Terminology

Plans

When you log in, you are taken to your list of Plans. You can create any number of Plans. Each Plan is independent, meaning that information in one Plan does not affect information in another.

Projects

When you create a new Plan, it contains one Whiteboard, labelled Project 1.

You can add any number of Whiteboards within a Plan. Each Whiteboard is considered a different Project.

When should you create a new Plan versus a new Project within an existing Plan?

This decision comes down to resource levelling.

 

    • Resource levelling occurs across Projects within the same Plan.

    • Resource levelling does not occur across different Plans.

If resource levelling is not important, it is best to use different Plans. This keeps each Plan more manageable.

The Building Blocks of a Plan

Tasks

A Task is the most common building block of a Plan. A Task can represent any activity.

The two most important properties of a Task are:

 

    • Name

    • Effort (the amount of time required to complete the Task)

Meetings

If an activity happens at a fixed date and time, make it a Meeting instead of a Task.

The difference between Tasks and Meetings is:

 

    • When a Project is delayed, downstream Tasks are automatically rescheduled.

    • Meetings do not shift in response to Project delays.

Meetings can also be set to recur.

Milestones

A Milestone highlights key deliverables in your Plan. The date a Milestone is achieved is always displayed.

If you enter a due date for a Milestone, a visual symbol indicates whether it will be achieved on time.

Groups

A Group organizes Tasks on the Whiteboard and in the Gantt chart. A Group is the same as a Summary Task in Microsoft Project.

You can create any number of nested Groups, which allows you to model a full WBS (Work Breakdown Structure).

People

The most commonly used resource is a Person Resource. A Person Resource can represent either an individual or a team.

By default, resource levelling is carried out in real time when any change is made on the Whiteboard. This ensures the resulting schedule is achievable, as a person will never be double-booked.

Equipment

An Equipment Resource is very similar to a Person Resource, but with different default settings and icons.

People and Equipment Resources are displayed in separate sections in the Icons Panel for visual clarity.

By default, resource levelling is turned off for Equipment Resources.

Links

A Link is a dependency between Tasks, Meetings, Milestones, and Groups. A Link always has a predecessor and a successor.

Links are displayed as arrows on both the Whiteboard and the Gantt chart. Further information on Links is available [here].

Duration, Work, and Elapsed time.

The following three time-related concepts are important to understand:

  • Duration
    This is the value you enter when creating or editing a task. It represents your estimate of how long the task will take to complete (e.g., “2 days”).

  • Work
    The total number of working hours required to complete the task.  Work is always reported in hours because an hour is a constant time unit, whereas a day can be 8 hours for one resource and 12 hours for another.

  • For example, if a 2 day duration is entered:

    • With one resource assigned, working an 8 hour day, the task will take 2 days to complete, and the work is 16 hours.

    • With two resources assigned, each working an 8 hour day, the task will take 1 day to complete, and the work is still 16 hours.

  • Elapsed time
    The elapsed calendar time between the task’s scheduled start and finish. Elapsed time includes non-working time, such as night time, weekends and holidays.

    • A one-day task running from 8 AM to 4 PM has an elapsed time of  8 hours.

    • A two-day task scheduled on Thursday and Friday has an elapsed time of 1 day 8 hours.

    • A two-day task that spans a weekend, starting Friday at 8am and finishing Monday at 4pm, has an elapsed time of 3 days 8 hours.