Share files manage projects

Pros: Each team knows where to find their files, so searching is faster. Cons: When departments do collaborate, it can be confusing deciding where to save files. Ideally, your file names should be detailed enough that you know exactly what they are at a glance.

Start with the broadest category at the beginning of the file name, like the year or department, and then get more specific. Whatever you decide, just be consistent. Work together with features like chat, file sharing, and video calling.

Establish a system for version control. Another option is to establish a clear order of file name endings and ask the whole organization to stick to it. This is useful if you want a separate file to mark each stage of a process, but it does lead to more files. Give the client a time limit on revisions, if possible, to avoid a never-ending revision cycle.

There are several ways to organize images, such as by year, event, project, or department. If your business attends a lot of events, consider creating folders for each event type, such as each conference. Just like with your other files, decide on an image naming convention and stick to it. Be specific and descriptive, so searching for images is easier. Manage leadership-only or confidential files.

Build data protection into your digital file organization strategy. Set sharing settings on files and folders so that people outside your organization like clients and contractors can only access what they need. Some software gives you granular control over file sharing settings so you can:. Establish a system for which sharing settings to use on which files.

Note — to ensure edits to your document are synced to the library, download the document using Microsoft Edge. You may also wish to add users to the SharePoint site.

Every time a task or issue is updated, the reports on the homepage are automatically updated. This helps to keep everyone informed about the progress of the project without the need for meetings or lengthy email chains. Another useful feature of a SharePoint project site is the Quick Launch , a menu with links located on the left-hand side of the project site. The Quick Launch improves navigation around the site by grouping the various web parts and lists together by phase.

With the project charter, tasks, and documents now added to the SharePoint project site, ask the team and sponsor to check the site and the proposed timelines. Before any work begins on the project, use a project kick-off meeting to ensure everyone is clear about their roles and responsibilities.

You should also establish some ways of working from the outset, for example, the team needs to update their tasks in the project site every Friday morning. As mentioned above, daily stand-ups are a key part of communication for this project.

Using the homepage of the project site in these daily meetings will help focus the team. Each individual team member can track and update their own work. Using the Excel-like datasheet view in SharePoint, team members can easily record progress on what is complete, in progress, and or in trouble. This means you can easily check overdue, work due soon, open work, closed work, and unassigned work.

The interface works in the same way as above — simply click on the task you need to update and make the changes. The website project — like most projects — will move quickly once work begins! The team is likely assigned to a few projects so you need a simple way to help them get focused when working on their tasks. The project homepage, which summarizes key updates and data from the reports on the site, is particularly useful.

The project homepage surfaces key information such as:. To drill down for more information, for example, to view which tasks are late, simply click on the relevant tile. This will open the task list. The late items are highlighted in red below. No project ever goes to plan! To get the project back on track, you should assess the status of the work before re-planning the work. Use the reports in the SharePoint project site to check the current status of the project.

If further clarification is needed, meet with the relevant person directly. If everyone is updating their tasks weekly, the information should be correct. Key project metrics highlighted below surface late tasks, the current finish date, and the date of the most recent update to the project site. Next, use the Work report to identify problem areas, like overdue or unassigned tasks. This report surfaces all issues on the project. The Red-Yellow-Green status indicators provide at-a-glance insights into the status of the project in terms of Time, Health, or Cost, and percent complete.

Having gathered this data and spoken with the team where needed, you can now re-plan the project. Once the tasks are updated, a new timeline is generated. The next step for re-planning the project is to add a project status report , which takes around three minutes to complete. A typical Project Status Report includes red-amber-green indicators and captures other information such as details on project issues and items of note.

The report adds more context to your project and will help you to track trends over time. The new information will display on the various reports on the project homepage.

Let the team and stakeholders know the project plan and site are updated so they can review the latest timeline. After months of hard work and extensive pre-launch testing, the new website is live! Once this review is finished, mark all tasks as complete using the bulk edit function as explained above.

Likewise, you can use the bulk editing functionality to mark all issues as resolved. Next, add a final project status report to the site to capture some thoughts about the project overall. It is also important to remember as a project manager, you were the leader of the project, but not the sole owner of its processes and tasks. The simplest way to run a project post-mortem is a team meeting.

Use the meeting to answer three questions:. Review the feedback and suggestions to find actionable inputs to your next project. Finally, share these insights with the wider organization to help evolve project management practices across all teams. Below is a recap of the five-stages of collaborative project management and the supporting tools in the free SharePoint project management template. If you are ready to start managing a project using the approach and tool outlined above, go for it!

There is simply no better way to implement the guidance or leverage SharePoint than by trying it. Practice with a plan and intent will get you there even faster. Make sure to gather inputs from the team during and after project execution to accelerate your journey:. In both cases, you need a change management plan to win internal support and drive user adoption.

Successful change management involves numerous elements such as:. The following section applies the 3Ps to increase user adoption of SharePoint for project management. Firstly, you need to start with a clear vision of why the team should use SharePoint for project management, the benefits of this change, and how the Free SharePoint Template will help. Be able to explain why you want to introduce SharePoint for project management and what you hope to achieve with this change.

Next, find examples of successful projects delivered using SharePoint. Finally, plan any training sessions you will need to carry out. Training and upskilling help people to feel competent and more motivated to adopt a new process. The information in Chapter Two is a good starting point.

You can also use the Free Template training video from BrightWork. A key principle of change management is identifying and engaging stakeholders early in the process. Using tools such as interviews, surveys, focus groups, and brainstorm sessions, find out how the team is currently managing projects. Common project management tools include email, Excel, and PowerPoint. Ask your team to share the challenges they face with such tools, such as multiple versions of the same file.

Remember — you need to understand the limitations of the current project management tools to build excitement about SharePoint. Finally, ask a member of the senior management or executive team to sponsor your efforts and get their feedback about SharePoint for project management.

In addition to removing roadblocks at a senior level, a prominent role model will encourage others to try the new approach. This folder structure is impractical when working with hundreds, even thousands of parts.

At the same time, the "width" of the folder structure, the number of subfolders and subfolders within subfolders, should be kept to a reasonable minimum. Create a shared network directory for components that can be used by designers on many projects. Assign the Summary and Project properties for individual components. Create a unique template and use it to create components for a specific project or subassembly.

Predefine common properties in the template so all components created from that template inherit the properties. Search for attributes both inside and outside Autodesk Inventor to find needed component files. Save and name attribute searches that you are likely to use again. For more information, see To Find Objects in a File. If the Workgroup or Library location is a subfolder of another defined location, Inventor highlights the offending path in red.

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