Project planning

Project planning#

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With Allegra you can plan and execute projects. Planning comprises a schedule and, optionally, resource planning.

The planning process looks like this:

  1. You create a project structure with all known items and summary items, without dates (see Work breakdown structure)

  2. You create a schedule with dates for the items and account for dependencies (see Entering the work breakdown structure)

  3. You optionally plan the efforts for the items (see Cost centers and accounts)

  4. You optionally assign resources and make sure none of them is overloaded (see Planning resources).

As a rule, scheduling and resource planning have to be developed iteratively over several cycles, because there are dependencies between them. If, for example, a resource is not available, this can affect the timeline.

  • Prerequisites for project planning

    Project planning can become very complex. It is therefore important to understand the model that underlies a planning process.

  • Work breakdown structure

    The work breakdown structure is the foundation for every project plan.

  • Entering the work breakdown structure

    In Allegra, the easiest way to enter the project structure is in the Gantt chart or in the item overview (hierarchical view).

  • Creating a schedule

    For the schedule, you add dependencies and dates to the work breakdown structure.

  • Planning working time

    In Allegra, the duration of an item and its planned effort are initially decoupled from one another, so neither value is calculated from the other. In Allegra, the two are linked in the allocation view.

  • Planning resources

    In Allegra, the items are first planned with their durations and efforts. After that, the assigned resources are reconciled iteratively in the allocation view.

  • The earned value method

    The earned value method, or Earned Value Management (EVM), is a technique for measuring project progress objectively. In Allegra, EVM is used in such a way that you can obtain a conservative but also very reliable statement about deviations from the planned effort and schedule at any time.

  • Cost centers and accounts

    The Allegra system can manage efforts in the form of “work” and “costs”. Efforts are assigned to accounts, which in turn belong to cost centers.

  • Working with the Gantt chart

    The interactive Gantt chart is well suited to displaying and editing the timeline of a plan, dependencies, and the visualization of project progress. In the Gantt chart, you can display the plan, the baseline, or both together.

  • Working with the allocation view

    The “Allocation” view lets you see and manage the use of your resources (people, rooms, equipment, and skills) over time.