Newsletter

1. A video overview of ManagePro Lite - due to release April 15th

One of things ManagePro does really well is wrap itself around your business process while getting at the core, Who, What and When questions. MProLite, as it is nick-named around here, is designed to provide all the tools you need to get at 3 fundamental questions, stated as:

1. Where are we going? (What are the goals and how are we doing at meeting them?)
2. How are we going to get there? (What's the plan, who's assigned, when does it need to be started, finished...?)
3. What needs to happen today? (What are my commitments, my priorities for today?)

It does all that running on either a PC (using Internet Explorer or Fire Fox) or a Mac (using Safari or Fire Fox).   And yes that process has involved more challenges than we forsaw, so instead of releasing it in the 2nd half of March, we currently on track to release MProLite April 15th

But instead of talking about it, let's show you how it works in an introductory video.  You immediately recognize the familiar ManagePro structure, its all delivered with a simplier, smaller feature set.






















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2. Tips on How to Import from other Programs

Almost every week we work with a customer who needs to import data into ManagePro from another program.  Sometimes they need to pull information from a financial program, sometimes from a spreadsheet, sometimes from a Word document or MS Project.  In this newsletter I'd like to cover 3 tips to help make the process run smoothly and as expected for you.

Tip #1 - Before importing you need to have the information saved in a .CSV (comma separated value) format.  This is an option when saving a file in Excel.  So the first step, regardless of which program you are using is to export the data you need to an Excel format and then save it within Excel to a .csv format type. 

Tip #2 - Once you have saved it in a .csv format, check the data for column headings and to "clean" up and "configure" the data.  Take a look at the following screenshot and I'll explain.














Clean-up: From a clean-up standpoint, make sure you have consistent data types in each column.  E.g. don't mix text, dates and numbers in the same column.

Configure: Let's go over the columns as you'll want to make use of most of them in one form or another. Outline level - In this column I put in the number of indentations I want to apply to the records I am importing.  This allows me to import complete tree outlines without having to go back in and do group demotes to get the desired layout.  A value of 1 would indicate one indentation level, a value of 2, two indentations, etc.

Type - Using this column I can define the GAPR record type for records imported.   Important, you must use exactly the term Action Plan to get the bent arrow icon, and Task List to get the checkmark icon.  You can use any of the goal types to pull the goal icon when importing.  e.g. you can import with the Balance Scorecard types established if you wish.

Unique ID - Use a unique id field if you are importing values or field updates to existing ManagePro records.  In the example displayed, we would be posting budget and actual dollar amounts to the existing records such as Apple, with a unique ID of 1001.  The unique id field in ManagePro is any number field you identify and use as such.  e.g. rename a number field in MPro to Unique ID and input a unique number for each record that you will be importing updates to.  If  you don't reference a unique ID field, the import will create new records in ManagePro for each row of the .csv file you are importing.

Actual, Budget and Type - I put the headings in for columns that I am going to map directly to in ManagePro to make it easier when it comes to the mapping part.  Let's go over that next.

3. Tip #3 - When you're ready to import into ManagePro, open up the MPro database and position your cursor on the record under which you want the imported records to be added. 

Note if you are updating existing records as displayed in the example above, then the position of your cursor won't matter.  Also note you must have Administrator rights in ManagePro to be able to do an import.  Now choose the right click option of Import/CSV file.

1. First browse to and select the csv file from which you are going to do the import.
2. Next, in the CSV column on the right, click opposite of the fields in ManagePro you want to import data into (map to).  Click on the drop down arrow on the right side of the CSV Column field and choose which field in the CSV file you wish to map to the identified filed in ManagePro.
3. If you are using the Unique ID field function you must identify it twice in the Map view.  Once at the top, and then again map it to the number field you are using in ManagePro to reflect the Unique ID value.  In the example to the left I have made the User Number 1 field in ManagePro by Unique ID field, and therefore have mapped the Unique ID field in the csv file to that field name.
4. If the import reflects a process you will be doing regularly, such as importing monthly numbers, save the map so that you can pull it each time and save yourself the time required to re-establishing the field mapping.
5. Then click Import at the bottom and you're finished.

1. PST Launches Advisory Service to Help you go from Good to Great

As you'll see, we are celebrating our 10^th year in business and also rethinking how we go about helping customers like yourself to be successful with our products.

To that end, we are launching a business focused PST Advisory service to a limited number of customers. Customers who would most profit with a little bit of help, but don't have the funds to engage us for a large consulting effort. Here's one of the reasons why

Part of what differentiates ManagePro from other products is how flexible (it will fly in any direction) and multi-featured (very capable) it is. It can get you to 30,000 feet very quickly and just as quickly get you to ground level with a click of a button.You can wrap it around your business process, your agenda. You don't have to wrap your business process around the program.

Business owners, executives, CEOs, senior managers like it. The concepts and functionality are very attractive. It's like a new jet. It looks shiny, fast… powerful. They taxi it back and forth a bit. The leather smells great, those dials look very good. And then it gets parked in the hanger.Why?

The truth is that most of our customers are used to having other people do the work.They function in a role that has them managing the workers, representing them, establishing direction, not driving the bus, or in this case the jet. When they buy ManagePro, they don’t get a corporate pilot, they believe they or their staff will manage the “jet.”In fact, they don’t learn to fly themselves very well, and then when they run into turbulence, sometimes on the very first flight, the whole experience starts looking pretty uncomfortable, if not a lot more work than anticipated.

This reflects a bigger truth, one that Gerber outlined in his book the E-Myth.That being, that most of us, most business owners and executives don’t invest enough time working ON the business, we’re so easily consumed working in the business.

You buy something like ManagePro to be more effective in managing the business.That requires working on the business, not in the business. Working in the business is making the next sale, going to a meeting, answering the email that pour in, picking up that call.If you don’t invest enough time to work on the business, you won’t invest enough time to competently pilot ManagePro, and it will get left to someone else, left in the hanger or used for taxing around the field.That doesn’t generate great results using ManagePro.  And doesn't generate the kind of numbers you can reach when you effectively use ManagePro.   So we're offering a weekly service to executives that still meets constained budgets to help you get up and fly in 2008. 

Please call us for details about the Advisory Service at (877) 487-3001

Have a great March
Rodney Brim,
CEO Performance Solutions Technology
www.ManagePro.com/Blog

March 2008 Newsletter content: