RationalPlan Video Tutorial

RationalPlan Project Management Software tutorial - http://www.rationalplan.com/

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Closed Caption:

Hello and welcome to the RationalPlan
Project Management Software tutorial
Let's get started ...
RationalPlan is a project management software
designed to help both project managers and teams
to create consistent project plans
allocate resources and analyze workload
track work progress
estimate project's costs and manage budgets.
The first step in creating a project
is defining the general data of your project
This is where the project starts.
Usually a name and maybe a code
are used to identify each project.
If known, a start date can also be set
(though you can get back to this step at any time to set/change it).
A short, concise description of the project objective
could also be useful.
The second step is creating the notes and links
to track project related information
For each project there are important details to be remembered.
You can use the notes area for this.
For other important documents related to the project
like the project charter, product description,
project deliverables, project objectives etc.
you can define links and attach descriptions
that will help you to identify the link's target.
The following step in creating your project
is defining the project working time
Use calendars to specify working times for resources
or to schedule project's tasks.
Calendar editor helps to create custom calendars.
To define special days, click on Set holidays,
days off and other special days tag.
Next, we have to make some notes
regarding the assumptions and constraints that will afect our project
Assumptions are factors considered in planning phase to be true, real,
or certain and involve a degree of risk
e.g.: if an activity needs a special equipment,
the project manager may assume that it will be available
Constraints are restrictions that affect the performance of the project.
The most popular constraint is the budget,
which limits the scope, staffing and schedule.
Both assumptions and constraints are important issues
to be considered along the project's life.
Next step is about identifying the risks
Risk management is an important aspect of the project management.
Identify project risks and set the impact level and the probability to occur.
Think about a risk response plan to reduce threats to the project's objectives
and describe it in the Notes area below the table.
The previous steps being performed,
it's now time to create the project's work breakdown structure
A work breakdown structure
is a deliverable-oriented grouping of project components
that covers the total scope of the project.
First, you should identify the major project deliverables.
Then, decompose deliverables into smaller components,
until they are presented in sufficient detail
to support definition of the activities.
A WBS is not a project plan or a project schedule
and it is not a chronological listing.
It is considered poor practice
to construct a project schedule
before designing a proper WBS.
We can define now the project activities
In this step, you have to identify the activities
that must be performed
to produce the deliverables composing the work breakdown structure.
Also, sequence the activities by defining their dependencies
(links, constraints) and estimate their duration.
Human resources and equipment
Based on the project activities,
identify the necessary personnel and equipment.
You can assign a calendar for each resource
as well as define unique exceptions such as vacation, days off etc.
Different cost rates can be defined
for normal working hours and overtime hours.
Material resources
Identify the necessary materials for the project.
This is a pool of resources that will be shared between projects.
For each of them, define it's price per unit and measure unit.
After that, you can assign resources to tasks
For each task, select resources that will accomplish it
and fill in the units of the resource-task assignment.
The next step involves the leveling of project resources
The Multi Project version
allows you to share resources between projects
(because it is possible to have overallocated resources in one project
due to its assignment on another project
it may be needed to view All projects
in case of an overallocation over multiple projects).
Overallocated resources
as well as resources that work overtime hours
will appear in red, respectivelly yellow color.
Check the time sheet area and zoom in/out
to spot the exact period when the problem occurs.
Both task and resource details are available in this view
so you can easily reallocate resources
or take other actions to solve the overallocation issue.
The following step consist of managing costs distribution for tasks
Here is where you can add other tasks costs
(except with resources) and their accrual method
Tasks costs distribution in time
is available at the right side.
An important step
is tracking the evolution of the project
This view provides a way to monitor the project evolution
while updating the schedule
with the information about the tasks completion.
The completed part of a task
will be marked in the Gantt chart with a darker color.
You can also update tasks duration
so the schedule will match the actual project's evolution.
An additional step
which is required if you are dealing with more than one project
is handling multiple projects an creating new ones
A new project can be added from virtually any view
just by clicking the New button.
With the same ease
you may change the current project.
Project Portfolio view was specifically designed
to see all your projects in one place with all necessary details.