sg project pro user guide

SG Project Pro User Guide

FourthFrame Technologies

February 2011

Document Version 1.1.0


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Table of Contents Overview.....................................................................................................................5

Introduction....................................................................................................................................5 Organization of this Document.........................................................................................................5 Data Management...........................................................................................................................5 App Limitations ...............................................................................................................................5

Key Concepts ..............................................................................................................6 Projects ..........................................................................................................................................6 Tasks .............................................................................................................................................6 Action Items ...................................................................................................................................7 Risks ..............................................................................................................................................7 Owners ..........................................................................................................................................7 Portfolio .........................................................................................................................................7 Reports ..........................................................................................................................................7

Meet SG Project Pro ....................................................................................................8 Portfolio Home................................................................................................................................8 Task Planning: Task Table View.......................................................................................................9 Task Planning: Task Gantt View.....................................................................................................10 Action Items: List View..................................................................................................................11 Action Items: Edit Action Item View ...............................................................................................12 Project Risks: List View..................................................................................................................13 Project Risks: Edit Risk View ..........................................................................................................14 Project Report ..............................................................................................................................15 Owner Report ...............................................................................................................................16 Portfolio Report.............................................................................................................................17

Portfolio Home......................................................................................................... 18 Managing Projects.........................................................................................................................18

The Project List ..................................................................................................................................... 18 Adding a Project .................................................................................................................................... 18 Modifying a Project ................................................................................................................................ 18 Importing a Project ................................................................................................................................ 18 Duplicating a Project .............................................................................................................................. 19 Deleting a Project .................................................................................................................................. 19 Rearranging the Project list..................................................................................................................... 19 Project Selection.................................................................................................................................... 19

Managing Owners .........................................................................................................................19 The Owner List ...................................................................................................................................... 19 Adding an Owner................................................................................................................................... 20 Modifying an Owner ............................................................................................................................... 20 Deleting an Owner ................................................................................................................................. 20

Viewing Project Detail ...................................................................................................................20 Project Detail Section ............................................................................................................................. 20 Project Start and End ............................................................................................................................. 20 Project % Done Calculation .................................................................................................................... 20 Project Costs ......................................................................................................................................... 20 Jumping to the Task Plan ....................................................................................................................... 21 The 180 Day Window Chart .................................................................................................................... 21

Viewing the Portfolio Schedule.......................................................................................................22 The Project Schedule Chart..................................................................................................................... 22 Project Start and End ............................................................................................................................. 22 Project % Done ..................................................................................................................................... 22 Project Selection.................................................................................................................................... 22 Zooming the Chart ................................................................................................................................. 22 Scrolling the Chart ................................................................................................................................. 22


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Task Planning........................................................................................................... 23 Orientation Preferences .................................................................................................................23 View Scrolling ...............................................................................................................................23 Gantt Vertical Shading...................................................................................................................23 Projects ........................................................................................................................................24

Creating a Project .................................................................................................................................. 24 Editing a Project .................................................................................................................................... 24 Deleting a Project .................................................................................................................................. 24 Reordering the Project List ..................................................................................................................... 24 Duplicating a Project .............................................................................................................................. 24 Importing a Project ................................................................................................................................ 24

Tasks ...........................................................................................................................................25 Creating a Task ..................................................................................................................................... 25 Task Types............................................................................................................................................ 25 Normal Tasks ........................................................................................................................................ 25 Milestone Tasks ..................................................................................................................................... 25 Parent Tasks ......................................................................................................................................... 25 Editing a Task ....................................................................................................................................... 26 Editing a Task from the Table View ......................................................................................................... 26 Toggling End Date and Costs .................................................................................................................. 27 Editing a Task from the Gantt View ......................................................................................................... 27 Reordering Tasks................................................................................................................................... 28 Gear Button .......................................................................................................................................... 28 Task Popover ........................................................................................................................................ 28 Predecessors ......................................................................................................................................... 30 Predecessor Types ................................................................................................................................. 31 Deleting a Task ..................................................................................................................................... 31

Owners ........................................................................................................................................31 Creating an Owner................................................................................................................................. 32 Editing an Owner ................................................................................................................................... 32 Deleting an Owner ................................................................................................................................. 32

Sharing ........................................................................................................................................32 Preview................................................................................................................................................. 32 Email .................................................................................................................................................... 33 Specifying the Email List......................................................................................................................... 33 Export .................................................................................................................................................. 33

Action Items ............................................................................................................ 34 Projects ........................................................................................................................................34 Action Items .................................................................................................................................34

Creating an Action Item ......................................................................................................................... 34 Editing an Action Item............................................................................................................................ 34 Linking an Action Item to a Task ............................................................................................................. 36 Deleting an Action Item.......................................................................................................................... 36

Owners ........................................................................................................................................37 View Options ................................................................................................................................37

Sorting & Filtering.................................................................................................................................. 37 Compressed Action Items View ............................................................................................................... 37

Action Item Management Tips .......................................................................................................37 Sharing ........................................................................................................................................37

Preview................................................................................................................................................. 38 Email .................................................................................................................................................... 38 Export .................................................................................................................................................. 38

Project Risks ............................................................................................................ 39 Projects ........................................................................................................................................39 Risks ............................................................................................................................................39

Creating a Risk ...................................................................................................................................... 39 Editing a Risk ........................................................................................................................................ 39


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Linking a Risk to a Task.......................................................................................................................... 41 Deleting a Risk ...................................................................................................................................... 41

Owners ........................................................................................................................................41 View Options ................................................................................................................................41

Sorting & Filtering.................................................................................................................................. 41 Compressed Project Risks View ............................................................................................................... 42

Risk Management Tips ..................................................................................................................43 Sharing ........................................................................................................................................43

Preview................................................................................................................................................. 43 Email .................................................................................................................................................... 43 Export .................................................................................................................................................. 44

Project Report.......................................................................................................... 45 Selecting a Project ........................................................................................................................45 Zooming, Panning, and Paging ......................................................................................................45 Setting View Options .....................................................................................................................45 Sharing the Report........................................................................................................................45 The Owners Section ......................................................................................................................45

Owner Report........................................................................................................... 46 Selecting an Owner .......................................................................................................................46 Zooming, Panning, and Paging ......................................................................................................46 Setting View Options .....................................................................................................................46 Sharing the Report........................................................................................................................46 The Owner Header Section ............................................................................................................46

Portfolio Report ....................................................................................................... 47 Selecting the set of Projects ..........................................................................................................47 Zooming, Panning, and Paging ......................................................................................................47 Setting View Options .....................................................................................................................47 Sharing the Report........................................................................................................................47 The Owners Section ......................................................................................................................47

File Sharing in iTunes® ............................................................................................. 48 .xml, .sgp, and .pdf Files ...............................................................................................................48 Inbox: The Email Inbox Folder.......................................................................................................48 Project.pdf: The Temp Project File .................................................................................................48 Projects.sqlite: Backing up the SG Project Pro Database ..................................................................49

Project Data Sharing Scenarios................................................................................ 49 SG Project Pro to SG Project Pro ....................................................................................................49 SG Project Pro to Microsoft® Project...............................................................................................49 Microsoft® Project to SG Project Pro...............................................................................................50

Product Support....................................................................................................... 51 Facebook & Twitter .......................................................................................................................51 Email............................................................................................................................................51


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Overview

Introduction

This guide outlines the feature set of SG Project Pro for iPad and provides hints and tips for effective use of the app. Please email suggestions or feature ideas to [email protected].

Organization of this Document

This document is organized in increasing levels of detail. Following this Overview is a brief section on Key Concepts, then an introduction of each major view in SG Project Pro. We recommend reviewing those dozen or so pages to get a quick overview of the capabilities of the app. Finally there are sections that dive into more detail for each of the major views.

Aspects of the app that are less obvious or very important to understand are marked with an orange star in the left column.

Data Management

You may notice that there is no Save button in SG Project Pro. The app saves all changes as you perform them, so that you can exit and re-enter the app at any time without losing work. Also there is no concept of files or documents for storing your projects. This is because SG Project Pro stores all data in a local database. SG Project Pro is fully contained on the iPad device. Sharing data is supported through creation of PDF and XML files and the ability to email those directly from within the app, or saving them for access through iTunes® File Sharing. The XML Import/Export capability supports file-based integration with Microsoft® Project and other applications that support the Microsoft® Project XML format. The integration is limited to the features supported by SG Project Pro.

App Limitations

All apps have limitations and SG Project Pro is no exception. There are no hard limits on the number of projects, owners, tasks, action items, or risks. As with any app you will run into limits based on the available memory or speed of the device. This section outlines the most commonly reported app limitations. The most common scaling issue is that SG Project Pro can become sluggish and sometimes run out of memory on first generation iPads when dealing with project schedules containing hundreds of tasks. When this happens SG Project Pro will immediately shut down and the iPad returns to its home screen. For plans with fewer than 200 tasks there are typically no issues, depending on the complexity of the schedule. We are working to expand the upper limits of the app in future updates and


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you are always welcome to email us for support. Generally the best approach for larger projects is to split the project into multiple pieces. SG Project Pro supports task durations in increments of one work day. And each project can use a 7-day work week, or a Monday thru Friday work week. When importing an XML file from another application, task durations are rounded up to the nearest day.

Key Concepts

Projects

SG Project Pro helps you manage projects. You can create any number of projects. Projects have tasks that define a time schedule, action items, and risks. Typically the project data is entered directly into SG Project Pro. It can also be imported from a file in specific XML formats. SG Project Pro provides powerful views for analyzing and understanding the status of a project or a group of projects, and provides several PDF reports that can be exported or emailed directly from within the app. The list of projects is shared across all views, and when a project is selected as the current project, it automatically becomes the current project in all views.

Tasks

Projects in SG Project Pro use tasks to describe the project’s time schedule. A project can have any number of tasks and tasks can be chained together with dependencies (e.g. Task B must happen after Task A completes). Managing a project by tasks provides surprising insight into the bounds and status of your project. Even a lightweight task-based approach to project management can make a huge difference in the success or failure of your project. SG Project Pro provides all the basic features needed for task-based project management.


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Action Items

SG Project Pro helps you manage action items associated with your projects. Each project can have any number of action items. Actively managing project action items increases the chances of success for your project. Action Items are different from Tasks in that they typically are not drivers of the project schedule. SG Project Pro provides all the basic features needed for effective action item management. Additionally, in SG Project Pro, Action Items can optionally be associated with a Task.

Risks

SG Project Pro also helps you manage risks associated with your projects. Each project can have any number of risks. Although only a subset of project managers perform risk management, actively managing project risks increases the chances of success for your project. Even a lightweight approach to risk management can make a big difference. SG Project Pro provides all the basic features needed for simple risk management. In SG Project Pro, Risks can optionally be associated with a Task.

Owners

In SG Project Pro, the term owner refers to a person, typically a team member on your project team. The term owner is used to emphasize accountability. Each Task, Action Item, and Risk in SG Project Pro can have an owner assigned so the Project Manager knows who is accountable. The list of owners is shared across all projects and all views. If you need to assign ownership of a task, action item, or risk to multiple people, create an owner with a team or group name such as “Senior Management” or “Audit Team”.

Portfolio

In SG Project Pro, the term portfolio refers to a group of projects. SG Project Pro provides a view across all projects in your portfolio, and also a powerful Portfolio Report that allows you to select which projects to include.

Reports

The term report in SG Project Pro refers to a document generated in PDF format that can be viewed on the iPad, zoomed and panned with pinch and swipe gestures, then exported as a file or emailed from directly within the app. Each report in SG Project Pro is configurable to help meet the specific needs of the project and project manager.


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Meet SG Project Pro SG Project Pro consists of seven views accessible from a main menu popover in the upper left. The first four support creating and managing project data. The remaining three are powerful report views allowing you to study, analyze, and share project data.

Portfolio Home

Portfolio Home provides an overview of your projects and owners, along with a summary of the currently selected project and a timeline of all projects. The following diagram points out some of the key features.

This main menu button provides access to the seven main views of SG Project Pro.

The Projects section lists your projects. Tap the Edit button to rearrange the list.

Tap these buttons to import a project from an XML or SGP file, or to create a new project in the app.

The Owners section lists your owners. Tap the Edit button to rearrange the list.

Tap this button to create a new Owner, or tap the blue arrow next to a current Owner to edit.

The current selection is shared between this view and the Projects view. You can select in either.

The middle section shows a summary of the currently selected project.

Each project shows in this timeline view as a bar. The darker bar inside indicates the total % Done.

This section provides an overview of the current financial status of the project if costs were entered.

This section shows the tasks 90 days back and forward, indicating what work is remaining.


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Task Planning: Task Table View

The basic table view of tasks is easily understandable. The following diagram points out some of the key features of the app header and table view.

Edit button for deleting or rearranging the order of tasks.

Project Button for creating, importing, selecting, & editing Projects.

Name of currently active project. Non-interactive.

Task Table Header and column names. The End date can be toggled to “Cost”.

Share Button for saving or emailing the current project in PDF, XML, or SGP format.

New Task Button adds a new task at the bottom of the list.

Task Row Number. Note the checkmark indicating tasks that are 100% Done, such as Task 6 here.

The Gear Button opens a menu of actions such as indenting, inserting, and notating tasks.

Each Task has a single Owner, who is accountable for the task completion.

Arrow Splitter Button for splitting space between the Table and Gantt Views.


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Task Planning: Task Gantt View

The Task Gantt View shows project tasks graphically over time and provides an alternative to the table view that enables insights not immediately obvious from a table. The combination of Table and Gantt views is a powerful combination for absorbing your overall project plan.

Gear Button changes color to show the Alert level of a task, for example a task behind schedule.

Gantt graphic for a “milestone task”, which is a task with zero duration.

Gantt graphic for a “roll up task”, which is a task with child tasks. Start and end depend on children.

Gantt Header showing dates horizontally. Touch and slide to move back and forth in

Zoom in/out buttons for changing the scale of the timeline, for example from days to weeks or

This diagram shows a partial Table and partial Gantt view. The splitter has 3 positions.

Arrow Splitter Buttons for splitting space between the Table and Gantt Views.

A vertical red line highlights the current day/time (not visible in this screen shot).

This is a typical task, showing the start, end, duration, name, % Done, and Parent/Children.

Lines between tasks show predecessors, e.g. where one task can’t start before another one finishes.


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Action Items: List View

The Action Items view is designed to provide a quick view of action items for the currently selected project. The following diagram points out some of the key features.

Tip: Use a two-finger pinch gesture over the list to compress the list vertically and a pinch-out gesture to return to the larger view shown here.

About Button reveals the current version, a link to the User Guide, & a way to submit comments.

Project Button for creating, selecting, & editing Projects.


View Button for sorting and filtering the list of action items.

Share Button for creating a PDF of the action items and emailing to the team.

New Action Item Button adds a new item to the list. The item is immediately put into edit mode.

Action Item ID: a unique identifier assigned to each action item for a project.

Each Action Item has a Due Date, shown in red if it is past due.

The Notes area shows a history of notes and comments for each Action Item.

The Tips Button opens a simple list of thought-provoking tips to help you manage action items.


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Action Items: Edit Action Item View

When an action item is tapped, it is expanded into an Edit Action Item View that supports editing the action item details.

The selected action item is enlarged for editing and surrounded by a yellow border.

The Notes text area retains a history of comments on the action item.

Tap the Priority value to reveal this popover. Tap the desired priority to set the value.

Tap the Status value to reveal a similar popover for setting the item’s status.

The Done Button dismisses the Edit Action Item View and returns the item to its normal height.

The date and time that the action item was created in SG Action Log. Non-interactive.

The Due Date for the action item. Tap to change the date.

Tap the Owner value to change the owner of the item, and to edit the list of owners.

The Group field is used to categorize action items into up to 10 groups, whose names are editable.

The Delete Action Item button deletes the action item after prompting if you are sure.


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Project Risks: List View

The Project Risks view is designed to provide a quick view of project risks for the currently selected project. The following diagram points out some of the key features.

Tip: Use a two-finger pinch gesture over the list to compress the list vertically and a pinch-out gesture to return to the larger view shown here.

About Button reveals the current version, a link to the User Guide, & a way to submit comments.

Project Button for creating, selecting, & editing Projects.


View Button for sorting and filtering the list of risks.

Share Button for creating a PDF of the risks and emailing to the team.

New Risk Button adds a new risk to the list. The risk is immediately put into edit mode.

Risk ID: a unique identifier assigned to each risk for a project.

Each risk has a next due date, shown in red if it is past due.

The Notes area shows a history of notes and comments for each risk.

The Tips Button opens a simple list of thought-provoking tips to help you manage risks.


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Project Risks: Edit Risk View

When a risk is tapped, it is expanded into an Edit Risk View that supports editing the risk details.

The selected risk is enlarged for editing and surrounded by a yellow selection border.

The Notes text area retains a history of comments on the risk.

Tap the Likely value to reveal this popover. Tap the desired likelihood to set the value.

Tap the Severe value to reveal a similar popover for setting the risk’s severity.

The Done Button dismisses the Edit Risk View and returns the risk to its normal height.

The date and time that the risk was created in SG Risk Log. Non-interactive.

The “Next Due” date for the risk, which is the next time the risk should be reviewed. Tap to change.

The Strategy has 5 values and can be changed by tapping. The Owner may also be set by tapping.

The Rating is automatically set and is computed as the Likely multiplied by Severe.

The Delete Risk button deletes the risk after prompting if you are sure.


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Project Report

The Project Report view presents a configurable, detailed report of all aspects of a single project. This is the most comprehensive, compact view for analyzing a single project. The view is actually a PDF and can be zoomed, exported, or emailed to the team or stakeholders.

Select Project Report from the main menu to view the Project Report.

Tap the Project button to select a single project for the report.

The title bar displays the name of the current project.

Tap the View button to configure which of the seven report sections to include in the report.

Tap Share to export the report as a PDF file or to email the PDF from directly within the app.

Each of the 7 independent report sections starts with a section header and may span pages.

Use pinch and swipe gestures over the report to zoom and move around the PDF view.

Tap the up and down arrows to move forward or backward one page.

The Project Summary section provides a cost summary for the project based on task costs and % Done.

The 180 day graph shows the task load over time, tasks completed (black), and tasks overdue.


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Owner Report

The Owner Report view presents a configurable, detailed report of all tasks, action items, and risks assigned to a single owner, across all projects. This is the most comprehensive view of a single owner. The view is actually a PDF and can be zoomed, exported, or emailed to the team member.

Tap the Owner button to select one owner for the report.

The Owner Summary section provides a compact summary including a how far ahead or behind.

The title bar shows the name of the current owner.

Tap the View button to open the view options and configure the report sections and sorting.


Each of the 7 independent report sections starts with a section header and may span pages.



Turn each section on or off independently. The structure of the report is shown on the right.

Tap to select the sort order, which applies to only some of the sections.


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Portfolio Report

The Portfolio Report view presents a configurable, detailed report of all tasks, action items, and risks for all owners across a selected list of projects. This view provides a powerful view into a portfolio of projects. The view is actually a PDF and can be zoomed, exported, or emailed to the team or stakeholders.

Select Portfolio Report from the main menu to view the Portfolio Report.

Tap the Projects button to select the list of projects to include in the report.

This section provides a cost summary for each project based on task costs and % Done.

Tap the View button to open the view options and configure the report sections and sorting.


This section shows each project over time, with % Done and a red line highlighting “today”.



Other sections list all overdue tasks across all projects, all open Action Items, and other useful views.

The 180 day graphs show the task load over time, tasks completed (black), and tasks overdue.


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Portfolio Home The Portfolio Home view provides a compact overview of all your projects. It also supports creating, deleting, and modifying Projects and Owners. The center section provides an overview of the currently selected project.

Managing Projects

The Project List

The Projects section in the upper left is used to view and manage your list of projects. The list always shows all projects and can be scrolled vertically with swipe gestures.

Adding a Project

To add a new project tap the New Project button and enter a name for the project, plus an optional brief description. Then select whether the project will use All Days or Weekdays. These are the only two schedule options currently available. Weekdays means Monday thru Friday. Finally select a start date for the project. The project start date is actually not used for much at this time – mainly to highlight tasks that are scheduled to start before the project start date. Once those fields are set, tap Done to create the project. The new project will be added to the project list and selected as the current project, ready for you to enter tasks, action items, or risks. Initially the project is empty.

Modifying a Project

To modify a project, tap the blue arrow to the right of the project name. You may then edit the name, description, Work Days, or start date. Tap Done when you are finished. Changing the start date will have no affect on any of the project data. Changing the Work Days (e.g. All Days to Weekdays) will cause the project task schedule to adjust to the new schedule. For example if you have a 2 day task that starts on Friday and have Weekdays selected, the task spans Friday and Monday (2 work days). If you then change the Work Days setting to All Days, that task will adjust to span Friday and Saturday (still 2 work days). It is generally best to select up front the setting that best matches your real world project constraints and stick with it.

Importing a Project

Tap Import to import project data from an XML or SGP file. Select the file and tap Import again. If the imported file has the same project name as an existing project, you will be prompted whether to overwrite the current project or create a copy with a


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different name. The file list comes from SG Project Pro’s Documents folder. To put files into that folder for importing, use the File Sharing feature of iTunes.

Duplicating a Project

SG Project Pro supports duplicating an existing project. This can be helpful if you have several projects with the same or similar task structure. In this case create one project to serve as the template, and then duplicate the template whenever a new project starts. To duplicate a project, tap the blue arrow next to the project then tap Duplicate Project. Give the new project a different name than the original, then tap Done. The new project is added to the project list and automatically selected as the current project.

Deleting a Project

Deleting project permanently deletes all its tasks, action items, and risks. If you want to retain a historical copy you should first export the project in SGP format, which makes a comprehensive back up of the entire project. To delete a project, tap the Edit button above the list, then tap the red icon and then the Delete button. When you are finished, tap the Edit button again (which is renamed Done after tapping the first time), to exit editing mode.

Rearranging the Project list

The project list may be rearranged manually. Tap the Edit button above the list, then use the icons along the right side of the list to move rows up and down. When you are finished, tap the Edit button again (which has been renamed Done after tapping the first time), to exit editing mode. This allows you to maintain your most commonly accessed projects near the top, or sort in alphabetical order, or any order that makes sense for your portfolio.

Project Selection

Tap a row of the project list to select that project. The project becomes the currently selected project for the other sections of the Portfolio Home screen, as well as all other views in SG Project Pro.

Managing Owners

The Owner List

The Owner section in the upper right is used to view and manage your list of owners. The list always shows all owners and can be scrolled vertically with swipe gestures.


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Adding an Owner

To add a new owner tap the New Owner button and enter a name for the owner, plus an optional email address. Once those fields are set, tap Done to create the owner. The new owner will be added to the owner list.

Modifying an Owner

To modify an owner, tap the blue arrow icon to the right of the owner’s name. Edit the name and/or email address then tap Done.

Deleting an Owner

To delete an owner, tap the Edit button above the list, then tap the red icon and then the Delete button. When you are finished, tap the Edit button again (which has been renamed Done), to exit editing mode.

Viewing Project Detail

Project Detail Section

The center section of the Portfolio Home view shows a quick overview of the currently selected project including a count of the number of tasks, action items, and risks, cost information, and a graphical representation of the task schedule.

Project Start and End

The project start date is the start date of the earliest task in the project. Note that this might be different than the project start date set when the project was created. The project end date is the end date of the latest task in the project.

Project % Done Calculation

The % Done is for the overall project and is calculated by considering the duration of each task in the plan along with the % Done for each task.

Project Costs

The Project Detail section presents high level aggregate cost information for the currently selected project.

� Total Cost: sum of the costs of each task in the project � Cost To Date: sum of % Done for each task multiplied by the cost � Cost To Go: Total Cost minus Cost To Date

Note that these calculations assume that the cost of each task is incurred evenly across the duration of the task.


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Jumping to the Task Plan

Tap the Task Plan button to quickly jump to the Task Planning view for the current project. To return you will need to tap the main menu gear and select Portfolio Home.

The 180 Day Window Chart

The 180 Day Window chart is a powerful, compact view of the project work schedule, work completion, work behind schedule, and work remaining. However it does warrant some explanation. Horizontally the chart represents a time window starting 90 days in the past and spanning to 90 days in the future, with the red vertical line in the center being today. The graph represents the tasks in the plan. It does not represent Action Items or Risks, only Tasks. The black area represents the work that has been completed as of today based on the start date, end date, and % Done for each task. The red and blue areas represent all the work in the plan. Red is used to the left of today to indicate that the work not covered by black is work that is behind schedule, and Blue to the right of today to indicate work that is not yet completed but is not supposed to be yet. If there is black to the right of today, it indicates work that has been completed but was not even due yet – work that is ahead of schedule. The exact height of the peaks does not have useful meaning. The relative height does. SG Project Pro computes the number of tasks that are scheduled for each day, then finds the day with the most tasks and scales the graph so that the busiest day reaches the top of the graph. The chart does not show the specific number of tasks on a given day, but it is a powerful visualization of the overall curve of work and completeness.


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Viewing the Portfolio Schedule

The Project Schedule Chart

The Portfolio Schedule is shown along the bottom of the Portfolio Home view. It looks similar to a Gantt view of tasks for a project, but in this case each bar represents a whole project. There is one bar for every project, shown in the same order as they are listed in the Projects section. This provides a visual overview of how your projects relate to each other over time, along with a quick view of % Done for each project.

Project Start and End

As with the start and end dates shown in the Project Detail view, a project bar in this view spans from the start of the earliest task in the plan to the end of the latest task.

Project % Done

Also as with the Project Detail view, the % Done line inside each project bar is calculated based on an aggregate of the task durations and % Done for each task in the project.

Project Selection

The currently selected project is shown with blue horizontal highlighting. To select a project simply tap it. The project selection will be instantly reflected in the Projects section and the Project Detail view will show the details for that project.

Zooming the Chart

Use the + and – icons in the upper left of this section to zoom the chart in and out horizontally.

Scrolling the Chart

The chart may be scrolled vertically with swipe gestures as you would expect. The chart can also be scrolled horizontally with tap and slide gestures. For more reliable horizontal scrolling use tap and slide gestures over the gray timeline header area.


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Task Planning

Orientation Preferences

A subtle but powerful feature of SG Project Pro is that it remembers your preferred splitter setting for Portrait and Landscape orientations separately. For example setting Landscape to “All Table” and Portrait to “All Gantt” allows you to switch between Table and Gantt views by physically rotating the iPad. There is no view for updating these settings – simply adjust the splitter in each orientation using the arrow buttons along the bottom of the screen and SG Project Pro will remember.

View Scrolling

SG Project Pro’s Task Table and Gantt views can be scrolled vertically using the standard iPad touch-and-swipe gesture. The Task Table view does not scroll horizontally. The Gantt view does scroll horizontally using a touch-and-swipe gesture over the Gantt or Gantt header area, as long as the gesture is not directly over a task bar, in which case only the task bar moves (adjusting the task start and end dates).

Gantt Vertical Shading

SG Project Pro uses vertical shading to indicate weekends on the Gantt view. This provides a strong visual sense of time in week increments. When the view is zoomed out to the quarter-year or year level the weekend shading is not practical so shading is used to delimit quarters or years in those cases.


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Projects

Within the Task Planning view, tapping the Project Button opens the project popover which supports creating, editing, and deleting projects. When first opened the popover presents a list of all your projects sorted in order by creation date, with the most recently created project at the top.

Creating a Project

Tap New Project to begin creating a new project. This slides the Create New Project view into the popover, where you can enter a Name and Description for the project to be created. The Project start date defaults to Today but you can optionally change that by tapping the Set Start Date button, which reveals a date picker. You may also select whether the project should consider All Days or only Weekdays as work days. Finally, tap Done to create the new project, which instantly becomes the current project and the popover disappears. The new project will initially have one task.

Editing a Project

To edit the name, description, work days, or start date of a project, tap the arrow icon next to the project name. This slides the Edit Project view into the popover.

Deleting a Project

To delete a project from within the Task Planning view, tap the Edit button and then use the standard iPad interaction for deleting a table row, which is to tap the red icon on the left, then the Delete button on the right. Since deleting a project is a big step, SG Project Pro then asks one more time if you are sure you want to delete the project and all its tasks. Tap Done when you are done deleting projects.

Reordering the Project List

To reorder the list, tap the Edit button and then use the icons along the right side to move projects up or down. Tap Done when you are finished.

Duplicating a Project

SG Project Pro supports duplicating an entire project. If you need to manage a series of similar projects, creating a template project and duplicating it for each instance can save significant time. To duplicate an existing project, tap Project, then tap the blue arrow to the right of the name to edit the project. Tap the Duplicate Project button to create the duplicate, which will have “(copy)” appended to the end of its name.

Importing a Project

SG Project Pro can import project data in specific XML file format or SGP format. Generally the file must have been created by exporting from SG Project Pro in XML or SGP format or by exporting data from Microsoft® Project in XML format. The file must be located in the SG Project Pro Documents folder on your iPad. Files can be moved in


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and out of this folder using iTunes® File Sharing. See File Sharing in ITunes® for more information on file management. To import a file tap Import on the project popover, tap a file from the list to select it, and then tap Import. If a project with the same project name already exists, SG Project Pro will ask whether you want to replace the existing project or make a copy. After importing, the newly imported project will automatically become the current project.

Tasks

Creating a Task

Tapping the New Task ( ) button will add a new task to the end of your project. To insert a task between two existing tasks, tap the Gear Button on a task and then tap the button on the mini menu that appears.

Task Types

There are 3 types of tasks: normal, milestone, and parent.

Normal Tasks

A normal task is a task with a non-zero duration (meaning that the task start and end dates are different) and has no child tasks indented beneath it. Normal tasks are represented in the Gantt view as a rectangle with the Task Name and % Done.

Milestone Tasks

A milestone task is simply a normal task with a zero duration (start date = end date). Milestone tasks are represented in the Gantt view as a diamond ( ). A normal task becomes a milestone when the duration becomes zero, and vice versa. Besides duration and visual representation, milestone tasks are no different than normal tasks.

Parent Tasks

A parent task is any task that has children. When you tap the Gear Button and then Indent, the indentation level of the task is increased. Likewise tapping the Gear Button and then Outdent decreases the indentation level. When the indentation level of a task becomes greater than the task directly above it, the task becomes a child of the task directly above, and the task directly above becomes its parent. Parent tasks are represented in the Gantt view as a black line with downward arrows on either end. The duration of a parent task can’t be set directly. The start and end dates of a parent are determined by the start and end dates of its children. Whenever the start or end of a child task is edited, its parent task’s start and end dates are recalculated. A parent task may have a mix of milestone and normal tasks as children or even other parent tasks, creating a hierarchy of parent/child relationships.


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A parent task becomes a normal task when it no longer has children, for example when its last child is either deleted our outdented.

Editing a Task

Editing a Task from the Table View

To edit the name of a task tap the name and the keyboard will appear. Dismiss the keyboard with the button on the lower right or by tapping elsewhere on a task row. To change the color of a task tap the task number and select a color from the palette. The task will display its color in the task number field and on its Gantt view bar. Setting the color of a parent task automatically sets the color of its descendents.

To edit the duration of a task tap the duration field and an editor popover will appear. Once you have selected the desired duration, tap anywhere outside the popover to dismiss it. Setting the duration of a task to zero turns the task into a milestone. The duration of a parent task is not directly editable because it is determined by the start and end dates of its descendents. Tip: when you enter the duration for a task you are specifying how many days of work the task will require. How that translates to true calendar days depends on the Work Days setting of the project. If the project is set to use only Weekdays then SG Project Pro will skip over weekends when calculating the task end date. For example if a task is 2 days long and starts on Friday, the work is considered to happen on Friday and the following Monday so the task end date will be Monday. For the same 2 day task in a project set to use All Days, the work is considered to happen on Friday and Saturday and the end date will be Saturday. To edit the start date of a task tap the start date and a date picker will appear. Changing a start date will not affect the task’s duration – rather, the end date will be


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adjusted. The start date of a parent task is not directly editable because it is always equal to the start date of its earliest child task. The end date for any task is not directly editable. The end date only changes in response to editing the start date and duration of the task. To edit the % Done, tap the current value and a slider will appear. The slider allows you to adjust the task between zero and 100% in 5% increments. Many projects have tasks that are either “done or not done” in which case only use the values zero and 100. Setting a task to 100% Done causes a small checkmark to appear in the upper left corner of the row providing a quick visual indicator of which tasks are done. To edit the Owner of a task tap the owner cell and the Owner popover will appear. Either tap the appropriate owner to select it or add a New Owner. Tasks may only have one single owner – the team member who is accountable for the task being completed. For more on creating, editing and deleting Owners, see the Owners section.

Toggling End Date and Costs

One column in the table view can be toggled between End Date and Cost by tapping on the button in the column header. Both columns can not be viewed at the same time. Costs are entered in whole increments of the currency specified by the iPad’s locale. For example in the US locale, whole dollars can be entered. The current setting of the End Date / Cost column is taken into account when the Share button is used to generate a PDF for export or emailing.

Editing a Task from the Gantt View

Tasks can be moved back and forth in time in the Gantt view by touching and sliding horizontally. As a task slides SG Project Pro displays the current start date to help you know when you have reached the desired new start date. The bar color can also be set from the Gantt view. Touch a bar and hold for a moment to reveal the color palette then tap a color to select it. Performing this action over a


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parent task will set the color of all descendents of the parent. The parent bar itself will always remain black. The color of a milestone task may not be set. The Task Name, Duration, Owner, % Done, and Predecessors are not editable in the Gantt view.

Reordering Tasks

Tasks may be re-ordered within a project. Tap the Edit button to enter table Edit mode and then use the standard row move icons along the right side of the table to touch and slide rows vertically. Tap Done to exit table Edit mode. Moving a task can impact its parenting. For example if a task is moved above its parent, then it will no longer be a child of that parent and will assume a parent/child relationship based on the task directly above its new position. If a parent task is moved to a new row position its children (in fact all descendents) are moved with it.

Gear Button

The gear button for each task is visible in all views except when the splitter is set to All Gantt. The gear button is also not available when the table is in Edit mode. Tapping the gear button for a task reveals a mini menu of actions: Add (insert) task, Outdent, Indent, Delete, and More. The More button reveals the full Task Popover.

Task Popover

The Task Popover is a complete editor for all fields and attributes of a task. The Popover has a list of options along the left side that function like tabs to select different views. The General tab supports Indent, Outdent, Insert Task Above, Insert Task Below, Delete Task, setting the Task Cost, Owner and Predecessors, as well as the task color. The Start Date tab supports setting the start date for the task.


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The Duration tab supports setting the task duration and % Done. Note that the task name can be edited regardless of the currently selected tab. The Warnings tab shows the warnings or “alerts” associated with the task, if any. These are typically due to the task possibly violating constraints, such as starting before the specified start of the project, or as in the diagram here, not being adequately Done. The Task Notes tab allows you to enter free-form notes regarding the task. Tapping the Add Note button inserts the current date and positions the cursor ready for you to enter a note. The Deliverable tab is also free-form and allows you to define a specific deliverable that is required from the task. This is often a good practice in order to ensure clarity regarding what it means to complete the task - clarity for you as the project manager as well as the accountable Owner and any project stakeholders. The Risks tab is unique to SG Project Pro and allows you to quickly create a new Risk and associate it with the current task. If a Risk was created on the Project Risks view and associated with this task, it will show here also. The gear menu on each Risk can be used to delete the Risk or to navigate to the Risk in the Project Risks view.


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The Action Items tab is unique to SG Project Pro and allows you to quickly create a new Action Item and associate it with the current task. If an Action Item was created on the Action Items view and associated with this task, it will show here also. The gear menu on each Action Item can be used to delete the Action Item or to navigate to the Action Item in the Action Items view.

Predecessors

Task predecessors link tasks together to indicate and enforce that one or more tasks should be completed before another can start. For example if you were painting a room the Paint Walls task might have Purchase Materials as a predecessor task. Tip: It is important to understand that predecessor relationships are different from and independent of parent/child relationships. Parent/child relationships are for grouping and hierarchy, whereas predecessors are about a task needing to complete before another may start. To create and edit a task’s predecessor list tap the predecessor field and the predecessor editor popover will appear. Tasks that the current task cannot have as a predecessor are grayed out and not selectable. Examples of invalid predecessor relationships are from a parent to a child or from a child to a parent. Tap the checkbox of the desired predecessor tasks to toggle the link on/off. The gray box to the right is a tappable field is used to set a lag time for the link in days. The lag time can be positive or negative. Like task durations, lag times are specified in work days, meaning that they take into account whether the project is set to use All Days or Weekdays only. It is generally valid for a task to have a parent task as a predecessor. This indicates that the entire set of tasks indented beneath the parent must be completed before the dependent task can start. However a task may not have its own parent as a predecessor.


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Predecessor relationships must not create hard circular dependencies meaning a set of tasks such as: A depends on B, B depends on C, and C depends on A. This is simply not a valid situation so SG Project Pro disallows it.

Predecessor Types

There are two types of predecessor links, locked and unlocked. Each link can be toggled between locked and unlocked by tapping the lock/unlock icon next to the checkbox in the Predecessor popover. Locked links indicate that the successor task must start immediately after the predecessor. This means that if the end date of the predecessor is moved forward or backward in time, the successor will automatically move with it. The start date of the successor is locked to the end date of the predecessor. The only exception is that if the successor has multiple predecessors, it will not start before the end date of all predecessors. Unlocked links indicate that the successor task must start after the end date of the predecessor, but may start an arbitrary number of days after that. This allows a gap between when the predecessor ends and the successor starts. If the end date of the predecessor becomes earlier, the successor will NOT move back in time. But if the end date of the predecessor becomes later than the start of the successor, the successor will be pushed out. The Link Lag concept applies to both Locked and Unlocked links. Locked links are shown in the Gantt view as solid lines, and unlocked links are shown as dashed lines.

Deleting a Task

To delete a task tap the Edit button above the row number column to enter table Edit mode and use the standard iPad interaction for deleting a table row which is to tap the red icon on the left then the Delete button on the right. Tap Done to exit table Edit mode.

Owners

Tasks in SG Project Pro may only have one single owner – the team member who is accountable for the task being completed. This may be different than the team member(s) actually performing the task. This single-Owner approach is adequate for managing a broad range of projects. If you need to assign ownership of a task to multiple people, one approach is to create a team name or group name and use that as the Owner.


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Tapping the Owner field of a task row opens the Owner popover which supports creating, editing, and deleting owners. When first opened the popover presents a list of all current Owners or if no owners exist yet, the Create New Owner view.

Creating an Owner

In the Owner popover, tap New Owner to begin creating a new owner. This slides the Create New Owner view into the popover where you can enter a Name and Email for the owner to be created. Tap Done to create the new owner, which instantly becomes set as the owner of the currently selected task, and the popover disappears.

Editing an Owner

To edit the Name or Email of an Owner, tap the arrow icon next to the owner name. This slides the Edit Owner view into the popover. Edit the text as desired and tap Done to dismiss the popover.

Deleting an Owner

When an owner is deleted all tasks that the team member owned are left without an owner until a new one is selected. To delete an Owner, tap the Edit button and then use the standard iPad interaction for deleting a table row, which is to tap the red icon on the left, then the Delete button on the right. Since deleting an Owner may leave some tasks without an owner, SG Project Pro then asks one more time if you are sure you want to delete the owner. Tap Done when you are done deleting owners, to exit table edit mode. Alternatively, an owner can be removed from the list by using a swipe gesture over the owner name, tapping the Delete button and confirming that the owner should be deleted.

Sharing

SG Project Pro supports sharing project data in PDF, XML, or SGP format with the project team or anyone else by emailing or saving via iTunes® File Sharing. Tapping the Share button reveals the Share Popover which supports Previewing, Emailing, and Exporting the current project.

Preview

Tap the Preview button of the Share Popover to preview a PDF version of the project. Use the arrow buttons along the bottom of the view to page up and down. SG Project Pro uses a fixed format for the PDF that includes all data in the project except for the Project Description, Task Alerts, Task Notes, and Successor dependency lines.


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Tip: Despite the fixed format of the PDF you do have some control over the Gantt portion because the PDF creation takes into account the current zoom level and leftmost date of the Gantt view on the iPad. In the PDF the Table view comes first, followed by the Gantt view. This allows you to easily use a page range to print just the Table, just the Gantt, or both. If both are printed, the Gantt pages can be positioned to the right of the table pages and the task rows will align, providing a full view of the project.

Email

Tap the Email button of the Share Popover for email options. You must specify a file name for the email attachment and select either PDF, XML, or SGP format. PDF is a read-only format that most computers can display. XML is a data format and the XML files created by SG Project and SG Project Pro can be viewed on another iPad that has SG Project or SG Project Pro installed, or another computer that has Microsoft® Project installed. SGP is an extended data format that includes not just the project tasks and owners, but also the action items and risks. That format can only be imported by SG Project Pro but is the best way to share or back up the full contents of a project.

Specifying the Email List

Enter a list of email addresses separated by commas into the Email To: field. SG Project Pro will pre-populate the draft email with these addresses and also remember them for future use. As a convenience, tapping Get Task Owners will replace the contents of the Email To: field with the email addresses of all Task Owners in the current project. Tap the Send Email button to open a draft email message with the PDF, XML, or SGP file attached. Edit the Subject and Body as desired then tap Send. Note: Emailing from SG Project Pro is disabled if there is no default email account set up on the iPad. If the Send button is not responding this is the most likely cause.

Export

Tap the Export button of the Share Popover for export options. You must specify a file name for the file and select either PDF, XML, or SGP format. Tap the Save Project button to save the file. The file will be saved to the SG Project Pro Documents folder on the iPad.


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Action Items

Projects

In SG Project Pro action items are associated with Projects so the first step is to create a Project. In the Action Items view the Project button is used to select a project or create a new project, exactly as it is in the Task Planning view, so see that section for a detailed description.

Action Items

Creating an Action

Item

Tapping the New Action Item ( ) button either on the toolbar or below the last action item in the list will add a new action item for the current project. The new action item is immediately selected for editing.

Editing an Action

Item

Tapping any action item will select it and expand it for editing.

Editing the Basic Fields

To edit the name of an action item tap the name and begin typing. To edit the notes of an action item you can simply tap in the notes field and begin typing. A useful alternative is to tap the Add Note Button, which adds a date stamp to the top of the notes file and positions the text cursor for you to enter a note. Consistent use of the Add Note Button builds a structured history of notes for the action item over time. To edit the Due Date of an action item tap the date and a date picker will appear. Select a date and the popover will dismiss itself. When a due date is in the past it is highlighted in red as a visual cue that the action item is due for attention. To edit the Owner of an action item tap the owner cell and the Owner popover will appear. Either tap the appropriate owner to select it or add a New Owner. Action Items


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can only have one owner – the team member accountable for completing the action. For more on creating, editing and deleting Owners, see Owners.

Editing the Status Field

To set the Status for an action item tap the status value and the Status popover will appear. Tap the appropriate status to select it. There are 6 status value options: NEW This status typically means the action item was recently created and may not have an owner assigned, or may not have been reviewed yet with the team. OPEN This is the state for active action items that have not yet been addressed. NEEDS FOCUS This state is used to highlight action items that are of particular concern and most in need of attention. ON HOLD This state is used for action items that have been suspended for some reason and are not in need of action until taken off hold. WAITING This state is for action items that require waiting for some condition to be met before being acted on. CLOSED Closed is the final Status for an action item and implies that the action item has been completed. Setting action items to this state when they no longer need attention is a good way to help bring focus to the remaining items. It also allows them to be optionally filtered out of the main table view.


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Editing the Priority Field

SG Project Pro helps you quantify action items by setting a Priority for each one. The priority values are: VH (Very High) H (High) M (Medium) L (Low) VL (Very Low) To set the Priority tap the priority value and select the appropriate priority from the popover that appears. Tip: SG Project Pro does not provide a specific definition for the priority values but defining specific meanings for each project often leads to more effective action item management, so take some time up front to decide what each priority will mean.

Setting the Group Field

Action Items maybe categorized into up to 10 unique groups that can be defined on a per-project basis. By default the groups are named “Group 1” through “Group 10” but the names can be edited to suit the needs of each project. To set the Group for an action item tap the group value and the Group popover will appear. Tap the appropriate group to select it. To edit the name of a group tap the arrow to the right of the group name. You can subsequently sort items by group.

Linking an Action Item to a Task

Tap the Link to Task button to view a list of tasks in the project and select a task to associate with the Action Item. Linking to a task is appropriate for some Action Items but not others, so only link to a task if it makes sense.

Deleting an Action Item

An action item can be deleted from the Edit Action Item View using the Delete Item button. You will then be prompted to confirm that you are sure you want to delete.


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Owners

Action Items in SG Project Pro may only have one single owner – the team member who is accountable for completing the action. To set the owner, tap in the Owner field and select from the list or add a new owner.

View Options

Sorting & Filtering

The Action Items view offers sorting and filtering options for the action item list. Tapping the View Button opens the View Options. The action item list may be sorted by ITEM ID (which is also the order in which the items were created), PRIORITY (with the highest priority items at the top), OWNER, GROUP, DUE DATE (with the earliest due dates at the top), or STATUS. Optionally, CLOSED action items can be excluded from the list. SG Project Pro remembers the View Options last used on a per-Project basis, and returns to those settings the next time a Project is viewed.

Compressed Action Items View

The Action Items view has a compressed item view mode that allows more items to be viewed on the screen at once, albeit with less detail. Use a two finger pinch-in gesture over the main list view to change to the compressed item view, and a pinch-out gesture to return to the standard view. The compressed state at the time Share is tapped also controls the compressed state on the PDF file generated for export or email.

Action Item Management Tips

Tapping the Tips Button (light bulb) opens a simple list of thought-provoking tips to help you manage action items. Effective action item management requires discipline. These tips are intended to remind you of best practices.

Sharing

The Action Items view supports sharing action item data in PDF format with the project team or anyone else by emailing or saving via iTunes® File Sharing. Tapping the Share button reveals the Share Popover which supports Previewing, Emailing, and Exporting the action items for the current project.


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Preview

Tap the Preview button of the Share Popover to preview a PDF version of the action items. Use the arrow buttons along the bottom of the view to page up and down. An action item with long notes may span onto two or more pages. The View Options on the main table view at the time Share is tapped are applied to the PDF creation, as is the current state of compressed versus normal view height. So the PDF can be modified by setting up the main table view in advance. Tip: use pinch and swipe gestures over the Preview to see the PDF preview in more detail.

Email

Tap the Email button of the Share Popover for email options. You must specify a file name for the PDF email attachment.


Enter a list of email addresses separated by commas into the Email To: field. SG Project Pro will pre-populate the draft email with these addresses and also remember them for future use. As a convenience, tapping Get Task Owners will replace the contents of the Email To: field with the email addresses of all action item Owners in the current project. Tap the Send Email button to open a draft email message with the PDF file attached. Edit the Subject and Body as desired then tap Send. Tip: Emailing from SG Project Pro is disabled if there is no default email account set up on the iPad. If the Send button is not responding this is the most likely cause.

Export

Tap the Export button of the Share Popover for export options. You must specify a file name for the file. Tap the Save Project button to save the PDF file. The file will be saved to the SG Project Pro Documents folder on the iPad.


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Project Risks

Projects

In SG Project Pro risks are associated with Projects so the first step is to create a Project. In the Project Risks view the Project button is used to select a project or create a new project, exactly as it is in the Task Planning view, so see that section for a detailed description.

Risks

Creating a Risk

Tapping the New Risk ( ) button either on the toolbar or below the last risk in the list will add a new risk for the current project. The new risk is immediately selected for editing.

Editing a Risk

Tapping any risk will select it and expand it for editing.

Editing the Basic Fields

To edit the name of a risk tap the name and begin typing. To edit the notes of a risk you can simply tap in the notes field and begin typing. A useful alternative is to tap the Add Note Button, which adds a date stamp to the top of the notes file and positions the text cursor for you to enter a note. Consistent use of the Add Note Button builds a structured history of notes for the risk over time. To edit the Next Due date of a risk tap the date and a date picker will appear. Select a date and the popover will dismiss itself. When a Next Due date is in the past it is highlighted in red as a visual cue that the risk is due for attention. To edit the Owner of a risk tap the owner cell and the Owner popover will appear. Either tap the appropriate owner to select it or add a New Owner. Risks can only have one owner – the team member who is accountable for managing the risk or at least for the next step.


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Editing the Strategy Field

To edit the Strategy for a risk tap the strategy value and the Strategy popover will appear. Tap the appropriate strategy to select it. There are 5 values to represent the Strategy choice for managing each risk: AVOID Deciding to avoid a risk means taking action to ensure that it does not happen. For example if there is a risk that I may be hit by a car while crossing the street I can avoid the risk by simply deciding not to cross the street. However risks typically have corresponding rewards so avoiding a given risk typically means surrendering the opportunity for the rewards. CONTROL Deciding to control a risk means taking action to make it less likely and/or to reduce the severity should it occur. One example of controlling a risk is building a contingency plan. For example if I am building a boat and need specialized hardware from a supplier and there is a risk that they may not be able to supply it on schedule I could identify another supplier as an alternative. Even in this simple scenario it is not hard to recognize other ways that the risk could be controlled. Generally, controlling is the most active approach to managing risks and therefore increasing the likelihood of success for the project. ACCEPT Sometimes it is hard to identify ways to control a given risk or the control options are simply too expensive, difficult, or unsavory. Or it could be that the effort to control the risk is not warranted by the severity of the risk. In such cases simply accepting the risk may be the preferred choice. TRANSFER Deciding to transfer a risk means finding a way to have someone else incur the consequences of the risk should it occur. For example if I drive a car I am at risk of being in an accident severe enough that I can no longer use my car to get to work. By purchasing car insurance I am transferring the risk to the insurance company because if an accident happens they will pay for the repairs, not me. CLOSED Closed is the final Strategy option for a risk and implies that the risk is no longer a concern and therefore not in need of a real strategy. Setting risks to this state when they no longer need attention is a good way to help bring focus to the remaining risks.


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Editing the Likely and Severe Fields

SG Risk Log helps you quantify risks by setting the Likelihood that the risk will occur, and the expected Severity if it does. Each of those values ranges from zero to five. The two are multiplied together to arrive at a Rating for the risk (zero to 25). For Likelihood zero means that the risk absolutely will not occur and five means that it is highly likely. For Severity zero means that the risk will have no impact if it does occur and five means that the consequences will be very damaging to the success of the project. So for Rating a zero is no concern and a 25 will require serious management and focused attention. To set the Severity and Likelihood values for a risk, use the arrows above and below the LIKELY and SEVERE values. The Rating value will be automatically updated by SG Risk Log. SG Project Pro highlights medium and high risk values to bring attention to them. This table summarizes the highlighting.

Linking a Risk to a Task

Tap the Link to Task button to view a list of tasks in the project and select a task to associate with the Risk. Linking to a task is appropriate for some Risks but not others, so only link to a task if it makes sense.

Deleting a Risk

A risk can be deleted from the Edit Risk View using the Delete Risk button. You will then be prompted to confirm that you are sure you want to delete.

Owners

Risks in SG Project Pro may only have one single owner – typically the team member who is accountable for managing the risk or at least responsible for the next step. Tapping the Owner field of a risk from within the Edit Risk View opens the Owner popover which supports creating, editing, and deleting owners. When first opened the popover presents a list of all current Owners, or if there are no owners yet at all, the Create New Owner view.

View Options

Sorting & Filtering

The Project Risks view offers sorting and filtering options for the risk list. Tapping the View Button opens the View Options. The risk list may be sorted by RISK ID (which is

0 1 2 3 4 5

0

1

2

3

4

5

Severity

Lik

elih

ood


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also the order in which the risks were created), RATING (most critical to least critical), OWNER, NEXT DUE (with the earliest due dates at the top), or STRATEGY. Optionally, CLOSED risks can be excluded from the list. SG Project Pro remembers the View Options last used on a per-Project basis, and returns to those settings the next time a Project is viewed.

Compressed Project Risks View

The Project Risks view has a compressed item view mode that allows more items to be viewed on the screen at once, albeit with less detail. Use a two finger pinch-in gesture over the main list view to change to the compressed item view, and a pinch-out gesture to return to the standard view. The compressed state at the time Share is tapped also controls the compressed state on the PDF file generated for export or email.


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Risk Management Tips

Tapping the Tips Button (light bulb) opens a simple list of thought-provoking tips to help you manage risks. Effective risk management requires regular brainstorming and creative thought in addition to discipline. These tips are intended to help jump start your thinking.

Sharing

The Project Risks view supports sharing risk data in PDF format with the project team or anyone else by emailing or saving via iTunes® File Sharing. Tapping the Share button reveals the Share Popover which supports Previewing, Emailing, and Exporting the risks for the current project.

Preview

Tap the Preview button of the Share Popover to preview a PDF version of the risks. Use the arrow buttons along the bottom of the view to page up and down. SG Project Pro uses a fixed format for the PDF that includes all data from the risks. A risk with long notes may span onto two or more pages. The View Options on the main table view at the time Share is tapped are applied to the PDF creation. So the PDF can be modified by setting up the main table view in advance. Tip: use pinch and swipe gestures over the Preview to see the PDF preview in more detail.

Email

Tap the Email button of the Share Popover for email options. You must specify a file name for the PDF email attachment.


Enter a list of email addresses separated by commas into the Email To: field. SG Risk Log will pre-populate the draft email with these addresses and also remember them for future use. As a convenience, tapping Get Task Owners will replace the contents of the Email To: field with the email addresses of all Risk Owners in the current project. Tap the Send Email button to open a draft email message with the PDF file attached. Edit the Subject and Body as desired then tap Send. Tip: Emailing from SG Risk Log is disabled if there is no default email account set up on the iPad. If the Send button is not responding this is the most likely cause.


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Export

Tap the Export button of the Share Popover for export options. You must specify a file name for the file. Tap the Save Project button to save the PDF file. The file will be saved to the SG Project Pro Documents folder on the iPad.


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Project Report The Project Report generates a detailed, configurable report for a single project.

Selecting a Project

The Project Report generates and presents a report for the currently selected project, whether that project was selected in the Project Report view or any other view. To select a project from within the Project Report view, simply tap the Project button an tap a project to select it.

Zooming, Panning, and Paging

The Project Report view is actually a PDF viewer. You may zoom in and out using pinch gestures, and pan around the PDF using tap and slide gestures. There are minimum and maximum zoom levels. You may also double-tap to quickly return to the default zoom level. If the report has multiple pages, use the arrows along the bottom of the view to move to the next or previous page.

Setting View Options

Tap the View button to open the Report Options popover. Tap the On/Off switches to include/exclude each section from the report, and select the desired sort order along the bottom. Tap off of the popover to dismiss it and apply the changes. The order of the sections can not be modified.

Sharing the Report

Tap Share to open the Share popover, where the PDF can be previewed, emailed, or exported. The PDF being shared is the same one being viewed in the main view, so use the View Options to configure the report as desired before tapping Share.

The Owners Section

Most of the report sections are self-explanatory but the Owners section warrants some clarification. It lists each owner with a task, action item, or risk assignment within the current project. For an explanation of the Net Calendar and 180 Day Window, please see the section on The Owner Header Section. This is a powerful section for quickly analyzing the work load assignments across the project team, and for seeing which team members are behind or ahead on work.


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Owner Report The Owner Report generates a detailed, configurable report for a single owner.

Selecting an Owner

To select an owner, simply tap the Owner button and tap an owner to select.


The Owner Report view is actually a PDF viewer. You may zoom in and out using pinch gestures, and pan around the PDF using tap and slide gestures. There are minimum and maximum zoom levels. You may also double-tap to quickly return to the default zoom level. If the report has multiple pages, use the arrows along the bottom of the view to move to the next or previous page.



Sharing the Report


The Owner Header Section

Most of the report sections are self-explanatory but the Owner Header section warrants some clarification. It summarizes the accountabilities of one owner. The calculations for “Work behind schedule” and “Work ahead of schedule” are based on the same logic as the charts in SG Project Pro: it uses the start, end, and duration of each task assigned to the team member, and considers the % Done. The Owner Header section reports the aggregate across all projects. The “Net Calendar” is simply the difference of those two numbers, yielding an approximation of “how far ahead or behind” this team member is with respect to the task schedules for all projects. The 180 Day Window chart in the Owner Header is also interesting. It is similar to the chart presented on the Portfolio Home view for a project, except that it is calculated using only tasks assigned to the owner, across all projects. One additional feature is a horizontal blue line indicating the height of one task per day. This allows you to quickly identify where the owner might be “over allocated”, assuming that each task will require their full attention each day to accomplish. This view will not precisely indicate the day and number of tasks over allocated, but will point you in the right direction


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such as “about a month from now this team member is assigned several tasks on one day”. This can be a powerful tool for recognizing over allocation and resolving it by re-planning before it becomes a problem.

Portfolio Report The Portfolio Report generates a detailed, configurable report for selected list of projects.

Selecting the set of Projects

To include or exclude projects from the Portfolio Report, simply tap the Projects button an tap the check boxes next to each project. Tap off of the popover to dismiss it.


The Portfolio Report view is actually a PDF viewer. You may zoom in and out using pinch gestures, and pan around the PDF using tap and slide gestures. There are minimum and maximum zoom levels. You may also double-tap to quickly return to the default zoom level. If the report has multiple pages, use the arrows along the bottom of the view to move to the next or previous page.



Sharing the Report


The Owners Section

Most of the report sections are self-explanatory but the Owners section warrants some clarification. It lists each owner with a task, action item, or risk assignment within the selected list of projects. For an explanation of the Net Calendar and 180 Day Window, please see the section on The Owner Header Section. This is a powerful section for quickly analyzing the work load assignments across the project team, and for seeing which team members are behind or ahead on work.


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File Sharing in iTunes® SG Project Pro supports File Sharing through iTunes®. Here is how it works. Connect your iPad to a computer running iTunes®. Select your iPad under Devices and click on the Apps tab. Below the first section you will find a section called File Sharing. Select SG Project Pro from the Apps list. A list of documents appears to the right. The next sections explain those files.

.xml, .sgp, and .pdf Files

Files that have been Exported from SG Project Pro in XML, SGP, or PDF format will show in File Sharing. You can drag these files from the File Sharing view out to your desktop for use on your computer. Saving a periodic copy of your project in SGP format is a handy way to back up a single project or take snapshots for later reference. SGP is the most complete data format and contains all tasks, actions, risks, owners, and projects, but can only be opened with SG Project Pro.

Inbox: The Email Inbox Folder

This folder appears after you have received an email on your iPad with an XML or SGP attachment and tapped it to launch SG Project Pro. The folder contains copies of all attachments you have opened.

Project.pdf: The Temp Project File

When you tap the Share button SG Project Pro creates a temporary PDF file of the current project to support Preview. The PDF file is stored as Project.pdf. It is stored on


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your iPad in the SG Project Pro Documents folder and visible in iTunes® File Sharing. The file always contains the most recent project that was Shared. Typically you can ignore this file.

Projects.sqlite: Backing up the SG Project Pro Database

SG Project Pro stores the data for all projects, tasks, and owners in a local database on the iPad. That database is a single file called Projects.sqlite, which is also visible in iTunes® File Sharing. You can use iTunes® to save a copy of that file to another location on your computer. The file is not readable by any other app or tool besides SG Project Pro but it is exposed so you can make backup copies of your data. Making periodic backups is encouraged. The more important your project data is, the more important it is to maintain backups.

Project Data Sharing Scenarios SG Project Pro’s ability to import and export data in XML supports several powerful project data sharing scenarios. The following sections outline each scenario and any limitations.

SG Project Pro to SG Project Pro

Sharing project data with someone who also has an iPad with SG Project Pro is easily accomplished using email. From the Task Planning view, simply tap Share and email the current project in SGP format. When your friend receives the email, the SGP attachment will have an SG Project Pro icon. Tapping on the attachment and then tapping “Open in SG Project Pro” will automatically launch SG Project Pro and import the project data. If your friend already has a project with the same project name an option will be offered to overwrite the existing project or save the imported project as a copy. This approach to project file sharing is quick and easy and shares the full breadth of project data, right down to the task bar colors. This is a great way for teams to communicate or for you to share the status of a project with your manager, customer, or other stakeholders. Tip: SG Project Pro will not merge changes that have been made in parallel on two different iPads. For this reason one iPad should be considered to hold the authority copy at any given time.

SG Project Pro to Microsoft® Project

The XML files exported by SG Project Pro are stored in a format that can be opened by Microsoft® Project and other desktop applications that support the Microsoft® Project XML standard.


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Use email or iTunes® File Sharing to move the exported XML file to the computer where you need it, then launch Microsoft® Project. Click File/Open and select XML Format from the Files of type: dropdown. Select the XML file then click Open. Tip: The only limitation with this scenario is that Microsoft® Project will not import task bar colors.

Microsoft® Project to SG Project Pro

SG Project Pro can import XML files saved from Microsoft® Project, with some limitations. In Microsoft® Project click File/Save As... and select XML Format from the Save as type: dropdown. Enter a file name and click Save. Use email or iTunes® File Sharing to move the XML file to your iPad. If you used email to move the file, simply tap on the email attachment to launch SG Project Pro and the file will automatically import. If you used iTunes® File Sharing, launch SG Project Pro, tap Project, then Import. Tip: SG Project Pro can only import data consistent with the features it supports. Project features that cannot be imported include: multiple resources assigned to a task, non-standard work calendars, tasks with durations that are not divisible by “one day”, and task dependencies other than FS (Finish-to-Start). If the XML file being imported has these elements the import results are unpredictable. Also, Microsoft® Project does not export task bar color data so that will be lost in translation.


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Product Support If you need help using SG Project Pro here are some sources:

Facebook & Twitter

Simple Genius Apps has a Facebook page. Sign up as a fan to get notified when new information is posted or post your own feedback or questions. http://www.facebook.com/pages/Simple-Genius-Apps/139069309459815 Simple Genius Apps is on Twitter: “follow simplegeniusapp”.

Email

We always welcome questions or comments sent to [email protected].

Simple Genius Apps, SG Project, SG Project Pro, SG Action Log, and SG Risk Log are Copyright © 2011 FourthFrame Technologies. Apple, iTunes, and iPad are registered trademarks of Apple Inc. in the U.S. and/or other countries.