PST Newsletter
1. Updates to MProLite
Many of you use a combination of MProLite licenses and ManagePro Plus or Smart licenses in your organization. One of our challenges is to make MProLite feel like a desktop application and look and feel like ManagePro without having as much complexity, and still run on the web on both pcs and Macs. It's a good challenge.
The past two months we have been tackling that problem by working on the speed issue. We have been able to improve the responsiveness of MProLite by over 100% in the month of August. Once you load the details of a record once, the browser caches the files it needs and thereafter most screens now load in less than 2 seconds.
Even we were plesantly surprised at how "snappy" a browser application could be. We'll continue to work on the speed and any problems that create a disruption to your connection when running MProLite during the month of September. We're also hoping to add the ability to sort by column, especially in the todo and event views.
Something to think about.
Most of you
have one or more vendors or partners with whom you
coordinate or collaborate or just outsource work to.
Putting them on MProLite and having them update
MProLite so you have status updates can be
invaluable to getting things done. Plus, we
find that the transparency that comes with having
them on the system, always seems to:
a: surface issues that were otherwise swept under
the "busy" rug and
b: generate better accountability with the increase
in transparency.
The Favorites tip. If you have very many projects in MProLite, be sure you are taking advantage of the Favorites option. There are thousdands of records in our database, but I'm typically only focused on 6 - 10 projects actively at any one time. That's more than enough! But the cool thing with Favorites is that I can get there in one click. I don't have to wade through expanding multiple trees
To add any record to your Favorites list, just highlight the record and then click the "Add to Favorites" option. . By-the-way, Favorites works great in both MProLite and ManagePro. Use it and save yourself some time.
2. ManagePro Updates Due 9/7
We've had several requests to know in effect, "What happened to version 10?" you know, the version that was supposed to be released the first quarter of this year. I'm glad we got a few customers who remember and glad we got through a challenging transition with our development team and now have a stronger team in place, albeit it has set everything back almost 6 months in the process.
The bottom line is that we have a stronger version of ManagePro 9.5 that will be available starting Wednesday September 7th, if you would like to use it contact Jona at our office (707 487-3000). I'll detail a few of the fixes and upgrades we have in place, and fully expect to have a release date for version 10 defined by the next monthly newsletter.
This month we'll be working on adding support for Outlook 2010, and several other key features, but here's a look at what's in the "advanced" version of 9.5 on September 7th if you wish to get it:
1. Display Total Resource Allocation checkbox is available on “set date range” option in People and Meetings/Resource Allocation view. This is a new feature which displays and sums the Total Allocation Percentage as one line item per individual user or –All- .
2. Print to pdf now available as a right-click menu option and available via “Print Preview” on People and Meetings>RA view and Gantt View.
3. Calendar View: Fixed
appointments spanning multiple weeks and months so they
would not drop from the view during the last week due.
Same day, multi-day, multi-week, and
multi-month Events are deleted as they should be.
In the past, if you deleted an event from the day view
and used the Calendar back and forward navigation
controls, the Event continued to display.
4.
5. Audit Trail data column supports Notes descriptions.
6. Filters: The condition "In User List" filter for the custom filter field “who” is now returning results according to criteria selection (supports multiple user selection).
7.
9.
In the Calendar, when switching from month to
day views, the day view is now maintained. In the past,
the day view would get lost and the display would be
stuck at the month view .
10. Filters: Fixed Values and columns where they were getting multiplied in the Business Group Filter, User Filter and Custom Filters.
11. The Duration field now supports decimals. It interprets single decimals place in terms of minutes, e.g. .5 hours is represented as 30 minutes, .75 is represented as 45 mins and 1.5 hours is represented as 1 hour 30 mins. Note: The duration field does not support the decimals if not accompanied by text eg .5 hrs or .5 hours. For example, if you enter .5 the duration does not recognize the entry but if you enter .5 hours or .5 hrs, then 30 mins will display in the duration field.
12. The
basic project and task record duration logic has
changed: The duration field for the goal data-type
functions as follows:
a. partial days are represented as such by hours
eg 8-12pm (4 hours),
b. 8 - 12:30 pm (4 hours 30 mins)
c.
d.
3. How to Avoid Low-Value Collaboration
Not infrequently as we're doing a launch of ManagePro, someone voices the concern that using ManagePro, and getting into the discipline of collaboration with regular progress updates, easy-to-track todos and solid document attachments... will be too time consuming. Although the statement implies that they won't be able to get their "real" work done if they have to spend a "lot of time" in ManagePro, part of what they are really saying is that the effort won't have enough value.
In fact sometimes collaborating, whether using ManagePro or not, doesn't have enough value to warrant the time spent. Recently I wrote a blog on what happens when collaboration doesn't work. Below I've put in some of the conclusions from the blog. See what you think, and if you find it interesting, there's a link to read the blog in its entirety.
The Value of Collaboration:
1. Collaboration
only works when it adds value. Collaboration has
the
capacity to either greatly add to the work effort or
detract from it.
Collaboration eats up time and dollars, so it either
needs to add value by benefiting the process or reducing
risk.
2. It is fun to
work with people who are experts at collaborating.
They know when and how to pull the information and
feedback from
others they need, and do so in an agile, reinforcing way
that makes it
a pleasure for the team members to contribute.
3. It's not fun to work with people who are poor at collaborating. Invariably, too much time is spent talking, points are repeated, when they don't need to be and written communication isn't concise and to the point.
In fact there are
four factors that, when present, make collaboration not
work for me...
Click here to go to my blog and get the complete
article.
Have a great Labor Day weekend.
Rodney Brim, Ph.D.
CEO
Performance Solutions Technology
Blog -
http://www.PerformanceSolutionsTech.com/Blog
Twitter Account -
http://www.twitter.com/RodneyBrim
PS.
Be sure
to stay in touch with us through
Facebook!
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August 2010 Newsletter content:
- Updates to MProLite
- ManagePro Updates Due 9/7
- How to Avoid Low Value Collaboration