Controlling projects using cmwforms

Introduction

Managing and controlling a project involves a variety of activities.  High on the list is the need to manage:

1. Tasks
2. Resources
3. Schedules

There are a variety of tools on the market that are designed to support the above, Microsoft Project for example.

Equally important is the need to manage and control the following:

1. Risks
2. Issues
3. Actions
4. Documentation
5. Changes and Defects

In contrast to the first category, there is a marked absence of integrated tools to support the second list of project management activities.

The absence of integrated tools to support the above activities manifests itself in the form of a diversity of bespoke tools and spreadsheets that are produced by different managers and team leaders to control and manage their own area of the project.

Whilst developing these bespoke tools and spreadsheets may be acceptable on small projects, the proliferation of tools and spreadsheets on a large project will hinder managements ability to formulate and provide a single consolidated view that is consistent and up to date across the complete project.  This in turn will hinder management effectiveness and productivity.

cmwforms ability to allow users to create their own applications provides a compromise solution that is imminently suited to the needs of a large project.  Applications can be created with relative ease, just as easy as using Excel, yet CMW will provide a single repository and a consistent approach to saving, presenting and accessing all the records for all the processes that are being managed.

CMW also facilitates communication and work tracking.  CMW will notify users when records are assigned to them, using E-mail, and these records will automatically appear in the user's To Do List.

Managing key project processes

Introduction

If you are working on a typical project then there is a strong chance that your project is using Microsoft Excel spreadsheets to manage risks, issues, change and defects.  Also you are probably using meeting minutes, documented using Microsoft Word and communicated using E-mail, to manage actions.  Finally your documentation is probably stored on a shared network drive with hundreds of folders and no central index to identify document title and content, when they were created and who created them.

Using Excel to register risks, issues and the like is fine on very small projects but is totally unworkable on large projects with many suppliers, teams and contributors.  If you are working on a large project then you probably have many such registers, each maintained by a separate part of the project, with duplicate entries and hidden dependencies. Whilst maintaining each register is easy to do, consolidating the information and producing a single project wide view is probably very difficult and time consuming.

Managing actions by E-mail may be fine on a small project but is very ineffective and inefficient on large projects.  Also communicating and managing actions by E-mail is an unstructured approach and the only way to establish the status of all actions, with a high level of accuracy, is to hold a long meeting with all impacted parties to go through each and every action.   This is very time consuming and costly.

Many large projects create a project library using a shared network drive.  This library will evolve and change as the project grows and eventually the shared drive becomes a massive dumping ground for documents, files and the like.  Locating documents becomes very difficult.  Shared network drives are easy to create repositories for documents and files but these provide no security or audit features and become difficult to use as they grow!

cmwforms approach

Centralised repository

cmwforms provides a single centralised repository, with full audit and access control capabilities, to manage your key processes and store all project documentation.

All records relating to risks, issues, changes, problems, actions and documents are stored and saved on the central server.  Records for each of these processes are accessed through a dedicated CMW application folder. 

Easy access to information

The default view on each of CMW application folders will present a consolidated list of all risks, issues, changes, actions or documents. You can customise the view to filter records.  Therefore you can filter records by project, author, status, severity or any combination of the above.

Consolidated project wide view

Instead of having many Excel sheets maintained by different individuals, cmwforms provides a single repository and a consistent set of tools to create, modify, filter and publish the information.

Process support

cmwforms also includes strong workflow features and therefore you are able to assign records to individuals and track this assignment.  cmwforms provides a To Do List folder that users can use to locate all records that are assigned to them. This folder will contained assigned records from all the different cmwforms applications.

Tracking dependencies

Many of the project processes are inter-related.  Therefore a risk may be mitigated by one or more actions.

Alternatively a risk may give rise to one or more issues and these in turn may give rise to one or more changes or defects.  Also issues, changes and defects may be resolved using one or more actions.

Finally, risks, issues, changes or defects may have related documents to support or explain them.

cmwforms includes a number of features that can be used to track and document these dependencies.  You can always link records together and use the drill down features and therefore you can easily open a risk, identify and open its related issues and for these identify any associated actions, changes or problems.

cmwforms also includes a number of features to transform and clone a record of one type to anther.  Therefore you can transform a risk into an issue, the risk record becomes an issue, alternatively you can clone the risk to create a separate issue and link these together.  When you transform or clone a record of one type to another, cmwforms will automatically copy the contents of all common fields from the source record to the target record.

Global access

cmwforms is a web based collaboration tool and therefore can be used to provide access to users across the internet.  cmwforms can be started from a web browser and therefore does not need to be installed on user's PCs. 

Additionally, cmwforms includes its own authentication and security features and therefore users can access the information on the server without the need to have a Windows user account on this server or the domain to which the server is attached.

Managing Actions

An action is an ad-hoc task or activity that has to be performed by one or more individuals within an agreed schedule.  Actions may arise out of one of the following:

�         Project management meetings

�         Risk management

�         Issue management

Actions are different from normal project tasks and activities in that they arise in an ad-hoc manner and may need to be completed immediately.  These actions may be progressed without the need to create tasks or activities on the project plan.

The Action Management application allows you to document the following:

�         Action Title and Description.

�         Assignee.  This is the person who is expected to complete the action.

�         Approver.  This is the person who has agreed to the action.

�         Planned and actual start dates.

�         Planned and actual completion dates.

The assignee may re-assign the action to a different individual.  Also separate individuals are able to update the comment field to provide clarification, observations or supporting information.  All comments are annotated by cmwforms to include the users name and the date and time when the comment was added.

The Action Management application is a stateless application though if necessary you can customise this and include a workflow field.  Once this is added you will be able to track the assignment and the progress of the action using a formal workflow.

Actions can be related back to the project activity or process that caused their initiation.  Therefore you can relate actions to risks, meetings, issues, changes or defects.

Managing Risks

The Risk Management application is designed to support the normal PRINCE II risk management process.  You can use this application to document the following:

�         Risk Title and Description.

�         Project against which the risk is being raised.

�         Type of risk.

�         Date Identified.

�         Current Status.

�         Owner.

�         Likelihood.

�         Severity.

�         Countermeasure.

The risk status is a simple drop list rather than a process workflow.  Therefore the transitions are unrestricted.  If you wish to enforce a formal workflow then you can replace this field with a workflow field.

Risks may be eliminated by performing a countermeasure.   On the other hand a risk may materialise and therefore become an issue.  In this case you can process the risk in one of two ways:

�         Transform the risk to an issue.  cmwforms will covert the risk to an issue record and update the audit to show when this transformation took place.  The issue will contain all the information that is common to the issue and risk applications.

�         You can mark the risk as closed and raise and link an issue to the risk.  In this scenario you end with two separate linked records, one for the risk and the other for the issue.

As with other cmwforms applications, risks can be re-assigned and users can update the comment to provide clarification and further information.

Managing Issues

The Issue Management application is designed to be compatible with the PRINCE II issue process.  Issues can be resolved without a change, i.e. by locating information or providing clarification, on the other hand an issue may be resolved using an OSR (bug) or using an enhancement request.

You can use the Issue Management application to document the following information:

�         Issue Title and Description.

�         Issue Status

�         Project against which the issue is raised.

�         Affected products.

�         Technical impact

�         Recommendation.

An issue that is resolved using an OSR can be closed and an OSR created and linked back to the issue.  An issue that is resolved using an enhancement request can be closed and Enhancement Request created and linked back to the issue.  Alternatively the issue can be transformed to an OSR or an Enhancement.

Managing Defects and Enhancements

cmwforms provides two separate applications to manage defects and enhancements.  These are fully fledged applications with a formal process workflow.  The process workflow for the Defect Management application is different from that used in the Enhancement/Change Management application

For more information on how to use these applications please refer to the How to Manage Defects using cmwforms document.  This document can be found under the Resources folder on our web site.

Managing Documents

cmwforms include a Document Management application than can be used to implement a document library.  The document library includes the following parts:

�         Repository.  This is located on the server and can only be accessed when using the CMW client.

�         Document index.  This is used to store all key attributes about each and every document.

�         Filter feature.  This can be used to locate documents by creating a query using one or more of the document attributes that are stored in the index.

The default document attributes are:

�         Document Title.

�         Document ID. Each document has unique integer id that is generated by cmwforms.

�         Type.

�         Status.

�         Attachments.  This is the list of physical files that are associated with the current document.

To add a document to the document library you need to do the following:

1.      Create a document type.

2.      Update the document registration details.  This includes Title, Description, Type and Owner.

3.      Attach the files that you wish to associate with the registration details.  You can attach as many files as necessary.

The Document Management application will create an index for the new document and upload the attached files to the CMW Server.

In addition to the above cmwforms will maintain the following information:

�         Registered by.

�         Registered date.

�         Modified by.

�         Modified date.

The status is a simple drop list.  If you wish to enforce a formal workflow then you can replace the status field with a workflow field.  Also you may wish to link the document record to the Quality Review application.  This would allow you to link each document with its related quality review log.

Users can register and update documents but cannot delete them.  Also users do not have direct access to the document files; these can only be viewed by opening the document registration details.

Because cmwforms is a web based application, documents can be accessed across the LAN, WAN and Internet.

Locating documents in cmwforms is a very simple process.  Using the filter feature users can locate documents by using the document ID.  Alternatively users can create an advanced filter and locate documents using one or more attributes.   Filters can be saved and reused.

CMW Features

CMW workspaces

A single CMW server installation can be partitioned into a number of workspaces.  Each workspace can have its own set of applications and users.

You can use a workspace to support multiple projects in a single CMW database whilst still keeping project specific data private to each project.

Role based security

All CMW users must have a defined role and this role determines the tasks that a user can perform within a workspace.

The current list of CMW roles is as follows:

1. Administrator:  This role has full access to all CMW administration commands and features.
2. Workspace Administrator: This role is able to maintain workspace applications, user lists and maintain workspace records.
3. User:  This role is able to create, read and edit workspace records.
4. Submitter:  This role is able to submit and read workspace records.
5. Guest:  This role is able to read workspace records only.

Roles are defined for a given workspace and therefore a user can assume different roles in different workspaces.

CMW will update the user role automatically as the user switches between workspaces.

Data security

CMW stores its data in an SQL database on the CMW server.  The data on the server can only be read and modified by using a CMW client and users do not have direct access to this data.

The data within the database is encrypted using Triple Des encryption.  This is a strong encryption algorithm.  Encrypting the data in the database provides additional security and privacy; database and system administrators will not be able to read the data even if they are able to open and read the records in the database.

The data encryption feature of CMW is very useful if access to the CMW Server is provided to users across the internet.  Because CMW encrypts data on the client, it is safe to transmit this data across an unsecured internet connection.

Extensive process support

CMW includes support for over 30 common project management processes.  These include:

1. Risks
2. Issues
3. Problems
4. Changes
5. Actions
6. Minutes
7. Meetings
8. Progress Reporting
9. Defects and Enhancements

The applications that support these processes can be customised with relative ease; you can add or remove fields without any restrictions.  In addition, you are able to create your own applications and processes without the need for any IT or programming experience.

Structured storage and access

All data is saved in a central database and can be accessed in a hierarchical and structured manner.  Records can be accessed using the following standard folders:

1. By workspace
2. By form type
3. By assignee
4. By owner

The above can be complemented by user-defined filters.  You can therefore view any record for a given type in a given workspace with a given severity.

Unlike data that is saved on a hierarchical file system users do not need to find and navigate to the data, they simply provide a selection criterion and then view the list of relevant records.

Track and manage dependencies

Whilst many of the project management activities can be viewed as being separate from each other and independent in reality events in one process may trigger events in another.  Therefore, for example a project meeting may result in the creation of project minutes that in return may include actions.  Some of these actions may result in the need to raise project risks, issues, changes or problems.

All CMW applications include a built in feature to allow you to relate one record type with another.  Once this relationship has been established you can use CMW to drill down and up between these related records.

The ability to relate records to each other is very useful and helps provide a scope and context to each record.

Document management

cmwforms includes a number of applications that are designed to support project document management; the document management template includes forms to store 22 common business documents.

All CMW applications include an attachment feature and this can be used to save and store files on the CMW server.  Once files are saved, they can be located by using the CMW filter feature.

Files saved on the server are only accessible to CMW users and these users will be able to add and update documents but will not be able to delete them.

Audit trail

CMW maintains an audit trail of all changes to all fields.  The audit trail contains the following information:

1. Date of change
2. Author of change
3. Field name
4. New field value

CMW also includes a comment field; text can be added to this field but cannot be modified or deleted.  Also CMW will annotate each block of text with the author's name and the date and time when the text was entered.

Implementing CMW

Installing CMW

Installing CMW involves the following two key tasks:

1. Install the CMW Server
2. Install the CMW Clients

The Server installation is semi-automatic and can be performed in less than 60 minutes.  Once the server is installed, users can connect to this using any internet browser and use this to install the client.

Once the server is installed, the following has to be performed:

1. Import the required CMW templates.  This task will update the CMW installation with the required forms and processes.  Importing all the CMW templates can be performed in less than 5 minutes.
2. Create workspaces for the various projects. 
3. Update each workspace with required applications.  This will make specific applications available to a given workspace.
4. Add users to the server and allocate these to the workspaces.

Given the above, a complete installation that supports all the project processes can be installed and configured in less than 1 day.

Modifying applications

cmwforms applications can be modified with relative ease.  The Administrator can perform the following changes to any application:

1. Modify the order of fields
2. Add new fields
3. Delete existing fields.

Fields can be added or removed even if records have already been created using the application that is being modified.  When a new field is added then existing records will show this field with the default value defined in the data dictionary.  When a field is removed then the data related to this field will remain in the database but will not be displayed to the user.

Modifying data dictionary

All fields referenced on all applications are managed using a data dictionary.  When the attributes of the field are modified in the data dictionary then the attributes of this field on all applications is updated automatically.  Therefore, if you decide to change the Title of a field in the dictionary then the Title will be updated in all applications and records automatically.

The administrator can add, remove or modify fields with minimal effort. Certain modifications are not allowed, a Rich Text field cannot be modified to a date field for example. CMW will track the usage of all fields in the data dictionary.  CMW will issue a warning if you try to delete a used field.

Custom process help

Each CMW application has an auto generated help page.  This page is displayed in the CMW Start page when a user selects an application.

The help page is stored on the server and can be updated by you to provide process instructions and help.  Using this feature, you are able to store all the process documentation in CMW and make this visible to users with relative ease.

Anatomy of a CMW application

A CMW application is created by associating fields from the CMW data dictionary with a blank form.  An application can have one or more forms.

The data dictionary includes fields of the following types:

1. Sequence:  This is a unique number that is incremented by CMW for each new record of a given type.
2. Text:  This is a single line of text.
3. Number
4. Currency
5. Date
6. User: This will present a list of workspace users.
7. Assignee: This will present a list of workspace users.  Records assigned to a user will appear in the user's To Do List.  Also the assignee will be sent a notification by E-mail when a record is assigned to the assignee.
8. Rich Text:  This is block of formatted text.  There is no limit to the size of a rich text field.
9. Plain Text:  This is a block of text without formatting.  There is no limit to the size of a plain text field.
10. Lookup: This is drop list of defined values.
11. Data Lookup:  This field is used to relate one record to another.

Once the required fields have been selected CMW will automatically generate the electronic form that will be used for the application.  This electronic form will have a standard structure that has the following key parts:

1. Title field will appear at the top of the form.
2. Text, Date, Number, Currency, User, Assignee and Lookup fields will be listed in the left margin of the form.
3. Plain Text, Rich Text, Data Lookup will appear on separate tabs in the central part of the form.

The electronic form can be resized; the size of the fields in the left margin is unchanged whilst the size of the fields on the tabs will be adjusted to fill the page.

Unlike other tools, users do not need to design the electronic form and do not need to worry about field alignment and placement.  The complete electronic form is generated dynamically based on the fields that have been selected and their type.