1. Select Summary tab and make sure “All Projects” is selected from the Project filter.
2. Click the yellow New Project icon
3. Fill in the following fields, Project Name, Sector, Project Type and Current Phase. The remaining fields are optional.
A Project ID is generated automatically.
Optional Fields: Not all fields are relevant to all projects / portfolios and some can be ignored. If a mandatory field is left blank, you will be notified with a red warning message. The only mandatory fields are the fields listed above at point 3. Note however that if no resources are added to a project then an administrator will need to add resources once they are known.
Priority: Companies can devise their own Project Prioritisation Framework which the user creating the project can complete to establish a projects’ priority. The prioritisation framework is displayed at the bottom of the create project screen. If you complete the Project Prioritisation Framework the result will automatically populate in this field once the project is created. Alternatively you can enter in a priority manually. Project prioritisation allows team members to make discretionary decisions over work that needs to be completed at the same time. Knowing which project has a greater priority to the organisation can assist in the decision making, reducing the management time required to review and prioritise tasks.
Private Project: If this box is ticked then only resources assigned to the project can view it. Extreme caution should be used when choosing to make a project private as it makes the project “invisible” to anyone not assigned to the project.
Win %: As explained in the introduction to the session, projects are generally created when a quote or proposal is required. When Revenues, costs and hours are estimated, UniPhi will automatically adjust these Revenues in reports by the win % allocated to the project. The win % represents the probability that the organisation will win the job. The end result is a risk adjusted resource plan and cash flow forecast for the business. Win/loss ratios displayed in the Submissions dashboard can assist the user in determining a value for this particular field.
Revenue %: The Revenue % functions the same as the win % thereby compounding the risk adjustment factor. The Revenue % adjustment reflects the likely reduction in Revenues that will occur through contract negotiation phase.
Project Description: This can be used to pre-populate documents and will explain the scope of the project to other staff members who may need to work on it. The project description is designed to provide more detailed meta-data on the project.
Currency: UniPhi supports an unlimited number of foreign currency translations. The currency selected by default in these tabs is based off the default selected here. It can be changed by the end user if they wish to see the end results converted into other currencies.
Risk Contingency COA: UniPhi’s risk management module allows for the build up of a dollar value for risks in the project cost budget. Risks identified have contingency values allocated to them. The total of which is then transferred to the project budget via the relevant contingency code selected. Risk contingency dollar values are applied to costs, not revenue, so this is only relevant when managing a project cost budget. The code list available is all code structures that have “Contingency” codes flagged in their chart of accounts
Risk Contingency Code: The account codes that have been flagged as contingency codes in the chart of accounts selected are displayed here. Selecting one code will provide for a default code selection when creating risks. This default can be changed for each risk identified but the default selected here should be the most common contingency code (e.g. construction contingency).
Parent/Child Project Relationships: UniPhi allows for a program of works within a portfolio to have an unlimited number of “child” projects underneath it. This is managed through selecting the Parent Project that the newly created project belongs to. Parent projects will consolidate budgets and contract costs and revenue for all children allocated to it. The Parent project will also display issues and risks that exist across the program (i.e. within each child)
Parent Project: This is a list of all the projects in the system that have been flagged as being a parent as per the above method. Selecting a parent project will make the current project you are creating to become a child project.
Timesheet Tasks: defaults to a predetermined list that is visible to add work hours against the project when time sheeting. Standard tasks are used when work is completed on a project without specific contract deliverables. Examples of this type of work would be support work for a product that has been already commissioned or project management during a defects liability period in the construction industry.
Requires Approval: If timesheets on the project need to be approved before submission then this is selected.
Timesheet approval in UniPhi is based off the access level of roles on the project. If a project role has a project manager access level (as opposed to a team member access level) then people in this role are able to approve other people’s timesheets.
Rejecting a timesheet reverts the timesheet back to a “saved” state rather than a “submitted” state. The team member can then amend and re-submit for approval.
If timesheet approval is not selected then timesheets can still be reviewed in both the contracts tab and via reports.
Timesheets can be “rolled back” to allow the team member to correct any errors, and re-submit. Only submitted hours are displayed in the contracts tab, while saved but not submitted hours can optionally be displayed in the timesheet reports.
Requires Comments: Select if daily comments next to each task are required for successful submission of timesheets. If this is selected, staff will not be able to submit their timesheets unless they have entered text in the comments field.
Assigning Resource: The next panel is for adding resources. It is highly advisable to add at least one resource to your newly created project.
Resources are allocated to roles on the project. Project roles are configurable by each business.
People in different roles have different access levels which controls what people can enter and manipulate in UniPhi.
Companies can determine what functions can be performed by resources at certain roles / access levels. For example it may be that only project managers can assign additional resources to a project, create contracts and estimate effort – if this was your company and your project, you would need to be in the program manager role.
Internal resources are staff members and external resources which are people outside the organisations such as clients, suppliers and company contacts.
UniPhi can manage your contracts for both clients and with suppliers. UniPhi determines the type of contract by the person allocated to the supplier role in the contracts system.
Resources can be edited (i.e. you can add or remove resources) throughout the life of the project.
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