Project Management Overview #

SeamlessDesk’s Project Management is a solution designed specifically for IT teams to plan, collaborate, assign & complete tasks, and more. IT teams would typically use SeamlessDesk’s Project Management solution for internal projects within your company or organization. To learn more about what Project Management is and how it can be leveraged in your organization, please review this article.

Section 1 – Create Your First Project #

To get started, log in to your SeamlessDesk account and click “Projects” on the left side module selection column. Once you arrive at the main Project Management page, select “Add New Project.” You will now create the project by providing a title, a description, starting and ending dates, assigning a Project Manager, etc. Click “Create Project” to save.

You are now ready to start adding tasks, which will help you and the team drive your project to completion. To better understand each portion of Project Management, we’ll cover each section in detail.

Projects Dashboard #

Once you have at least one Project created, you will now see a project tile or box on the main Project’s Dashboard screen. Let’s cover what is included in the box and actions that you can take to make quick and easy changes to the project without needing to drill into the project’s settings.

1. Project Title – This is the project title that you or a member of your team provided when originally creating the project. The Project Title can be changed by doing one of the following:
   • On the main Projects Dashboard screen, hover over the current title with your mouse and then click the pencil icon towards the end of the title. Change any changes to the title, then hit “Enter” on your keyboard to confirm, or hit “ESC” to cancel.
   • Click the title to go to the project screen. Click the pencil icon in the top right-hand corner of the individual project screen, under the “Properties” section. This will allow you to edit the title or other project properties.
2. Assigned Project Manager – This is the person assigned as the Project Manager. Currently, there is no option to assign more than one PM or secondary PMs. You can assign Project Members (followers), which will be covered later in this article. You can change the Project Manager by doing one of the following:
   • Double-click the PM’s name and select a new person from the list. Hit “Enter” on your keyboard to confirm any changes, or hit “ESC” to cancel.
     Note: please be aware that the Project Manager will need to be assigned as either a SeamlessDesk Admin or SeamlessDesk Agent. End-users who are not Admins or Agents cannot act as Project Managers. To learn how to modify user’s permissions, view this article.
   • Click the title to go to the project screen. Then click the pencil icon in the top right-hand corner of the individual project screen, under the “Properties” section. This will allow you to edit the Project Manager and assign another member of the team.
3. Project Activity Graph – In this graph, you will see all of the project activities, tasks that were created, and completed tasks during the last seven days.
   Note: you can hover over the graph with your mouse to see all of the details included in the graph. 
4. Project Due Date – This is the current End Date for the project. The Project End Date can be changed by doing one of the following:
   • While on the Projects Dashboard, double-click the date in the project box, select the new date with your mouse, hit “Enter” on your keyboard to confirm any changes, or hit “ESC” to cancel.
   • Click the Project title that you want to modify, click the pencil icon in the top right-hand corner of the individual project screen. Edit the “End Date” to the desired date and click “Save Project.”
5. Project Completion Bar – This bar graph will show a percentage of the project’s completion based on the total number of tasks and subtasks created vs. the total number of tasks completed. If a task is “Unassigned” or “In Progress,” it is not “Completed;” therefore, it would lower the overall project completion percentage. For example, if 100 tasks and subtasks were created, and 95 of those were completed, the project would be 95% completed.
6. Tasks Completed Bar – This bar graph will show you the total number of tasks and subtasks created vs. the total number of tasks and subtasks marked as “Completed.”
7. Past Due – This is the total number of tasks or subtasks that are past due. Individual tasks and subtasks have a beginning and ending date. When a task has not been marked as “Completed” and the ending date has passed, it will be marked as “Past Due.”
8. Due This Week – This number represents the total number of tasks due this week. Tasks and subtasks listed here are tasks with a due date this calendar week. Meaning that this is not calculated based on a seven-day rolling date but a Sunday to Saturday list of all of the tasks due for that week. Additionally, the number provided here is for all tasks and subtasks associated with the project, regardless of who the task is assigned to.
9. Activities – This will show the total number of activities for this project. A breakdown of the “Activities” tab will be covered later in this article.

Section 2 – Individual Project View #

When you click the title of a Project, you will be taken to the individual or single project view. This is where you would manage the project, create, edit, complete tasks, make associations, view project activity, etc.

The individual project view has two columns. You will see all of the details about the project on the left-hand column, including the title, the description, all of the tasks assigned to the project, any associations to assets or tickets, project activities, and more. On the right-hand column, you will see the project properties, project stats, and project members.

We’ll cover each one of these, one by one.

Left Column #

Title, Description & Other Project Properties #

The title and description that you see here are what was used when you or another member of your team originally created the project. You can edit the title, project description, To modify these at any time, select the pencil icon in the top right-hand side of the screen, make your desired changes, and click “Save Project.” Any changes made to any of the project properties will now be updated.

Shared Files #

You can attach files that can be shared with your team. To do this, click the “Attach Files” button toward the top of the screen. In the pop-up, select the files that you want to upload from your computer. Once files are uploaded, other members of your team will be able to search for and download any files attached to the project.

Tasks Tab #

Here you will be able to create new tasks and see all of the tasks that have been created previously. Let’s cover each one of those.

Add New Tasks #

To add a new task, click the “Add Task” button. In the pop-up, you will be prompted to add a title, a description, a starting and ending date, who will be the assigned owner of the task, etc. Click “Create Task” to save. The new task will now appear on the Tasks list.

Edit or Delete Existing Tasks #

You can make changes to existing tasks by selecting the task and then by selecting the pencil icon to edit or the X to delete it. This is where you would mark a task as “Completed” or “In Progress” as well.

Create A Ticket #

From the Task tab, you can create a ticket, allowing you to notify another member of your team of an important Task or Subtask. To do this, click the three verticle dots to the right of the edit and delete buttons and select “Create Ticket.” Input all of the information you’d like to include in the ticket, then assign the ticket to a Department and Agent. Click “Create” once you are finished. A ticket will now be created in the SeamlessDesk system, and the assigned Agent listed in the ticket will be notified.

Add Subtasks #

Subtasks are little tasks that help complete the larger, main task. An example of a subtask could include obtaining a specific software license or piece of hardware needed in order to be able to complete the main tasks. Subtasks allow you to add anything that you need to complete in order to achieve the main objective of completing the main task.

Comments Tab #

In this tab, you and your team can collaborate and make comments specific to the task you are working on. This will allow team members to ask questions, make suggestions, provide details about what needs to be completed, etc.

Subtasks Tab #

In this tab, you will be able to view all of your subtasks. Just like the main tasks, subtasks can be edited, deleted, and rearranged.

Dependencies #

Dependencies are tasks that need to be completed before an additional task can be started. An example of a dependency could be a task to receive and set up computer hardware before any software can be installed on the new hardware. Under the Dependencies tab, you would be able to create Predecessor and Successor tasks.

Activity Tab #

Unlike the main “Activity” tab, which will show all activities for the entire project, this “Activity” tab only shows the task’s activities.

Associations Tab #

Associations will allow you to associate existing tickets from the Help Desk module or assets from the Asset Management module. This could be beneficial if there are details included in tickets that you or members of your team could benefit from by having quick access to or to be able to associate specific assets to a project which are needed for the project to be completed.

Activity Tab #

This tab will show a detailed action history of everything that has happened since the project’s start. The Activity will capture every change, edit, or modification and includes a timestamp of the activity, details about the activity, and who performed the activity. Activities cannot be edited, deleted, or modified, so you can rest assured that everything is accurately captured and included in the history.

Right Column #

Properties #

As mentioned previously, the Properties tab will allow you to edit the title, description, starting and ending dates, etc. Additionally, the Properties window will show you the project status, the project priority, and the project due date. These three items can also be modified by clicking the pencil icon.

Project Stats #

Please refer to the “Projects Dashboard” section above for definitions and details regarding the project stats. These project stats are the same stats lists on the Project Management Dashboard. They have been added here so that Project Managers, Admins, and Agents can see a quick snapshot of the overall project status.

Members #

In this section, additional team members can be added to the project, which will allow them to receive status updates and notifications as the project advances and ultimately is completed.

This should be everything you need to start using SeamlessDesk’s new Project Management solution. f you need any assistance or if you have any questions, please contact SeamlessDesk support at Support@seamlessdesk.com.