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Project for the Web -- How to link tasks between different projects ?
Online Beginner's Question here: I'm managing a team of 7 project managers, each of them managing on average 5 simple projects with max 12 tasks each. Some of these projects have tasks interdependen...
Hi Paul, it is something different. Behind the scenes when Microsoft designed Project for the web (now Planner 'premium' functionality) they built the back end on the Microsoft Power Platform and a database called 'Dataverse', which means a couple of things:
- You can build and configure the 'Power App' for Planner to capture data beyond the schedule in Planner, like issues, risks, status, etc.
- You can develop workflows around this data to implement PM processes like gate approvals, change reviews, etc. and
- You can provide an easy web-based User interface in M365 into the data through what's called a 'model driven Power App', which would INCLUDE the schedule you'd typically see in Planner premium. In essence it gives you a platform to build a more complete solution, as many enterprises need more than what's in the core planning tool to meet their needs.
Microsoft released an example of what a solution could look like called 'Project Accelerator', which configures this Power App with representative fields, forms and reports. Companies like ours build solutions on this platform and have our own 'flavor' of an accelerator. It gives you a ton of capabilities and flexibility to do things that aren't native to the core Planner app, without locking you into just what Microsoft builds. As your organization grows, the app can grow and change as well.
Hope this helps. Happy to provide links and examples of what the 'Planner Power App' looks and functions like if needed.
Hi Paul, Project for the web (now called Planner 'premium' functionality) can support most of what you are looking for except for the ability to setup and track cross project dependencies between tasks in two or more schedules. This functionality is not available today.
What some of our clients do is use the Planner 'Power App' which is available to help you view, aggregate and report across multiple projects (versus one at a time), so that each PM can see and update all their plans in one place, and you as a manager could view all plans and report on them. You'd be able to see reports that show things like 'which resources are working on which projects and tasks' to identify bottlenecks, and understand resource and work dependencies, without having to actually create cross project 'links'. You could also use the Power App to create a 'table' that would store a list of high level tasks that would be entered manually, with dates (for instance), so you could at least have a central way to communicate dependencies, even though they wouldn't actually be set between project tasks in schedules. Lots of options!
See below for some screenshots of the app and sample reports that show portfolio and project statuses. Hope this helps!
Hi agan-in robhprojility , I was curious about what you precisely meant with the "Planner Power App" ? I've been using planner only via the browser or integrated in Teams. Is this "power app" different ? Thanks for any clarification.
Hi Paul, it is something different. Behind the scenes when Microsoft designed Project for the web (now Planner 'premium' functionality) they built the back end on the Microsoft Power Platform and a database called 'Dataverse', which means a couple of things:
- You can build and configure the 'Power App' for Planner to capture data beyond the schedule in Planner, like issues, risks, status, etc.
- You can develop workflows around this data to implement PM processes like gate approvals, change reviews, etc. and
- You can provide an easy web-based User interface in M365 into the data through what's called a 'model driven Power App', which would INCLUDE the schedule you'd typically see in Planner premium. In essence it gives you a platform to build a more complete solution, as many enterprises need more than what's in the core planning tool to meet their needs.
Microsoft released an example of what a solution could look like called 'Project Accelerator', which configures this Power App with representative fields, forms and reports. Companies like ours build solutions on this platform and have our own 'flavor' of an accelerator. It gives you a ton of capabilities and flexibility to do things that aren't native to the core Planner app, without locking you into just what Microsoft builds. As your organization grows, the app can grow and change as well.
Hope this helps. Happy to provide links and examples of what the 'Planner Power App' looks and functions like if needed.
