Project Dashboard page allows viewing and editing all information about a specific Project.
Summary is a quick representation of the Project progress, stage and status.
Timeline section represents the start and end dates, time and tasks remaining (iterations and key dates). The dotted line on the timeline means that Project key dates or iterations are out of Project dates (Project start and end dates).
If there are no start and/or finish dates for the Project, you will see the Dotted line in the summary section. The logic of the dates displayed for the dotted line is the following:
- No start and finish dates - 1 month before today and 2 after.
- If there is only a start date - 3 months after the start date
- If there is only a finish date - 3 months before the finish date
If the PPM Express Project is linked to any of the Connections, Project progress will be displayed on the Linked Project button for each Connection separately (as one Project can be linked to several Connections at once).
It is possible to configure Project sections, create a layout and apply this layout to other Projects. If you need to include any section to the Project dashboard, it is done via the layout and views configuration. Please refer to the 'How to create and apply layouts' article. The views can be pinned to the Project dashboard header for better navigation.
You can also edit the name of each section, and populate the description by clicking on the pencil-like button next to it. The sections can be expanded or hidden on the Project dashboard.
Using the Share Project option you can share only the required information about the Project dashboard portfolio with the users. This functionality can help limit Project dashboard information for certain users.
All sections can be opened in full-screen mode.
By default, Project Dashboard includes 5 sections: Statuses, Timeline, Key Dates, Iterations, and Details.
Optionally the following sections can be added: Team, Schedule, Resource plan, Risks, Issues, Budget, Strategic Alignment, Decision Matrix, Change Request, Lessons Learned, Steering Committee, Time, Embedded Content, Purchase Orders, OKR, Benefits, Radmaps, Deliverables and Dependencies.
Configure button in the upper right part of the page opens the following actions:
- Share the Project with other PPM Express users. Just start typing the names of the users on the 'Share' page. You can grant users permission to View, Edit or Collaborate on the Project (according to their license).
- Open the PPM Insights page.
- Create AI Project Digest.
- Set Project Baseline
- Using Configure menu it is also possible to Apply Layouts to Project dashboard.
- Using Project Settings you can decide what is the primary project schedule, the calculation type for PPM Express tasks, if the statuses should be calculated automatically for the Project, key dates, and tasks for a certain Project and if the warnings should be displayed,
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Clone the Project. If you clone the Project, a complete copy of this Project will be created in PPM Express.
Only PPM Express data will be cloned, such as Project statuses, Project Dashboard layout, all the fields and columns added or created for the selected Project Dashboard, all the settings, Details section information that was provided manually in PPM Express, key dates and iterations added to PPM Express manually will be transferred as well. If the Project was linked to any of the source systems, data synchronized from the source system will not be copied.
The Clone Project option is available for all PPM Express users and does not depend on their permission level. Even a user with view-only rights will be able to clone the Project. - Archive Project option is used to archive inactive Projects.
- Delete option allows deleting the Project.
Default Project Dashboard Sections
Statuses
This section allows you to set different statuses for your Project.
By default, there are 6 Project Statuses on the Project dashboard:
- Overall status;
- Risk status;
- Issues status;
- Resources status;
- Cost status;
- Schedule status.
You can hide the statuses that you do not plan to use. To show or hide the statuses on the Project Dashboard, open the Configure Statuses menu from the right part of the Statuses Project section.
Click on the ellipsis button on the right part of the page and choose Configure to open the Configure statuses menu.
Show/hide the unused status types by unchecking the corresponding checkboxes or rearranging their order (by clicking and dragging). You can add more statuses to each category, and rename the existing ones. For more details, please refer to the 'How to customize status categories for Projects/Programs/Portfolios/Tasks/etc' article.
If mapping is configured, the data can be synchronized from external systems (applies to Project Online and Azure DevOps).
The auto-calculation of the Project statuses is available in PPM Express. Auto-calculation of Project statuses is enabled by default, and the 'Allow to override status and description manually' option is on. It allows users to override the automatically calculated status and set the required status manually, and select the period of time for which the status set manually will be set. After this period of time (3, 5, 7, 10 days) the status set manually will be overridden by the status calculated automatically. Users can also add/edit the status description. The administrator can change these settings on the PPM Insights page.
If the auto-calculation option is not enabled, all newly created Projects are created with N/A status, and then the status is updated by users as required.
To set the required value for each status, click on the status to open it for editing. The following values are available for each status: N/A, On Track, At Risk, Critical, and Done. Select the one you need, populate the description, and click the Update status button to save the changes.
Status History is available for each status. As the status information changes, status history shows who made the changes and what changes were made exactly. You can navigate to the Info option to see the details for the status changes.
Status History can be deleted if needed by users with Adminitsrtate app permissions. However, the latest status update cannot be deleted. If the status history is deleted, it cannot be restored.
Also, there are two views available for the Statuses Project section:
- Card view;
- History view.
When you start adding information for your Project statuses, you can then track the status history for all Project statuses at once.
Key dates
This section displays milestones synchronized from external systems and key dates created manually in PPM Express.
Timeline and table views are available for Key dates. By default timeline view is displayed, but you can switch to the table view at any time if needed.
The following statuses are available for key dates: N/A, On Track, At Risk, Critical, and Done.
Configure Columns button is used to show or hide specific columns from the list, add a custom field, or rearrange their order (by clicking and dragging).
You can add custom statuses to Key dates if you open the status field for editing. For more details, please refer to this article: How to customize status categories.
Each Column can be edited as well. To edit a column, open the Configure Column menu and click on the pencil-like button to start editing it.
PPM Express allows creating 3 types of entities, which are:
- Milestones
- Release
- Key Date
Key dates statuses are calculated automatically by default and will be set according to the Key dates finish date, taking into account the current date:
- On Track – Finish Date is greater or equals Today;
- At Risk – The key date is late for less than 10 days (from Today);
- Critical – The key date is late for more than 10 days (from Today).
- Done - the Key date is marked as Complete.
To disable the auto-calculation of the Key dates statuses, visit the Insights settings page.
Use the New key date button to create a key date. On the key date creation panel select the key date type – a milestone, release, or key date. Enable Show on Timeline checkbox to display the created milestone on the main progress bar in the Summary section of the Project page.
As you create a key date, the status field is read-only.
When you provide the required information for your key date, and click Create Key Date button, the status for this key date is calculated automatically.
The Baseline can be set for all PPM Express Key Dates. To set the baseline, select the Key Dates and click the Set Baseline button (the Baseline is created for the Date field).
If you open the Key Date for editing, the Baseline tab becomes active once all required fields are filled in. To remove the Baseline mark from the timeline view, click on the 'Style' option and disable the Show Baseline option.
The Baseline will be read-only for rolled-up Key Dates (imported from Project to Program or Portfolio level). It is also possible to set the Baseline for the Key Dates imported from the external systems.
Iterations
This section displays iterations synchronized from external systems (applies to Azure DevOps and Jira connections) and iterations created in PPM Express.
Timeline and table views are available for Iterations. By default timeline view is displayed, but you can switch to the table view at any time if needed.
Four columns (Title, State, Start Date, and Finish date) are displayed by default for the Table view.
All available work item types are enabled by default in the 'External Items Mapping' tab, and after the synchronization, they become available under the 'Configure Connection' menu.
Disabled work item types in the tab 'External Items Mapping' will not be available under the 'Configure Connection' menu.
Work item types are shown as completed/all items. Only the default fields (Title, State, Start Date, Finish Date + ID) are exported when exporting to .csv. When exporting to PNG, all fields are supported.
Views and Layouts are shared for Projects per scheme (for Jira connection). If you add any work item types for View/Layouts for Project1 and navigate, e.g., to Project2, work item types for View/Layouts will be displayed as for Project1.
The work item values within the iteration from Azure DevOps and Jira are clickable, allowing to filter the information by the work item included in the iteration. The task page will be opened displaying only items of the selected work item type within the iteration.
Use the New iteration button to create iterations. Configure Columns button is used to show or hide specific columns from the list or add a custom field or rearrange their order (by clicking and dragging).
Details
This section contains the most important information about the Project. If mapping is configured, the data can be synchronized from external systems).
For detailed information about field mapping please refer to 'How to set up additional fields mapping for Project Online' and 'How to set up additional fields mapping for Azure DevOps' articles.
Rolled up fields from the PPM Express tasks schedule, effort and progress are also available. This way, you can see the main values from your PPM Express tasks schedule on the Project level. You can also add them to the KPI section for quick access to the important Project metrics.
To enable these fields, open the Configure Fields menu from the Details page, and start typing 'schedule' in the search field to quickly find and enable them all.
The fields will become available for review in the Details section. The information button next to each field shows the details for the field value calculation.
From the Details section, users can manage Project Stages:
- Users can add project stages to the Project Stage categories using the Add Stage button.
- Stages can be reorganized between categories via drag-and-drop functionality.
- Project stage names and colors can be customized as needed by users with Manage Configuration permission.
By default, the project stages are grouped into the following categories:
- Initiating: Idea, Pipeline
- Planning: Planning
- Executing: Execution
- Monitoring and Controlling: (empty by default)
- Closing: Closing
- Suspended: Suspended
- Canceled: Canceled
Optional Project Dashboard Sections
To see the list of available sections, click on the elipsis button next to the view and open the view for editing, and add the Project sections you need.
Only PPM Express administrators with Manage Configuration permission can edit the existing views or create new ones.
As a Project Manager or a user with edit permission, you can edit the default view of your Project and switch between all existing views to change the list of available sections.
Team
This section shows the list of resources assigned to the Project tasks on the Project tasks page.
This section shows the list of these resources and the information for their task assignments.
Also, if you have any external connections added, the Teams section shows the list of the employees engaged in the Project as well as their tasks, pending and done. This section is non-editable. Data for this section is retrieved from the Project during synchronization.
If you have several Connections (source systems) linked to one PPM Express Project, you will be able to switch between these Connections to review information for your Project team accordingly. The Team section has Linked Project buttons using which you can select the Connection linked to this Project and review data synchronized from each Connection separately. To find more information on how to add several Connections to one Project, refer to this article.
Jira Team is selected in the example above.
Project Online Team is selected on the example below:
Tasks (Schedule)
This section shows tasks and issues in the Project. This section is non-editable.
When the tasks are added to the task statuses section on the Project tasks page they will become available on the Project Dashboard in the Tasks section.
If you click on the task number here, you will be redirected to the tasks page. Also, the tasks list on the Project tasks page will be filtered according to the selected value (for example, if you click on the number of Late tasks, the tasks list will be filtered by late tasks).
Using the 'Configure' menu you can turn on data sections that you want to make visible on the page. Drag and drop is available to reorder the position of these sections. These changes can be saved to Project layouts and views.
If you have any external connections added, data for the Tasks section is retrieved from the Project during data synchronization. Tasks statuses will be updated during Project data synchronization as well.
If you have several Connections (source systems) linked to one PPM Express Project, you will be able to switch between these Connections to review information for your Project schedule accordingly. The Schedule section has Linked Project buttons using which you can select the system linked to this Project and review data synchronized from each Connection separately. To find more information on how to add several Connections to one Project, refer to this article.
Also, for each connection, a separate task page is created.
Resource plan
This section is available on the Project dashboard if the Project level is selected for Resource Planning on the tenant setting page.
This section helps Project managers organize their teams, manage resource utilization, and track resource capacity.
When the resources are added to the Resource plan, this information appears on the Resources page as well which makes it easy for the resource managers and resources to know exactly what Projects they're working on.
Allocation is available in Hours, Percent, FTE, or Chart Views. You can review the Resources timeline by day, week, month, quarter, or year.
Two statuses are now available for resources: Active and Inactive. Only active resources can be assigned for tasks, key dates, risks, issues, etc. Inactive resources do not appear in the list of available resources when assigning them. However, if an active resource is assigned for tasks, as an example, all assignments will be preserved for this resource if it becomes inactive (the time allocated for this resource in the Project Plan section will also be preserved).
For more information about Resource Management in PPM Express, please refer to this article.
The Configure Columns button is used to show or hide specific columns from the list or rearrange their order (by clicking and dragging). If you need to add a custom field, this can be done from the Resource Dashboard, Details section (the custom fields are shared between PPM Express entities).
Risks
This section displays risks synchronized from an external system (applies to Project Online connection) and risks created in PPM Express. Use the New risk button to open the Risk edit menu.
The Configure Columns button is used to show or hide specific columns from the list or add a custom field or rearrange their order (by clicking and dragging).
Issues
This section displays issues synchronized from an external system (applies to Project Online connection) and issues created in PPM Express. Use the New issue button to open the Issue edit menu.
The Configure Columns button is used to show or hide specific columns from the list or add a custom field or rearrange their order (by clicking and dragging).
Budget
This section uses the Financials app allowing editing the Portfolio budget.
Viewing or editing budgets can only be done by the users who have Manage Financial Details permission enabled in their account settings.
If you would like to change the currency for the PPM Express tenant, please refer to this article to find step-by-step instructions.
You can find more on creating and editing a budget in the Managing budgets help article.
Benefits
This section is available for users with Manage Financial Details permission.
The Benefits Project section is similar to the Budget section and is configured via the Financials widget.
Two formula fields were added for this section to display data as needed: Estimated ROI and Estimated ROI Baseline.
- Estimated ROI = ((Benefits Forecast - Budget Forecast)/Budget Forecast) *100% (if at least one parameter is 0, the value will be 0)
- Estimated ROI Baseline = ((Benefits Forecast - Budget Baseline)/Budget Baseline) *100% (if at least one parameter is 0, the value will be 0)
By default, the Benefit start & finish dates displayed in this section correspond to the Project Start and Finish dates. However, you can adjust the Benefit start & finish by adding Benefits Start Date and Benefits Finish Date fields to the project Details section.
There are two Benefit types: Fiscal and Non-fiscal.
The settings and fields are similar to the Budget section.
KPI
This section allows you to review the fields you need for the Project quickly. You can edit the KPI section, and add and remove the fields you need to display in this section. It is an easy and visual way to monitor some metrics and details at the Project level.
Also, it is possible to edit the KPI section in different ways for different views. For example, you can create a Resource Plan view and customize the KPI section to show only the fields that are important for the resource plan. If you create a Budget view, you can customize the KPI section to show the important fields for the budget, and add the budget section to this view only.
Lessons Learned
This section allows adding information on the lessons learned through Project duration. The lessons learned section also focuses on identifying Project successes and failures and includes recommendations on how to improve future performance on Projects. Use the New Lesson button to open the edit menu. Configure Columns button is used to show or hide specific columns from the list or add a custom field or rearrange their order (by clicking and dragging).
Action Items
This section allows tracking of activities related to the successful delivery of the Project, but not being tracked as part of the Project schedule. It allows assigning an owner, the date assigned, the closed date, and the status, so that action items are properly recorded and action is taken to address and complete them. Use the New action item button to open the edit menu. Configure Columns button is used to show or hide specific columns from the list or add a custom field or rearrange their order (by clicking and dragging).
Key Decisions
This section allows adding information for the key decisions, adding people, dates, and descriptions of the key decisions on the Project. Use the New key decision button to open the edit menu. Configure Columns button is used to show or hide specific columns from the list or add a custom field or rearrange their order (by clicking and dragging).
Steering Committee
This section allows adding people who are in charge of the Project or representatives of all Project stakeholders if needed, whose main task is to monitor the Project. Use the New Person button to open the edit menu. Configure Columns button is used to show or hide specific columns from the list or add a custom field or rearrange their order (by clicking and dragging).
Change Requests
This section allows adding Project change requests to define how that impacts the scope of the Project. Use the New change request button to open the edit menu. The Configure Columns button is used to show or hide specific columns from the list or add a custom field or rearrange their order (by clicking and dragging). The filter option allows filtering change requests.
Change requests can be assigned to resources. When the change request is created and assigned, resources receive email notifications (if the notifications on PPM Express actions are enabled). Requesters/Deciders/Resources assigned receive notifications on any changes.
Strategic Alignment
This section shows all strategic priorities on the organization level that are added to the Strategic Priorities page. By default, the impact of the strategic priorities in this section is set to N/A.
Users who create and manage Projects can decide how organizational priorities impact the specific Project by setting the Impact of each priority in the Strategic Alignment section.
As the impact is set for each priority in the Strategic Alignment section on the Project dashboard, the Alignment Score field in the Details section is populated with the value. This value takes into account the Importance of the strategic priorities set on the Strategic Priorities page and the Impact set by the Project manager in the Strategic Alignment section. The percentage in the Alignment Score field shows the Project compliance with company strategic priorities.
The higher the number in the Alignment Score field, the more the Project is consistent with the priorities of the company.
If there are any changes in the priorities on the Strategic Priorities page (changes in the Importance of the strategic priorities, new priority added, the priorities are edited or deleted, the priority activated/deactivated), Project managers will see a message in the Strategic Alignment section as for the changes on the Strategic Priorities page.
If the Project manager clicks the Apply Changes button, the changes will be applied automatically, and the Alignments Score field will be recalculated according to the changes applied.
Decision Matrix
This section helps to make decisions for Projects or ideas efficiency and benefits for your organization. As a Project Manager, you can set Impact, Risk, Cost, Revenue, and Effort values for your Project and based on the given values make a decision on whether it is worth continuing with this idea or Project.
Time
This section helps Project Managers to review the time that employees track within the Time Tracking module (My Time page).
The time the team members have already tracked on the PPM Express tasks will appear in this section.
OKR
PPM Express provides an ability to add Key Results created in the OKR module to the Project Dashboard OKR section.
When the Key Results are added to the OKR Project section, these Projects become contributing Projects of the Key Result and, thus, Objective.
Dependencies
PPM Express provides an ability to specify and manage both internal and external activities that relate to your Project. You can select a PPM Express Project, Idea, or any external activity as a dependency type and specify their relation to your Project.
Select the “Depends on” relation type if the current Project depends on another Project or activity. Select the “Delivers to” relation type if another Project or activity should not start before you finish a current Project or some activity, such as task, key date, etc. in it. “Related to” relation type can be selected for ideas, Projects, or external activities that relate to your Project but are not necessarily interdependent.
You can use default filters or create your own, as well as configure columns and new fields relevant to your Projects.
For the “Project” type, we recommend using “Depends on” and “Delivers to” relation types, as when any of these types is selected, a corresponding arrow will be drawn from your Project to another one or vice versa. The arrows will be displayed on all Timeline views, such as Portfolios/ Programs/ Projects timelines or the “Projects” section inside Portfolio or Program.
To enable/disable the Dependencies section and manage it the user should have Administrate app permission or be a manager of the Project. If the user is not a Project manager but has permission to edit the Project, such a user can enable/disable this section and create dependencies as required.
Users who have View permission for the Project cannot enable/disable the Dependencies section but they can create dependencies for the Project. To create a dependency on Ideas users should have Manage Challenges and Ideas permission (otherwise users will be able to create dependencies on their own ideas or the ones that are in the Active/Selected/Not Selected/Rejected statuses).
Purchase orders
The 'Purchase Orders' section provides the ability to add orders to the Project.
When the order is added, it can be edited or deleted, users can configure columns for this section, export orders to PNG files, and import orders from CSV to PPM Express.
Embedded Content
The 'Embedded Content' section allows embedding external links, videos, web pages, or documents to PPM Express dashboards. This section can also embed PPM Express Power BI Reports into the dashboards to access the required report easily. For more information about the section, please refer to the "How to use the Embedded Content section" article.
Invoices
This section allows adding invoices to the Project.
Deliverables
This section allows creating and managing Project Deliverables. It has two views: Table and Timeline.
You can create new Deliverables, Import them from external systems, Import them from the .CSV file, and Export to PNG. Also, configure columns and filtering options are available.
For more details, please refer to the 'How to import Deliverables' article.
Roadmaps
The Roadmap section displays the selected existing Roadmap on the Project dashboard directly. To add Roadmaps, users must have View or Edit permission for the original Roadmap.
Only Administrators and Project Managers can import Roadmaps to the default view of the Project dashboard. To add the Roadmap to the custom view, users should have Edit and Manage Configuration permission.
The added Roadmap will be available in read-only mode on the Project dashboard.
- The Configure option allows users to select a different Roadmap.
- The Open Roadmap option will open the original Roadmap page in a new tab.
- The Clear option will remove the Roadmap from this section.
The Styles will be shown according to the original Roadmap default view. If the original Roadmap was shared with a user via a specific view, that user will not be able to see the Roadmap added to the Project dashboard if they do not have permission to access the default view of the original Roadmap.
PPM Express Power BI Reports
PPM Express provides over 50 accurate and comprehensive Power BI reports with a graphical representation of PPM Express data.
PPM Express provides an ability to review PPM Express Power BI Reports for the following sections Project dashboard includes: Statuses, Key Dates, Iterations, and Details. Optionally the reports can be reviewed for the following sections, if they are added: Team, Risks, Issues, and Budget.
You can access the reports via the ellipsis button, from the drop-down menu, in the upper right corner of each section.
As you click on the report, it will be opened in a new window displaying the information for the selected report.
