Why are these best practices?
Best practice
Set the default task duration type to Simple.
Here’s why
Duration types define the relationship between the task duration, planned hours, and the number of people assigned to the task.
With Simple as the global system default, all tasks created manually have this duration type. Planned hours are divided evenly among the task assignees across the length of the duration. The Simple duration type can simplify project planning, as it allows you to make changes to the task assignees and planned hours without affecting the task’s duration, planned start date, or planned completion date.
Best practice
Set the preference for a new project’s status to Planning or Idea, not Current.
Here’s why
A Current status indicates a project is live and work is actively being done. It’s rare that a project would need to be in this status upon creation. Even if you use a project template, there’s some “planning” involved in getting task assignments made, adjusting the project’s planned completion date, etc. The Planning status also suppresses notifications to task assignees and project team members. Receiving notifications before the project is live can be confusing for those involved.
Best practice
Enable Create Baselines Automatically in the global project preferences.
Here’s why
Every time you change a project status to Current, Workfront automatically records a project baseline. This “snapshot” of the project provides historical information about how the project’s plan changed over time. For example, you can compare the original project plan with the current plan when showing leadership how shifting priorities or scope creep affected the project’s deadlines.
Best practice
Check all the options in the Business Cases section of the system project preferences.
Here’s why
Enable all five options to allow project managers, planners, and others to include any of those sections in the business case on a project. If the options aren’t enabled, then they do not appear in the business case window. Users can leave any of the fields blank if it’s not needed for that particular project, but they can’t enable a field at the project level. These options can only be enabled globally in Setup.
Best practice
In the issues preferences, check the option for Automatically update Resolvable Issue status when the status of the Resolving Object changes.
Here’s why
When an issue is converted to a project, this preference setting “links” the statuses of the two items. Updating the status of the project (the resolving object) will automatically update the issue status. This means the requester can see progress being made on their request, even if they don’t have permissions to see the entire project in Workfront.
