Best Practice when adding a template to the Project Planning Page

[Brigid33770]

I'd like to know if someone has worked out the best time to add a project schedule template to the Planning Page in Project Workspace. I think I found a solution but would like your feedback. 

When a project is converted to a demand:

• It pulls over the Approved Start End Dates and the Start/Due Dates. 
  • The Start Due Dates are converted to the Planned Start/End Dates
• The Approved Start/End dates are used in the Portfolio Planning Workspace, so it's important in the project to have the Approved Start/End dates match the Planned Start/End dates. 

Adding tasks and/or a template immediately after conversion will change the date fields to reflect the duration of the template, not the approved or planned WBS. Also, the PM would be required to sync resources twice, once when the template is applied, then again when the approved schedule is added. 

I came up with this using the way dates work out of the box. 

• At the start of a project the PM manager can assign a PM to the project and change the State to Work in Progress (WIP) without impacting the Approved/Planned Dates. 
• The PM is able to enter time spent in the Timesheet Portal.
• The PMI standard output for the Initiating Phase is the Project Charter (and you do not need a task for that). 

Would it be a "best practice" to add the schedule (importing, adding one at a time, or import a template) after the WBS is approved? If so, this will:

• Set the Actual Start Date when the first task is changed to WIP. 
• Reflect the Approved and Planned Start/End Dates 
• The Planned End Date will update automatically with changes to the project schedule.
  • The Approved End Dates should be updated to reflect the revised schedule change, and for viewing in portfolio planning roadmaps. 
• Resources can add their time in the Timesheet Portal at the Project Summary Task level until they are assigned to a specific phase or task. 
  • The PM would only need to sync resources once. Less work for the resource managers too. 

Let me know what you've found helpful when applying templates to the Project Planning page in Project Workspace. Thanks so much!

[phil_bool_unifi · Accepted solution]

Hi @Brigid33770 .  I like the way you're approaching this, trying to make it as easy for your Project Managers as possible.  Something you might want to consider is having a template apply automatically as part of your conversion from Demand to Project.  If you know, at the point the demand is completed, that a specific project template will apply, then you can run a Business Rule on insert using the GlideProjectTemplate method...  (There may be a newer version of this API for the workspace, but I can't find it - if anyone knows, please share!)

However, one thing I would also encourage you to consider is looking at Project Playbooks.  So long as you're in the latest version, you can have the values in the template trigger a Playbook that provides helpful guidance to the Project Managers.  This can either just provide guidance (notes on your 'best practice' for Projects, for example) or even interact with the project and the project tasks making updates for you, or provide validations on associated records like resource assignments or cost plans.

[Brigid33770]

Thank you for your feedback! We have been talking about Playbooks but have not gotten there yet. Applying a template at conversion is not something we've discussed because we have a variety of projects that do not quite fit in a nice, neat template. But thanks for the suggestion! Appreciate it very much.