How to handle upcoming projects for planning and resourcing

[PhuongKr]

Hi, We are trying to figure the best way to see “upcoming projects” in Workfront (WF). Our planners want to wait to create the project in WF until they have all the project details; so instead of using WF to see all projects; they use alternative tools such as Excel.

To help the planners have visibility into upcoming projects; we suggested creating a general project which will be called something along the lines of “Brand X_2023_UPCOMING PROJECTS” and add any upcoming projects as tasks in this project.

As an example:
Task 1 –  Animated banners – Coming in next two weeks
Task 2 – Tweaks to website – Waiting on to confirm will know by ...
Task 3 –  Static posts- waiting on brief

We wanted to ask if there is another way of doing this and what others are doing to address this.

Thank you.

[Jason_JB · Accepted solution]

Hi - 

Have you evaluated request queues? (https://experienceleague.adobe.com/docs/workfront-learn/tutorials-workfront/manage-work/request-queu...)

The biggest advantage I can think of is that it would provide the place to capture all the needed information and then the request can be converted to a project - so custom form data wouldn't need entered twice.

The downside to request queues is that they are stored as issues - so it's not easy to see the information in the "same report", but a dashboard could be leveraged.

To help solve this challenge, we create a project shell with standard tasks for figuring out the project.  This allows us to collect all the needed information, softbook resources, etc.  Then when it's ready to go we change a custom field value to indicate the project has progressed to a new phase.

[Lyndsy-Denk]

I've fought with project mangers on this, however I still stand by creating projects, especially if they're created with a template. We then additionally use a status of Requested to indicate that a project is planned but not started. If your templates are well curated, there should be minimal project setup to get a ballpark schedule. You could add a custom form to flag any projects that have open questions preventing more accurate scheduling or even the start of work.

The next thing I recommend: ensure those projects are filed in portfolios and programs. When viewing work at the portfolio or program levels, you get the roll-up you need. Build a view at the portfolio and/or program level that includes the custom field so you can quickly see which projects have outstanding needs.