✅ Project Management Level
under review
I
Iver Aune
My B2B customers, medium - large contractors to be specific, has been requesting a Project Management feature for a long time.
➕ Add a Project tab in the main meny that could be toggled on/off like other features.
✅ Create a new project.
✅ Assign staff, contacts, companies and opportunities to the project.
✅ Add basic data to the project like address, value, source, etc.
✅ Let us add custom fields, notes, documents, tasks, etc.
✅ Let us assign proposals, estimates, appointments, invoices, etc. to the project.
✅ Let us mark communication like emails and SMS to the project.
➕ Let us switch between two overviews.
✅ Listed view, like the contacts-view with search, bulk actions, etc.
✅ Pipeline view, like opportunities-view with custom steps.
Please comment below if you have additional ideas.
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I
Iver Aune
➕ Project Templates
C
Cheyenne Stanley
MORE SIMPLE APPROACH:
Under "Contacts" - Duplicate Setup for tab named "Company" and Call it "Project/Job" and have the fields customizable so platform can be custom for specific service industry.
I
Iver Aune
Cheyenne Stanley too simple
C
Cheyenne Stanley
Iver Aune - I agree and I think it is a great start. Of course additional add-ons can come later but this will at least allow us to better align it with our client needs and then we can build from there
I
Iver Aune
The project management feature would have good use of a Time Registration System feature:
I
Iver Aune
Let us add assigned people with different roles.
✅ Admin with full control
✅ Assigned staff with adjustable permissions
✅ External contractor (in our case other plumbers, electricians, etc.) also with adjustable permissions
✅ End customer also with adjustable permissions
Permissions like:
➕ Ability to add tasks, or even view tasks
➕ Ability to view or type in chat
➕ Ability to view or upload images, documents, etc.
➕ Ability to add other staff/people with same or less permissions as them self
➕ Access to view invoices, proposals and estimates
M
Mark Hoffman
Would be great if we could also link to a PM tool like Clickup or Asana in some way.
J
Jason Hanrahan
has there been any updates on this?
H
Hans Eisenman
I think there are some must-haves which might be missed here and I feel like they are crucial to getting a project started, moving and
done
.Project completion has to be at the top of the list.
The key to a project being complete-able is that is is clear, with finite tasks.
Tasks must include
child (aka: sub) tasks
, clearly shown by indention.Dependencies
must be assignable too (which tasks must be done before another one is started. Dependencies have important nuances to them and these should also be expressed. Example: Start Task 2 after Task 1 has STARTED (or is half way complete, or 1 day after it Task 1 was started...etc.). Dependencies have a DIRECT impact on "critical path" determination (the sequence of stages determining the minimum time needed for a project to complete).
Of course this all implies there be a
Start and Finish date
.Duration (days or hours)
is a vital column or you can't measure length of a task (this is tied to Start and Finish of course).There should be the ability to have infinite _threaded convos_ ("comments") inside each row.
Also need ability to _attach files at the row level_. Later this should have versioning.
Should also be a
% Complete column
.Very, very useful and borderline vital is _ability to create columns with certain properties_, such as:
Date
Dropdown
Checkbox
Multi-select
Status flags
Contact list (to assign to member of subaccount)
Symbols
Created by (subaccount member who added row)
Latest comment (see Threaded convo note above)
Modified by
Modified Date
Ideally you'd be able to _pivot the view of any sheet between Grid_ (aka: spreadsheet) and lanes (a la Trello). Gantt is an important view for timeline to visually ensure there aren't any big problems with important dates.
Super helpful is the ability to _conditionally format cells or rows_ based on boolean conditions, like "if Finish date is earlier than today and % complete is < 100, make Finish Date [color]."
_Shortcuts_: I can't understate how powerful this is for moving fast through a project. Specifically when creating new projects and quickly moving through the fields, indenting and generally just shaping the project up.
Also, _Filtering_ any view is important for easy viewing.
Lastly, need easy ability to
share project with customer
without making them jump through tons of hoops / friction. My personal fave is a "private link" feature which bypasses need to create a whole new account. But maybe that's not a big deal since they are probably clients of the subaccount already.There's more but these are the basics and, for my money, the difference between an "ok" PM tool and one that is built to get projects DONE.
It might be worth noting that everything I have described here is done
very
effectively in Smartsheet.com's projects. I have put over 6 companies on Smartsheet for their PM tool and no other tool even comes close in terms of how streamlined they are. It's all signal, no noise in terms of the UI/UX. Would highly recommend studying their app.H
Hans Eisenman
Just marked in bold the features that any project manager must, must have or it cannot really be considered a proper project management tool--just in case that helps product mgrs at HL.
I
Iver Aune
I love this idea so much that I'll post it again.
Project Management Feature for Client Portal
We already have a client portal. What if the project management feature gets a projects site in the client portal? Imagine if even the customer could have access to the projects!
Features:
✅ Project Tab in Client Portal:
➕ Create a project tab in the client portal.
✅ Within a project, create an internal-only section and an open section accessible to the customer.
Customer Access:
✅ Customers can access both active and old projects.
✅ Customers can add tasks, comments, documents, data, and pictures.
✅ Projects can have a chat feature accessible to the customer.
Task Management:
✅ Customers can set start dates and estimated finish dates for tasks and sub-tasks.
✅ Customers can set overdue days/hours for delayed tasks with an end date.
✅ Customers can view and pay invoices from the client portal.
Sub-Projects:
➕ Create sub-projects within a project.
✅ Assign clients to different sub-projects.
✅ Include dedicated chat, task lists, documents, etc., in each sub-project.
✅ Clients get a full overview of their assigned sub-projects, tasks, and resources in the client portal.
D
Daniel Benz
More Features
- Option to create estimates in opportunities cards:
- This feature allows users to create estimates directly within the interface of opportunities (or sales leads/cards).
- It integrates the estimation process seamlessly with the workflow of managing potential sales or projects.
- By linking estimates to opportunities, users can better track potential revenue and costs associated with converting an opportunity into a project or sale.
- Option to convert estimates inside opportunities to invoices and add triger for it.
- This functionality enables users to easily convert an estimate created in opportunity (which outlines the expected costs and pricing of a job or service) into a full-fledged opportunity or sales lead.
- It streamlines the transition from estimating potential work to actively pursuing and managing the sales process.
- This conversion typically carries forward relevant details from the estimate to the opportunity, ensuring continuity and efficiency in workflow.
- Option to record job/service expenses in the estimate (to be hidden from the client just for reporting purposes):
- This feature allows users to include detailed expenses related to a job or service directly within the estimate.
- The recorded expenses are hidden from the client view but are crucial for internal reporting and profitability analysis.
- It helps in accurately calculating the total cost of a project or job, including both direct (e.g., materials, labor) and indirect expenses (e.g., overhead).
- Option to have a total job profit calculation and the option to split it with the assigned agent that takes care of the project:
- This feature provides a clear calculation of the overall profit generated from a specific job or project.
- It considers both the estimated revenue and the recorded expenses (including hidden ones) to derive the profit margin.
- Additionally, it includes functionality to split the calculated profit with the agents or team members assigned to manage or execute the project. ( see more in 5)
- This incentive mechanism motivates agents to drive profitability while ensuring transparency and fairness in profit-sharing.
- Automated Profit Split and Tracking for Agents:
The system provides an automated mechanism to split job profits with agents based on either a fixed commission or a profit-sharing ratio. This feature is managed under the agent's profile or card within the software, allowing for seamless tracking of their contributions and earnings. Here's how it works:
- Fixed Commission Option:
Description: This option involves setting a predetermined commission rate or fixed amount that the agent earns for each job or project they manage.
Implementation: The system automatically calculates the commission based on the total job profit or total job cost generated from the estimate. For example, if the commission rate is $100 per sale and the job cost is $1,000, the agent would earn $100 and the organization would keep $900.
- Profit Share Ratio Option:
Description: This option distributes profits based on a predefined percentage share between the organization and the agent.
Implementation: The system calculates the agent's share of the job profit or the estimated total cost based on the agreed-upon ratio. For instance, if the profit share ratio is 60% for the organization and 40% for the agent, and the job profit is $1,000, the agent would receive $400.
Key Features and Benefits:
Transparency and Accountability: Agents can view their earnings and profit splits directly on their profile or agent card, promoting transparency in financial transactions.
Automation: The system automates the calculation and distribution of agent earnings based on the selected commission or profit-sharing model. This reduces administrative overhead and ensures accuracy in payments.
Tracking and Reporting: By linking profit splits to agent profiles, the system facilitates comprehensive tracking of each agent's contributions and earnings over time.
Ease of Payment: Payments to agents can be streamlined based on the calculated earnings, enhancing operational efficiency and agent satisfaction.
Note: All Features will work from the opportunity section in the opportunity cards
I
Iver Aune
Daniel Benz this is a ai generated text and not very useful for this post. Please delete...
C
Callie Eisele
Yes! And let us tag users!!! @mention
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