Tiberiu Ghioca, Author at RationalPlan

RationalPlan 4.0 – A Brand New Design

The developers from Stand By Soft are pleased to announce the release of a major version for the project management suite RationalPlan. Version 4.0 comes with a new design, a modern look and a more pleasant color scheme for the eye.

This is a major turn around as the company decided to focus on three different areas or more exactly on three important needs for different types of project managers. These needs are covered by the main three products: Single, Multi and Server.

Although different, in the essence the entire suite has something in common. “Our moto – Manage your projects the easy way – defines in the best possible way what we want from this suite of project management products. Every manager needs to effectively handle his projects and there are many tools in the market for this. However what we want is to also offer the easiest and fastest way to achieve that.” says Gabriel Toader, CEO at Stand By Soft. And the main feature to sustain this idea is an embedded Project Guide that will get project managers through each step of the planning process.

“Your kick-start to manage projects” that is the purpose of the Single product. It was especially designed for the novice or accidental project managers and it is the right solution to choose when managing small projects or when the management experience is missing.

The Multi product is more a program management application. “Get your projects together!” explains the best what for it should be used. Those program managers that need to handle multiple inter-related projects and even with shared resources can find in this product a solid help to support their work.

There is nothing easier that to “Manage your projects in one place“. And that place is the Server product from RationalPlan. With this product all the company data like projects, resources, calendars etc. are in one single place. From here anything can be accessed by anyone and from anywhere. All it needs to be done is to create some user accounts and set the appropriate rights. (more…)

By Tiberiu Ghioca|2022-11-18T10:20:11+00:00July 4th, 2012|News, RationalPlan|Comments Off

Support For Working With Subprojects In RationalPlan Project Management Software

RationalPlan version 3.26 was just launched with support for working with subprojects. Besides this feature, useful for big projects, other changes were added like improved printing customization, other types of task scheduling and much more.

RationalPlan is a project management software created to serve many types of users starting from novice project managers, users that need an environment to handle multiple projects and up to companies that need a server solution with concurrent access. It has been developed to help project managers keep their projects on time and within budget.

Important changes added to this version:

possibility to work with subprojects
dependency driven duration type scheduling
customizable header and footer for printing
added date range for Task deadline filter
more data added to the web interface of the Server

Certain companies often need to manage large projects. This kind of projects however are to big to be handled as a whole and must be decomposed in several smaller parts. And each part is treated as a project with its own assigned project manager and its own budget and time constraints. However all these projects are related and are actually subprojects of a master project. This necessity is now covered by RationalPlan Multi and users will have the possibility to work with master projects and subprojects. Of course resources can be shared between project so that overallocations and overtime costs to be detected and correctly computed.

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By Tiberiu Ghioca|2022-11-18T10:20:11+00:00March 1st, 2012|News, RationalPlan|Comments Off

MOOS Project Viewer 2.7 Added Team Planner View

MOOS Project Viewer version 2.7 added a new view from Microsoft® Project – the Team Planner view.

Project managers struggle with seeing clearly and quickly what their team is doing at any given point in the project schedule. Using Team Planner view in Microsoft® Project Professional 2010 you can see at a glance what tasks have been assigned to resources. According to Microsoft the main idea behind Team Planner is combining the power of the Gantt chart with the simplicity and familiarity of the Outlook calendar.

NOTE: Team Planner is a feature available only with Project Professional but starting with version 2.7 it is also available in MOOS Project Viewer.

The latest version can be downloaded from the official download page.

By Tiberiu Ghioca|2012-02-15T20:45:25+00:00February 15th, 2012|Microsoft Project, MOOS Project Viewer|Comments Off

Time Management In Project Management

Time management is the act of planning, controlling and finally executing specific activities, especially to increase efficiency or productivity. It applies to a wide usage area starting from personal time organization and up to business related time management. For the best results and the biggest efficiency dedicated time management software should be used.

A time management system is a combination of processes, tools, techniques, and methods. There are many books and case studies focusing on these notions.

Personal Time Management

The notion of time management was initially used in business related area but in time the term started to also be used for personal activities. People started to be interested on it when they felt the need to be more organized and more productive. It all happens when you start working all day long and at the end you wonder why you haven’t accomplished much.

Time management methodologies consist of a series of habits and good practices which help you to get more organized. The most used and well known time management methodologies are GTD and ZTD. Getting Things Done (GTD) was created by David Allen and it is based on the following principles:

do not use your memory to collect your ideas, tasks and arrangements
do not delay decisions on what to do next
if you can complete a certain task in less than 2 minutes, do it now

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By Tiberiu Ghioca|2022-11-18T10:20:11+00:00February 15th, 2012|Project Management Software, Time Management|Comments Off

RationalPlan Project Management Software Is Now Available In Spanish

RationalPlan version 3.25 was just released. The most important thing to be mentioned in the new version is the availability in Spanish language. Other features include the addition of a new resource type – cost resource, the possibility to sort clients and resources, better notification mechanisms, improved printing and much more.

RationalPlan is a project management software designed around the principle “easy to use” and can serve many types of users starting from novices, those that need an alternative to Microsoft Project, users that need an environment to handle multiple projects and up to companies that need a server solution with concurrent access for multiple users. It has been developed to help project managers keep their projects on time and within budget.

Important changes added to this version:

availability in Spanish language
improved printing
added cost resources
added accrual notion for costs on resources and assignments
improved notification mechanism
improved behavior for different time zones
better handling of external tasks from MS Project

The developers from Stand By Soft would like to thank to all the people that have contributed to translating RationalPlan in Spanish with special thanks to Pablo Avegno, Project Manager at Ventalum Argentina.

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By Tiberiu Ghioca|2022-11-18T10:20:11+00:00December 12th, 2011|News, RationalPlan|Comments Off

Project Scheduling – The Central Piece Of A Project Management Software

Project scheduling should be considered the central piece of any project management software. Without the possibility to easily schedule all the tasks of a project there would be little expectation regarding the efficiency of controlling complex projects. However a project scheduling software should simplify a project managers work and not complicate it.

The project schedule

The project schedule is the central part of the project plan and it is used to connect the tasks to be done with the resources that will accomplish them. It consists of a list of deliverables with intended start and finish dates. Deliverables are the lowest level elements in a schedule, which are not further subdivided.

In addition, the schedule provides project teams with a map for project execution and offers a baseline for tracking progress and managing changes. It can be used as a checklist to make sure that all necessary tasks are performed. If a task is on the schedule, the team is committed to doing it. In other words, the project schedule gives the means by which the project manager brings the team and the project under control.

The visual representation of a schedule is a timeline chart. It is created such that it depicts the tasks of the projects, the duration and the sequencing of them, and the major milestones of the project. The Gantt chart is the most popular timeline chart.

Prior to creating the project schedule the project manager must have a work breakdown structure (WBS), an effort estimate for each task, and a list of resources with availability for each resource. Once these data are established a project scheduling tool can automatically do much of the tedious work of calculating the schedule. However, before a project manager can use such tools, he should have an understanding over concepts like WBS, dependencies, resource allocation, critical paths etc. These are the real keys to planning a successful project.

When establishing the project schedule a few important steps must be performed:

Establish dependencies – The first step in building the project schedule is to establish the order in which tasks are going to be performed. The WBS structure will be used as input. A dependency will be created between two tasks if one depends on the other. There are four types of dependencies: Finish to Start, Finish to Finish, Start to Start and Start to Finish.
Assign resources to tasks – The next step is to identify the resources required to perform the work. A resource is any person, item, tool, or service that is needed by the project. Based on its availability the schedule might get adjusted in time.
Create the schedule – Once the dependencies are established and the resources are assigned the project manager must enter the work effort or the duration for each task. With this information in place a project scheduling software should be able to automatically arrange the tasks and calculate a final date for the project.

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By Tiberiu Ghioca|2022-11-18T10:20:11+00:00November 30th, 2011|Project Management Software|Comments Off

Tips And Common Practices For Project Managers

Nowadays almost any manager uses some kind of project planning software and the reason for this is simple: software can help and ease a lot the work of any person.

Many experienced project managers have created over time a knowledge base of tips and tricks that they can use. However novices are not that lucky. They need to gain all these in time. In this article we shall try to present some of the most encountered ones.

Keep your project as dynamic as possible

Projects tend to move and change in time and for this reason there must be an easy way to update it. If it is created using hard constraints a simple shift in time might actually be a very hard to do operation. Here are some things that you should take into consideration:

Use of constraints. Constraints on tasks impose certain restrictions in the scheduling algorithm because it relates to certain dates. Fixed dates should be avoided as much as possible since this links the project to a certain time period. Instead of using dates to specify the sequence of tasks you should rather think at adding dependencies between them.

Creating dependencies. If certain gaps must be created in the sequence of tasks within a project then these should always be represented using dependencies with “leads” or “lags”. This is very useful in case of shifting the project in time. Do not simulate them using false tasks or hard constraints. Using false tasks will result in an increased total work and constraints will make the project to be connected to certain dates. Furthermore dependencies should be avoided to be used to resolve resource overallocations.

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By Tiberiu Ghioca|2022-11-18T10:20:11+00:00November 28th, 2011|Project Management Software|Comments Off

Make Sure Your Projects Are On Track

A good plan is just the first step to the success of a project. The real work starts only after the project plan is ready. As a project manager you have to track the project’s evolution and make sure it follows the initial plan as much as possible. And the easiest way to accomplish this is through the use of project tracking software.

It is a well know fact that the initial plan does not always fit your expectations. The unpredictable happens. To increase the chances for project success, once your project is started the project manager needs to constantly monitor its progress keeping up with what everyone is doing. There are several factors that need to be kept under control: activities, resources and work, budgets and costs, progress.

Activities

Activities in a project can be categorized based on certain characteristics as projects, phases, milestones and tasks (the term task is generally used for all these terms). A milestone is a key event marking the end of a major stage of a project. And for this reason managing milestones is the most important factor. Essentially these are the deliverables which your project sponsors will remember and keep asking you about. You need to immediately recall these dates to instill a sense of confidence in your ability to be on top of things. The key here is to have a clean layout over the milestone plan and to make sure you check them as completed at the already planned dates. You can do it sooner but not later.

The next important activities are the low level ones. Since phases are just a summary of all these tasks it is obvious that once the tasks are efficiently tracked all the above levels up to the root project are also on schedule. In this case the key is to easily determine the critical path of the project and to constantly track those tasks. Project management tools like Gantt charts can make this job as easy as possible.
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By Tiberiu Ghioca|2022-11-18T10:20:11+00:00November 18th, 2011|Project Management Software, Project Tracking, Resource Management|Comments Off

Project Management Solutions To Better Control Your Business

Any business needs some management solutions to get organized and stay on the floating line. Unfortunately, many organizations are forced to rely on paper trails and email-chains. These outdated methods were replaced by newer project management solutions.

There are different types of such solutions for a wide range of working domains and for many kinds of needs. The access to accurate, real-time data regarding projects and resources is crucial to making strategic business decisions. Companies must keep up with the changes that impact the day-to-day running of their business. Managers are expected to deliver more than ever – but with fewer resources, within a shorter period of time and to produce maximum returns for the business.

Many times all this work gets externalized to other specialized entities. This covers either the use of project management tools or even more the delegation of entire work to management and consulting companies. In all cases appropriate methodologies and processes are necessary to be applied.

Project management solutions

In order to make the best decisions to support your organization’s long-term goals you have to decide and choose the right management solution:

Resource management – if you have a resource oriented activity this is the solution on which you should insist on. In most cases it is strongly connected with work management software
Project portfolio – this type of solution is the most used in any domain. Any company has multiple projects that needs to be managed. It also covers almost entirely resource management software
Issue tracking – best suited for software development companies
Task management – many small and medium organizations resort to this kind of solution; task management software is used mainly because of the ease of use, simplicity and light collaboration features

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By Tiberiu Ghioca|2022-11-18T10:20:12+00:00October 4th, 2011|Business Management, Project Management Software|Comments Off

RationalPlan Version 3.24 Is Available With New Features

RationalPlan version 3.24 was just released. Many new features were added like the possibility to work with custom filters, to attach documents or to use rich text editors on tasks. More reports are available now in multiple languages and as a bonus a preview capability is also present. Another thing that deserves to be mentioned is the compatibility with the latest Java version 1.7.

RationalPlan is a project management software designed to fit multiple types of users starting from novices, those that need an alternative to Microsoft Project, users that need an environment to handle multiple projects and up to companies that need a server solution with concurrent access for multiple users. It has been developed to help project managers keep their projects on time and within budget.

Important changes added to this version:

Added support for custom filters
Support for multiple languages for reports
Added a new “Resource assignments” report
Added documents for tasks
Improved the functionality for managing conflicts
Added WYSIWYG rich text editor for the notes on tasks, resources, clients and risks
Added support for Java 7
Added the possibility to preview reports

The reporting mechanism was significantly improved from multiple points of view. The most important is the possibility to have a preview of each report before it is decided whether it will be printed or not. Next a new type of report was added: “Resource assignments”. This report is useful to generate the list of responsibilities for a certain resource. This way the project manager can hand over either digitally through .pdf files or manually through printed sheets the list of activities that each resource has to do. And all of these are now available in multiple languages including English, French, German, Spanish, Italian, Dutch and Romanian.

Working with filters on tasks just got easier and at the same time more powerful. With the addition of custom filters users can now create any combination of the already existing ones. They will be able to see for example the tasks that are not completed and that are assigned to certain resource and that have a deadline.

The way users can manage documentation on tasks in the current version should be more helpful. They will have the possibility to attach documents as links to local files or to web pages over the Internet. More than that the Notes area was transformed in a rich text editor from a plain one. Users will be able now to format texts and add hyperlinks or images. The rich text editing was also extended to other data like resources, clients, risks etc.

Many more minor improvements were added like an easier way to manage conflicts, some cosmetic issues, better translation in other languages and so on. Support for the latest Java version 1.7 was also added.

RationalPlan suite includes:

RationalPlan Single Project – the alternative for Microsoft Project and the perfect solution for novice or accidental project managers
RationalPlan Multi Project – project management software for multiple projects, projects that are interconnected through dependencies and share common resource
RationalPlan Project Viewer – free project management software viewer, the solution for anyone (from project stakeholders to team workers) to view projects details
RationalPlan Project Server – a centralized place to manage the company’s projects while offering concurrent access to different users

RationalPlan Project Management Software is available at http://www.rationalplan.com. It can be download from https://www.rationalplan.com/download.php.

About Stand By Soft

Stand By Soft was founded in 1997 as a software company specialized in building desktop applications and components. RationalPlan is a project management software that follows the general recommended guidelines from project management domain. MOOS Project viewer is a Microsoft® Project viewer that allows you to open, view in a dynamic way and print any Microsoft® Project file

Contact name: Lucian Ioan
Address: Aleea Parului, Nr.4A, Craiova, Dolj, 200346, Romania
Email: marketing@rationalplan.com
Phone: +40771610710

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By Tiberiu Ghioca|2022-11-18T10:20:12+00:00September 6th, 2011|News, Project Management Software, RationalPlan|Comments Off

About Tiberiu Ghioca

Personal Time Management

The project schedule

Keep your project as dynamic as possible

Activities

Project management solutions