Re: Project Tracking Spreadsheet

[Peter Kleczka <pkleczka -at- yahoo -dot- com>]

Debbie

Suggestion: use a small number of categories
to track. Too many categories are difficult
for people to remember to record during
their busy day.  Also define what it is
you *want* to track, and don't bother with
incidental tasks (e.g. rebooting computer, 
travel time, etc.). 
These incidentals really don't
tell you about your projects in general. 
The time used on incidental tasks can be
assumed to average out over a given number
of projects.
We used to track projects with a spreadsheet
which was very time consumming.  I developed
a database
(http://www.execpc.com/~knp/TechComm/PTApplication.html)
which makes time entry faster and easier for
writers.  We use it to track on four project
phases (project planning, research, document
development, production and usability testing). We
also track a general category 
called Admin which lumps everything together
that is not project related. We previously
had more admin categories, but found it 
difficult and needless to track all the 
non-project time we used.

HTH
Pete

--- Debbie Pesach <dpesach -at- soholynk -dot- com> wrote:
> Greetings all!
> 
> [Cross-posted to TECHWR-L and Techshoret]
> 
> I'm looking for ideas about team/project-tracking
> documentation group
> managers. Our goal is to institute weekly/monthly
> reports that each team
> member generates.  These reports will be compiled
> into a total team
> report (spreadsheet) which can be used to assess
> percent completion of a
> project and as a learning tool for how the team
> structure and allocation
> of resources can be improved (along the lines of the
> "Creating a
> Tracking System" chapter in Hackos' book Managing
> Your Documentation
> Projects).
[snip]
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