Time Reporting

Challenge

Planning is only the beginning of project portfolio management. If an organization is unable to track its projects and resources as the projects move through the life-cycle, then any deviance from the original project plan will not be visible to managers.  One of the biggest challenges for most organizations in project environments is effectively coordinating project planning and tracking including time reporting.  However, when the organization is managing multiple projects, this challenge becomes exponentially more complex.

Solution

The Microsoft® Office Project Server 2007 timesheet helps organizations prepare for and address the challenges associated with time reporting processes. Microsoft Office Project Server 2007 separates three major functions of time collection.

Create Financial Value

First, the complete spectrum of hours must be collected in order to form a complete picture of the time reporting period.  This aspect of time reporting addresses the concerns of Human Resources and Finance.  Hours can be recorded for both task-based assignments and non-project activities.  Once the timesheet information is collected, it can be escalated through multiple levels of approval prior to distribution for use with other legacy internal systems.   For example, information such as vacation, sick leave and personal time off can be exported to the Human Resources system and billing information can be sent to the Invoicing system.

Update Project Status

Second, once the time reporting data has been entered into the timesheet, records associated with tasks already defined in Microsoft Office Project Server 2007 can be transferred to the Project Status page.  This time reporting solution allows the user to then update progress of tasks that will be impacted by schedules used to update the progress of these activities.  Tracking tasks with both actual activities completed and estimates of activities to be completed provides a comprehensive view of the organization’s project portfolio status.

Extend Timesheet Functionality

Finally, Microsoft Office Project Server 2007 provides extensive integration with third party timesheet systems for time reporting.  There are scenarios that extend beyond the internal timesheet system, and for these situations the Office Project Server Interface allows third party or in-house systems to integrate directly.  Office Project Server 2007 includes an event model allowing an external system to intervene in virtually every function of the timesheet and project status system.  Systems can be integrated to provide an uninterrupted end user interface.

Many organizations have identified tracking time as the most effective way to advance in project management and IT Governance maturity.  Using a timesheet that is displayed directly in the same system where organization-wide project management is already being managed is a path of least resistance to introducing this critical element of a complete project management system to all users.  The Microsoft Office Project Server 2007 timesheet and project status environment and time reporting capability provides this and more when deployed as part of an overall Enterprise Project Management initiative.

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