PSA
What are the 3 main things that need to match in PSA?
Details on the main page
Milestone amounts
Actual/Projected hours
Ture or false - if you know who you want staffed, you put their name in the suggested resource field
false
What is the first thing you should do when you get assigned to a new project?
make sure you understand what the scope is: check wbs, sow, pitch deck, and set up a meeting with the CS/BD/Scoping sme to understand the sold in project
What is variance?
Variance is the difference in the teams time submitted to forecast
What fields need to be complete to be able to close a project and what stage?
Project recap section and moved to completed
What fields on the details page need to be filled in?
Start date
End date
Bill rate
Planned hours
Contingency where necessary
Project manager
bill type
project type
True or false - every resource request needs to be associated with a milestone
true
What are the key things to get set up prior to kick off?
slack channel
share folder
time tracker
task tracker
esr
kick off deck
Why is variance important to manage?
for the team: helps to accurately forecast their schedule to inform practice leads on their availability
for the company: helps to accurately forecast revenue
What is a retrospective
A retrospective is a meeting with the internal team to review results, learnings, and opportunities for next time.
If a project just kicked off but the resources arent seeing the project show up for them in their timesheets, where would you look to solve the problem?
Check start and end dates in the details page
Check the start and end dates in the milestones
Check the project planner for hours in the current week
Check with CS that the opportunity is in verbal
What fields should be filled out in a resource request?
Milestones
suggested resource
start date
end date
requested hours
skills/certifications
What things are important to share with the team to ensure they are set up for success?
WBS
SOW
Pitch Deck
Kick off Deck
What document should you send to the clients on a regular basis?
ESR
Where should contingency be set on a project?
could be one month past to give leeway to moving end dates
could be the same month as closed project if we know for sure we are ending and CS is aligned
What happens if a project is "in progress" but the opportunity hasnt closed yet....and then the opportunity closes? bonus: How do you avoid the issue?
The start dates on the details, milestones, and project planner bump out 2 weeks from the close date
you can avoid this by having the project in 'missing paperwork'
what resource request automatically gets requested when a project is made and why?
What things might you ask the client before even getting started to ensure you are set up for success?
Access
What should every meeting have and be followed up with?
Every meeting should have an agenda and be followed up with notes
When should you be communicating with the client about the end of the project?
At least a month before the end date you should be communicating with the client on aligning to expectations for what/when wrap up looks like
How are the 3 types of project types milestones set up?
time and materials - set up automatically with one milestone for the service type
fixed fee - set up by CS based on agreed payment terms
retainer - set up automatically with a milestone for each month
What happens if a resource request doesnt have a milestone against it?
The hours submitted wont show up as chargable
When should you aim to set people's times for the week ahead and approve time?
Set forecast the Friday before - a snapshot is taken EOD Friday to impact variance
approve time mondays - so the company can see revenue
How do you know how much time the team needs week over week to manage variance?
Ask the team
Check trends after approvals on Monday
What additional conversations and when should you be talking to the client about to drive future work?
Wrap up presentation should be held up to a month before the end date