While Project Gateway does provide extensive support for creating plans using power scheduling tools like Microsoft Project, it also makes it easy to construct complete projects directly in the repository using a few simple forms. A project created this way is completely equivalent to one that is imported from a scheduling system. It can even be exported to such a system if you ever want to do so.
All of these procedures shown here can be done using Notes or Web clients or combination.
Create Your Project in Seconds!
Just click 
Enter the name of the new project, describe it, select the appropriate program, identify the sponsor, name the manager(s) and submit.
Note that you can change any of this information at any time.
With this information, the system will automatically create a project profile with all the default options preset, create a project Gantt chart, and begin dashboard and observatory tracking.
Note that this project could also be initiated by the Project Gateway Request Center application after a request for it had been entered, estimated, prioritized, and formally approved.
Your new project is immediately ready to use as a platform for Status reporting, Issue Tracking, Risk Management, Scope Change Control, and Document management.
For example, you can immediately create your project charter using the "Document" action.
Build Your Workplan
A workplan, e.g. task schedule, is the scaffolding, not the substance, of a project. It is the collection of repository documents and work processes that provide the substance of the project effort. The primary purpose of the workplan is to communicate your specific needs for staff time to the participants themselves and to their management. This allows work to proceed in an efficient manner and allows conflicts to be recognized and resolved ahead of time. As a additional benefit, your workplan enables the Project Gateway time reporting process to record effort and measure deviations from time and budget targets early in the project when you can take corrective action.
Document Your Goals
Workplans are more easily constructed when the team knows exactly what you want it to achieve. Hence, the first step in workplanning is really done by preparing the project charter (which sets out the goals, non-goals and assumptions) and by documenting the expected results and quality criteria for each of the project milestones. Project Gateway provides standard forms for these purposes.
With well defined milestones, your workplan tasks can be stated simply as "Work on milestone 1" or "Implement modules required for milestone 2."
Workplanning at this level of granularity is easier for you and more pleasant for your participants than defining large numbers of "checklist" tasks. It is also more successful than attempting to encode all the required results and standards of performance in task names which may not have the same meaning to your participant as they do to you. Moreover, it helps you avoid the worst sin of our project profession -- the micro-management of professional staff.
Using this "goal-post" technique, the vast majority of day to day IT projects can be effectively managed using fewer than 30 tasks connecting well-defined milestones spaced at about two week intervals. Of course, Project Gateway also supports projects with thousands of tasks.
Note: The system allows you to declare your project as "a proposal." When you do this, your workplan tasks will exist for planning purposes, but will not appear on timesheets or generate "overdue" reminders.
Record Your Tasks
To put each task into the repository, just click "Assignment" at the top of your project profile.
On this form, select the participants (one or many) who will do the work, name the task, enter the desired dates and the expected effort and submit. A checkbox option provides immediate email notification to the participants of this new work.
If you make use of the Project Gateway Metrics Process, you can use the metrics center estimating tool to find previous experience as an aid in estimation.
Each new assignment will appear the to-do lists, workload forecast, participant calendars, Gantt charts and timesheets of the assigned participants and in the corresponding project and program reports. You can allow other people add tasks to your plan or limit this power to yourself using one of the many policy options. You can add additional participants to an existing task, reassign work from one person to another, or change the dates using the assignment form actions.
Note that you can also create assignments directly from any issue, risk or scope document. Such assignments will remain actively linked to the originating document for the life of the project and provide a way to report work time against those specific items.
Naturally workplans for large team projects do involve many steps, so at some point it makes sense to use an external planning tool. In any case, Project Gateway lets you switch from manual task entry to an external scheduling tool at any time and to use a mixture of both techniques as you see fit. Note that both schedule and document dependencies can be imported from an external schedule.
Create Dependencies to coordinate the process
Schedule Dependencies
The DEP button (new in 5.1) lets you create schedule "dependencies" among your assignments so that participants know the logical flow of work you have envisioned. Creating dependencies will cause doclinks to be displayed one the interacting tasks. These dependencies also control the notification workflow.
Document Dependencies
Producing results on a predictable schedule is the purpose of project management, and results are often generated as documents. You can state document requirements using the "creates" and "requires" fields of the assignment form. These fields link the document production to the task schedule. When a document is required, the project manager will be notified in advance if it is not available prior to the assignment start date and a "Missing Document" notice will appear on the project and program calendars.
InterProject Dependencies
Sometimes you must depend on others. You can link scheduled items in your project with other projects. When the schedule relationship changes (i.e., the other project slips), you will be notified.
For more information
Read more about creating projects in the Project Gateway Repository User's Manual HERE
Read more about creating assignments in the Project Gateway Repository User's Manual HERE
Read more about project documents and document dependencies in the Project Gateway Repository User's Manual HERE
