Get started planning a project

As the Project Manager, you want to make sure you have the right plan laid out so your project can finish on time and be successful. A basic framework with steps and a timeline may already be built, especially if the project was created with a template. But changes may be needed for your specific project, such as setting a specific start or completion date, adding a new step, deleting a phase that won’t be needed, or adjusting the amount of time the project will take. In order to make these changes, you need to understand the different components of the project and how they work together. As you start planning projects in Workfront, put your focus first on five key pieces of information. One, Tasks. Two, Assignments. Three, Durations. Four, Planned Hours. And five, Predecessors. Understanding these five fields allows you to make quick, accurate changes to your project, which gets your project off the ground quickly and with a good foundation. It also allows you to make efficient, effective changes to the project while it’s live. In addition to these five fields, your organization may have additional requirements to fulfill during project planning, such as filling out a custom form or setting milestones. Make sure the project status is set to Planning before you start making changes to your project plan. The project status does two main things in Workfront. One, lets everyone know what stage of development the project is in. Two, tells Workfront when to send out notifications and when not to send them. Workfront can be configured to send in-app and email notifications when a variety of actions take place. A task is assigned, a due date is changed, etc., while the project is in the current status. The Planning project status keeps Workfront from spamming your project team as you’re adjusting the project plan. Check the project status in the header or in the project detail. Make sure you can see the information that you want to focus on. Tasks, duration, planned hours, predecessors, and assignments when you’re looking at the task list. Select a view that shows that information, such as the standard view. This is Workfront’s default view for a project task list and is a great starting point. Some organizations create customized views to use when planning projects. Finally, make sure that the start or completion date for your project is accurate. This affects your timeline planning. More importantly, make sure the project start date is realistic. For example, don’t set the start date for the Saturday of a three-day weekend. That’s not a realistic start date. And, as a part of your planning, ensure the project team has the availability to start the project on the desired date. If not, explore moving the project start date or pulling in additional people to work on the project. To set the start date of your project, go to Edit, then scroll to the Project Dates area. Make sure the Schedule mode is set to Start Date. Then you can edit the planned start date field. The planned completion date will be calculated by Workfront based on the tasks in your task list, their durations, and predecessors. By scheduling from a start date, Workfront will calculate the planned start dates and planned completion dates for your tasks so they can complete as soon as possible after the start date you set. The other Schedule mode option is Completion Date. When you choose this option, you can edit the planned completion date. The planned start date will then be calculated by Workfront based on the tasks in your task list, their durations, and predecessors. By scheduling from a completion date, Workfront will calculate the planned start dates and the planned completion dates for your tasks so they can complete as late as possible and hit your planned completion date. In either mode, Workfront will recalculate the calculated date when you add or delete tasks or change durations or predecessors. Taking time to accurately plan your project lays a good foundation for all the work to come.