Mandatory Requester Name

[CalvinFold]

For requester name on a project we tried to account for whether the project started from a request or not by having a custom field "Requster Name" where the planner can manually enter a name if the planner starts a project without a request.

For reporting, I have a field named "Requester Name - Composite" with a calculation:

IF(ISBLANK(Requester Name)=true,Requested By,Requester Name)

The idea was the planner would not have to enter the requester name if it came from a request, since the system gathers that.

HOWEVER, we have far too many planners starting projects without a request and not filling out a requester. :-(

Is there any way to fix this process to make filling out "Requester Name" mandatory if the system's "Requested By" is empty?

[Doug_Den_Hoed__AtAppStore]

Hi Kevin,

As I recall (untested), required fields only kick in if they are made visible by display logic, so perhaps you could make your Requester Name custom parameter required, but hidden if the Requested By is populated.

Regards,

Doug

[CalvinFold]

Field display logic requires a picklist-style field to key off of; doesn't work with system-level and text fields; only radios, checkboxes, and picklists. :-(

[skyehansen]

I mean... not to be facetious here, but you could preface the mandatory Requestor Name field with a radio button question like "did you already fill out the entered by field above?" or "was this converted from a request?" and default it to no. If they changed it to Yes you could hide the mandatory field and they wouldn't have to fill it out. It's a bit passive aggressive but frankly, a grown adult unable to fill out a form correctly in this day and age obviously needs a heavier hand.

[CalvinFold]

LOL…been working here a long time and they don't do "heavy hand." ;-p But you are saying what we're thinking and my manager will appeciate the commiseration.

I'll run it by my manager, though I suspect it will get rid of some of the convenience of the auto-entry and someone will squash the idea on those grounds.

Thanks!

[Kundanism]

Hi @Kevin Quosig‚

Jut an idea, can we create an indicator to highlight the cell about missing / empty for "requested By" column.

If I understand correctly.

Mvh

Kundan.

[CalvinFold]

@Kundan Kumar‚ I did consider that, but our planners are not famous for using selt-audit reports. Someone on our team is currently doing all error auditing.

[Heather_Kulbacki]

For one of our groups, both Portfolio and Program should be filled in on every project. We've got Fusion doing some things so Portfolio is always filled in, but in most cases Program relies on project manager knowledge and can't be tied to any one field... and it's often forgotten.

I have a report with a chart I created that I send out each week that pulls in any project that needs the Program filled in. I call it the Leaderboard You Don't Want To Be On. I've got a few other reports for things PMs forget to do that I need to chart also and put all of them on a Dashboard and just send that out - that might be next week's project!

[CalvinFold]

@Heather Kulbacki‚ , as I mentioned to Kundan above, we currently are doing all the policing (planners do very little selt-auditing); we're just trying to automate/force behavior to cut down on our own workload.

[AnthonyIm]

You all have been on Workfront for awhile so people might already have their own personal views when looking at projects in the global Projects area or in a portfolio, BUT... since system admins can now make default views in a layout template, what about making a default view that included the field(s) and highlighting in red when it is wrong. Obviously doesn't force them, but at least they can't feign ignorance.

For compliance, I have since two approaches that are interesting in my newer role.

1) The team has a dashboard for executives but underneath each widget, there is a "The above report is not 100% accurate because of these people..." and then lists out items out of compliance grouped by project owner. A little heavy handed but it apparently did the trick very quickly.

2) The system admin did the policing, but kept track in a spreadsheet of whose projects they were fixing. Every quarter, she then averaged the "fixes" and whoever was above the average were reported to their manager for their quarterly check-in. She said that set the expectation that things might get missed (since Workfront is far from perfect), but if you are missing things more than the average PM, then you might need to pay a little more attention to what you are doing. Which I found very interesting.

[CalvinFold]

#2 might work, thanks; my manager may be doing something like that already and I'm just not aware. For #1, our executives only lightly touch Workfront right now; we're not doing alot of work/efficiency reporting/metrics outside of direct financial repurcussions. At least for now, that aspect is slowly starting to happen.

As for the Planners' default view, it's already overburdened and we can't gain traction with separate views provided for self audit. The planners tend to live on certain default cost views and that's it. I have lots of red highlights for budget warnings though. ;-p

We're aware of many of the suggestions so far provided and the personal responsibility aspects, but I've been tasked with automating-around and smoothing over the problem for now. *shrug*