RapidStartPROJECT Project Creation

To help understand how all of the Project parts work together, let’s walkthrough the creation of a new project from scratch. You can start from either an Account or Contact record, for this example we will start by opening a Regular Contact record.

Contact Form

From the Contact record (or Account record), click the “Add Project” Quick Step .

Project Quick Create

The Project Quick Create will slide in. Give your project a name , and add an optional description , if this project will use a template select it here from your previously created templates .  Add an optional Project Category , (you can create your Project Categories in the RapidStart Settings app). Enter Project Start and End dates . (You can change any of these selections later).

Projects Tab

Navigate to the Projects tab on the Contact Record . You can see your new Project in the Projects list . Click the Project Name to open the record.

Project Record

As you can see, our Project has been created with quite a bit of data already. If you want to track your expenses, you can enter an expense budget here . The next step is to start creating some Project Tasks by clicking the Add Task Quick Step button .

Project Tasks Quick Create

Give your task a name and an optional description of the task. Add an optional Task Category , (you can create your Task Categories in the RapidStart Settings app). Set the Priority  and whether this will be Billable. Enter a time budget for the task , (this is a decimal number based on your own units, it could mean days, hours, minutes, etc).  Provide a Start and End date for the task . Since this is the first task, or for any task that is not dependent on others, we will leave this blank . (If a future task requires a task to be completed before it, you would select that here). Lastly, we can associate this task to a Subcontractor (Account), or change the Task Owner to another user.

Project Tasks Tab

Navigate to the Projects Tasks tab on the Project Record . You can see your new Tasks list . Click a Task Name to open a Task record to work on the task.

Project Task Record

There are a couple of common things that a Task Owner might do on a Task, like add time . Manually adjust the % Complete slider , and add activities in the Timeline . The budgeted time vs. total time so far can be viewed here . The budgeted time can also be adjusted here. Let’s add a Time Entry by clicking on the Add Time Quick Step button.

Add Time Quick Create

On the Add Time quick Create form, we will give the item a description , and enter our time , (this is a decimal number based on your own units, it could mean days, hours, minutes, etc.)

Task Time Tab

Navigate to the Task Time tab on the Project Task Record . You can see your new Time entries . Click an Item Name to open a Time Entry.

Add Expenses

Expenses are tracked at the Project level, to add an expense, open a Project and click the Add Expense Quick Step button .

Expense Quick Create

Give your Expense item a name and an optional description of the expense .  Enter the amount .

Project Expenses Tab

Navigate to the Project Expenses tab on the Project Record . You can see your new Expense entries . Click an Item Name to open an Expense Entry.

Congratulations, you have a Project! Remember, everything you have seen can be customized and/or extended to meet your needs perfectly.

Review the detailed sections of the documentation for more information.

RapidStartPROJECT – Opportunities

One of the common items that you and your users may want to do is create Projects from Opportunities.

RapidStartPROJECT adds some features to your existing RapidStartCRM Opportunity form.

Opportunity Record Form

On your Main Opportunity Record form, you will notice the RapidStartPROJECT additions. A new Quick Steps button has been added to convert the Opportunity into a Project with one-click.

After Conversion

After conversion the Opportunity is marked as Won and the record is now Read-only . The created project record is also added to the Opportunity record for reference , Clicking it will take you to the Project record.

RapidStartPROJECT – Using Project Templates

Building a Project takes some time, particularly there are a lot of Project Tasks. To save time creating similar projects, RapidStartPROJECT has a templating system.

You can build a template from scratch, or convert a past project into a Template for future use.

1. To create a Template, simply change the “Is Template?” option to Yes.

Creating new Project from a Template

Start the same way you would create any Project, from the RapidStartPROJECT tab of either a Contact or an Account record.

1. Select the “+ New Project” to open the quick create form.
2. Select “Yes” for “From Template”
3. Select the Template from the list

A new Project will be created,  including all of the Project Tasks from the previously saved Template.

RapidStartPROJECT – Accounts

One of the core items that you and your users will create and track RapidStartPROJECT Projects against, are the Accounts you work with.

RapidStartPROJECT adds some features to your existing RapidStartCRM Account form.

Account Record Form

On your Main Account Record form, you will notice the RapidStartPROJECT additions. A new tab has been added for Projects , and a new Quick Steps button to create a new Project with one-click.

Projects Tab

Clicking on the Projects Tab will open the list of related projects. You can open a Project record by clicking on the Project Name . You can add a new Project from here , or by clicking the Quick Steps button on the Account main Summary tab.

RapidStartPROJECT – Contacts

One of the core items that you and your users will create and track RapidStartPROJECT Projects against, are the Contacts you work with.

RapidStartPROJECT adds some features to your existing RapidStartCRM Contact form.

Contact Record Form

On your Main Contact Record form, you will notice the RapidStartPROJECT additions. A new tab has been added for Projects , and a new Quick Steps button to create a new Project with one-click.

Projects Tab

Clicking on the Projects Tab will open the list of related projects. You can open a Project record by clicking on the Project Name . You can add a new Project from here , or by clicking the Quick Steps button on the Contact or Account main Summary tab.

Getting around in RapidStartPROJECT

Before you dive into the specifics of Projects it would probably be useful to have a quick overview of how to get around in the RapidStartPROJECT Addon. We have tried to make RapidStartPROJECT as intuitive as possible, but it can’t hurt to provide a quick lay-of-the-land. After the installation of the RapidStartPROJECT Addon, you will see some new items in your RapidStartCRM app.

The RapidStartPROJECT items have been added to your navigation sidebar , and three new dashboards have been added .

You can create a new project by either clicking on Projects in the sidebar, or clicking on the added Project Quick Step Button on either an Account or Contact record form.

RapidStartPROJECT – Process Flows

RapidStartPROJECT includes the following Process Flows:

• Project Flow
• Project Task Flow

Process Flows are completely optional. They are not required to utilize RapidStartPROJECT. However, Process Flows are a great way to create checklists of things that should be done on a particular record, at a certain point in time, in order to advance the record forward. It is also a great way to instill your own “Best Practices” procedures within your Company, or replicate a successful Process. While Process Flows may have different Stages and Steps from one another, they all work the same way. Here we will look at a simple Process Flow for Project as an example.

Project Process Flow

A Process Flow, for applicable records, sits near the top of the record as shown in the red box below.

1. Each Process Flow has an indicator of how many total days the record has been Active.
2. Process Flows are made up up Stages and Steps, the Target Symbol indicates which stage the record is in.
3. Most Process Flows have multiple, logical Stages

Process Steps

Process Stages contain Steps, including information requested to be addressed before advancing to the next Stage.

1. The Target Symbol indicates the currently active Stage, in the case above it is in the “Project Setup” Stage.
2. The Timer indicates that this record has been in the this Stage for 77 days.
3. Within the Stage are Steps to address at that Stage.
4. Once the Steps have been addressed, the user can move the Process Flow to the Next Stage, and so on until completed.

RapidStartPROJECT – Using the Timeline

Most records in RapidStartPROJECT have a Timeline panel on the Summary page, and it works the same on all record types. The Timeline is where you add various Activities and Notes to the records, providing you with a complete history of your interactions.

In the example Timeline below, you can see where a few Notes have been added previously.

Activity Types

You can add Notes (with attachments), Appointments, Emails, Phone Calls and Tasks to any record.

1. Select the “+” to add an Activity
2. Select the type of Activity, a new window will open

Add Notes on-the-fly

You can enter a Note immediately just by clicking and typing.

1. Enter a Title and the actual Note
2. Attach a file from any source you can browse to

Filtering the Timeline

Over time you could create quite a few Activities in the Timeline for a record. No need to scroll.

1. Select the three dots to open the submenu
2. Click to Open the Filter Pane

Timeline Filter Pane

1. In the Filter Pane, you can filter the list by any Activity type
2. You can also change the Sort Order

Outlook

If you have Outlook and Office 365, Appointments and Tasks created in the Timeline, will be synchronized and will appear in your Outlook Calendar and Task Lists.