Courseware:IT Plus - Projects App

Realizing Projects: Turning Ideas into Impact

Was is the benefit of project managment?

The main goal of project management is to establish a structured and systematic approach for achieving defined tasks within the time and scope constraints of a project. It ensures that goals, objectives, and responsibilities are clearly defined so that all team members work toward a unified outcome. Through systematic planning, coordination, and monitoring, project management enhances efficiency and reduces the likelihood of errors, delays, and resource conflicts.

Imagine you are planning a wedding. At first, it seems simple, you choose a venue, set a date, and send invitations. But soon, different people (e.g., your mother-in-law) may want to contribute their own ideas. Without coordination and clear responsibilities, the project can easily spiral out of control: invitations may be sent before the venue is confirmed, the catering order might not match the number of guests, and last-minute changes can cause stress and confusion.

With proper project management, the process becomes organized. A clear plan outlines all tasks, assigns responsibility, and sets deadlines. Every team member can track progress, report obstacles, and react quickly when something changes.

In short, project management transforms scattered individual efforts into a coordinated process that delivers reliable, high-quality results.

Why use an agile project managment tool like projects?

In some projects, the goals or requirements may change during the development process. This means you often need to respond quickly to the market, something that is difficult to achieve with traditional ("waterfall") project management. This is where agile project management comes into play.

Instead of following a fixed plan, the team works in short, clearly defined cycles called Sprints, combined with regular reviews.

A digital project management tool like Projects makes it possible to centralize all project-related tasks on one platform, improving visibility, coordination, and control. All team members can track sprint progress, communicate obstacles, and manage tasks efficiently so that resources are used in the best possible way.

In other words, Projects helps increase productivity and ensures that projects are delivered on time and within scope.

Preparation

If you don't have an AP running on the SSD of your IP411LEFT, please set up an Application Platform as described in the book. So don't proceed if you don't have an AP running on your IP411LEFT.

As we start we need a new start configuration for you. Therefore, please load a new configuration onto your devices:

Upload new configuration to your Devices

This book also has a start configuration for your AP as well. So don't forget to click on the  Load initial lesson configuration to your Application Platform button once it appears. This may take a while, so bear with us and keep trying

Once finished, use the following address to access myApps:: https://hq-dvl-ckl2.training.innovaphone.com

The start configuration will add four users to your device: your own account, Jean Dupont, Lisa Svensson, and Mario Rossi. Jean, Lisa, and Mario have avatar images that were downloaded from  www.freepik.com.

To start the lesson, log in to myApps, use the username ckl and the password ip411.

Home

After preparing our setup, we can start exploring the app.

Start the  Projects app.

The first screen you see  is the home screen. This screen allows you to customize your Projects app so that you can access areas, projects, sprints, or tasks more quickly, as filters will be applied automatically. Your personal home screen is divided into five sections:

• My current tasks: Displays a list of all your current tasks.

• Pinned user: You can pin yourself or other users to this list. This allows you to view their current tasks by clicking on their names.

• Pinned sprints: Pin any sprint for quick access.

• Pinned projects:Pin any project for quick access.

• Pinned areas: Pin any area for quick access.

Welcome Tour

When a user first starts the Projects app,  a sample project called Introduction to Projects appears in their Private area. This projects begins with the Welcome to Projects task guides you through the usability and key concepts of the Projects app by using tasks and sprints. Because it is located in each user's private area, everyone gets their own individual sample project. This allows users to freely explore and practice using the app without affecting others.

You are strongly encouraged to complete this sample project before continuing with the rest of the book.

The structure of Projects

The structure within the Projects app is hierarchical. An Area is the highest-level category and is used to group related projects. Projects sit within an area and represent the overall objective you want to achieve. Each project is organized into Sprints, which break the work into smaller, manageable segments based on time or priority. Within each sprint Tasks represent the individual work items that need to be completed.

 projects-struktur-switch

Areas

As said, an area is the top level of the project hierarchy within the Projects app. You should always create an area whenever sets of projects are unrelated to each other. For example, you can organize projects by department, such as Sales, Development, or Human Resources, or you can create an area for each of your customers.

You can also restrict access to areas for specific user groups or individual users. This is useful when certain projects should only be visible to a defined audience, such as Management.

Projects

The level below the area is called Projects. This is where you create your actual projects. For example, in our sample case, which we will use throughout this book, constructing a Tree House is our project. Each project includes a backlog that can be used to collect and organize ideas for projects.

Sprint/Backlog

Below the project level are the Sprints/Backlogs. During a sprint meeting, you review the backlog to define a set of tasks that should be completed until the next sprint meeting. These selected tasks are grouped together into a sprint.

Task

The lowest level of the project hierarchy is the Task level.

Tasks are the individual work items that need to be completed by project team members in order to achieve the overall project goals.

Views

The Projects, Sprint and Task levels can be displayed in two different views:

•  Simple list view: shows all entries in a clean, compact list.
•  Detailed list view: shows all entries along with additional information such as current status, project owner, and progress.

Planned/Current/Closed

The Projects, Sprint/Backlog, and Tasks layers are  all structured in the same way.

• The left column displays the Backlog, containing ideas for future implementations or planned tasks.
• The middle column shows all current or paused projects, sprints, or tasks.
• The right column shows all closed projects, sprints, or tasks.

Restrict Access

Let's go and have a little look at an area. By default you have  two areas already in your projects app. The Home Improvement area was created by the initial configuration, while the private area is created by default for each user in order for him to have space for his own personal projects.

 To create a new Area you can click on +Area, you give that are a new name. You can ignore the Connect Zone configuration for now, we'll return to it later in this book. Under Visibility Settings,  you can define which users or groups have access to the area:

• Public: all Projects users can access it.
• Group: only group members of the defined group can access the area.
• Private: access is restricted to a single user (the creator of the area)

 Create a new area called Human Resources, leave the Connect Zone as suggested by the Projects app, and grant access only to the group hr.

Groups are not within the scope of this book, but as a tip, we used the Groups Settings plugin to create the group.

As another tip, the group will only appear if its users are active members.

 The shield icon indicates that this area has restricted access.

Allow URL generation

You might have noticed  the option "Allow URL generation" when you create a public area.

This option enables you to export all tasks and sprints of a project. It's useful when a non-Projects user needs to view the status of a project without accessing the Projects app directly.

Try it yourself

• Edit the Home Improvement area (click the pencil icon).
• Enable the option Allow URL generation.
• Click Save.
• Now edit the project Tree House (click the pencil icon).
•  Click the lists icon.
•  Open the generated URL in a browser.

You can now view all past sprints and completed tasks of the project directly in your browser.

Filtering

Projects offers powerful filtering options that help you quickly find the sprint or task you are looking for.

Instead of explaining it in theory, let's try it out together.

• Open the Tasks section at the top.

 On the right side you see 15 closed tasks all handled by different users.

• Now go to the Users section at the top.
• Select your user.
• Go back to Tasks.

You will now see  only the tasks where you are the owner. This means we have filtered the Projects app to display only Projects, Sprints, or Tasks that belong to you.

If you change the owner of the Tree House project, it will no longer appear in your view. However, you will still see the tasks assigned to you.

Filtering for users is just one common example. You can also filter for a specific area, project, or sprint. The entry selected in each section at the top (except Home, Tasks, and Templates) will filter and change the results displayed in the hierarchical level below.

Attributes

There is another way to filter for information in Projects: by using Attributes.

Attributes can be created in the Attributes section of the Projects app and then assigned to projects, sprints, tasks, or backlog entries. Once assigned, you can filter for these attributes by selecting them in the Attributes section, allowing you to quickly find all relevant items.

Let's  create a new attribute:

• Go to the Attributes section
• Click +Attributes
• Enter a name for the attribute, such as Delayed
• Add a description so you know what the attribute is used for, e.g., Due to complications the progress of this task is delayed
• Choose a color for the attribute.
• Click Continue

You will now find the attribute in the All Attributes list.  If you click the star icon, the attribute will also appear in the My Attributes list.

To test how it works

• Go to the Sprint/Backlog section
• Choose any Backlog entry and open it
•  Assign the Delayed attribute we just created, then close the backlog entry
• Now go back to the Attributes section
• Select the Delayed attribute
• Return to the Sprints/Backlog section

 You will now see only the backlog entries that have the Delayed attribute assigned.

Projects

Now let's move on to the section called Projects.

In this section, you can create new projects or add backlog entries to capture ideas for future projects. To create a new project or backlog entry, click either Project or Backlog.

Let's try it and  create a new project in our Human Resources area.

• Go to the Projects section
• Click +Project
• Enter Onboarding as titel
• Write a Project Description such as This project contains all Onboarding sprints
• Select yourself as owner and responsible for the project.
• Connect hashtag: Define a hashtag that will be used when starting a communication in Connect from this project. Use Onboarding in our configuration.
• Area: Add the project to the Human Resources area.
• Attributes: Add attributes as discussed in the previous chapter (optional).
•  Click Save

Sprint/Backlog

Let's imagine you are having a Sprint Meeting for the Tree House project. The development team and the project owner meet to synchronize and plan the next sprint.

What is the main goal of this sprint? Which tasks are necessary to achieve it? And which backlog tasks should be included in this sprint?

After the discussion in the sprint meeting, you want to put the outcome in writing.

 Create a new Sprint, but please change to Project Tree House first.

• Click on +Sprint
• Enter Sprint 5 - Construction as title
• Enter a Sprint Description such as Goal of the sprint is a nature-resident tree house
• Enter yourself as Manager
• The Connect Hashtag can be left empty for now
• The Area is Home Improvement
• The Project is Tree House
• Leave Attributes empty
•  Click Save

By default, the sprint is marked as Current, but you can also  close, pause, delete, or pin it to your Home Screen.

Tasks

After creating the sprint, you need to create tasks for it. To do this, you check the project backlog to see whether tasks can be generated from the existing backlog entries.

Generate tasks for your sprint

• Open the backlog entry Lay down deck boards
•  Click Generate task
•  Select the Sprint we just created: Sprint 5 - Construction
• Set the Status to Planned. As soon as you start working on the task, set it to Current.
• Select yourself as Handler.
• We will look at the Story Points later in this book.
• Click Continue

Please repeat the same steps for Construct wall frames and Build roof.

There is also an option to  generate a sprint directly from a backlog entry, instead of creating a task. Additionally, you can  move a project backlog entry to the area backlog, if it no longer belongs to a specific project sprint, for example, when a project has been completed but you still want to keep the idea. This ensures that good ideas are not lost and can be reused or considered for future projects.

Of course, you can also  create a task manually. To do this, go to the Tasks layer of the Projects app and click +Task

Parameters and options of a task

Now, let's take a look at the parameters you can set on a task.

Planned /Current /Closed /Paused / Delete

At the top of a task, you can  change its status between Planned, Current, Closed or Paused or you can delete it completely.

Send text or link

You can either  copy the task name or  copy a link that points directly to the task. Any myApps user can paste this link into their browser to open the Projects app and jump directly to that specific task.

Copy task

You can use the task's data to create a new one.  Click the Clone button, adjust any parameters (such as the title), and then save it.

Transform task to backlog entry

If the user is unable to finish the task, they can  move the task back to the backlog. This way, the feature is not forgotten and can be completed at a later time.

Story Point

You can  assign story points to tasks. A story point is a measure of how much effort a task will require to complete. It is not a time unit, instead, it reflects:

• how difficult the task is
• how much work is involved, and
• how much is already known or unknown about the task.

The detailed view of a project or sprint uses story points to visualize progress.

Due date

You can  set a date by which the task should be completed. If the task is not completed in time, projects will mark the task with  a red error icon.

Another practical application is that, when a task is paused, the due date can be used to specify when the task should reappear.

Dependency

You can  define task dependencies within the same sprint. A dependency means that Task A must be completed before Task B can start. Note that dependencies only work for tasks inside the same sprint.

Attributes

You can assign attributes to a task just as we did in the previous chapter Realizing Projects: Attributes.

Assignment

You can move a task from one sprint to another (even across projects).  Click the pencil icon and select the new project and sprint from the dropdown. You can also add the same task to a second sprint. To do this, click the + icon and select the second project and sprint. Don't forget to save if you changed the affiliation of a task.

Recurring sprints (templates)

The perfect example for using templates is the onboarding process of a new employee. When a new employee starts, several tasks from different departments need to be completed. These tasks must be coordinated so that nothing is forgotten or delayed due to sickness or vacation.

If a new employee joins, IT may need to be involved because a new PC or mobile phone must be purchased. The fleet manager may need to be involved because the employee might require a company car. Accounting needs to ensure that the salary is transferred at the end of the month. Human Resources must ensure that all contracts are in order. And if we think about it further, there are surely many more tasks involved.

The good thing is that the onboarding process for a new employee is always the same. You don't need to manually create all tasks every time. Instead, you create a sprint template once with all necessary tasks, and whenever a new employee starts, you simply generate a sprint from that template.

To do this:

• Go to the Templates section
•  Click +Sprint template

A new window will open where  you can configure the sprint template. You should already be familiar with these parameters.

• Sprint template: Enter Onboarding
• Area: Select Human Resources
• Manager: Select yourself
• Connect hashtag:<optional>
• Select attributes: <can be left empty>
• Description: Enter This is the sprint to onboard new employees
• Click Continue

Afterwards,  create tasks for this sprint by clicking Task template.

Please create the following tasks (no fixed handler required yet):

• IT - Set up technical equipment
• Fleet Management - Get company car
• Accounting - Salary information
• Human Resources - Complete contracts

On the left side, you can  find all your current sprint templates. By clicking on one, you can adjust its parameters and view or edit all tasks included in the template.

To use the Template:

• Go to the Sprint/Backlog section
•  Click +Sprint via template
• Select Human Resources as the Area
• Select Onboarding as the Project
• Select Onboarding as the Sprint template
• Configure the Sprint name, e.g. Mister X Onboarding
• (Optional) Add a Connect hashtag
• Click Continue

 A new sprint called Mister X Onboarding will be created. If you open this sprint, you will see all the tasks we previously defined in the template. Whenever a new employee starts, you can simply reuse this template to create the same set of tasks again.

Generate sprint template

Instead of creating a template in the Templates section, you  can also use the Generate sprint template button within any sprint. This will create a sprint template that includes all tasks of that sprint.

Communicate within Connect

Of course, you also want to communicate obstacles, progress, and successes of a task or project with the entire project team and all stakeholders. For this purpose, Projects includes an integration with Connect. This means you can use the Connect editor and post messages to Connect directly from within Projects. As a result, every Connect user can read the message and respond from their Connect client.

When you create a project, sprint, backlog entry, or task, the Projects app  automatically starts a discussion in Connect.

Connect zone

Let's return to the Areas section and open our sample Home Improvement area, which was created by the start configuration.  When you open the configuration of an area, you can see that the Connect Zone and Zone SIP parameters are already configured. These settings are mandatory when creating an area. Projects uses these parameters to automatically create the corresponding Zone in Connect.

If the creation was successful, you will see the confirmation message Setup successfully completed in the Connect zone setup state section of the area.

When you open Connect and navigate to MORE/Zones, you will see that a Zone with the matching name and SIP ID  has already been created. All posts created within this Projects area will be published in that Zone.

Hashtags

You can  define a single hashtag in a project or sprint configuration. This hashtag will be used in the initial post when you create a task, sprint, project or backlog entry. This allows you to search and follow the hashtag in Connect. Please note, the hashtag must be defined before creating the corresponding tasks.

Go to the Onboarding project, then open the Mister X Onboarding sprint, and finally open one of tasks you created from the sprint template.

 You will see the configured hashtag and the Connect zone in the initial message of the discussion. Please note that the hashtag was inherited from the Onboarding project. If you also assign a hashtag to the Mister X Onboarding sprint, the initial post will contain both hashtags.

After the initial post, Projects will also communicate any status changes directly in the corresponding Connect discussion.

If you are not familiar with Connect, hashtags, or zones, please refer to our Connect topic:  IT Plus Overview, where we explain these concepts in detail.

How to Install Projects

You are in luck, Projects is installed by default during the Install. So if you set up a new system, everything is already taken care of.

However, if you have already completed the Install and want to add Projects to your system afterward, follow these steps:

• Open the Settings app.
•  Open the AP - App Installer plugin.
• Search for the app Projects.
• Install the newest version.
• Accept innovaphone's terms and conditions.
• Close and reopen the Settings app.

You will now see a new Settings plugin called AP projects

• Now open the projects plugin
• Click +Add an App
• Select Projects
•  Configure the Name as Projects
• Configure the SIPid as projects
• Select the SIPid of your Connect app
• Select the Connect Admin Service. If no option is available, your Connect setup is faulty.
• Select the Config Template that should distribute the Projects app to users.

Restore

 In the burger menu of the Projects app, you can restore the last deleted Project, Sprint, or Task, but only the person who deleted it can restore it. If you perform the restore action a second time, the previously deleted item before that will be restored as well.

Restoring a .dmp file

Since Connect and Projects are closely integrated, we recommend backing up and restoring both apps together.