Creating Assignments  

In DOVICO Timesheet, Assignments are the unique links between projects, tasks, and employees that define how a project is organized for time entry. Assignments must be created before employees can begin tracking their time.

 

The Project Assignments view is where assignments are created and managed. Assignments made in this view appear in DOVICO Timesheet's time and expense entry views with each employee only seeing the specific projects and tasks that have been assigned to them. The Project Assignments view graphically displays assignments on the left pane and displays all available tasks, employees (teams) and task groups within the 3 panes on the right.

 

Details on how assignments are displayed in the Project Assignments view.

 

The Assignment tree (left pane) displays a hierarchical representation of the assignments by:

 

    1. Clients (optional)

 

    2. Projects

 

    3. Task Groups (optional)

 

    4. Tasks

 

    5. Employees

 

  • Items within each level are arranged alphabetically.

  • Clicking on the + (or -) symbol next to an item will expand (or collapse) that item.

  • Projects without a designated client appear near the bottom of the assignment tree (after the last client).

 

 

This topic details (1) how to assign tasks (or task groups) to projects, (2) how to assign employees (or teams) to tasks and (3) how to remove assignments. To create a large number of assignments, you should consider using the Quick Assign view.

 

Important Tips:

  • Before creating or editing any assignments, check the various toolbars to see if any filters are currently applied in the assignment tree or in any of the panes at the right (employees, tasks, etc).  Although filters can be very useful when making or editing assignments, they can also cause confusion if you do not remember or recognize that they have been applied.

  • See Tips at the bottom of this topic for time saving information on using the Project Assignments view.

 

The Project Assignments view is accessed by clicking the Project Workspace button in the Projects section of the side navigation bar and then clicking the Project Assignments tab at the top of the screen.

To assign tasks to projects:

  1. In the assignment tree, locate and select the project to which you want to assign tasks.

  2. Click the Assign button located on the toolbar. The Assignments List window opens.


                     

  3. Click the Tasks tab at the top of the Assignments List window.

  4. Select one or more tasks to assign to this project and click OK. To select more than one item, hold the Ctrl key while making your selections.

 

To assign employees to tasks:

  1. Locate and select the task in the assignment tree.

  2. Click the Assign button located on the toolbar.

  3. Click the Employees tab at the top of the Assignments List window.

  4. Select one or more employees to assign to this task and click OK. To select more than one item, hold the Ctrl key while making your selections.

 

To assign task groups to projects:

You can assign one task at a time, or easily assign multiple tasks at once by using Task Groups.

 

Note: To automatically assign tasks when assigning task groups, verify that this option is enabled in the Options view.

 

  1. Locate and select the project in the assignment tree.

  2. Click the Assign button located on the toolbar.

  3. Click the Task Groups tab at the top of the Assignments List window.

  4. Select one or more tasks groups to assign to this project and click OK.

 

To assign teams to tasks:

You can assign one employee at a time, or easily assign multiple employees at once by using Teams. Unlike when assigning by task group, the team level is not displayed in the assignment tree. The individual team members are displayed directly under the task.

 

  1. Locate and select the task in the assignment tree.

  2. Click the Assign button located on the toolbar.

  3. Click the Teams tab at the top of the Assignments List window.

  4. Select one or more teams to assign to this task and click OK.

 

To remove assignments:

 

Warning:  When an assignment is removed, timesheet entries made for the project are not deleted but any estimate/budget information associated with the assignment is removed. This means that data (reports) showing budgeted vs. actual information will no longer show the estimate/budget for the removed assignments. An alternative to removing assignments is to hide them.

 

  1. Select the item (project, task, employee or task group) from which all assignments are to be removed.

  1. Click the Remove Assignments button .

 

 

Notes:

  • Projects linked to Microsoft Project or Microsoft Project Server are displayed in the Project Assignments view with an .mpp (or .published) extension appended to the project name. Changes to assignments and estimate information for these projects can only be accomplished using Microsoft Project.

  • Tasks automatically assigned using Global Tasks are not displayed in the Project Assignments view.

  • When a task is added to a task group assignment using either the assign button or using drag and drop (see below), the task is not actually associated to the task group when reporting is done at the task group level. That is, if a task is added to a task group using these methods, any time entered against this task assignment will not appear in reports showing information at the task group level. For task time entries to appear in Task Group reports, the task - task group association must be done from the task's properties window.

 

Tip for Internet Explorer version 6.0 and above:

If using Internet Explorer, you can create assignments by dragging and dropping items from the task, employee and task groups panes (on the right) directly into the assignment tree.
 

Example: To assign tasks to a project, select one or more tasks from the task pane on the right side of the screen and drag them on top of a project in the assignment tree. Employees (and teams) can also be assigned to tasks using drag and drop.
 

You can only drag and drop items into their suitable hierarchy levels. For example, you can drag employees onto tasks, but you will receive an error message if you drag employees over projects, clients or task groups.

 

Watch the Drag and Drop to assign  video walkthrough

 

Tips:

  • Many of the toolbar functions described in this topic are also available by using your mouse's right click button.

  • To make a large number of assignments, it may be easier to use the Quick Assign view.

  • Use Filtering to limit the amount of data displayed in the assignment tree.

  • Use Show/Hide Assignments to temporarily hide a task from an employee's time entry view.

  • Use the Copy function to make a copy of an existing project or task assignment structure.

  • Use the Assignment Copy function to copy an employee's assignments to one or more other employees.

  • To select adjacent items within a list, click the first item, and then hold down Shift and click the last item.

  • To select non-adjacent items, click the first item, and then hold down Ctrl and click additional items.