The Project Task Analysis feature in GrandView (discussed here in November 2007) allows project managers to enter the start/end dates as well as hours estimates and adjustments of chargeable tasks that employees see in their TimeSheet. As employees enter their time and project managers make necessary adjustments to tasks, an accurate status of a project is portrayed. However, there are project and resource loading views that can allow you to realize the full capability of project task analysis outside of just an individual project. These views summarize the project task hours remaining into a monthly forecast per project (project loading) and per employee (resource loading). The accuracy of the summarized information depends heavily on how fined-grained the tasks are defined, the consistent use of project task analysis across projects, and the frequency that the project task and TimeSheet data (actual hours) is updated. Accurate project and resource loading in GrandView can have many benefits.
The project loading view (see below) shows each project that has hours remaining and is not complete. The hours remaining are forecasted 12 months into the future. Alarming in the form of red text is shown for a project with any overdue or overrun tasks. This information shows project completion status and can easily identify projects that are in trouble. Another benefit from the monthly forecast data is the backlog of the work ahead for the company.
Similar to the project loading, the resource loading view (see below) shows an employee's hours remaining forecasted out 12 months. All employees are listed to identify those that are under- or over-utilized. This view can also be used as a resource management tool allowing the company to make informed staffing and hiring decisions.
Chris Engelmann, GrandView Business Solutions Manager