Managing projects with Project Workspace

  • Release version: Xanadu
  • Updated August 1, 2024
  • 6 minutes to read
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    Summary of Managing projects with Project Workspace

    Project Workspace in ServiceNow provides a comprehensive interface to plan, manage, and collaborate on projects efficiently. It offers multiple views of projects, detailed task management, resource allocation, and tools to track progress and dependencies. The workspace supports project hierarchy with subprojects, baseline comparisons, and critical path visualization, enabling you to maintain control over complex projects.

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    Key Features

    • Homepage UI Components: Offers grid and list views of projects, sections for My Projects, All Projects, Projects, and Subprojects, along with project cards showing essential details like status and manager.
    • Project Planning Header: Contains options to edit project details, collaborate via activities and attachments, refresh views, save changes (with auto-save toggle), and synchronize resource assignments.
    • Views and Toggles: Switch between grid and Gantt views to manage tasks and dependencies visually; toggle critical path display and create baselines for schedule and financial analysis.
    • Task and Resource Management: Add and organize project tasks, manage resource assignments with effort tracking (FTE, hours, person days), and adjust allocations with heatmap visualization.
    • Data Grid Functionality: Enables sorting, filtering, row rearranging, multi-row actions, and in-place cell editing for tasks, supporting efficient bulk updates and detailed task management.
    • Timeline View: Visualizes project timelines with adjustable timescales, dependency lines between tasks, and customizable display options for bar labels and critical paths.
    • Collaboration Tools: Integrated activity feeds, file attachments, and Docs support facilitate communication and documentation among stakeholders within the workspace.
    • Project Analytics and Reporting: Access project summaries, create and export status reports (including PowerPoint export), and schedule summary emails to keep teams informed.
    • RIDAC Records Management: Track Risks, Issues, Decisions, Actions, and Request Changes with the ability to add, link, and convert RIDAC records directly within the project.
    • Project Lifecycle Support: Create, duplicate, import/export projects, apply templates, and close projects with automatic closure of associated tasks and subprojects.
    • Integration with Financials and Source-to-Pay Operations: Manage procurement asset requests linked to projects for streamlined financial and operational oversight.

    Practical Benefits for ServiceNow Customers

    • Gain a centralized, intuitive workspace to oversee all project aspects from planning to closure, ensuring alignment with organizational priorities.
    • Improve task and resource management with flexible views, bulk editing, and real-time synchronization of project and resource timelines.
    • Enhance collaboration through integrated communication tools and shared documentation, reducing silos and increasing transparency.
    • Effectively track project risks and issues with RIDAC management for better decision-making and project outcome analysis.
    • Leverage built-in analytics, baseline comparisons, and status reporting features to monitor project health and communicate progress to stakeholders efficiently.
    • Streamline project administration with templates, import/export capabilities, and automated project closure processes.

    Use the features of Project Workspace to plan and manage your project.

    Figure 1. Grid view of Homepage
    project-workspace-grid-view
    Figure 2. List view of Homepage
    project-workspace-list-view
    The homepage contains the following UI components to help you navigate through the workspace.
    Table 1. Project Workspace homepage UI
    Feature Description
    Grid view of projects (grid view of projects.)

    Opens the project in grid view or card view.

    List view of projects (list view of projects.)

    Opens the project in list view.

    My Projects

    This section displays all the projects that you own, including subprojects.

    All Projects

    This section displays all projects in the system.

    All projects include projects from customer projects, team spaces, and audit.

    Projects

    This section displays only projects.

    Subprojects

    This section displays only subprojects.

    Project cards

    Each project is represented by a project card.

    These cards display high-level details, such as the project name, status, planned dates, and the manager that the project is assigned to.

    Project search

    Option to search for projects by name or by the user it’s assigned to.

    Filter

    Option to apply filters on the homepage. The filter preferences that you choose are retained in the filter criteria.

    Refresh

    Reloads the homepage.

    New

    Option to create a project.

    Planning header

    The header displays the project name and provides the following various options.
    Name Description
    Edit project details (Edit icon.)

    Opens the project details in the side panel to edit.

    See Create a project from Project Workspace.

    Activity (Activity icon.)

    Facilitates conversation between different stakeholders.

    See Collaborate with stakeholders from Project Workspace.

    Attachments (Attachments icon.)

    Enables you to add files to the project.

    See Collaborate with stakeholders from Project Workspace.

    Refresh the project (Refresh project workspace.)

    Reloads the planning page.

    Save (Save.)

    Saves your changes. This button is inactive by default to facilitate auto-save of any changes made to the project plans.

    Enable or disable the auto-save functionality from the Advanced tab of the Settings (Settings icon.) panel.

    Resources not synced (resources-not-synced-icon)

    Enables you to synchronize the project and resource assignment dates. When there’s a change in the planned or actual dates of the project tasks, this icon is enabled.

    When the project has classic resource plans, this icon is inactive by default.

    resource-plan-toggle

    Enable this toggle to display the resource assignment pane.

    all-view-button

    Displays data in both grid and gantt view on planning page. This button is active by default.

    gantt-view-button

    Displays data in Gantt view on planning page. Use this button to change task dates and dependencies.

    grid-view-button

    Displays data in Grid view on planning page. Use this button to add and delete tasks, change task dates and dependencies, and assess the progress of the overall project.

    Baselines (Baselines option.)

    Enables you to create and compare schedule and financial baselines.

    See Create and compare project baselines in Project Workspace.

    Critical path (Critical path.)

    Toggle the button to switch on/off the display of the critical path of the project.

    Project critical path.

    Add Task

    Add project task.

    Adds a project task in the data grid.

    See Create and assign project tasks from Project Workspace.

    Project actions (more-actions-icon.)
    Provides other actions to perform on the project.
    • Apply template
    • Delete project
    • Move project
    • Duplicate project
    • Import from MS project
    • Export project
    • Launch help video
    • Calculate Completion Estimates
    • Copy partial project

    More actions menu.

    Synchronize the project's date with the start dates of the associated resource plans, cost plans, benefit plans, resource assignments, project tasks, and subprojects using Move Project.

    Resource assignment pane

    The resource assignment pane contains the following UI components to help you manage your resources from Project Workspace.
    Name Description
    Refresh the resource assignment (Refresh project workspace.)

    Reloads the selected assignment and allocation.

    allocation-heatmap-toggle

    Displays the resource allocation in the resource assignment pane.

    effort-type-dropdown

    Displays the effort type as FTE, Hours, or Person days.

    month-week-dropdown

    Displays the effort by week or month. This button is displayed only when the Allocation heatmap toggle is enabled.

    add-resource-button

    Add a resource in the resource assignment pane.

    Data grid

    The data grid shows the list of project tasks and subprojects in rows, and the following options to perform actions on the rows. If a project has subprojects, you can drill down into the tasks and scheduling of these subprojects too.
    Option Description
    Column actions

    Sort and filter the project tasks using the actions on the header. Point your mouse device to a column header to see the context menu icon (Row context menu.).

    Using this menu, you can perform actions such as autofit, hide, or reset.

    If you select the context menu (Row context menu.) for certain columns, such as Short description or State, you can also filter the project task rows.

    Column context menu.

    Rearrange rows (Rearrange rows.)

    Enables the dragging of the project task rows to a position of your choice on the grid.

    Select row (Select row.)

    Choose to select multiple project task rows at once.

    Use the row context menu (Row context menu.) to perform various actions.

    Row context menu (Row context menu.)

    Provides various actions for the selected rows, such as edit task, add task above or below, delete row, add dependency, and more.

    You can also select multiple rows and perform an action on them at once, using the row context menu. For example, indenting or deleting multiple tasks.

    row-context-menu

    Expanded row (Expanded row.)

    Indicates that a project task row is expanded to show its child tasks. Select this icon to collapse the row and hide the child tasks.

    Collapsed row (Collapsed row.)

    Indicates that the project task contains child tasks. Select this icon to expand the row and view the child tasks.

    Reorder column (reorder-column-icon)

    Reorders the columns of the data grid.

    Edit an individual cell

    Edit or copy the info of this cell by selecting the cell context menu (Context menu.) or select and hold (or right-click) a cell.

    Use this menu to copy and paste cell contents, add dependencies, add project tasks directly above or below this cell position, or delete the whole row.

    Edit multiple cells

    Bulk-edit cells by selecting multiple cells and select and hold (or right-click) one of the cells. You can also use the cell context menu (Context menu.) for more options.

    Selecting a project task by selecting its short description opens the task details in a side panel, enabling you to edit them. See Update a project task from the Project Workspace.

    You can also increase or reduce the area occupied by the data grid by dragging the line that separates them.

    Timeline view

    The timeline view shows the project timeline based on its planned start and end dates, and displays the project task bars and milestones.

    By using the planning settings (Settings icon.), you can choose to display the bar labels, dependency lines, and the critical path. See Personalize the planning page view in Project Workspace.

    Project timeline

    The timeline shows the planned period of the project. You can reduce or increase the visibility of the project period by changing the timescale to Year, Quarter, Month, Day, or Week. Select the timescale icon (Timescale icon.) and choose an option.

    The timescale view that you choose is saved in the preferences.

    Dependency lines

    These lines show the dependencies between the project tasks. You can add new dependencies by drawing them on the timeline view, or select an existing dependency to edit its details in the side panel. See Add internal project task dependencies from Project Workspace. The dependencies that you choose are saved in the preferences.