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ManagePro 8.2 Releases Saturday October 13th, and there are 3
New Important Tools in 8.2 and Here's How to Use them
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1. ManagePro 8.2
to Release
Monday October 15th -
You'll get the notice to update first thing
Monday morning.
Yes, here we are with another release and new features
and fixes. There are just so many improvements to the
code, that we couldn't hold off making it available to you
any longer. It has a number of fixes, which I'll
enumerate below and then get right into how to use some of
the cool new features. Here's a quick recap of what to
expect when you update. Again we are expecting to
have the release for Monday morning.
Fixes & Small Adds:
- Added ability to print
Notes directly from Notes view - found in the File drop down
menu when viewing/editing Notes.
- Added ability to auto-email
supervisor or user of your choice every time you enter a
progress update. That choice is set up in
Preferences/General Preferences/Progress Updates.
- Fixed several key loop-holes when syncing recurring
events from Outlook.
- Fixed custom reports so that they do not incorrectly
print the order of goals.
- Fixed print-out of business groups in People/Meeting
view.
- Fixed docking component so that it saves user's view
configuration.
- Fixed crash encountered when copying records in
ManagePro Smart.
- Fixed crash when printing reports of recognition and
feedback.
- Fixed crash caused if GAPR records were added with
score values but no results.
- Fixed display of % resourced in Outline,
Scorecard and Timeline views.
- Fixed SQL time-out errors
when syncing up large updates and improved speed of
processing of updates dramatically.
- Made changes to accommodate Vista specific situation
imposed when an administrator installs ManagePro for an
existing user.
- Fixed crash when using a calculated field as a filter.
- Fixed default time entry when adding new records to no
longer display a default of 12:00AM
New Features:
- Push Repetitive Processes into the Future
This first feature is an add-on to an existing
relatively new feature, which may be new to you as well, so
let's cover both. Here's the business problem we are
helping you solve with this feature. Say you have a
process, ex. month end closing, which occurs hopefully every
month ;). You need to track it in ManagePro, but once
all the tasks have been completed and documented, copying
and pasting a template of line items quickly plugs up the
database. How do you create the same process over
again for the next period?
So here's our answer. You use the sub option of
Adjust Tree
Dates found as a under the right click Multi-Edit.
It is best to start by rolling up the tree or outline of
tasks underneath the parent record that represents the
project you want to push into the future to repeat working
through the listed tasks.
Clicking on the Adjust Tree Dates option
brings up a 2nd window allowing
you
to specify two important criteria:
1. How far out you want to push the start and due dates of
each of the GAPR records in the outline you've targeted and
2. The value you would like to change or set the status to.
You see if the tasks have all been completed and are showing
a status of Done, pushing them out 30 days won't help you
without being able to change the status back to Not Started
or On Track.
This feature really helps with any project that gets
repeated, and the nice thing is all your progress updates
stay intact with their original dates of entries, so you
have a very nice history record as well.
- Quick Print Configuration
We've just added the ability to configure or select
which columns you want to include in a quick print report
from any view. This significantly improves the
usefulness of this option. But before I explain how to
use it, let me go over two other very powerful features that
you may not know about, specifically:
1. Fit to Page
2. Print Last Progress Update Configuration
If you leave the Fit to Page box checked it automatically
sizes all of the columns to fit either a landscape or
portrait page width. However if you uncheck this box
the column widths extend out to match the current column width
in the view display, making for a much easier to read
multi-page display on views with lots of columns.
The most common status report we use is one that displays
selected records with the last progress update. If you
check the Last Progress Option, you can select which
"Category" of progress update you want to include.
Since you may have all types of progress updates available,
everything from email correspondence to monthly summaries,
this feature is very useful. This image didn't turn
out well, but hopefully you get the picture.
OK, so now let's talk about what's new in this feature for
8.2. In 8.2 you can select which columns in a few to
include in the quick report. We found that
users often don't need all of the columns in a view they are
using to generate a quick report. So, we built an
option to select which columns you want and even save that
as a standard report configuration you can use over and
over. The feature is listed the "Select
Layout... Configure" option. You can remove or
add columns to the report using the Layout window that pops
up when you click "Configure". This does not change
the column configuration in the View, just the report. Just
one more data point, the Progress Update Filter option is
also available in Report Gallery for use when customizing
reports.
- The Watch-List
Have you ever wondered, "What's changed since I
last opened ManagePro?" or maybe "What's upcoming that I
need to be aware of?" Well we ask those same questions
and have added a Watch-List" view to address
exactly that issue.
Let me describe it first and then I'll share some
screenshots. Essentially it is a view designed around
4 areas to keep you up-to-date. Here's the 4 areas:
1. Dates - you select which date fields you want to monitor on
which type of GAPR records (ex. assigned to me as lead) and
how many days before that date you want to be alerted.
2. Field Values - you select which fields and what values the
program is to monitor and alert you if there is a change
(ex. web traffic score drops below 80% target of 30,000 web
hits a month)
3. Updates - you select a record and when you are to be alerted
based upon progress updates (ex. either alert me if there
isn't a progress update in 30 days, or you could also set it
up to alert you when there is a progress update), and
updates to a field value (ex. if a field value hasn't
changed in 90 days alert me).
4. What's New - you select the criteria to be alerted too (ex.
alert me if any new to-do or GAPR record has been assigned
to me).
Here's a couple of screenshots.
First each person can customize their own Watch List, but
administrators can also set up a basic watch list customized
for each business group or for the entire organization.
The Watch List in enabled through General Preferences, and
is available on the far side of the ribbon control.
The watch list is based upon a series of business rules you
define around the areas of Dates, Field Values, Updates and
What's New. Here's a screen shot of the business rule
setup screen.
Finally the Watch List displays in a RSS feed format, and if
you were wondering, yes in the near future we'll be able to
push the Watch-list directly to your cell phone or Black
Berry.
Note: We will be covering the new
features and how to apply them in depth at the Seminar October
29th & 30th. We'll also have a video tutorial up
by Tuesday October 16th to give you additional help in setting
up and configuring your Watch List.
2. "
ManagePro Annual Training Seminar October 29-30th"
The training seminar is coming up in just a few weeks!
We're excited about it, as it covers so many of the topics
that you need to know to put ManagePro to work for you and
your organization effectively. Be sure to mark
on your calendar and give us a call to reserve your seat at
the Sunset Station in the greater Las Vegas area. It
begins Monday October 29th at 9am (show up at 8:30 to get
your pc setup and meet other ManagePro users) and finishes
up Tuesday the 30th at 6pm. The location is the Sunset
Station Hotel & Casino in Henderson, Nevada - http://www.sunsetstation.com
Topics:
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Program Overview
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Navigating ManagePro - Understanding your
way around the program
- Working with the four Views/Workspace;
Referenced by User; Sub-tabs within views;
Docking
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Access
- Who can see what; who can edit and which
fields; who can customize; How to assign people
to records; how does the Private Checkbox work;
what do the locks mean?
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Updating & Managing Data
- Details window; Progress Updates and Results
field; Tasks vs. To-dos; Events; Attaching
Documents and options
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Email
- IN- Drag and Drop and Import email in from
Outlook; OUT- Right Click option and the
value of emailing out from ManagePro;
Synchronization with Outlook
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Managing your Calendar & To Do List
- Entering directly into the Calendar and
List; Push and Drag show in calendar from the
GAPR view as a priority setting; Sorts in the
List;
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Using Priority, Filters, Search and Understanding
Roll-Ups
Getting to just the data you need to work
with
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Managing
Meetings
Creating
an agenda by assigning Meeting in the Who field;
Where to find Meetings to assign to a record; Where
to put meeting summary reports
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Reports and Exporting/Importing to/from Excel
Quick Report features; Printing in the
Timeline and Dashboard Views; Exporting to Excel,
report designer
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Project Management
Building project plans and custom views, linked
dependencies, calculated fields, resource allocation
and layered duration displays in the Timeline view
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Performance Management
Setting up business and individual
performance goals, scorecards and setting up a
system that makes yearly reviews very simple, plus
ties into ReviewWriter for automatic reviews
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Portfolio Management, Dashboard Analytics and Graphs
Working with the pivot tables and pick-lists to mine
and analyze your data, plus how to push graphs and
composite dashboards into Excel
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Strategic Planning and Execution
Setting up strategic goals, weighted scorecards and
linking/aligning with projects, initiatives and
sub-goals
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Looking forward to working with all
of those signed up to attend our Executive Workshop and the
Training Seminar. If you haven't signed up, there are
still openings for the Training Seminar and we want to see you
there.
Don't miss this - it will be a great
event and build skills you'll use for the rest of your
career. Call us at toll free at (877) 487-3001 to
reserve seats today.
3. Join me
with your thoughts & perspectives on the CEO Blog
I started a blog
a few months to create a forum for dialogue with you.
A dialogue about the topics we encounter every day, e.g.
implementing software, improving performance, executing
strategy.
I'm writing to invite you to join me there, and add your
comments, reactions and experiences. Hopefully you'll find
it enjoyable and valuable. I know I'll value your
comments. I've just added a couple of new blogs.
Check them out before you finish the newsletter:
Have a great month, enjoy 8.2, and look forward to meeting
those of you attending the workshop or training seminar.
Rodney Brim
Rodney Brim, Ph.D.
CEO, Performance Solutions Technology, LLC
P.S. We've elected to launch PST university, an annual
membership which allows you to download advanced seminars,
next month. These seminars will focus on key features
in ManagePro and walk you through, step-by-step, exactly how
to use them in a business environment.
We are targeting the nagging question our users have, which
goes something like this, "OK, I understand the feature
(scorecards, strategic alignment, calculated fields...), but
how exactly do I put it to work for me. We'll provide all the details about how you can sign up in
the November newsletter. Looking forward to working with all
of those signed up to attend our Executive Workshop and the
Training Seminar. If you haven't signed up, there are
still openings for the Training Seminar and we want to see you
there.
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