Creating Project Proposals

When you need to submit a proposal for a new project, you need to fill out a project request from. This form requires the project owner to fill out the business case and build the high-level plan. When complete, they will request approval of the project. Email notifications regarding the project request are then be sent out to key stakeholders.

To create a new Project Proposal:

To do this, you must have a Project Manager or PMO user role assigned to your account.

  1. Log in to Accolade Projects.
  2. From the navigation bar at the top of the page, select Plan, and click on Create Project Request.
    • Alternatively, you may click on +Project button located at the top right of the page, or the Create New Project button within the Proposed Projects > List section.
  3. The Create Project dialogue will load.
    • To use one of your company’s existing project templates, click on the Project Templates drop-down, and select the template you want. Click Load Template.

    4. Note:  Loading a Project Template must be done before filling out the project form.

  4. Complete the following information in the Main tab:

    Field Description

    Name

    Enter a name to identify the project.

    This field is mandatory.

    Ref#

    		 Enter any external Project ID if the project is being transferred over from another system.

    Description

    		 Enter a description of the purpose or nature of the new project.

    Type

    Select the project type that fits your project:

    • Waterfall Project

    • Scrum Project

    • Kanban Project

    This field is mandatory.

    Program Portfolio

    Portfolios in Accolade Projects are tags associated with Programs that allow customers to group or classify them. Select a Program Portfolio:

    • Derald Program

    • Guidewire Program

    • Integration Program

    • Migrate to ERP System

    Queue

    Queues allow you to organize project proposals by team, technology platform, product, or customer, as helpful for you. In order to prioritize projects, they must be in a queue.

    By default, projects are placed in the General Queue.

    Target Start

    		 Select the date the project is expected to start.

    Target End

    		 Select the date the project is expected to end.

    Project Sponsor

    Select the name of the person who will be sponsoring the project.

    This field is mandatory.

    Project Manager

    		 Select the name of the person who will oversee planning and execution of the project.

    Project Requester

    		 Select the name of the person requesting the project.

    Sponsoring Cost Center

    Select the cost center that will be sponsoring the project.
  5.  Continue completing the other sections of the form, as needed for your project:
    • Custom Attributes

      This section contains any custom attributes that have been added to Accolade Projects by users. These custom attributes can be used for tracking and reporting purposes. If existing attributes are listed, enter the Attribute Value details within the row.

      To add a new custom attribute:

      1. Click on the Add New Attribute button.

      2. Enter a name for the new attribute, and select a type.

      3. Click on Update to add the new attribute, and enter the Attribute Value once it is added to the Attributes table.

    • Estimation

      This section allows for adding initial cost estimates in dollars and hours. These "rough order of magnitude" estimates, also known as ROMs, are estimates of the effort and cost involved in completing a project. The ROM estimation process occurs early in the project life cycle and serves as a guide in the selection of strategies and planning options.

      To add any initial estimates for the project:

      1. Enter a number to the relevant fields.

        • Alternatively, you can click on the arrow buttons to increase the estimate value.

      2. Enter a description, stating the rationale and assumptions for the initial estimate value hours or cost.

    • Customers

      In this section, you can identify the specific customers that the project is associated with. For example, if you have a large customer that has many active projects at once, you can "tag" the customer here so that you can sort, filter, and report on all of those projects easily. To add any relevant customers, select a name from the drop-down.

    • Goals & Objectives

      Goals can be customized to aid in analyzing the project.

      To add any goals or objectives to the project:

      1. Click on the Add New Goal or Objective button.

      2. Select the type of the goal or objective, assign an owner, and state any relevant descriptions.

    • Scope

      To document the scope of your project in more detail, select the Add New Scope button, and enter a scope. Multiple concise scope statements can be added for the project.

    • Stakeholders

      To add interested stakeholders to the project, select a name from the drop-down.

      Stakeholders will receive notifications as specified in Notification Settings.

    • Access

      This section allows for specifying necessary restrictions to the project:

      1. Select a general Access Mode for the entire project, from the drop-down:

        • Normal

        • Open

        • Restricted

      2. If needed, in the Group Read Access and Individual Read Access fields, select the groups of users or individual users that will have read-only access to this project.

      3. If needed, in the Group Write Access and Individual Write Access fields, select the groups of users or individual users that will have "write" or editing access to this project.

    • General Project Settings

      This section specifies the project’s technical settings.

      1. Select the Default Tracking Mode, from the drop-down:

        • EZ: Project team members working on their assignments will have to update their EZ mode slider to indicate Percent Complete.

        • Hours & ETC: Project team members submit their time card and estimate time to complete; hourly costs get recorded to the project ledger based on rates and hours spent.

      2. If needed, change baselining by selecting whether auto-baselining is disabled or enabled. When enabled, auto-baselining will automatically take a baseline snapshot of the project. The baseline captures a fixed reference point of tasks, dates, budget, etc., once the project is approved. This allows you to track the project's progress over time and identify deviations from the initial plan.

      3. Set the Default Dependency Mode by selecting whether you'd like your task dependencies to be "strict" or "loose".

      4. Elect to change the planned start date of successor tasks automatically when a task is marked complete.

      5. Elect to prevent successor tasks from starting until all of the preceding tasks are completed.

      6. Select the Default Duration Mode, from the drop-down:

        • Fixed: The task deadline (date) is fixed, and the effort (hours) vary based on the allocated time.

        • Effort-driven: The hours are fixed (effort), and the deadline (date) adjusts based on the required work.

      7. Set the Currency Type.

      8. Set Labor Expense Type, from the drop-down:

        • OpEx (Default): Regular, ongoing costs.

        • CapEx: Upfront larger purchases; cost can be spread out over time.

        • DeferredEx: Expenses you pay now, but benefit from later; cost can be spread out over time.

    • Notification Settings

      This section sets project notifications to be sent to stakeholders added to this project.

      1. Check the box Send Email Notification On Task Completion, to send all stakeholders notifications when tasks are completed.

      2. Check the box Send Email Notification On Task Dates Changed, to send all stakeholders notifications when task dates are changed.

  6. If Custom Intake Tabs have been created, they display under the Main tab; fill out details in these tabs as well.
  7.  After all information has been entered, click on the Create button located at the bottom right of the page.
    • To clear all data that you have entered on the form, click on the Reset button.

Note:  Information entered here can later be edited from a project's Online Project Editor. To locate your project proposal or project, navigate to Plan > Proposed Projects, or Manage > Projects (Brief) / Projects (Detailed).

To submit your Project Proposal:

  1. Once you have created the project, the Online Project Editor page will load.

    • If your company requires that new project proposals include financial details, click on the Financials tab and enter the project’s financial details. For more on this, see Building Financial Models.

  2. Verify the entered information, and when ready to submit your new project, click on the Governance tab.
  3. Click Request Approval.

    • Your project is now on the assigned Project Manager and/or PMO’s queue to review, assess, and either accept or reject.