Projects Module
Projects Module How-To Documents
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What I Need to Know: Parent Project Use Case
What is the difference between Parent and Child Projects? A Parent Project is the main project that unifies multiple jobs that are associated with one another and encompasses the overall data regarding all projects involved. On the other hand, a Child-Project is one job that makes up part of the Parent Project. While a Child-Project may have its own project number, it is typically a smaller project with direct correlation (e.g., same Client and Location) to a larger project. Child-Projects may consists of Self-Perform, Phased, Preconstruction, or other smaller projects that make up or contribute to a larger Construction project. When and why do we create associations between Parent and Child Projects? How the projects are set up is ultimately determined by how the team wishes to market the job externally. Do you want to market multiple jobs as one entire project or program? If so, unifying the individual Child-Projects under a Parent Project will allow you to consolidate all the main details. This includes an overall project name, cost, schedule, descriptions, and all other critical categories that would be important to track. By creating a Parent Project, this keeps all the relevant Child-Projects in one place and easy to locate. Rather than manually collecting details from each Child-Project, you’ll be able to generate Parent Project Sheets via Publisher after all the details have been consolidated to the Parent Project. What are some nuances to be aware of? If a Self-Perform Child-Opportunity is attached to a parent GC Opportunity, all associated Self-Perform Projects will be automatically linked to the Parent Project when the opportunities are moved to JIP. Therefore, no manual linkage is necessary unless you come across any standalone Self-Perform Opportunities that were created without the GC and needs to be connected manually. IMPORTANT: For manually created Projects, the records do not integrate with CMiC. Therefore, Parent Projects must be updated on a consistent basis. For instance, if there is a new Child-Project that was just connected to the Parent, you’ll want to ensure the stats are migrated and aggregated to the Parent. How do I associate a Child Project to a Parent Project? Locate the Child-Project you wish to associate and click on Edit All. Within the "Child-Project of" field, search for the Parent Project (name or number) you wish to connect. Select the Project and click on Update to save your edits. When you return to the Parent Project record, you will see the Child-Project now unified with the Parent. Important Note: You cannot edit the Parent and search for the Child-Project to associate It only works the other way around as mentioned above. Parent-Child Project Use Case Example Use Case Annual CSU TOCA Program For TOCA projects, how the projects are set up is determined by how the team prefers to market the job. Do you want to market the project as one entire program or do you want to market the individual jobs (Task Orders) as standalone projects? Maybe there is a use case for both scenarios! If the project(s) will be marketed as one entire project, please manually create a project record and aggregate all individual project details to the parent project. If the project(s) will be marketed as one entire project but also marketed individually, please ensure all individual child-projects are validated and that all critical project fields are updated. Then, manually create a parent project record to aggregate all child-project details. Important Notes If a parent project does not exist, you'll need to manually create a new project record before you begin unifying all the individual child-projects. Within the parent project, all tabs and fields will start off as a blank slate since the record is not connected to CMiC/Project number. All tabs and critical fields will need to be updated manually. All critical project fields should be updated consistently when known or when there are new child-projects that have been associated. At the time of a child-project's completion date, the record should already be assigned to its parent project and the parent project data fields should be updated to include any relevant details. All Project sections and fields as outlined below are considered "critical project fields" that should be updated or aggregated to the parent project field. This is especially important when it comes to running reports and using Publisher as all the data in these project records will be transferred over. In short, if your project record has no data, your report and project sheet will also have no data. Manual Project Creation To manually create a new parent Project, click on "Create" and this will jumpstart the process to create a new Project record. You can create a new Project while you are on any project record screen. Project Summary Information At the time of project creation, please ensure the following fields are filled in: Project Number - this can be labeled as "Parent Job" or any other similar name since a manually created project will not have a number. Project Name Published Project Name Publishable Project Client and Owner (if applicable) Project Address Confidential Address Project Status Percent Complete Swinerton's Role Swinerton Prominent Project Region/Division Preferred Project Notes All Firm Organization/Primary Market Fields All Project Categories/Type Fields Once saved, you may begin to search for the individual child-projects and connect those jobs under the new parent project record that was just created. Images Upload the top 3-5 best project photos for the parent project. This may be the top photo for each individual child-project that is worth including on parent project sheet for the TOCA program. Owner/Client Within the Owner/Client tab, please ensure the Client is accurately captured. The Client should be the same across all child-projects. If there is an Owner, you may also add in the Owner info as well. Add the primary Owner/Client Contact(s) and indicate whether or not the Contact is a reference for the parent project. If there are multiple child-projects connected to the parent, you may have multiple Contacts. Please utilize the Comments field to reference which child-project the Contact is connected to. Consultant Team Add any important and relevant Companies and Contacts on the project. This could be your Architect, Consultants, Engineers, and/or Subcontractors. At minimum, if there was an Architect on the project, then they should be listed on the parent project. Staff Team Add all primary Staff Team members that were listed in the individual child-project(s). Construction Costs Aggregate all child-project costs and add the total to the Actual Cost column within the parent project. You may use the Project Cost Comments to include a breakout of all the individual projects and costs or clarify anything that would be helpful to know. Construction Schedule Ensure all critical dates are filled in. Most notably, the Actual Start Date and Actual Substantial Completion Date will help us understand the entire duration of all child-projects combined. For example, if there were five TOCA jobs between 2020-2021, you'll want to ensure the dates are 01/01/2020 to 12/31/2031. Size Aggregate the project size across all child-projects to get an overall total of the parent project. Components Migrate over any components from the other child-projects to the parent project. Description Project Sheet Description and Resume Description are mandatory. Please create an overall parent project sheet description and resume description that also incorporates a brief reference to the child-projects. Bold the project names so there is a clear delineation between the different child-projects. You may also consider aggregating any other relevant project descriptions such as Case Studies. References Add a primary Contact reference for the overall parent project program. This should be a Contact that has been the main point of reference across all or most individual child-projects.
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What I Need to Know: Synced Project Fields
Are you wondering where or how specific Unanet Project data fields are getting populated? Our three primary data sources come from 1) Opportunity records, 2) CMiC, and 3) manual entry by Marketers (or other Staff with an Admin/Full license). To learn more about each data point origination, please review the following tables outlined below. Project Summary Where does the data come from? Project # CMiC Percent Complete CMiC Percent Status Automated, governed by CMiC Sub-Projects Automated, governed by CMiC Only for Self-Perform Firm Organization Division/Office Region Department Primary Market Job Department Companies Opportunity Record Requires Marketer verification Project Categories Secondary Market Product Type Contract Type Construction Type Delivery Method Client Type Opportunity Record Requires Marketer verification Service Type requires manual entry Owner/Client Where does the data come from? Owner/Client Name Opportunity Record Does NOT get overwritten by CMiC Company Role CMiC – Trade/Scope Does NOT get overwritten by CMiC Consultant Team Where does the data come from? Consultant Company CMiC – Project Partner Name Gets overwritten by CMiC if new changes are detected Company Role CMiC – Project Directory Group Gets overwritten by CMiC if new changes are detected Comments CMiC – Trade/Scope Gets overwritten by CMiC if new changes are detected Staff Team Where does the data come from? Personnel Name Opportunity Record CMiC Staff Team Role Opportunity Record CMiC Does not get overwritten if role changes in CMiC Role Type Automated, governed by Staff Team Role selection Hours CMiC If no hours are associated to the Personnel, the record was either manually added or it came directly from the Opportunity record. Construction Costs Where does the data come from? Original Construction Contract (OCC) CMiC Standard Change Order Value (COV) CMiC Construction Schedule Where does the data come from? Scheduled Start Date CMiC – Start Date Scheduled Substantial Completion Date CMiC – End Date Actual Substantial Completion Date Eventually CMiC Execution Date CMiC – Prime Contract Date Date of Award CMiC/Boomi Based on Risk/Finance Boomi Approval Date
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What I Need to Know: Project Description Types
Description Type Notes/Clarifying Information on Use Award Submission Used for good award type narratives that don't fall into other categories. Brochure Description Meant for those longer descriptions that aren't used in Publisher but potentially SOQ's or other specific project write ups. Case Studies Used in publisher to provide flexibility in finding specific project case studies by market and listing them in publisher project lists. As a case study should be specific to the project and an innovative "outside the box" type of write up highlighting solutions to challenges (more so than typical challenges like "it rained and delayed the schedule and we had to come up with a unique solution to remain on schedule....this is more appropriate in Challenges and Resolutions). Challenges and Resolutions Typical challenges like "it rained and delayed the schedule and we had to come up with a unique solution to remain on schedule, or we ran into unforeseen conditions that required mitigating measures, etc. Client Quotes Meant to provide an easy "copy/paste" field for kudos on the specific project, not used in Publisher, but provided for efficiency to quickly search for quotes via the Project Descriptions Report. CMiC Description Turned off and a hold over from initial import of data, not sure if data still exists or we migrated it all over Design/Construction Aspects Unique aspects of the design/construction for the project - Not "it was steel frame", but was there a unique aspect of the foundations or steel frame or features unique to the project. Can see this being consolidated with other description aspects, but was created to provide an easy "Copy/Paste" of relevant features of the project or specific about the project (unique design features, construction methods, etc.) DO NOT USE - Kearney Resume Description Eventually will become or consolidated with Resume Descriptions, mean to provide control method to identify resume descriptions from PDF's that need vetting Management Aspects Unique aspects for how we delivered this project - Not "we did pull planning", but how specifically did we use pull planning to achieve the client's goals for the project or accommodate unique features of the project Opportunity Description A description that comes over when opportunities are converted to projects. Project Sheet Description (Mandatory) A general description about the project that gets populated on Project Sheets. This field is mandatory and necessary for Publisher Project Profile/Sheet generation. Quarterly Articles Meant to provide an easy reference for all the quarterly articles written about that project. Helps when mining and searching for data or quick "good to knows" about the project. Resume Description (Mandatory) A short description about the project that gets populated on the resume. The field is mandatory and necessary for Publisher Resume generation.
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How To: Search for Project References and Testimonials
Are you seeking a project reference testimonial or a comprehensive letter of reference document? Below, you'll find a breakdown of reference terminology along with instructions on searching for each item. To learn and understand how to add project references, please check out the following support article. Project Reference - This refers to a project contact/client that can provide insight into the project and may have written a reference statement for it. They can also be contacted (and approved) to use as a project reference. Reference Testimonial - This is a formal or informal statement provided by a reference who can speak to the project quality and execution. The reference may be written by our Clients, Owners, Developers, Consultants, or any other Business Partner that was involved on the project. Reference Testimonial Type - Testimonials can be classified into different types, including General Information, Quote, Letter of Reference, Past Performance Questionnaire (PPQ), or Video/Podcast. Reference Testimonial Text - If a Reference Document is not available, add the testimonial as Testimonial Text. You may also enter content from the Reference Document to allow for better keyword search when using the 00-TEMPLATE-Project References w/ Specific Testimonial Text (Use Boolean) report discussed in section 2 below. Reference Document - This is a formal testimonial that is uploaded and connected to the reference writer. 1. Searching for Existing Project Reference Testimonials and Supporting Documents Use the following Report Template: 00-TEMPLATE-Project References w/ Testimonials and/or Documents The report is pulling all projects with reference testimonials and/or references with testimonial document(s). Please keep in mind not all reference testimonials may have a supporting document uploaded. The report indicates how many documents are connected to a project reference. To view the document, you must go into the project record references section to download the attachment 2. Searching for Specific Keywords in Testimonial Reference Text Use the following Report Template: 00-TEMPLATE-Project References w/ Specific Testimonial Text (Use Boolean) The report template is set up for the purpose of searching specific keywords (e.g., safety, quality, etc) within a Testimonial Text. The current template populates all Testimonial Text with the word "Safety". To change or add onto the keyword search, please utilize the Boolean section to change your criteria. Changing Keyword - update the word from "Safety" to the word you would like to search for Adding Keyword(s) - you may use the AND/OR criteria to pull in more testimonial keywords. Please note the differences between the AND/OR criteria as the AND criteria is more restrictive.
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What I Need to Know: Project Summary Details
Published Project Name - Type in the Project Name that should be displayed on external marketing material (e.g., proposals). All Publisher documents will pull in the Published Project Name if entered. Sub-Project of - If you are trying to connect a sub-project to a parent project, please type in the parent project number to make the connection. Publishable Project Yes - If the project can be published and shared on external marketing material, please update this field to "Yes". No - All projects default to "No". Please update accordingly. Publishable Reason (multi-select field) - Please ensure at least one reason is selected. Excellent Client Reference Unrestricted Contact Division Marketing Manager Prior to Use Client Permission Required Non Disclosure Agreement In Litigation Bad Project Reference Project Cancelled Region/Division Preferred Project Yes - Change selection to "Yes" if the project is well recognized and marketable within the Division and/or Region. No - All projects default to "No". Please update accordingly. Swinerton Prominent Project Yes - Change selection to "Yes" if the project is not only well recognized within the Region/Division, but also on a national level. These projects are typically listed on our Swinerton website and/or almost always marketed on proposals. No - All projects default to "No". Please update accordingly. Project Status & Percent Complete - This field is automated based on the project completion in CMiC. There is no need to manually update these fields. Archived No - When the project is not archived (by default), that means the project is reportable and will display in all search results. To Be Archived - DO NOT USE Archived - These are projects that will never be marketed/published such as insurance claims, warranty projects, and miscellaneous jobs. Please manually archive these projects so the results do not show up in quick search and reporting/analytics.