Project Management key points for beginners

If you are someone who is looking for some basic tips to start your project management journey in the field of information technology, then this post is for you. In fact, I am highlighting only the main points that will help you with pretty much any kind of project.

This is more about what to keep in mind throughout the project than what you should technically follow. For that, you need to complete your PMP or similar certifications.

                

#1 - Planning

I know this sounds pretty obvious, but I don't mean just planning with approximate dates when all your tasks can be completed. The buffer time for things that might go wrong, possible delays in receiving data, project team members holidays (or even resignations) and that regression testing after system is ready. There can be many things that require adding to the plan which most beginner project leaders miss and get disappointed when the project is status 'red' and the blame game begins. To truly enjoy the project, make sure it stays within the timeline and there is always enough time to manage obstacles and unavoidable circumstances. The risk factors are actually easy to forecast, if you think about your last 3 projects, the only problem is you keep using the same project planning template.

#2 - Change Management

When you are implementing a software, the management will be excited in the beginning and the users will see you as a new villain in their work life who will only make their lives miserable. The management team's energy goes down when users keep complaining about your "bad service" and nothing is good or exciting about this new software. It is the duty of the project leader/manager to keep the audience engaged and excited about the new change.

Organize trainings, distribute well designed and well written process documents, share exciting news about similar technologies around the world and make them feel that they are part of the history that future generations will talk about. If users don't enjoy the process or feel that they are doing something meaningful, they will find it difficult to adapt to the new change and will resist going live.

#3 - Documentation

Make sure you keep all the documents of the project organized and well distributed. If the stakeholders find your documents shared inconsistently or do not provide all the required details, they will stop opening your attachments. Keep your documents well designed and make sure the users can easily identify which part of the project plan that document relates to.

Tell the users in advance what documents will be shared with them and in which phase, they will expect the documents and wait for them, follow them and keep them.

Documents are useful proofs of things done. They protect both parties of the commitments done before and during the project. The signoffs, user manuals, flow charts and minutes, if well written and shared with the right group of people, there will be so less chance of miscommunication.

#4 - Communication Log

Project manager needs to keep log of each communication related to the project. Which email was sent when, who raised a concern and when, if it was addressed within the expected timeline. With "what" is communicated, "when" it was communicated is also equally important. If we don't have the history of communication, the client or consultant might end up saying it was not communicated or not communicated when it should have been communicated.

If someone says, I said it sometime in March or I've been saying this since the start of the project, and you have to agree because you do not have a communication log or guidelines provided to the client or consultant of what is the preferred method of communication and how each communication will be logged for future reference.

Multiple number series for your masters and documents in D365 Business Central

This text can help you learn how multiple number series for your masters and documents in Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central can be an additional help with searching and analysis data by guiding you how to create and configure it.

Automatic number series for masters and documents is a common feature of any ERP system and identifying the document and list of master data just by looking at the first few alphabetic characters in the number is something that many users prefer. The setup and use of multiple number series in Business Central is easier than most ERP systems in the world.

All you have to do is, go to ‘No. series’ by writing that in the search bar and reach the no. series table.

You will reach the no. series list as below and there, click on ‘New’ to create a new series.

Let’s create number series for customers where we categories customers using different number series. You might not use this feature for this purpose, but we’re taking this as an example. You can have a reason to create multiple numbers for items, purchase orders, sales orders and so on.

We simply name it ‘CUSTOMER’ and under description ‘Customers’. Then we create all the multiple number series that we would attach it to.

Again, hit the ‘New’ button and create a number series as shown below,

We created A Category Customers number series, now let’s give it the first number to start the series. Click on Series > Lines

The starting number in our example is A-CUST-00001

Next, repeat the same thing for category B and C by giving starting numbers as B-CUST-00001 and C-CUST-00001 respectively.

Now, go back to the first number series you named ‘CUSTOMER’ and click on ‘Relationships’

Select all 3 in the relationship table and we’re done!

Of course, select the number series ‘CUSTOMER’ in ‘Sales & Receivable Setup’ to activate this number series.

Now, create a new customer to check (it is assumed that you already know customer creation in Business Central – basically just search ‘Customers’ in the search bar and when you reach the list click ‘New’ or shortcut Ctrl+N),

Click the 3 dots highlighted in above screenshot and you’ll have the 3 numbers to select from that we created earlier,

Let’s select B-CUST for this example and you will get that number series for this customer. You can choose others depending on which category of customer you’re creating.

The users are required to be very careful of which number series they select before proceeding. Although Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central does not depend on multiple number series to generate reports. There are always several filters and options to find that you need for reporting purpose. This can aide the user in making things a little further easier.

Go ahead and try multiple number series for your orders, invoice and other masters as well where it can be useful to you. I hope this has been helpful to you. Reach out to me if you have any questions.

Choose an ERP that allows you to personalize better!

Companies make sure they possess a system that is effective and eliminates repeat and unnecessarily lengthy processes and system entries as much as possible and that is also a duty of the business systems consultant that they hire to achieve the desired results. In fact, this is one of the main reasons why ERP systems are made. While many ERP systems have their similarities, there are factors that separate one ERP system from another, and the decision makers weigh their options based on each one of them and select what works the best for them. One of the major factors that most decision makers overlook is the functionality of “Personalization”.

It can be termed differently in different systems, but it is expected to allow a user to move around, add/remove options and shortcuts to make their daily life easier. The most distinct personalization option is from Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central. The ERP offered by Microsoft, that was earlier pronounced Navision, offers flexibility of moving options and columns around in such a way that user can design their system that can make them work most effectively. Of course, Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central offers what an ERP system should offer and even more, which you can find out on their website or ask a Microsoft Partner for a demo.

Here’s a glimpse of how flexible it is in Business Central:

If you have explored the basics, Business Central is divided into Role Centers. They allow the users to see the options on dashboard related to their role in the company e.g. Accountant, Sales Manager, Dispatch Executive etc. That way each role will have their unique view and easy access to frequently used options. Not to confuse with user rights that are different from Role Centers, but that is another topic entirely.

Within a role center, user can personalize the pages, lists and dashboard in various ways.

You can click o the settings button on the top right corner and click on the ‘personalize’ while on a page, list or dashboard to start personalizing.

You have the option to move or hide what you see on the screen depending on what is important for you and what isn’t. You can keep everything important on top and move the rest below where you have to scroll to reach. Hide what you are never going to need or might need very occasionally.

You can even move around options and change its sequence as displayed in an example below where user is moving the ‘Sales Quote’ option away from the top of the list because she might be usually creating sales orders directly without creating sales quote first, in which case it is important for her to keep the Sales Order option on top of the list where she can find it easily. See how the user drags the Sales Quote below ‘Purchase Order’ option in below image.

Apart from moving and hiding the menus, dashboards and fields; personalization also allows the users to hide and move columns from the line items. This is especially for those who already have Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central and never really personalize their space despite daily struggle of scrolling right and left just to complete the entry to the columns they regularly use. This simple trick can save your time and reinstate your love for your favorite business software again. Use personalization as much as you can. Take a few minutes to an hour’s time and think about all the options you would use regularly and what you can personalize in the system for your daily ease of use of the system.

Remove the columns you don’t need and bring the ones you regularly use closer.

To remove a column, just click on the option pointed to the left and click ‘Hide’. You can bring any of the columns back by simply dragging and dropping the option from the right side where all the fields have been listed. And yes, you can get the list of fields of the list by clicking ‘Fields’ option highlighted in the below image.

In case you’ve been following the steps and practicing Business Central on your instance, the above step tells you where the hidden columns and fields go to, but you wonder where do the hidden cubes from the dashboard and FactBox pane go to. Well, below image has the answer. When you have the personalization setup active, the hidden options appear like rain falling on an invisible man that starts appearing to the public eyes, saying ‘This part is currently hidden’. Click ‘Show’ to bring it back.

I hope this text has been useful and interesting to you. There are so many extremely useful features available in Business Central and Microsoft keeps adding them with each release. If you have any questions or require further detailed explanation to BC’s personalization option, then email me and I’ll be sure to get back to you. Also, let me know if I missed out on a personalization feature that should be part of this text.