Team Project Management couldn't be simpler with iTeamWork.com. Create a project, create a task for that project and assign it to a person. That's all there is to it. iTeamWork's concept is to keep the management of tasks simple while providing a global view of project status. Backed by an e-mail notification system, everyone on a project is completely informed, every step of the way.

A task cannot be created without a project. Tasks are grouped by project and therefore we need to start by creating the project first.

Adding a Project

To create a project, use the Add New Project link. The only information that is required is the name of the project and the expected completion date. In addition, you can control what kinds of e-mail notification you can receive based on task activity for this specific project. This means you can establish these e-mail notification settings on a project-by-project basis.

Optionally, you can copy all tasks from any other project you have either created or currently manage. Simply select the project from the list next to Copy Project. Due dates for tasks will be adjusted relative to the due date set for the new project.

Projects can be created in an inactive state to prevent email notifications from being sent until you have created all of the tasks and set due dates. Once activated, all email notifications are sent at that time. Click the Activate Project checkbox to have the project in an active state right from the start.

The person creating the project becomes the project manager. As the project manager, you are the only one that can assign tasks to other people. Once a person, other than you, is assigned a task, they become a member of the project team. As a project team member, they may create tasks, but they can only be assigned to themselves. Below, you'll read about a feature that will allow a team member to delegate tasks.

Once a project is created, it will be displayed in the Projects view. In this view, you will not only see all of the projects you create, but also projects in which someone else has assigned you a task (projects to which you are a team member). The distinction is identified by the last column, which displays the name of the project creator.

Clicking on any project's description will display the project's tasks. You can also do this using the Project Quick Access toolbar by selecting a project and clicking the "View Tasks" button. In the Tasks view, clicking the project's description will then display the "Modify Project" form to allow any changes that are necessary.

Adding a Task

When in the Projects view, a task can be created for any project using the Project Quick Access "toolbar". Select the project that is to have a new task and click on the Add Task button.

A new task requires a description, the expected completion date and selecting a task type. The task's type can either be a one-time event, such as a meeting or phone call, or an ongoing task that may require several hours, days or weeks to complete.

If this task is to be assigned to someone other than yourself, you will need to enter the person's e-mail address in the space provided. There's no need to be concerned whether the person is an iTeamWork member. The e-mail notification of the task is sent either way. If the person is not a member, the e-mail will request that they become a member in order to manage their tasks.

In the space provided for the assigned person's e-mail address, there is a setting that can be checked to only allow this person to view tasks assigned to them. This can be used for tasks assigned to people in other companies or departments that should not have access to the complete task list for the project. Checking this option will prevent this particular person from viewing the project specifics such as expected completion dates and what tasks are open or completed.

Once the task is added to a project, an e-mail notification is sent immediately to the person assigned to the task. The area in the New Task form labeled "Amend Email", allows you to add text to the e-mail message that is sent to the task assignee. This information is not stored by iTeamWork and therefore cannot be modified anywhere. It is simply appended to the e-mail notification and sent "as is".

Click the "Add Task" button to have the task added to the project. You can also use the "Add This Task and Enter Another" button to add the project, with the only difference being that the "New Task" form is reset and ready to add another task. Using the "Add Task" button will display the Tasks view for the project.

Once you have entered an e-mail address for a task assignee, they automatically become a team member for the project. The next time you add a task, their name will appear in the drop-down list next to the "Assign To" label. This is even true of iTeamWork non-members. Each place where a non-member name appears, an asterisk is displayed next to their name as the indication.

There is no specific function to add a person to a project team. A team is formed automatically as tasks are assigned to these people by entering their e-mail address the first time they are assigned a task.

Adding Notes to Projects and Tasks

When adding new projects or tasks, an area is provided to add a note to the project or task upon its initial creation. More descriptive text related to the task can be entered there as the first note associated with the task. General information such as contacts, statement of purpose and overall progress can be added as notes to the project. If you have permission to access the project or task for modification by clicking its description (when viewing all tasks for a project), you can continue to add notes without limit. Each note will be identified by the date it is entered, the user that created it and the completion percentage of the project or task at the time of the note. This alone will allow team members to add a note each time the percentage is changed, for example.

A new View has been created so that you can quickly access all notes that have been added since the last time you logged into the system. Simply click on the option from within the Views menu.

When viewing tasks for a project, an icon will appear next to a project or task if notes exist. It can be clicked to view the notes while in this view.

Updating Percentage Complete

Clicking on a task's description in the Tasks view allows for task modification including changing percentage complete. A form is displayed with all of the pertinent task information. Change the value in the space provided for Percent Complete and click the "Modify Task" button.

Only the person assigned to the task can update this value. Percentage values for projects are automatically updated to reflect the values entered for tasks. Percentages are updated up the project hiearchry for each parent project that may exist.

Marking a Task as Completed

Clicking on a task's description in the Tasks view allows for task modification including marking it as complete. A form is displayed with all of the pertinent task information. The buttons at the bottom of the form indicate what you can do with the task. One of the buttons is labeled "Task Is Completed". Click this will mark the task as complete. The statistics for the project that display number of open tasks by project or for you as a team member are updated accordingly.

Reassigning a Task to Another Person

As with anything to do with modifying a task's information, clicking on the task's description in the Tasks view will display the "Modify Task" form. Only a project's creator can reassign a task. If the person that will now work on the task is already a team project member, you can select them from the "Reassign To:" list and click the "Modify Task" button at the bottom of the form. Not only will the new person receive an e-mail notification of the task, but also, the previous assignee will receive an e-mail notification that the task has been reassigned to someone else.

Changing a Task's Completion Date

The "Modify Task" form also allows the changing of the task's completion date. This change can only be done by the person that created the task. Click the "Modify Task" button to update the change in the database.

Both Projects and individual Tasks have two completion dates. The Original Completion Date is simply the expected completion date that was originally entered at the time the project or task was created. The Current Completion Date indicates the most recent date based on any modifications that have been made. This gives you the ability to view slips in schedule as completion dates are advanced.

All dates that are ahead or on schedule are displayed in black. Dates that have slipped are displayed in red. Any task or project that is completed will not only be indicated by a check mark, but the completion date will be displayed in green.

Converting a Task to a Project

Any task that has been assigned to you can be converted to a project. This feature is what gives you the ability to break out a task into more detail and involve other team members.

Click on a task's description in the Project Tasks view to display the "Modify Task" page. If you indeed are the task assignee, you will see a button at the bottom of the form that is labeled "Convert Task to Project". Clicking this button will create a project with the same name as the task's description. You, as the task's assignee, become the project manager.

From this point on, all project functions can be performed on this converted task. New tasks can be added and assigned to other people. These people become team members to this new project. iTeamWork does maintain a connection between the original task and the converted project. This is indicated by the small "up arrow" displayed next to the project's description in the project's tasks view.

Viewing the project tasks view of the original task will now display a "down arrow" next to its description to indicate that it has been converted to a project.

Both these arrow images can be clicked on to navigate between the projects. In addition, these arrows that connect a task to its associated project appear only if the person has permission to view the connected tasks. For example, for the case of a project that contains a convert task, only the project manager or task assignee will be able to view the associated project and thus see the down arrow. In the case of a project converted from a task, only the project manager (which was the original task's assignee) will be able to "pop" back up to the "parent" project and thus see the up arrow.

Manage Team Members

As a Project Manager, you will be presented with the option to Manage Team Members for a specific Project when viewing a Project's Tasks. Below the list of team members belonging to the project is a space to allow you to add team members without having to assign a task and a below that, the ability to copy a team from some other projects to the current project.

To add team members, all that is necessary is the email address. If the team member is not yet an iTeamwork member, you can enter a Nickname for viewing purposes. The team member will receive email notification that they are a part of the project and to expect tasks to be assigned in the future. If they are not an iTeamwork member, they will be invited to register. You can set the permissions presented and click "Add Team Member" to add the person to the team.

To make it a little easier to add team members for new projects, you can copy an entire team from another project. If there are team members that won't be needed, you can always remove them after this process. Select the project and click "Copy Team Members".

Within the list of team members for the project at the top of the page, you have several options to set permissions. You can assign project manager status to another team member. You can restrict the view of a team member to just the tasks that have been assigned to them. You can also restrict a team member from the ability to add tasks to the project. Finally, you can remove a team member, but only if no tasks are currently assigned to the person. If you want to remove a team member that has tasks, they must all be reassigned or deleted, even ones that have been completed. To make any changes to permissions, check the appropriate boxes and click "Update". All changes will be made.

Deleting Projects or Tasks

Projects and Tasks can be deleted when needed. This may be due to data entry errors, a task or project being aborted, completed tasks or projects that are no longer needed for viewing purposes, etc.

To delete a project, click on the project's description in the project's tasks view to display the "Modify Project" form. If you are the project manager, you will see a button labeled "Delete Project" at the bottom of the form. Click the button to delete the project.

To delete a task, click on the task's description in the tasks view to display the "Modify Task" form. If you are the project manager or task creator, you will see the "Delete Task" button at the bottom of the form. Click the button to delete the task.

Task Summary View

The Summary view provides a complete summary of all tasks that you are involved in. This includes tasks you created for yourself, ones that were assigned to you by others and tasks that you assigned to others. Tasks are further broken down by ones past due, upcoming and recently completed.

My Open Tasks View

The My Open Tasks view displays all open tasks that you are responsible for. As with any view, you can click the column headers to display the tasks in that particular sorting sequence. Clicking any task description will display the "Modify Task" form for that task. This allows you to possibly mark a task as completed, for example.

Clicking on a project description for any task will display the Tasks view for that project.

Assigned Tasks View

The Assigned Tasks view displays all tasks that you have assigned to people other than yourself that are still open. As with the My Open Tasks view, you can click on a task description to display the "Modify Task" form or click on a project description to display the complete task list for the project.

Reminders

For any task that is assigned to you, you can setup an email notification reminder. The Add Email Reminder link can be accessed in the Task Modification form. This is displayed any time you click on a Task's description in most of the views.

Enter the date and time that you would like the email sent and allow enough time for the delivery and receipt of the message. Also, enter the time that it would be at your location. iTeamWork uses the time zone information you supplied during registration to make the necessary adjustment.

Updating or canceling the reminder is a simple matter of going back to the Reminder form in the same way as explained above.

Daily E-mails

During registration, you can setup what days of the week that you would like to receive an e-mail outlining all of your open tasks. The e-mail will first list tasks that are past due. This is followed by the tasks that are due to be completed on the day your receive the e-mail. If you are not receiving the e-mail every day, then you will also receive a list of tasks due up until the next time you have scheduled the e-mail.

For example, if you choose to receive the daily e-mail on just Mondays, in addition to getting past due tasks and tasks due for that Monday, you will also receive tasks due to be completed until the following Monday.

To change the daily e-mail settings, click on the Change Profile link on any of the iTeamWork pages.