Defining Project Templates

When you request a project, you add actions associated with the project. To facilitate this process, you can set up a project template. A project template is a project that includes work packages and actions that you know you will frequently apply to various projects. You may also want to use a project template if you want to standardize the tasks you are using for projects, such as obtaining building permits, or creating architectural drawings.

You can apply the project template when you create a project request by selecting a Template Project from the Template Project list. See Requesting a Project. When you apply the project template, all the work packages and actions in the project template are applied to the project request. You can then modify the work packages and actions, if needed.

You can also apply a template after creating or requesting the project. For more information on applying a project template, see the Adding or Editing Project Actions topic.

Defining a Project Template

To define a project template:

Select the Set Up/Define Template Projects task in the Process Navigator.
The Define Template Projects screen appears. All of the currently defined project templates of project actions are displayed in the Select Project Template list.

To add a new project template:
1. Click Add New>Project at the right of the Select Project Template list. The Add New Template Project screen appears.
2. Enter the following required field:
  Project Name: Enter a unique name to identify the template.
  Project Type: Selecting a project type enables you to search for projects and generate reports by project type. If the project does not clearly fit into a type, or if you do not want to use this field, select N/A to indicate that the template has no project type.
3. Enter the following optional fields:
  - Project Summary/Project Description/ Project Scope/Project Benefits: Enter these generic descriptions for this project type.
  - Cost Budgeted: Enter your estimate for the overall cost of this project. The Cost Estimated - Adjusted shown in the Manage Active Projects view is calculated by multiplying this estimate by the Funding Probability you enter for the project.
  - Duration - Est. (Days): Enter the estimated number of days this project will take. This estimate is used in the Manage Active Projects view to calculate the Duration - Estimated Days for all projects and for all projects by their status.
  - Days Per Week: Select the number of days per week that work will be performed for this project. This is used to calculate the end date on the Gantt chart.
Click Save.

Defining Work Packages for Project Templates

To add a work package to the template:

In the drill-down list, select the project template for which you are adding the work package.
Click Add New>Work Package from the Template Project list.

Enter the following information:
Work Package: Enter an identifying name for the work package. The name must be unique among the work packages for the project.
Project Code: When you select a template before clicking Add New, the Project Code is filled in with the Project Template this work package is for.
Days Per Week: Select the number of days per week that work will be performed for this work package. .It is important to remember when estimating design schedules that the timeline in the Gantt chart depends on the project/work package Days Per Week setting in addition to the start date and duration.
Summary / Description: Enter additional information specific to this work package.

Click Save.

Adding Action Items to Work Packages for Project Templates

To add actions to the project template:

In the Template Project drill-down list, select the project template and work package for which you are adding actions.
Click Add New>Action from the Template Project list.

Enter the following required information in the Edit Action pane:
- Action Title: Enter a unique identifier for the action.
- Action Type: Select the type of action from the list of validated values.You can search for actions by Action Type. For example, when working on the Gantt chart, you can filter the chart to include only certain types of actions.
- The Project Code and Work Package are filled in with the selections you made from the Template Project drill-down list.
Enter the following additional information as needed:
Work Breakdown Structure Code: A hierarchical structure that is used to organize tasks. Enter the number that indicates this action's place in the hierarchy of actions. For example, if a task is first in the outline of your project actions, then the outline number for that task is 1; the outline number for the first subtask under this task is 1.1.
Duration -Est. Baseline (Days). This field is used along with the 'Date Planned For' that you enter for the project to estimate baseline schedules with the Baseline Gantt chart. From Project Management this is done using the Prioritize & Estimate/Estimate Baseline Schedule and Durations task. From Commissioning this is done using the Design/Update Commissioning Plan task. You will be able to edit the date and duration for each action using the Gantt chart.
Cost- Est. Baseline (Exp.)/ Cost - Est. Baseline (Cap.): By entering the estimated capital and expense costs, you can track baseline costs. You can obtain this information from company data or from Web sites that provide standard pricing estimates. Baseline costs are used by approving managers when deciding whether or not to approve the project, and are shown as a guide when entering scenario costs in the Capital Budgeting application.
Description: Enter a generic description for this action.
Click Save to save the action to the project template.
After you click Save, the Document field includes the Check In New Document button. Click this button to attach a document that will be added to all projects using this template action. See Using the Document Management System.
Continue to add new actions to the project template until you have defined all of the standard or typical actions that are performed for a particular type of project.