Posts tagged "Collaboration"20 posts

Projecturf listed in Google Chrome Web Store

Posted March 10, 2011

Projecturf has been added to the Google Chrome web store under the productivity category. Now you can install and access your project management app using the web store by clicking here: Chrome Web Store - Projecturf App. After you've installed it, the app icon will appear with your other Chrome web apps. Simply click the icon to login to your account.

How Persource Enhances their Productivity with Projecturf

Posted February 24, 2011

Persource is a mobile application development house that is using Projecturf to easily and effectively manage their projects. Director Sarin Shah describes the benefits they are seeing and how they are using their new project management application. You can learn more about Persource by visiting http://www.persource.com.

What problems/challenges were you facing that prompted your company to look for a new project management tool?
In previous tools we were not seeing the flexibility of charts and time based entries and post planning that is offered by many desktop suites but not on the web. Our old web based system had become simply a digital time card without much use in planning projects.

If you didn’t have a project management solution in place, what methods did you use prior to selecting Projecturf?
A whiteboard and Daily Task sheets.

What other project management tools did you review? Why didn't you select them?
Basecamp - worked pretty well but all we used it for was time entry. Microsoft Project - it was great but not useable over the internet and therefore very difficult for our sales guys on the road to check in on projects.

What types of tools/features did your company specifically require for your project management needs?
Task/Subtask Planning
Time Entry
Resource Management
Exportability of Information
Clean/Easy to Use interface that was easy to learn.

What specifically did Projecturf bring to the table that made it the right solution for your company?
The ability to generate detailed reports and have resource management information such as charts available with the task planning.

How has Projecturf been received by your employees to date?
Our manager loves it; they don't worry about losing 'time' anymore; and our sales reps love being able to update clients on progress and use report information to estimate production load on our teams before agreeing to hard deadlines.

Business benefit/bottom line results from implementing Projecturf at your company?
Projecturf allows us to accurately plan a project as well as get post project information. This process saves us at least 5 administrative hours per project. In the saved time we have project breakdowns to see where we could have improved, based on the charting information provided by projecturf. Projecturf increases our efficiency by a factor of 5, allowing us to communicate, stay on track, and never feel lost.

Why would you recommend other organizations use Projecturf?
Its a great piece of software that is easy to use, looks great, and gives companies instant progress statistics. Projecturf also does a good job listening to users and implementing new features.

Create a Projecturf Desktop Application with Prism

Posted February 11, 2011

In a recent blog post, we outlined how to add Projecturf as a desktop application to your Mac using Fluid. A similar application called Prism allows you to create desktop apps on your Mac or PC. To use Prism, follow the simple instructions below.

1. Download the software here: Prism by Mozilla Labs
2. Open the application and type in the following URL followed by your unique Projecturf web address (in bold): https://UniqueWebAddress.projecturf.com
3. Fill in Projecturf for the name and choose which settings you want
4. Create shortcuts to your Desktop or Applications Folder if you are using a Mac. If you are on a PC you can create shortcuts on your Desktop, in your Start Menu, and in your Quick Launch Bar.
   
   
5. Save this icon locally and select it in the "Icon" section:

Prism provides an easy solution for running your project management tool off your desktop and only takes a couple of minutes to set up.

Version 2.2 Now Available!

Posted January 24, 2011

Projecturf version 2.2 is now live and all features are available to new and existing customers. This update includes speed and usability enhancements along with several new features such as calendar syncing, the #1 feature requested on the suggestion forum. Here's the list of what version 2.2 offers:

• Sync your events to any popular calendar program such as iCal, Google, or Outlook.
• Link to Box.net and Dropbox.com files or folders from the documents section. Simple integration that allows you to set permissions, collaborate, and share files with leading cloud hosting services.
• User-Interface improvements included removing buttons and consolidating them into action panels throughout the entire application for consistency and ease-of-use.
• Enhanced page loading times that significantly speed up the app when navigating or adding/editing items
• Added a privacy icon to identify records that are marked private
• New address book panel allows you to view all projects a contact is associated with
• Ability to remove contacts from all projects when deleting them from your address book

This project management software upgrade enhances workflow and adds flexibility for quickly and easily getting things done.

2010 Paves the Way for the New Year

Posted January 4, 2011

2010 was a very big year for Projecturf. We spent the first part of the year finishing version 2.0 and thoroughly testing it with our beta users. We completely redesigned and rebuilt Projecturf from the ground up to offer a slick, intuitive, and feature rich project management application that allows businesses and freelancers to improve workflow, communication, and efficiency. This included over 60 new features and enhancements along with a handful of new sections and advanced permissions. The user-centered design and robust feature set was well-received by our users.

Version 2.0 was based heavily on customer feedback and we continue to enhance Projecturf by listening to customer requests. Shortly after the version 2.0 release, we began working on ways to improve the flexibility and add even more features. This included a highly requested custom-built Javascript Gantt Chart, project budgeting, and repeat calendar events - to name a few. We've also added a request forum to make it easy for users to add new ideas and cast their votes.

Similar to 2010, we have several big launches planned for 2011 and have a ton of new ideas that will enhance productivity and simplify project management. Our product development roadmap includes many of the popular features voted on by our customers as well as a number of new and unique ideas that will help you get things done quickly. Much more to come... Stay tuned for all the major improvements and updates in 2011!

Add Projecturf to Your Desktop Using Fluid

Posted December 17, 2010

You can now integrate Projecturf with your Mac by using Fluid. Fluid allows you to turn Projecturf into a desktop application and add the program right into your Dock. After downloading and installing the app, it will appear under your applications folder in Finder and you can drag it to your Dock. It works like any other desktop application after it's setup. You are automatically directed to your Projecturf account when opening the program.

You no longer need to login through a browser or open a new tab in your browser. If you have multiple browser windows open, having this app eliminates clicking tabs and searching since it's a separate program running on your computer. It's simple, quick, and efficient. This is an excellent tool that makes accessing Projecturf fast and effortless. Best of all, it's free to download and install. I guarantee you'll love using it.  I'm going to provide very simple instructions on how to download and use the Fluid app with Projecturf.  It will only take a few minutes and I've included a custom Projecturf icon to use as well. Just follow these steps here:

1. Click this image to Download the Projecturf icon and save it locally
   
   
2. Visit Fluid and click Free Download on the right side of the homepage
3. On the "Create a Site Specific Browser" screen that appears when opened, type in the following URL followed by your unique Projecturf web address (in bold):  https://www.projecturf.com/account/UniqueWebAddress
4. Type in the name Projecturf, select the location where you want to save it, and click other on the icon drop-down menu to choose the icon you already downloaded and saved from #1 above
   
   
5. Click Create and then "Reveal in Finder." Next simply drag and drop it into your Dock from Finder
6. Click on the new icon in your Dock to launch the program, then go to Preferences>Advanced. Double click in an empty cell and add *projecturf.com/account*, hit enter and close the Preferences screen.
   
   
7. Enjoy your new desktop application for Projecturf

You now have the custom Projecturf icon in your Dock and quick access anytime! Also, the login screen will always show your company name and logo if you followed the steps above. Please note that Fluid will only work with your online project management account on a Mac.

Fortified Solutions - Helpdesk OnStaff Uses Projecturf to Improve Workflow, Collaboration, and Their Bottom Line

Posted November 16, 2010

Fortified Solutions - Helpdesk OnStaff is an IT Helpdesk support company that has switched to Projecturf for managing their business. Company CEO Zuriel Reyes explains why they chose Projecturf and the benefits they are seeing. To find out more about Fortified Solutions, visit http://www.fortifiedsolutionsinc.com.

What problems/challenges were you facing that prompted your company to look for a new project management tool?
As a national IT Helpdesk support company we handle hundreds of projects in a single year. We have always struggled with using multiple applications to handle our time management, project time lines and tasks management, project documentation, etc.

If you didn’t have a project management solution in place, what methods did you use prior to selecting Projecturf?
Because we didn't have a central project management in place we had to rely on using Microsoft Project Manager. This meant emailing our customers PDF documents of the project scope, emailing customers a separate Time Usage log, email documentation, keeping up with email messages, etc.

What other project management tools did you review? Why didn't you select them?
We searched and tested what seemed like hundreds of so-called project managers that were hard to learn for both our project managers and business customers, lacked a modern feel, did not offer all the features we needed and was not cost-effective in pricing and installation. We tested products like Quickbase.intuit, Clarizen, @task, Daptiv, Project insight, the list goes on.

Why did they not work? Outdated designs, hard to navigate, extensive learning curve. On some it took setting up a schedule time for someone to walk you through all the features to learn how to use them or to just setup the application.

What types of tools/features did your company specifically require for your project management needs?
First of all we needed online tools where all the features could be accessed by our project managers and our customers and we needed the WOW factor in ease of use with very little learning curve, say 15 minutes.

We needed task, subtask management, time management, document to project management, white board/discussion board designated to the project, access control, ticket support and calendar/scheduling control under one roof.

What specifically did Projecturf bring to the table that made it the right solution for your company/organization?
Low startup/maintenance cost
Extremely modern design
Central access to both our employees/Customers
15 minute learning curve
Go-live same day

How has Projecturf been received by your employees to date?
This has been the easiest support application we have transitioned to. Our employees love it.

Business benefit/bottom line results from implementing Projecturf at your company/organization?
Since the inception of Projecturf into our company we save on average 2 hours of paid wages per technician per day. We have technicians nation-wide so this can amount to a saving of $150 plus per day per technician. Projecturf has eliminated emailing documents, time cards, project notes to be added to the project by a project manager, setting up chat sessions, scheduling confirmations, etc.

What tools/features Projecturf are you using the most?
We have from the beginning started using all the tools within the Projecturf environment. But the Project>Task Manager, Calendar and Time Manager are our bread and butter.

Why would you recommend other organizations use Projecturf?
From that moment we have continued to receive WOWs and praises from our customer! Way to go Projecturf. We are a happy customer and proud to share our story!

Keeping Project Management & Collaboration Simple and Effective

Posted June 23, 2009

With all the different types of projects that we are constantly managing, there's no question that we need a project collaboration and management tool for communication and efficiency. Using one like Projecturf gives us some definitive advantages over trying to manage things using email, notes, various word docs, and bloated localized software. Not only does such a tool help to give a clear vision of what we're dealing with, but it also helps us stay organized. Just last week, a good article (http://www.freelanceswitch.com/productivity/a-guide-to-simple-project-management/) popped up in my alerts called "A Guide to Simple Project Management" by Leo Babauta that discusses some smart ways to manage projects and communicate efficiently (I pasted in parts of the article below as reference - 1 through 7).  Projecturf has been very beneficial to freelance developers and designers and is uniquely positioned to help you. Below are some points I'm highlighting in reference to the article as examples on keeping projects moving quickly with clearly defined goals and expectations. These steps really save us time and enhance the productivity of everyone on the project, as well as simply make things easier.

The first thing before a project starts typically involves setting some structure around deliverables and requirements.  Usually you'll see project components change direction mid-course, but the initial setup is a critical step in order to meet the end goal for customers, clients, and co-workers. Using Projecturf, simply set up contacts in both the Address Book and Contacts page of a project, and then begin communicating from the Discussions section. Here is a good starting point for any project from Leo Babauta:

1) Clearly defined outcome. Before you even start on the project, you should work with the client to get a clear picture of the desired outcome of the project. Often, the client doesn’t even have a clear picture. But neglecting this step will lead to delays and frustrations down the line. You can communicate through phone, email, or in person, but however you do it, be sure to ask questions to clarify what the client wants, make suggestions, and get a clear picture in your head that shows you how the project will look when it’s done (of course, “look” is a term used loosely here — if the project isn’t visual, you should still have a clear picture in your mind). Once you’ve gone through this process, and have a good idea of the outcome, restate it back to the client to get his or her agreement. Now you have a clear target to shoot at.

Projecturf can be used for entire team collaboration, including discussing different topics on multiple projects. For an overview of each project, we create briefs within the Projecturf dashboard that explain the overall goals of that project. This is critical when working with clients on a project as well.

2) Set up the process. Once the outcome is clearly defined, talk to the client about the process — how you’ll work with him to manage the project. If it’s a simple project that can be done in a day, this step isn’t necessary — you can just do the project and turn it in, and revise it if the client wants revisions. But a longer-term project will require some kind of timeline and communication process, and you’ll want to be clear about this with the client. The following process is recommended, and it’s at this step that it should be communicated. A detailed timeline, however, isn’t recommended — it can be done if the client insists upon it, but detailed timelines have a tendency to fall apart after a week or two, so it should be clear that it’s a flexible timeline.

Projecturf can be used for simple to-do's on projects, and to set important milestones to provide clear direction for everyone and help the team prioritize. The master calendar is very useful because it lets the user know what important due dates are across all projects.

3) Focus on the next action. Instead of having a step-by-step process outlined, with deadlines given to each step of the project, tell your client you want to focus on one step at a time. Now, tell the client the next step required to move the project forward (or in this case, the first step), and set a deadline for submitting that to the client. Don’t worry too much about all the other steps needed to finish the project — you’re just going to focus on the next one. That will reduce the intimidating/overwhelming aspect of a large project — just focus on one step at a time. Make sure that’s a step that can be completed in a day or less. One to three hours is ideal. If it can’t be done in less than a day, break it down into smaller steps.

Using Projecturf, you can break milestones into steps using simple tasks. There is no need for cumbersome gantt charts and spending several days setting up dependencies either. Projecturf allows users to enter tasks quickly, and they can be checked off the list once completed. This is a fast and simple way to get things done.

4) Send it to your client. Once you’ve completed that first step, send it to the client within the deadline you set up. This will show the client you’re moving along, and keep you accountable. If you don’t have to turn in a project until it’s completed, there’s no one to know that you’re procrastinating until the very end, when you cram to get it finished on time (and possibly bust deadline). But if you send each step to the client, even if it’s not finished yet, you are holding yourself accountable.

Projecturf has specific sections for freelancers. Designers can present ideas to the client in the design section, and developers can show work on various servers by bookmarking URL's, as well as logging development progress. You can also track hours in the timecard, which includes billable hours as well as personal tracking. A helpful feature customers rave about is allowing clients to approve designs and documents directly in Projecturf. This speeds things up and eliminates unnecessary meetings. You'll also receive automatic email notifications of all the activity on each project (and you can subscribe to the project's RSS feeds as well). Additionally, clients and co-workers can access documents directly from the email notifications.

5) Communicate. The other great thing about sending each step of a project to the client is that you can get feedback from the client, and modify the project accordingly. This can actually make the project take longer, but in the end you’ll have a better product and the client will be happier. This continual feedback loop is actually integral to a successful project, and building it into the process makes sense.

The Discussions section comes in handy since it helps to centralize all communication. The user can easily track back without going through hundreds of emails. When there are changes discussed, the user can simply update milestones and tasks to reflect the latest discussions and all users in the discussion can quickly see what changes were made and why.

6) Focus on the next action Now that you’ve sent the client the first step, and gotten feedback, focus on the next step. Again, focusing on one step at a time keeps it from being overwhelming. Be sure that you set a deadline, and be sure that the task can be done in 1-3 hours (or a day at the maximum). When it’s done, send it to the client for review and feedback.

The Project Completion Report gives an in-depth overview that helps to keep projects on track - including a full break-down and percent complete for each milestone. Also, your clients are able to see what you are working on and the progress your team is making. Projecturf offers private document sharing for items deemed confidential. In our next release, Projecturf will include a variety of additional privacy features for customers who wish to use them.

7) Repeat until completion. You get the idea. Just keep focusing on one step at a time, setting a deadline for each step as you go along, and sending the completed step to the client. This will keep you on top of things and running smoothly, without the need for a boss.

Projecturf helps users stay on task and meet deadlines. Customers also find that they spend fewer hours on the phone explaining each step of the process and getting feedback from clients. This helps complete projects much quicker and keeps the team on the same page. Clients find it extremely helpful in keeping them organized and more productive throughout the process!

Our customers enjoy getting things done and not wasting time on learning and managing difficult software on various computers. Try projecturf today; we're confident it will help you be more efficient and productive.

These steps are referenced here: http://www.freelanceswitch.com/productivity/a-guide-to-simple-project-management/

Customer Questionnaire Feedback - Advertising Agency

Posted June 4, 2008

We recently sent out an email request to one of our very first customers. The request sent out was a questionnaire to address some specific questions regarding not only their thoughts about Projecturf, but how they are using it everyday. This should help give all of you some ideas not only on how Projecturf can benefit you, but also on how important others find collaboration software in managing projects. Here are several responses from a well-respected firm - TTC Advertising:

Please explain how your using Projecturf (Size of team, type of projects, streamlining processes)?
We are using Projecturf for most of our creative projects - print ads, brochures, web sites, etc. PT is mainly used between a project manager & designer -- then once initial creative is fleshed out, it's "shared" with the Creative Director. We do this so email alerts don't clog up the Creative Director's inbox until his input is needed.

How has Projecturf Benefited you the most?
The main benefits of Projecturf to us are: the ability and ease to send, comment & keep track of the most recent project proofs & documentation of requested revisions (eliminates the possibility of sending the wrong file to printers or publishers when numerous versions have been produced -- this has happened a few times before PT); the ability to easily "share" large files with clients; and we've also set up a Project called "TTC Drop Site" as an FTP-type place for clients or other agencies to upload photos or large files. 

What feature(s) do you like the most?
The overall collaboration functions.

Additional comments? Would you recommend to others?
For collaboration I would recommend PT to others. We have used BaseCamp in the past and find PT is easier to use and better designed.

Note that in our next release (hopefully in a couple of weeks) we are addressing the email notifications by allowing each users to turn them off and on for each section. Be sure to check back in a couple weeks :)

Why You Need a Project Management Tool

Posted April 11, 2008

For purposes of this short article, I am going to talk about why it's important to have a project management tool if you are in the web development or design industry specifically. As the owner of an interactive design and development agency, I speak from experience when I say that a project management system is one of the most critical tools of our trade. Without it, we'd spend the majority of our time disseminating information from clients to designers to developers and everyone in between. But with a good project management application, a large part of that process is streamlined. By assigning teams to projects and giving clients access, whatever is going on can be tracked, read, and commented on by any member of the team.

Let me provide an example. Our agency, Rareview Interactive, is working on a new website for a client called ACME Industries. When the client comes on board, we immediately create the project in Projecturf. We add everyone on the client team and on our team as project contacts. This gives everyone access to the project online and also ensures they get notified anytime one of the project team members does something. So Andrew, our designer, has some comps for the client to review. Rather than sending them via email where they can get lost, sent to junk mail, are blocked because they are too big, etc.; he simply uploads them to the design section of Projecturf. Then every member of the team gets a short email notification that a new design was posted by Andrew. The client can login, check it out, make comments, approve it, rate it, and more. Let's say ACME wants the overall color scheme to be blue instead of red. They write a discussion comment and that is automatically emailed to everyone on the team. Even if you're not on the design side, you can easily keep up-to-speed without having to constantly ask other team members where the project stands. This is just one simple example, as Projecturf has many sections to manage the entire project. 

There are a variety of benefits to a project management system. Everything related to the project is stored in one central location, that's always accessible with any Internet connection. Everyone stays informed throughout the process. Files can be stored and organized. Tasks can be created for individuals. Milestones can be managed. You can find anything relating to that project in snap by simply searching for it; and much more.

 

Of course this isn't only important to those of us in this industry. Almost all industries manage projects. These tools can help government agencies, schools, and businesses alike. It's been critical to managing our projects and I know it can be essential to helping you better manage yours.