Project Action Items

Projects Actions Items are tasks that need to be performed internally. Action Items set the workflow and policy within your company. If carefully thought through, you can create efficiencies within your company previously impossible to do.

You can think of an Action Item like an internal email that has a predetermined subject and checklist that needs to be completed before submitting, is time stamped, cannot be deleted or lost, keeps track of turnaround time, employee cost and can be customized by your e-manageONE administrator..

As an example you can have an Action Item (AI) to Process an Order. When the Action Item to Process an Oder is selected a list of Prerequisites is displayed. All prerequisites must be checked before you can submit the AI.  You can create a note for the person responsible for processing the order and you can attach a document(s) to the AI if necessary.

A few important things that happen as a result of Action Items (AI's): 

• Workflow and Policy is set

• People do not have to remember to do things and puts some accountability in place

• AI's cannot be deleted, changed or ignored. They will not go away until they are either Completed or Rejected.

• AI Alerts can be set to automatically notify Sales people when the AI is Completed or Rejected. The AI Alert will not go away until the sales person acknowledges it.

• All AI's are kept as history in the project to reference by anyone at any time.

• The status of a project can be set to change when an AI is opened and when an AI is completed. As an example, when the AI to Process an Order is opened the status of the project changes to Processing Order. When the AI is completed the project status changes to Ordered.

• AI's are time stamped by user to monitor your turnaround times. They also keep track of your internal cost per AI.

• AI's can be set to auto open a specific module to cut down on admin time spent searching for project and opening applicable module.

Submitting An Action Item

Action Items can only be sent on projects. From any grid you can right click > Actions > Submit Action Item Request(s) to pull up the following window. There should be a list or “Pre-Requisites” which is just a checklist reminder of items of information to supply to the Receiving User or Group in order to efficiently and accurately complete the request.

From within a project, you can quickly access your Actions toolbar and select “New Action Item”.

If you do not see the Action Item Request in the list, it is possible your Admin did not assign that Project Type to that Action Item in the Administrator Application.

Checking Out an Action Item

As with submitting an AI, there are requirements for completing AI's. You can have Completion Task(s) which is a checklist of items to remind you of what you need to do to accurately and efficiently complete the Action Item. You can also set a Percent Complete and Expected Completion Date. You should enter a Completion Note or Delay Reason to track your progress. This area can also be used to “claim” the AI if you are apart of a larger group to show clearly who is handling the request (Suggestion: Type in your initials and date). All of this information will update in the Salesperson’s “Open Actions”. All Open Actions for a Salesperson are listed in their Open Action Items so they can see the status of their AI's submitted whether or not they were the user who submitted the AI. Note when opening an Action Item it should automatically open the applicable Project module/window if your Admin has setup properly.

Modifying / Adding / Removing Action Items

Located in the Administrator > Action Items

General Settings:

• Action Item: Name of the Action Item

  • Un-check "In Use" to deactivate an AI

• All Users Can Submit This Action Item: If this is not checked then the Sales Rep on the Project cannot submit this AI (typically this will be checked on ALL AI's)

• Alert Salesperson(s) When Completed: When the AI is completed or rejected you can tell it to alert the sales rep (also typically checked on ALL AI's)

• Opens This Window: You can tell e-manage what Module or window you want it to open when an AI is opened

• On Check-Out Changes Project to this Status: When the receiving user opens an AI or "checks out" the AI you can assign the status you want it to change to

  • To add / remove / modify the Project Status list open the Administrator > Corporate Division > Drop Down List Setup > Project Statuses

• On Completion Changes Project to this Status: When the receiving user completes the AI you can assign the status you want it to change to

  • To add / remove / modify the Project Status list open the Administrator > Corporate Division > Drop Down List Setup > Project Statuses

Assignments:

• Choose Responsible Groups: This is where you can assign the appropriate group(s) to an AI (who is going to receive the AI)

  • To adjust Group Names or users assigned to groups open the Administrator > User Groups

• Choose Project Type Availability: You can assign specific Project Types to each AI

  • To adjust Project Types open the Administrator > Corporate Division > Drop Down List Setup > Project Types

• Pre-Requisites: List of items / reminders of what information, documents, etc. to provide when submitting an AI

  • To adjust the Pre-Requisites list open the Administrator > Corporate Division > Drop Down List Setup > Action Item Pre-Requisites

• Completion Tasks: List of items / reminders of what information to remember when completing an AI

  • To adjust the Completion Tasks list open the Administrator > Corporate Division > Drop Down List Setup > Action Item Completion Tasks 

Assign a Survey to Project Type

Setting up a survey (list of questions to make an assessment) and assigning to a Project Type can be a powerful tool to ensure nothing falls through the cracks. To do so open the e-manageONE Administrator application > Select Action Items > Highlight the Action Item > Select the Assignments tab on the right panel > Apply check box for applicable survey.
* Note: To ensure that this feature works properly, it is important to configure your surveys and assign Project Types accordingly. Configure Surveys

Example of a Basic / Standard AI List with Pre-Req's & Completion Tasks