PM Help

[Tony]

Hi all,

I've been working recently to introduce some of our project managers to FTrack as we begin to roll-out internally, and I've some questions/feedback around how PM's go about using FTrack.

Firstly, there seems to be some confusion as to precisely how PMs should approach FTrack - mostly due to the connection between creating projects and tasks, and the Planning module of FTrack.

 

The main observation is that PM's are predominately the people that setup projects and tasks, and assign users, however the feedback I'm getting is there seems to be a bit of a disconnect, or perhaps a misunderstanding, of how best to use the Planning module.

Let me elaborate;

- A PM will create a project and related tasks. Artists can pick up those tasks or they can be assigned by the PM; all this done within the projects>tasks module.

- PM's often just want to create schedules, tasks, and assign users together; so they use the Planning module. However tasks aren't created in the Planning module, and whatever scheduling they (PMs) do there doesn't seem to be reflected in the actual Project.

- Ideally, PMs want to setup a new project, then simply use the Planning module to setup tasks, milestones, delivers etc, and assign resources accordingly - but this isn't how FTrack appears to work.

 

So, can you advise on a detailed walkthrough of how PMs approach using the Planning module of Ftrack, and how that relates to Projects and tasks that are created independently of the Planning module.

 

Thanks

Tony

[Mattias Lagergren]

Hi Tony! 

There is a disconnect today between the project tasks and schedule, where you assign tasks to users, and the planning page.

The planning page is meant for big picture planning where you can rough out your project before it starts, book artists on projects and keep track of vacations. Then when the project starts you would move over to the project and the more detailed scheduling.

[Tony]

Any way to link the two?

[Milan Kolar]

18 hours ago, Tony said:

Any way to link the two?

That would be lovely addition. Currently we practically don't use the planning because people feel that it's a bit of a double work. Even such simple thing as task inheriting start and end dates from their phase in planning upon creation would help. 

[Tony]

Precisely - I understand the approach with planning, as things change over time, however in reality, certainly for us, project planning and project task creation/management would be more productive if the two were linked.

[Tony]

Any likelihood of this happening - would be a REAL big help...

[Mattias Lagergren]

An overhaul of the Planning section is something we're investigating and it is on our roadmap. But I cannot give any promises on dates yet