, and follow a risk management strategy. PPM tools offer functionality that will allow you to do things like capture demand from your business, organize portfolios, perform cost vs. benefit analysis, manage approvals, and track project execution to achieve a full 360 degree view of your business.
PPM Overview ON SALESFORCE
Salesforce, being a multipurpose platform, supporting use cases such as client lifecycles from Marketing Cloud through to presales and post sales activities within Sales and Service Cloud, makes Salesforce a massive ecosystem of data that can impact the strategic direction of project initiatives. With project demand potentially coming from sales opportunities(Sales Cloud Opportunities), Operation teams (Service Cloud Cases), and more; housing your system in support of the PMO, maintaining the alignment of these initiatives on Salesforce can be very advantageous. The advanced needs of a true PPM tend to only be achievable with an enterprise grade solution, it’s unlikely to be something you could create custom.
Initiation
Initiation
Automated Creation
The process described when pre-defined criteria are used to trigger the creation of a new project. This removes work that is tedious, repeatable, and requires little critical thinking and frees up time and thought-capacity for more meaningful activities.
Functions
- Low Control
- High Efficiency
KPIs and Impacts
- Process Standardization
- Resource Efficiency
- Project Optimization
- Time To Make Decisions
- Time To Customize
Best Practices
Automating repeatable activities is recommended for repeatable projects with low variability. This method offers a high degree of efficiency and is encouraged when creating from a template and the criteria are simple. Characteristics of these projects include well-defined scope, known requirements, standardized processes, or produce an established output.
Automated Creation ON SALESFORCE
Automating the creation of records is part of the standard power of Salesforce. Using Processes and Flows that are triggered by specific criteria, projects can be deployed in a matter of moments without human intervention. For example, when a Sales Rep marks their Opportunity status as ‘Closed – Won’ a new project is launched. Important values can be carried over into the project at the time of creation and the tedious details are already in place by the time it reaches a project manager. Tools like Cloud Coach make it even easier to create projects with all the phases and tasks from a single template or à la carte by phases from across templates to create a unified and unique project.
Initiation
One-off Projects
The process described when human intervention is required, due to skill or judgment, for producing a new one off or ad hoc project. Creating something “from scratch” offers more flexibility in the foundational structure of the plan; from the budget to schedule the resources.
High Control
Low Efficiency
Functions
- High Control
- Low Efficiency
KPIs and Impacts
- Estimate Accuracy
- Activity Effectiveness
- Cost of Failure
- Unrealized Revenue
Best Practices
One off projects offer a high degree of flexibility and the characteristics of these projects typically include undefined scope, unknown requirements, or produce a net-new output. One off projects are typically the playground of a trusted and experienced project owner or change agent, and granting the authority to step into the unknown and off the prescribed path can be both brave and risky.
One-off Projects ON SALESFORCE
‘Ad Hoc’ or one-off project creation is supported by almost, if not all the available project management and PSA solutions that are available on the Salesforce AppExchange, with one-off projects ranging from a single record on the simple end to thousands of project tasks on the more complex side.
Initiation
Project Charter
Provides authorization for a project to be initiated, sets goal, defines scope, and sanctions activities to begin and resources to be used. This document will influence the plan and output of the project for the duration of the project lifecycle so it should provide a succinct description of the goal, scope, and stakeholders.
Functions
- Authorize project
- Identify Stakeholders
- Grant authority to Project Manager
- Define high-level requirements
KPIs and Impacts
- Collaboration / Communication
- Asset Utilization
- Stability at Handoff / Transition
- Discovery Time
- Time To Make Decisions
Best Practices
Authorization for a project can be formal or informal; an example of a formal document is a standalone Project Charter artifact, though it is common to see authorization granted by an informal project charter in the form of an invoice, a contract or bill of sale, or an opportunity. The recommended practice here is to define, by organization, authorization practices tailored by need.
Project Charter ON SALESFORCE
Project Charters on Salesforce can be either individual records that can be entered by a user OR a document that is uploaded to the project as a file. Informal Project Charters might grant authorization and provide scope from other Salesforce records including Opportunity, Quote, or Custom Object record.
Initiation
Templates
A predetermined pattern for the structure of a project, typically including tasks, milestones and deliverables. By capturing best practices and reusing successes, teams are able to update templates to enhance efficiency, optimize workflows, and replicate benefits on projects with a similar output or goal.
Functions
- Streamline processes
- Operationalize successful outcomes
- Improve predictability
- Enhance estimate precision
KPIs and Impacts
- Process Standardization
- Speed of Execution
- Stability at Handoff / Transition
- Non-Standard Proposals
- Processing Time
- Time To Make Decisions
Best Practices
A template adds long-term value by providing stability, consistency, and repeatable processes to project creation and execution. The value added by a template will diminish over time if it is not maintained and kept in alignment with industry, organization, methodology, and project best practices. A template does not belong in a museum; as needs and tools change, the template must adapt to fit.
Templates ON SALESFORCE
Salesforce allows for cloning of records such as a project template. When cloning a record, consideration should be given to managing the relationships of related records as well as accessibility of the “template” and object record types. It should be noted that when a record is cloned, all the fields with values will be cloned as well, so the template should only contain best practice instructions and not data that won’t add value to the new project.
Initiation
Stakeholders
A user or contact who is directly or indirectly related to the activities, outcomes, or deliverables of a project. They can be either internal (like the project manager, team members, and executives) or they can be external (like clients, sponsors, and end users).
Functions
- Make decisions
- Guide activities
- Advise performance
- Determine completion
KPIs and Impacts
- Analytics & Reporting Efficiency
- Collaboration / Communication
- Time To Make Decisions
- Project Fulfillment Time
Best Practices
Managing stakeholders means that communications and relationships are prioritized to the best advantage of the project. Information is both tiered and timed based on the recipient’s power and interest. Sending too frequently or the wrong content can sour a relationship in the same way that not sending enough or content that is mismatched to the skill or interest of the recipient.
Stakeholders ON SALESFORCE
There are two main objects that will be leveraged in order to relate Stakeholders to other records (like Projects) in Salesforce: Contacts and Users. Both are standard to Salesforce and it simplifies using Communities, Chatter, and emails to produce the type of tiered communications that are valuable to relationship building during your project.
Initiation
Scope
The boundaries of a project that define what will be included or excluded from the process and deliverables. Defining scope sets expectations between the client and the business as well as the power and influence that should be given to those who are impacted directly and indirectly in downstream and adjacent positions.
Functions
- Define inclusions
- State explicit exclusions
- Specify known factors
- Prevent scope creep
KPIs and Impacts
- Estimate Accuracy
- Activity Effectiveness
- Project Optimization
- Discovery Time
- Project Fulfillment Time
- Over-Servicing
Best Practices
Defining scope is a process of refining and honing with greater precision over time. By gathering requirements as quickly and completely as possible, the time to refine and iterate is reduced and reduces the overall time to fulfill the deliverables. Scope is not about doing less, it’s about making activities leaner.
Scope ON SALESFORCE
Defining scope requires inputs from other project artifacts like a project charter and requirements so it’s likely that meetings, workshops, focus groups, and questionnaires have already been involved in composing the project. Salesforce is designed for inter-related records and tools like Cloud Coach are available to integrate requirements, files, and documents into the scope of project work.
Initiation
Goals
Goals are the desired outcome of the project’s deliverables and dates, but they are more complex than their simple output. The lifecycle of a goal itself is broken into three parts: defining, seeking, and realizing.
Functions
- Measure progress
- Evaluate performance
- Promote adherence
- Purpose-driven activities
KPIs and Impacts
- Productivity
- Speed of Execution
- Project Optimization
- Project Fulfillment Time
- Time To Make Decisions
- Defects and bugs
Best Practices
Communicating, referencing, and reinforcing a goal that is specific, measurable, and attainable is essential and should provide an answer to who, what, where, when, why, and how for the project. While it seems obvious that the point of setting a goal is to meet it, additional benefit is found in the pursuit. Achievement thinking elevates the focus when multiple people and teams are involved in defining, seeking, and realizing goals together.
Goals ON SALESFORCE
Goals may manifest themselves in different ways in Salesforce such as custom object records, files or attachments, or a text field on a project record with a simple statement. The way the goal is defined and tracked will be different according to project maturity of the organization.
Initiation
Initiation Overview
Initiation is the starting point in the project journey and focuses on creating the right project at the right time, minimizing manual labor and decisions, and following best practices. This is the formal acceptance of a project and details how projects are created, who is involved with them, and naming the project’s basic structure.
Functions
- Authorize project launch
- Guide project creation
- Identify Stakeholders
- Gather Requirements
- Define work
- Plan activities
KPIs and Impacts
- Efficiency
- User Productivity
- Stability at Handoff / Transition
- Time To Make Decisions
- Processing Time
Best Practices
The project schedule, budget, and resources of a project are typically defined and planned during initiation. Foundational elements such as dates, goals, and key players are established in this process to be referenced throughout the life of the project as milestones, baselines, and more.
Initiation Overview ON SALESFORCE
Initiation of a project is often tied to standard Salesforce records and triggered using automation such as process builder, for instance:
- A Campaign to market a Trade Show is approved and launches a new project with all the tasks to prepare, attend, and conclude the event.
- An Opportunity is marked Closed – Won, a template is selected based on the opportunity details, line items, or CPQ records, and a new project is created as a result.
Timelines
Timelines
Checklists
A list of items that are used to spell out the definition of completion. A checklist might appear at the project (macro) or activity (micro) level, and guide the owner of the work to identify steps or process queues to reach completion.
Functions
- Maintain output consistency
- Cut unnecessary training
- Align process across team
KPIs and Impacts
- Outcome Predictability
- Process Standardization
- Over-Servicing
- Time To Customize
Best Practices
We all know that micromanaging hurts teams and checklists occupy the space in-between over and under communicating. Where a project manager assigns work, the selected individual contributor should be trusted with how it will be completed. A checklist provides detail and information to maintain consistent processes and outputs among both new and established team members as well as freeing-up training and audit time for the manager to focus on leading.
Checklists ON SALESFORCE
Project checklists are dynamic and change based on the activity. Because of this, custom checkbox fields are unlikely to provide the kind of flexibility that make a checklist valuable. Using object records for items in a checklist makes more sense, but accessing those records would mean using a related list, or filtering them by task and project in a separate report or list view page. When adding clicks or loading additional pages/reports isn’t a desirable user experience, a third-party solution like Cloud Coach gives checklist access and direct visibility in the user interface.
Timelines
Card
A card is the visual representation of requested, in progress, or completed project work in Kanban methodology. Literally translated, Kanban means visual (kan) card (ban), and individual cards placed on the board display basic task details like name, key dates, and status.
Functions
- Intuitive information display
- Signal demand/production status
KPIs and Impacts
- Productivity
- Collaboration / Communication
- Time To Analyze Information
Best Practices
Cards are used to simplify claiming, actioning, and reporting on project work. Intent and activity should be clear at a glance, though it is common practice for the card to have a front-side with the high-level summary information displayed and a back-side where the granular detail is located. Cards can be a physical item that is manually moved or passed, or they can be digital.
Card ON SALESFORCE
Using the Kanban native to Salesforce, cards are displayed in groups and summarized. Preliminary configuration for visualizing and managing cards by a System Administrator is needed, and additional settings must be chosen by the user. For those looking for more advanced ways to interact with cards this capability is available in several of the AppExchange apps.
Timelines
User Story
A user story is used to gather requirements on a project using the Agile / Scrum methodology. Taken from the user perspective, it describes a requirement and the current limitations in the form of simple, need based statements commonly added to Cards to be prioritized and managed by the project.
Functions
- Self-contained
- Delivers end-user value
- Summarizes essence of needs
- Room for negotiation/solutions
KPIs and Impacts
- Collaboration / Communication
- Backlog Volume
- Over-Servicing
Best Practices
User stories come directly from end-users, so they seek to gather accurate requirements and allow the subject matter experts to find creative solutions without locking them in to a certain path or output. They cut out the layers that may dilute a story as it passes through different hands by putting the needs of the end-user in front of the project team in its most concentrated form.
User Story ON SALESFORCE
The data modeling capabilities native to Salesforce make capturing both requirements and user stories customizable, and the fields on objects that capture this information are equally so. Lookup relationships between these objects enable transparency in communications and reporting capabilities.
Timelines
Kanban Board
A Kanban board is a tool to visualize work with cards in columns headers that distinguish status values such as To Do, Work In Progress, that are to be managed on a project. Boards are used to govern the release of available activities, make work in progress collaborative, and optimize workflows for efficiency.
Functions
- Intuitive and user-friendly
- Simplifies data collection
- Collaborative ethos
KPIs and Impacts
- Lean Operations
- Analytics & Reporting Efficiency
- Employee Satisfaction
- Service / Support Costs
Best Practices
If data maintenance and accuracy is a struggle, a Kanban Board makes entering basic information easy. The act of moving a card to a new column claims the work by someone and updates it’s status and that rolls up to the project level. The data collected here is simple and basic, and if additional data is needed, then additional interface optimization will streamline click-paths and workflows to ensure data collection is balanced with user behavior.
Kanban Board ON SALESFORCE
While a standard Salesforce list view will allow a user to see records in a Kanban view, they are however driven from picklist values which may well not be optimal for more experienced project organization. Additionally, it is not possible to group records by formula fields which make the usability of this Kanban challenging. There are however on the Salesforce AppExchange, tools that provide feature rich Kanban boards including the functionality not available in a list view, with many more usability features baked in.
Timelines
Critical Path
The longest sequence of scheduled activities to determine the shortest duration of the project. The tasks that formulate this sequence are on the Critical Path. In simple terms, if any of these tasks expand in duration the project’s duration will also expand by the same amount.
Functions
- Strategize change management
- Prioritize task management
- Enhance schedule understanding
KPIs and Impacts
- Analytics & Reporting Efficiency
- Outcome Predictability
- Time To Respond
- Time To Make Decisions
Best Practices
Tasks on the Critical Path have the individual power to make or break project success. The Critical Path helps to prioritize the management of critical tasks to ensure that the project baseline is maintained. All tasks are important, but the Critical Path gives project managers more insight to individuate a response strategy.
Critical Path ON SALESFORCE
The Critical Path is found using calculations that seek to find and evaluate the space between one task and another and using formulae to perform calculations is exactly the kind of thing Salesforce excels at. However building a formula that looks at estimated dates for tasks in dependent relationships, sometimes with multiple predecessors or successors, is complex, and leveraging an existing AppExchange solution like Cloud Coach will give a much quicker time to value.
Timelines
Dependency
A dependency is the relationship between two tasks when action or activity on one determines key dates for the other. Start and finish dates of the task are the focus of the relationship between a predecessor and successor activity with logical relationships. Task dependencies come in four types (shown below in order of common use):
- Finish to Start – Task B can only start when Task A is complete
- Start to Start – Task B can only start when Task A starts
- Finish to Finish – Task B can only finish when Task A finishes
- Start to Finish – Task B can only finish when Task A starts
Functions
- Create downstream sightlines
- Link tasks in a logical relationship
KPIs and Impacts
- Outcome Predictability
- Analytics & Reporting Efficiency
- Time To Customize
Best Practices
Operationalizing dependent relationships between tasks means that estimates are more accurate and predictability is increased. The timing between related tasks combined with managing the resources associated with them as well as the interplay between start and end dates and how they relate to budget and people requires a big picture view and dependencies provide essential granularity.
Dependency ON SALESFORCE
Though relationships between records are possible in Salesforce, dependencies use multiple types of logical relationships between tasks which are best represented in third-party apps from the AppExchange. For example, if a task changes and triggers a recalculation on the predecessor and successor tasks, the manner or order in which the project is re-calculated based on those logical relationships.
Timelines
WBS
WBS stands for Work Breakdown Structure and is a project artifact that is composed of a list of project activities split into digestible bites. The goal is to create smaller and smaller pieces before stopping at the smallest level that could reasonably be managed to. This process is known as decomposition.
Functions
- Organize work
- Facilitate schedule development
- Estimates effort
- Identify blockers/hurdles
KPIs and Impacts
- Project Optimization
- Collaboration / Communication
- Estimate Accuracy
- Time To Find Experts
- Time To Make Decisions
- Over-Servicing
Best Practices
The decomposition process inherently raises the overall knowledge of the project and closes gaps. Experts are able to spot possible risks or issues and accurately estimate and advise on the activities in the project and, as that knowledge is handed off to the project manager and the team, the overall skill level and knowledge is improved. Predictability helps to stabilize delivery and the WBS actively seeks it.
WBS ON SALESFORCE
Decomposition of a project on Salesforce can be viewed in a couple of ways, the most common being where the WBS is integrated in an AppExchange app on the schedule/plan visualization or report. Alternatively if the WBS is considered an additional project artifact, it might be uploaded as a file so that the document can be accessed in the project’s document repository.
Timelines
Gantt
A Gantt is a time-based bar chart used to illustrate a schedule in a graphical output. It helps with planning, coordination, and project or task management. The bars on a Gantt represent projects, phases, or tasks and are associated with units of time.
Functions
- Show relationship between work and time
- View plan/schedule
- Manage work
- Collect data
KPIs and Impacts
- Activity Effectiveness
- User Productivity
- Time To Analyze Information
- Project Fulfillment Time
Best Practices
A project, by definition, is time-bound in nature and it makes sense to display work as it relates to time so that team members can see the value of their work in the overall scheme. By using a visual representation of a project’s timeline, a Gantt provides an at-a-glance view that helps users see project status quickly and easily. This type of standardization breeds efficiency into the day-to-day functions of the project.
Gantt ON SALESFORCE
There is no standard gantt reporting component in Salesforce, so vendors like Cloud Coach have solved this by creating visual user interfaces. These interfaces as well as visually representing the traditional single project view, also allow for visualization across multiple projects either at the whole project level or on a more granular basis such as assigned tasks by the user.
Timelines
Timelines Overview
Timelines are where the time-constrained project work is found. They are all about tracking what tasks or activities need to happen when what tasks are dependent upon others and encompass the planned activities in a time-bound body of work. Timelines apply to all projects regardless of project methodology that is being run.
Functions
- Display project information
- View plan/schedule
- Manage work
- Collect data
KPIs and Impacts
- Analytics & Reporting Efficiency
- Project Engagement
- Time To Analyze Information
- Time To Make Decisions
Best Practices
Timelines allow project work to be managed from a single view to progress the project toward completion. The preferred display of Project Timelines is different for everyone and can be based on methodology, individual, organization, or industry. Ultimately, this display should align with both task management while gathering task data that enables current and future project success. Upfront, they are used to complete work, but the unspoken and equally important use is to progress toward the end goal.
Timelines Overview ON SALESFORCE
Timelines come alive on Salesforce with the ability to visualize and interact with timelines in modern agile boards or more traditional waterfall gantt charts, allowing users to be able to view the entire data model for a project in a single page instead of using individual records, or multiple reports.
Resources
Resources
Time Tracking
Time tracking keeps track of the hours spent on individual tasks, on the project as a whole and on any other work one of your team is doing such as support work. Diligent time tracking results in visibility across the organization to help you assess the accuracy of work estimates and the effectiveness of your employees.
Functions
- Track time against anything in Salesforce
- Be reminded on what you spent time on
- Multiple ways to enter time
- View weekly timesheet summaries
- Route and approve completed timesheets
KPIs and Impacts
- Analytics & Reporting Efficiency
- Estimate Accuracy
- Process Improvement
- Over-Servicing
- Cost of Billing
Best Practices
While tracking time is often one of an employee’s least favorite aspects of the workday, it is extremely important for the organization to track their performance to measure against set KPIs. To get the most accurate time data at the executive level, it is crucial to leverage a time tracking tool that will drive user adoption and encourage your end-users to correctly and promptly enter in time.
Time Tracking ON SALESFORCE
Time can be tracked, rolled-up, and reported on against any object or record in Salesforce. Solutions on the Appexchange can provide some additional functionality such as providing multiple ways to enter time, routing approvals, exporting timesheets into another system, or dynamically rating time entries. Some types of businesses are completely dependent on tracking time and need to leverage a solution that will allow them to gather accurate data from their end users. Some examples of time tracking dependent businesses are:
- Professional services teams
- Organizations with hourly employees
- Companies working with freelancers
- Businesses that use cost-plus pricing
Resources
Capacity Planning
Capacity planning is a process that balances the available hours of teams against the forward looking needs of the business. Capacity is the most work that can be done over a certain timeframe.
Functions
- Balancing demand
- Selection of work
- Assignment through skills and competencies
- Upcoming capacity by month
- View as a percentage of capacity
KPIs and Impacts
- Analytics & Reporting Efficiency
- Asset Utilization
- Estimate Accuracy
- Outcome Predictability
- Resource Efficiency
- Backlog Volume
- Over-servicing
- Time to Analyze Information
- Time to Make Decisions
Best Practices
Capacity planning is often done at a strategic level, by the project and resource managers who decide on the work or projects the business can take on. Utilizing a project management tool with resourcing capacity capabilities that allow you to make resourcing decisions based on available hours, skills, and competencies of your resource pool will help prevent the likeliness of unplanned issues, roadblocks, and missing skills.
Capacity Planning ON SALESFORCE
Before an organization takes on any additional work or projects, you first need to evaluate whether or not you have the capacity, or the resources, to do the work. To successfully measure and track your organization’s capacity within Salesforce, we suggest leveraging a resource management tool from the Appexchange that will provide insights on metrics such as:
- Upcoming capacity by month
- Filtering by skill type
- Viewing the percentage of total capacity remaining
Resources
Resource Load
Resource load is the summation of the allocation of manpower, equipment, or material necessary for the completion of an assignment as scheduled. As a project manager, understanding your team or organization’s resource load allows you to effectively plan out the optimal way to utilize and distribute those resources in order for the project to be successful.
Functions
- Creating visibility
- Visualize available capacity
- Optimize assigned resources
- Plan based on future capacity
KPIs and Impacts
- Asset Utilization
- Resource Efficiency
- Backlog Volume
- Time to Make Decisions
Best Practices
Visualizing your resource load through a resource management solution gives you a realistic view of both demand and capacity in order to deliver on projects. When you assign the right resources to the right work at the right time, you determine your true resource availability and are able to spot problems earlier, connect strategy to execution, and manage and prioritize work to set accurate expectations with your stakeholders.
Resource Load ON SALESFORCE
Visualizing your resource load in Salesforce gives you a thorough understanding of and transparency into your objectives and capacity. Oftentimes resource load and available capacity can be visualized through reports and dashboards in Salesforce at the task level by comparing estimates. However, through a solution on the Appexchange, you can expand into real time resource loading and visualize the availability of resources at the organizational level, not just at the task level. Top Salesforce solutions should allow you to:
- See all your users or filter by team, skill, etc.
- View availability in a color-coded resource load chart or graphic
- Drill into users to see more of what they are assigned and working on
Resources
Assignments
An assignment is a task or piece of work assigned to someone as part of a job or project. Assignments may range in time length from an hour or less up to weeks or even months
Functions
- Individual or bulk assignment
- Templatize task assignments
- Automate assignment
- Assign to existing projects or during creation
KPIs and Impacts
- Activity Effectiveness
- Analytics and Reporting Efficiency
- Resource Efficiency
- Over-Allocation of Resources
- Backlog Volume
Best Practices
Planning and executing projects requires the alignment of many moving parts and pieces. The human resources on a project must be planned for and assigned to the right tasks at the right time to ensure the successful delivery of products, services, or results. Assigning resources to deliverables and tasks is the most efficient when users can easily visualize and access the work assigned to them. To ensure workload visibility within teams and organizations, it is important to utilize a tool where users can have an individual view of their future assignments.
Assignments ON SALESFORCE
The assignment of a resource on Salesforce is primarily driven by Salesforce users being the owner of a record, through a lookup to Users or Contacts, that represents work to be completed. These can be assigned at the time of creation for both manual project creation and automated creation from a template. Salesforce reporting can be a valuable tool to surface visibility across users and the work they are assigned so a resource manager can then make the best assignments due to the added visibility.
Resources
Skill Matrix & Capabilities
The skills matrix of your organization is a way for you to define all the skills that people in your company possess (or you would like them to possess). Capabilities are the assignment of individuals to the skills matrix and display people’s proficiency in specific skills and knowledge in regards to the business. In order to properly evaluate what projects your team is capable of, you first need to know what each team member can handle through a visual skills matrix.
Functions
- Map project tasks to skills for resource assignment
- Create skills to match your business
- Add secondary skills and work types
- Drive capacity planning with assignments
KPIs and Impacts
- Asset Utilization
- Estimate Accuracy
- Resource Efficiency
- Time to Analyze Information
- Time to Make Decisions
Best Practices
Skill Matrices and Capabilities are used to give project and resource managers more visibility and flexibility into managing and assigning their resources. The best approach for leveraging a skill matrix is to match your business’s unique requirements through creating custom work roles, and then further specializing them through secondary skills for more dynamic resource assignment. Ensure your resource management tool allows you to map your resources to multiple work-types and skills, which will enhance your capacity planning and give you more secondary options as a manager.
Skill Matrix & Capabilities ON SALESFORCE
Project managers are able to utilize skill matrices and capabilities to match any resource’s roles, skills, or knowledge to a corresponding project, task, or assignment. When evaluating project management and PSA tools on Salesforce, there is some functionality you should consider:
- Mapping your project tasks to your skills
- Ability to create custom work roles
- Deeper resource planning with secondary skills
- Driving capacity planning with assignments
- Creating skills that match your unique business
Resources
Resources Overview
In project management, resources are required to carry out the project tasks. While resources can be people, equipment, facilities, funding, required for the completion of a project activity, by far the most common type of resource is the human resource aka people
Functions
- Track skills, availability, and capacity
- Define your resources
- Assign resources to work
- Plan and execute on assignments
KPIs and Impacts
- Resource Efficiency
- Resource Utilization*
- Labor Resources on the Bench
- Labor Resources on the Bench
Best Practices
Optimizing your resources through proper resource management allows your organization to always prioritize high value work with your current availability of resources. In order to have effective resource management, you need to leverage a tool that will deliver the functionality needed for project and resource managers to plan and execute their projects. Ensure your tool is capable of capacity and demand management, resource utilization, and can track both time and progress.
Resources Overview ON SALESFORCE
A resource on Salesforce can be anything that is needed to execute a task or project, such as a user with a specific skill set. Resources are often tagged against Salesforce records to track what is assigned and planned for. Having an effective resourcing tool as part of your project management solution can help you troubleshoot gaps or problems before they happen, avoid overallocation and build visibility across your team
Documents
Documents
Lessons Learned
The advancement of knowledge through the execution of project activities for the improvement of similar projects or processes in the future. Lessons Learned should be logged through the duration of the project and stored in a project-based log as well as the master repository of Lessons Learned.
Functions
- Future-proofing
- Provide accountability
- Benefits from failure
KPIs and Impacts
- Organizational Knowledge
- Process Improvement
- Service / Support Costs
Best Practices
Lessons can be learned at any point in a project and documenting them allows other people to learn through the experience, whether it was shared or not. Retrospectives and post-mortems are a normal part of the close out process, lessons should be logged organically throughout the duration of the project, not only at predetermined checkpoints.
Lessons Learned ON SALESFORCE
Because there is likely to be a Lessons Learned Log on an individual project, as well as a repository of all Lessons Learned org-wide, using a custom object to display these makes sense. It would be as simple as relating the individual record to a project to establish the log, with the sum of all records accessible from a list view.
Documents
Status Reports
A document to inform stakeholders about current project conditions. A status report works to summarize and synthesize critical project information regarding the budget, schedule, resources, and controls to create a snapshot of the project at a moment in time.
Functions
- Inform stakeholders
- Raise risks/issues
- Showcase progress
- Create accountability
KPIs and Impacts
- Project Optimization
- Process Standardization
- Time To Configure
Best Practices
Status reports are often presented during a project status meeting which occur on a fixed cadence. A status report looks at the current status of the project to tell a story about progression toward the goal. The contents of this report will be a combination of data and analysis so that an accurate picture of the project can be represented here.
Status Reports ON SALESFORCE
Reports in Salesforce are powerful, and reporting across multiple objects based on their relationships is part of the core functionality. Combining multiple reports in a dashboard for a visual display can help deliver important details and trends at a glance. Because of the extensibility of the Salesforce platform, more opportunities for displaying and exporting a uniquely formatted Status Report are opened up with the use of lightning components.
Documents
Audit Trail
Details the life of an artifact from creation/upload to viewership and offers version control. This sequenced log of meaningful interactions traces and tracks any additions and modifications to a single artifact through the course of the project.
Functions
- Provide transparency
- Offer version control
- Maintain accuracy
KPIs and Impacts
- Analytics & Reporting Efficiency
- Process Standardization
- Processing Time
Best Practices
As knowledge about the project grows, it makes sense that not only will additional artifacts be added, but existing artifacts are developed, experiencing modification of their own. An audit trail is the system of checks and balances that log reflects who made the change and what change was made so that it can be rolled back to an earlier version if needed.
Audit Trail ON SALESFORCE
Because there are two types of artifacts for projects in Salesforce, records and files, there are different processes for auditing each. The audit trail for a record can be found in the [Object] History related list or in an [Object] History report. If a file is added to a record, the record’s audit log will show that a file was added to the record, but it won’t display the audit trail for the file, itself. Files uploaded to a record will have their own audit trail available; showing the file details, versions, security, views, and downloads. File information is also available via the File and Content Report type.
Documents
Artifacts
Anything that needs to be recorded as part of a project is an artifact. Artifacts cannot be the project itself but are the collection of documents and files that make up the project. They’re used to form foundations, set goals or benchmarks, and some will continue to grow throughout the project’s life.
Functions
- Present data/document/presentation
- Register related image/audio/video
- Archive
- Code
KPIs and Impacts
- Project Optimization
- Stability at Handoff / Transition
- Service / Support Costs
Best Practices
Artifacts are all the things that support a project from the Charter to status reports to meeting minutes. Because of the way that artifacts contribute to the completion of a project, they should be aggregated to enable referential access for the duration of the project. It is likely that the volume of artifacts on a single project will increase throughout its lifecycle, and effective organization techniques are recommended for diligent documentors.
Artifacts ON SALESFORCE
Artifacts might be files or attachments on a record and the security model in Salesforce will determine who is able to upload, audit, and view uploaded files. In addition to an external file, an artifact might be a Salesforce record itself or even the chatter on a record. Both files and related records should roll up under the project for transparency, reportability, and reference purposes.
Documents
RACI
Managing stakeholders is an experience that should be tailored to each individual. RACI creates a matrix that can be used to account for power, interest, and role in order to fit project communications for the audience. RACI stands for Responsible, Accountable, Consult, and Inform.
Functions
- Audience-specific content
- Quantity of communication governance
- Build relationships
KPIs and Impacts
- Collaboration / Communication
- Asset Utilization
- Time To Find Experts
Best Practices
RACI is used to optimize Stakeholder management and communication paths. The chart is most valuable to the project manager, stakeholders, and team when it’s stored in a centrally located repository so that it can be referenced as needed. Project communications and stakeholder management are complex but the right tools and practices simplify who gets what information and when.
RACI ON SALESFORCE
Because RACI leverages both internal Users and external Contacts, tagging the records to a project might be complicated. Custom configuration, such as a utility bar item with a custom flow, can be helpful from the user interface side and simplify stakeholder entry. Once they’re added, display in related lists or reports is simple once the records are in place. For those who are using a Project Management tool on-platform, like Cloud Coach, RACI is available out of the box.
Documents
Stakeholder Management
Project Stakeholder Management involves identification of stakeholders, analysis of their expectations and influences, development of appropriate strategies to work with the stakeholders and executing the process. RACI is commonly used with stakeholder management to keep everyone on the same page.
Functions
- Audience-specific content
- Quantity of communication governance
- Build relationships
KPIs and Impacts
- Client Satisfaction
- Organizational Knowledge
- Time to make decisions
Best Practices
Identify your stakeholders as early in your project process as possible, and document everyone’s role. Treat your stakeholders as partners throughout the project lifecycle, by making project information transparent to your stakeholders. As your project progresses you should monitor your stakeholder engagement and adapt as necessary to help ensure a successful conclusion to your project.
Stakeholder Management ON SALESFORCE
Because Stakeholder Management will leverage both internal Users and external Contacts, tagging the records to a project might be complicated. Custom configuration, such as a utility bar item with a custom flow, can be helpful from the user interface side and simplify stakeholder entry. Once they’re added, display in related lists or reports is simple once the records are in place. For those who are using a Project Management tool on-platform, like Cloud Coach, Stakeholder Management is available out of the box.
Documents
Meetings
A live discussion producing an agenda, taking minutes, and following up with action items regarding the project or attributes in service of project progress. Meetings are not limited to in-person events and include telecommunications and web-based tools to bridge geographical distances.
Functions
- Status inquiries
- Change management
- Problem-solving
- Brainstorming
- Team building
KPIs and Impacts
- Collaboration / Communication
- Project Engagement
- Discovery Time
- Time To Make Decisions
Best Practices
Managing events and attendees across multiple projects can be complicated, but effective management can be crucial to the overall success of the project(s). Events can usually be planned, but there may be times when an impromptu session is held. Regardless of the case for the meeting, the result should be the same: documentation that describes the reason, content, and outcome of the meeting.
Meetings ON SALESFORCE
Salesforce does offer some ability to produce meetings, minutes, and action item records on standard objects like Events, and Tasks to manage Activities. Additionally, a calendar can help to plot out a schedule but for users who have purpose-built Project Management tools like Cloud Coach, meeting management that is integrated with the fabric of the project works to maximize meeting productivity.
Documents
Requirements
Requirements are the guard-rails that keep the project on the right track by defining the conditions and capabilities needed to meet the goal. Projects exist to fill a need that is determined by the goal, refined by the scope, and honed by the requirements.
Functions
- Add specificity
- Provide hierarchical texture
- Encourage inventive solutions
- Stimulate something about a project
KPIs and Impacts
- Collaboration / Communication
- Project Engagement
- Project Fulfillment Time
Best Practices
In order for the correct solution to be applied, the problem must be thoroughly understood. Gathering requirements is integral to project delivery to make sure that solutions are in alignment with goals and expectations. Solutions may come in all shapes and sizes, the one that will work best for the project will match the problem.
Requirements ON SALESFORCE
Requirements might be captured in a text field, but will be more trackable if standalone records are used. A third-party project management-specific app, like Cloud Coach, will have a way to manage the Requirements records for a project and make reporting on project Requirements an integrated experience for users and clients.
Documents
Documents Overview
Documents are a designated digital or physical space to collect and store artifacts, records and files for a single project, including (but not limited to) meeting minutes, requirements, specifications, status reports and lessons learned.
Functions
- Centralize project collaboration points
- Preserve auditable supporting content
- Keep project team aligned
- Add specificity
KPIs and Impacts
- Revenue per Project
- Client Satisfaction
- Over-Servicing
- Time to Complete
Best Practices
Each project is unique, so it follows that each project should have a repository to contain the artifacts relating it such as documents, presentations, meeting minutes, and links for archival reference. A hub for collaboration on project artifacts. All supporting project documents are curated and archived. These artifacts live in a repository and provide a single source of truth. Though communication methods vary by channel, the volume and content must be fit to the recipient.
A repository provides appropriate access to project documents and keeps team members working toward the common goal. Because the document repository offers an audit trail, accurate versions can be referenced or updated as needed, ensuring transparency and alignment. A document repository means that everyone is working from the same set of goals, definitions, and rules to make communication misfires less likely.
Documents Overview ON SALESFORCE
Your document repository on Salesforce typically consists of both records (for items like requirements) and files / links for physical documents. Files can be stored in a couple of ways in Salesforce; uploading files directly to a record or entering the URL for an external cloud storage solution. Uploading files directly in Salesforce is a great solution because it’s on-platform and the team doesn’t have to navigate from the project to find supporting information. However, storage on Salesforce is limited by default though upgrades can be purchased. Because of this, external storage is common and apps to integrate a 3rd party solution in the Salesforce UI are available on the AppExchange. This type of solution will require additional consideration to document access and security to ensure document access and record access are aligned.
Controls
Controls
Punch List
A list of work or corrections to work that must be completed in order to close out and handoff a completed project. These lists provide the final validation of deliverables and corrections compiled between a business and client.
Functions
- Identify errors/defects
- Mutually agreed upon corrections
- Ensure quality
KPIs and Impacts
- Stability at Handoff / Transition
- Client Satisfaction
- Service / Support Costs
Best Practices
Punch lists are most effective when generated at the start of a construction project. And though they may see last-minute additions, punch lists are created collaboratively. The client and contractor discuss and determine “must-have” action items. Punch lists offer contractors a window of opportunity to make sure details aren’t forgotten or miscommunicated as a project progresses. If misunderstandings do arise, contractors can resolve them thanks to the punch list and still get paid at the end of the day.
Punch List ON SALESFORCE
Because there is likely to be a unique Punch List on an individual project, as well as Punch List records by the specific owner or group, a unique Punch List Item record type on a custom object to display these makes sense. It would be as simple as relating the individual record to a project to establish the list, with the sum of all records accessible from a list view.
Controls
Defects/bugs
A flaw or weakness detected in a project element or output requiring repair or replacement in order to meet the quality standards or requirements. These can be entered on a scale, prioritized by impact and probability, or ranked by value.
Functions
- Prevent flaws
- Ensure quality
- Test functionality
KPIs and Impacts
- Project Optimization
- Stability at Handoff / Transition
- Service / Support Costs
Best Practices
Failure is a historical event, but Defects and Bugs are current. They can be discovered and corrected at any time during the life of a project, but the best time to seek them is through active, thorough, rigorous testing. While no one wants to produce something that doesn’t function as designed, discovery before the handoff to the client is critical to both project success and business reputation.
Defects/bugs ON SALESFORCE
Because there is likely to be a Defect or Bug Log on an individual project, as well as Defect or Bug records by the specific owner or group, a unique Defect or Bug record type on a custom object to display these makes sense. It would be as simple as relating the individual record to a project to establish the log, with the sum of all records accessible from a list view. Several of the solutions on the AppExchange such as Cloud Coach support ‘Defect’ management out of the box.
Controls
Change Requests
A formal request to alter the scope of a project. Other mechanisms of change (like Issues or Defects) can trigger Change Requests, though it’s lifecycle is the same regardless of origin; the request is submitted, decision-makers determine acceptance or rejection, then communicate the result.
Functions
- Maintain agreements
- Prioritize efficiency
- Manage engagement
- Document entry
KPIs and Impacts
- Collaboration / Communication
- Project Optimization
- Time To Make Decisions
Best Practices
Whatever the reason a change is proposed, the core processes will be the same; submit, decide, and communicate. When submitting a change request, the entry form should be standardized to the best advantage of both the submitters and decision-makers so that upstream and downstream Communications are optimized.
Change Requests ON SALESFORCE
Because there is likely to be a Change Log on an individual project, as well as Change Request records by the specific owner or group, a unique Change Request record type on a custom object to display these makes sense. It would be as simple as relating the individual record to a project to establish the log, with the sum of all records accessible from a list view. Additionally, change requests commonly go through an approval process before they are authorized and actioned as part of the overall project delivery. Several of the solutions on the AppExchange such as Cloud Coach support ‘Change Request’ management out of the box.
Controls
RAID
A specific configuration of change management mechanisms that includes Risks, Assumptions, Issues, and Dependencies. Structuring controls in this way seeks to surface and plan for all the factors that directly or indirectly affect the outcome of the project.
Functions
- Manage influences
- Govern responses
- Shape successful outcomes
KPIs and Impacts
- Collaboration / Communication
- Analytics & Reporting Efficiency
- Time To Analyze Information
- Time To Respond
Best Practices
While RAID seems pretty clear cut, some find that Actions and Decisions instead of Assumptions and Dependencies works better. Ultimately, the nature of Change Management is that there is no single, correct way and practices are meant to be tailored to fit the need. Documenting the things that could, would, should, and did affect the project will lead to better outcomes and accuracy.
RAID ON SALESFORCE
Because there is likely to be an RAID Log on an individual project composed of a view that includes Risk, Assumption, Issue, and Dependency records, a dashboard is recommended to display an overall view. Using components to display each control record type on the dashboard will provide visibility into the records, and additional filtering by project can be applied.
Controls
Dependencies
A relationship between two or more activities that presents a contingency to begin or complete the work. Dependencies can exist between tasks, projects, or external elements and be logical, resource-based, or preference-based.
Functions
- Determine schedule
- Coordinate resources
- Manage changes
KPIs and Impacts
- Process Improvement
- Portfolio Optimization
- Time To Make Decisions
Best Practices
Dependencies exist in both Timelines and Controls. When viewing them through the lens of Controls, we’re using them to make decisions after the planning is complete. Understanding Dependencies for the purpose of better controlling changes means looking beyond the micro, task-level, or predecessor and successor tasks and that the macro, cross-project, or portfolio level is considered.
Dependencies ON SALESFORCE
Because there is likely to be a Dependencies Log on an individual project, as well as Dependency records by the specific owner or group, a unique Dependency record type on a custom object to display these makes sense. It would be as simple as relating the individual record to a project to establish the log, with the sum of all records accessible from a list view. Multiple relationships are encouraged here, including Project/Project, Task/Project, and KPI/Project relationships between records can be created to allow for dexterity in reporting.
Controls
Assumptions
Any presumptive facts used for planning that are considered to be accurate, legitimate, or certain without proof or substantiation. Assumptions might originate from cultural, biological, intellectual, and idiosyncratic information.
Functions
- Plan schedule
- Estimate budget
- Define scope
KPIs and Impacts
- Estimate Accuracy
- Revenue Per Project
- Time To Analyze Information
- Service / Support Costs
Best Practices
Assumptions are the documented thoughts and considerations by the Project Manager, Team Members, or Subject Matter Experts that would have gone unvoiced otherwise. They give an opportunity for the group to benefit from understanding the reasoning operating behind the scenes.
Assumptions ON SALESFORCE
Because there is likely to be an Assumptions Log on an individual project, as well as Assumption records by the specific owner or group, a unique Assumption record type on a custom object to display these makes sense. It would be as simple as relating the individual record to a project to establish the log, with the sum of all records accessible from a list view.
Controls
Issues
Active conditions or situations that affect or might affect project objectives. A part of integrated change management processes, a project is successful because the issues are managed effectively, not because there were no issues to manage.
Functions
- Solve problems
- Address concerns
- Neutralize situations
KPIs and Impacts
- Resource Efficiency
- Revenue Per Project
- Time To Respond
- Time To Make Decisions
Best Practices
Issues share some qualities with Risks and with Lessons Learned, but they sit in a unique space in the Change Management process Where Risks are uncertain, Issues are definite. Where Lessons Learned offer future strategies from failures, Issues require strategic action to reach success. Because of these differences, Issues stand on their own as a project Control for real-time problem-solving.
Issues ON SALESFORCE
Because there is likely to be an Issue Log on an individual project, as well as Issue records by the specific owner or group, a unique Issue record type on a custom object to display these makes sense. It would be as simple as relating the individual record to a project to establish the log, with the sum of all records accessible from a list view. Several of the solutions on the AppExchange such as Cloud Coach support ‘Issue’ management out of the box.
Controls
Risks
Unknowns like these are called risks and make the execution of familiar or repeatable projects different. The word ‘risk’ has a generally negative association in its everyday use, but risks in project management could be positive, too. They’re simply uncertain events, positive or negative, that could impact the project. A risk that will negatively impact project outcomes is a threat and one that will have a positive impact is an opportunity.
Functions
- Prepare for threats
- Accept opportunities
- Future thinking
KPIs and Impacts
- Speed of Execution
- Revenue Per Project
- Time To Respond
- Unrealized Revenue
Best Practices
By definition, risks do not yet exist which makes them more of a theory than a fact. Using the best available knowledge to deploy a strategy, while not a guarantee of success, will increase the chance of a favorable outcome not only for the risk but for the project as a whole. The strategic approach to managing risks leverage the decision-makers’ best judgment in order to minimize/neutralize threats or maximize/amplify opportunities.
Risks ON SALESFORCE
Because there is likely to be a Risk Register on an individual project, as well as Risk records by the specific owner or group, a unique Risk record type on a custom object to display these makes sense. It would be as simple as relating the individual record to a project to establish the register, with the sum of all records accessible from a list view. Several of the solutions on the AppExchange such as Cloud Coach support ‘Risk’ management out of the box.
Controls
Controls Overview
Every project has different conditions and people involved with it that make every project unique. Even when a project is created from a template and uses familiar processes, it will have a mix of unknowns that can get thrown at the project owner. Controls on a project seeks to help juggle variables that come up throughout the life of the project such as change management, risks or issues:
Functions
- Create actionable plans
- Schedule with accuracy
- Account for uniqueness
- Proactive response strategies
KPIs and Impacts
- Project Optimization
- Resource Efficiency
- Processing Time
- Time To Customize
Best Practices
Change control processes, in practices and terminology, are as varied as projects. The most effective way to manage change is through tailoring change management practices to provide strategic action, thoughtful decisions, and process transparency to key stakeholders. They’re ad hoc operations that offer predictability in response, they can be either proactive or reactive, but ultimately seek to defend the plan.
Controls Overview ON SALESFORCE
Project controls are known, repeatable processes that are strategically applied on an as needed basis and because of their variability and repeatability, applying multiple record types to an object will balance the administration of these operations with the functional implementation of them. Objects like Salesforce Tasks or Cases can work for Controls records, but could become an issue with scalability in the long term. The recommendation is to use a solution from the AppExchange that supports controls or to create a custom object to define bespoke business logic and rules for best scalability and sustainable organizational design in the future.
Got Questions?
Talk to a Cloud Coach advisor who can help point you in the right direction
