Tip 6 of 7 – Get Customizable Web-Based Software and Get Productive – 7 Tip Series

By Kathleen Lamphier | Posted on May 13th, 2009

Tip number six for improving project team productivity with customizable web-based software. The seventh and final tip is coming next week.  Want all the tips, all in one easy to read PDF file? Click here to request them.

Tip #6 – Personalize the project experience
Sure, collaborative teamwork is what project management is all about. But your team’s success depends on the integration of individual efforts – each with different needs.

For example, not everyone on your team wants or needs to see all project information, and they definitely don’t all want to see it in the same way.  You may want to assign varying levels of information access to project participants.  And, each member of your team may want to customize the project management application to view just the information that’s most important to them.

Many project teams find the following personalization features very helpful:

Adjustable permission levels
The entire team does not need equal access to project information. Customizable project management applications allow managers to control what information individuals can see – and their ability to modify, share or simply view it – by assigning different levels of permission.  This way, the project manager retains the oversight he needs, while individual participants gain access to just the information they need – no more, no less. And, confidential or sensitive information remains restricted to authorized users.

Customizable dashboards and reports
A “dashboard” is an application’s control center. It’s the first page you see when you open your application, and it puts all the at-a-glance information you need in one place.  From it, you can search, add information, create or access reports, and more.

Project management software should enable individuals to arrange their dashboard to their tastes, allowing them to easily access just the documents, records and other information most important to them. It should also enable individuals to create their own custom reports so they can see information how and when they need it.

Get personal with QuickBase
Did you know that Intuit QuickBase provides many ways to personalize your project experience? They include: roles, groups, field level permissions, dashboards and reports.

Roles
You control access to your application and information by assigning a role to a user. QuickBase roles determine what the user can see or do within your application.

Groups
You can save time when managing large groups of users, by creating a QuickBase group. QuickBase groups are a collection of similar users combined together to grant application access or special permission rights to all members at once.

Field level permissions
There may be times when you want to share your application with many users, but limit access to certain fields. QuickBase lets you choose from three access settings: No Access, View or View/Modify.

Dashboards
With QuickBase you can customize dashboards for your users, including personalized views of the information important to them, buttons to get them going to the right place fast, and information to guide them on what to do or what’s new. For example, you can add a report to the dashboard that lets each user see a list of her own unfinished tasks when she opens the application.

Reports
With seven QuickBase report types to choose from, you can display your data the way you want and interact with your data right through your reports. QuickBase reports formats include: table, grid edit, summary, crosstab, calendar, chart and timeline.

Coming next week – tip #7 – anticipate needs for security, service and support.

How are you using QuickBase’s personalization features?