The Project Workflow: An Automatic Progression of Your Project

Project-based companies either don’t have the option or the desire to let a project business system tell them what project tasks to do. This means capacity constraints and networks are often ignored causing schedule disruptions and increasing project risk.

Many project managers are left in the dark about the status of their projects and as a result are not risk ready to mitigate any issues that may arise. Without a project workflow structure in place, it’s difficult to manage complex projects and ensure its successful completion effectively and efficiently.

The Project Workflow in a Generation 3 Project Business System

As part of PlanAutomate, a third-generation project business system, the Project Workflow provides unique capabilities that go beyond other solutions on the market.

Since Generation 1 and 2 systems today do not integrate their project financials and operations, it’s difficult to see how the project workflow has immediate financial implications.

Due to the true integration of a generation 3 system, the Project Workflow has an immediate financial implication. When a specific task is completed, it clears any cost to complete for that task, which can be transferred to the costing sheet.

How the Project Workflow Can Benefit Your Project Business

The Project Workflow is an automatic project task progression system. More specifically, it guides every task of a project in the order it should be completed. When a task is complete, it automatically kicks of the next task, notifying the necessary task owners and stakeholders involved.

The Project Workflow provides:

• Completed work percentage at all levels of the work breakdown structure by comparing the remaining work estimate to actual work posted
• Scheduled progress is tracked based on the workflow status of the work breakdown structure tasks and remaining work estimates

See How the Project Should Progress and Manage the Workflow Accordingly

The Project Workflow gives project managers visibility into the overall progression of a project. It allows the workflow to inform what task should be completed next without having to manually assign upcoming tasks. Project managers are able to see what tasks are completed, what task is currently underway, and what tasks are coming up.

Once a task is completed, the remaining work is cleared, and the percentage completed is updated automatically. It also automatically kicks of the next task by sending a notification to the task owners in their timesheet.

Better Cost Control and Improved Project Delivery

The Project Workflow ensures project managers know the financial implication of each individual task. Since PlanAutomate is a comprehensive integrated project business solution, project managers can get the cost-to-complete from the project schedule and have it available in the costing sheet. This guarantees projects stay on budget. Using the Project Workflow keeps projects moving forward no matter what, acknowledging capacity constraints and making sure project sure projects are delivered on time.

To learn more about Project Workflow Engine, download the feature brief.