Creating and Managing Job Plans

Derek Torres
Derek Torres
  • Updated

Important Note: NorthBoundary is now SalesManager. SalesManager retains all of the customer relationship management and proposal automation benefits of its predecessor, allowing you to create proposals, manage your sales funnel, win and retain top customers. To read more about this exciting change, click here.

 

The Job Planner is a Project Management tool. It allows you to create Projects for Job Plans that include tasks that office and tech users can be assigned to. Each user can track and record their progress within each task. Tasks can also be given start/end dates, checklists, set duration, made dependent on each other, and many other features.

You can either create a Job Plan directly from an Opportunity, or you can create a Job Plan from scratch. This article will walk you through creating and managing a Job Plan.

 

Creating a Job Plan

Creating a Job Plan Template has many steps, so we have broken this into three steps. The first step has two different iterations. You can create a Job Plan from an existing Opportunity (usually an opportunity tied to a sold Project or Maintenance Proposal) or create a Job Plan from scratch.

Step 1A: Create and Name a Job Plan from an Opportunity

This is typically performed when you have a sold Opportunity tied to a Project or Maintenance Proposal.

Note: Though not recommended, you can make a Job Plan for a standalone Opportunity at any stage, with or without a related Proposal.

  1. Navigate to your sold Project or Maintenance Proposal.
    • Note: You can also navigate directly to an Opportunity and jump to Step 3.
  2. Click the Opportunity tab.
  3. Click the Submit for Turnover button.
    Screenshot-2023-12-29-at-10-46-03-AM.jpeg
  4. *Optional: Click Select Template to select a Project Template if you have a relevant template you want to use. Click here to learn more about Creating and Managing Job Plan Templates.
  5. Enter a Project Name.
  6. Select a Project Start Date. If you have selected a Project Template, this will shift the first task start date and move all requisite tasks according to how you have dates structured.
  7. Select a Project Type from the drop-down menu.
    • NoteIf you are an Admin, you can create additional project types in System Settings > Job Planner > Project Types.
  8. *Optional: Check to select any Reports that you want to be added to the Job Plan. If you want them combined as a single file, you can also check to select Combine Files to one file.
  9. *Optional: Enter any notes in the Add a note... field.
  10. *Optional: Click the Email Files to email the selected files.
  11. Click the Create button to create the Job Plan.
    Screenshot 2023-12-29 at 10.57.13 AM.png
  12. Click View Job Plan to be directed to the new Job Plan Page.

Step 1B: Create and Name a Job Plan from Scratch

  1. On the Navigation Bar, click Job Planner.
  2. At the top of the Job Planner Page, click the Projects tab. This will take you to a list of your existing Job Plan Projects.
  3. Click the + New button on the top right.
    Screenshot-2023-12-29-at-10-27-07-AM.jpeg
  4. Enter a Project Name.
  5. Select a Project Type from the drop-down menu.
    • NoteIf you are an Admin, you can create additional project types in System Settings > Job Planner > Project Types.
  6. Select a Project Owner.
  7. *Optional: Select a Project Template if you have a relevant template you want to use. Click here to learn more about Creating and Managing Job Plan Templates.
  8. Select a First Task Start Date. If you have selected a Project Template, this will shift the first task start date and move all requisite tasks according to how you have dates structured.
  9. Make sure the Status is marked as Active.
  10. *Optional: Click Select Related Opportunity, and select the relevant Opportunity from the list. This allows you to associate an existing Opportunity to this Job Plan. This automatically submits the Opportunity for turnover.
  11. Click Select Customer and Select Location to search and select your Customer and Work Location.
  12. Click the Save button.
    Create and Name.jpeg

Step 2: Creating a Task List

  1. On the Job Plan page, click the ListView tab.
    • Note: If you selected a template in the previous step, a list of tasks will likely already be available. All you need to do is make edits for this specific project.
  2. Click the + New Task button to create a new task.
    Screenshot-2023-12-27-at-12-36-48-PM.jpeg
  3. In the field, you can now Enter a new task name for this specific task. Then click out of the field to save.
    Screenshot-2023-12-27-at-12-44-09-PM.jpeg
  4. Once you have entered a name, it will create a new task. When the specific task is selected, you will see a menu to the right where you can edit the task name, assign a user, set a priority level, set a start/end date, task duration, and create a task checklist. The following is optional because all you need is a task name. We will cover all of these optional steps below.
    • Note: If you need to delete a task, click the three-dot icon on the top of the Task Menu and click delete.
      Screenshot-2023-12-28-at-9-03-30-AM.jpeg
  5. *Optional: You can assign a user(s) to a task. Click the Assign User button. Check to select all relevant users. Click Apply.
    Screenshot-2023-12-27-at-2-19-16-PM.jpeg
  6. *Optional: You can assign a Priority Level to a task. Click the Priority drop-down. Check to select the relevant Priority Level.
    Screenshot-2023-12-27-at-4-51-38-PM.jpeg
  7. *Optional: Enter a Start Date and End Date.
  8. *Optional: Duration in days will be auto-filled when you set a start and end date. Adjusting this number will change the End Date.
  9. *Optional: Click the + Checklist button to add a checklist item for this task. Enter a new item and hit enter. Repeat as many times as necessary. You can drag and drop to move the checklist order. You can click the button to the right to remove a checklist item.
    Checklist.gif
  10. Repeat Steps 2-9 for all the tasks you want to add to this Job Plan.
  11. Each time you add and edit a task, it will be saved to the Job Plan.

Step 3: Creating Task Dependencies with Gantt View

A Gantt view displays a project schedule in a bar chart format, showing tasks, milestones, resources, and progress over time in an easy-to-read and understandable way. It is commonly used for project planning and management.

You can also build your task list from this view, but one major feature that can only be accessed from Gantt View is the ability to create task dependencies. A task dependency creates a blocker that doesn't allow users to start work on a certain task until they have completed another task.

The video below will show users how to create dependencies and use Gantt View.

 

Managing Job Plan Projects

You can easily search for, edit, copy, and delete Job Plan Projects on the Job Planner Projects page. The sections below will cover those specific topics.

If you want to perform work and project manage using a Job Plan Project via the Projects and My Tasks Tab watch the video below:

Finding and Editing Job Plans

  1. On the Navigation Bar, click Job Planner.
  2. Click the Projects tab.
  3. You can search for and filter Job Plan Projects based on many fields.
    Screenshot-2023-12-29-at-12-51-47-PM.jpeg
  4. You can select the relevant Job Plan from the list below. Edit as needed.

Copying Job Plans

You can copy Job Plan Projects from existing Projects.

  1. On the Navigation Bar, click Job Planner.
  2. Click the Projects tab.
  3. Click the Copy button on the top right.
  4. Click the Select Project drop-down menu and select the relevant project.
  5. Enter a New Project Name.
  6. Enter a Project Start Date.
  7. Click Copy.
    Screenshot 2023-12-29 at 1.29.22 PM.png
  8. Click the copy of the project on the Job Planner Projects Menu, and make any changes you want.

Deleting Job Plans

  1. On the Navigation Bar, click Job Planner.
  2. Click the Projects tab.
  3. Select the relevant project from the Job Planner Projects Menu.
  4. Click the Project Setup Info tab.
  5. Click the Delete button.
    Screenshot-2023-12-29-at-1-31-44-PM.jpeg
  6. Click OK.

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