This article covers the following topics:

In another major enhancement to Pipeliner, we’ve added a brand new Project Management Module ⤵

Users can track the completion status and timeline for each Project, add Objectives (milestones) and create and group Activities within Objectives and then view them in the "Objective View" or in a "Gantt Chart View" ⤵

Projects can be linked to an Account and will be visible from the new "Projects" tab that will be available from Account records when Projects are enabled. You can also link each Project to multiple Stakeholders (Contacts) ⤵

Access to Projects is granted/denied by updating the User Roles for your Pipeliner space.

NOTE: There are 2 types of out-of-the-box Project templates — Default Project and Account Plan. These templates can be accessed in the Admin Module by your Pipeliner Admins. Additional custom Project Forms can be created and all project forms can be updated and configured by your Admins.

Although the two templates are used in similar ways in the App, this article will focus on “Standard” project management using the Default Project template. For more information on using the Account Plan template, click here. If you read through one article in detail, you’ll be able to skim through the other!

NOTE: This add-on, the chargeable module will first need to be activated before users will be able to use Projects. Projects may be enabled for new Enterprise customers by default depending on their agreed contract, existing customers on our Starter or Business Tiers, or older Enterprise customers, will need to contact your Account Manager directly to discuss.

Projects are an invaluable new tool in Pipeliner for keeping track of a complex series of Activities linked to specific phases, goals or milestones.

Most businesses will be able to reap the benefits of using this new module for anything from tracking a post-sale implementation or delivery of a project to a customer ⤵

For “Internal” projects such as choosing a new software solution or supplier for a complex piece of equipment ⤵

Or even creating a quarterly sales team growth plan or managing the organisation of the yearly sales kick-off conference ⤵

The possibilities are endless...

Projects can be created from the Projects menu, or by clicking on the Projects tab of an Open Account, and then selecting “Create New” or by clicking on the main New menu and choosing “New Project”.

First, choose the type of project that you want to create based on one of the available templates ⤵

All Projects require a Name and a Start date and End date (these dates will default to the current date as the Start Date and End Date will be a month from now). The Owner and Sales Unit will fill in automatically in the usual way for any new record in Pipeliner. If you won’t be the Project’s Owner, you can change the Owner and add colleagues into the Sales Team section as Editors or Watchers ⤵

NOTE: If you’re creating a Project based on an Account Plan, you’ll also have to link to an Account record. Additionally, your Admins can configure your Projects to include any additional fields that you need to fill in.

You can see all Projects that you have access to from the main Projects menu or from the Projects tab of an Account record. Click and then “Open” from the right-hand Preview panel or double click on the Project’s name ⤵

Users can also search for Projects by name using the Global Search and open directly from the search results ⤵

From within an open Project, you’ll see the "Detail" tab with the right-hand panel giving you an overview of the completion percentage as well as which template the project is based on as well as Owner and Sales Team.

The toolbar allows you to “Create New Activity”, mark the entire Project as “Complete”, “Copy” the whole Project or review all updates using “View Changes” ⤵

When you “Complete” a Project, you will also be prompted to choose whether you also want to complete all associated Tasks, delete future appointments and change the "End Date" to the current date.

If you don’t manually “Complete” a Project, it will automatically be set to Completed as it reaches the selected "End Date" ⤵

If you copy a Project, you’ll also be able to copy all associated Objectives and Tasks if you choose to. Note that "Due Dates" will be blanked and Status set to "Not Started" ⤵

The “Activities Tab” is the main engine for driving your Project forward. Activities (both Tasks and Appointments) can be grouped within Objectives (main project goals or milestones). You can choose from several different Views to help you manage Objectives and Activities.

The "Calendar View", "Task Board View" and "List View" work just as they do in other menus in Pipeliner so this article will focus only on the new Project-specific Views — "Objective View" and "Gantt Chart View" ⤵

Create a new Objective by clicking on the “Create Objective” button and then type in the objective name and click on the "tick icon" to save ⤵

Re-organise your Objectives by holding the mouse on the "up/down arrows icon" and dragging to the desired order and click on the "›" to open/close each Objective to see the Activities within it ⤵

When working within an Objective, you can see its Status and Completion Percentage, add a new Task by clicking on the "+" symbol and choose More Options allowing you to Complete or Select all Tasks within the Objective. You can also Rename, Copy or Delete the Objective ⤵

If you "Copy" an Objective, you can choose to copy with or without the Tasks within it ⤵

If you choose "Delete", you’ll be prompted to delete all Activities or "Delete" the Objective and move its associated Activities to another Objective that you select ⤵

Re-order Activities within an Objective by grabbing the arrows icon and dragging and dropping.

Click on “Create New” to add a new Task or Appointment.

If you add a Task and depending on the type of Task that you select, you may see a new field “Task start date” as well as the standard “Due Date”. If you do, the new “Duration” field will automatically update to display the duration of the Task in Days.

If you’re adding a new Appointment, you may see the new field “Duration” and this is calculated in Hours and Minutes based on the Start Date/Time and End Date/Time of the meeting ⤵

You will not see the new fields when adding Activities unless your Admin has added the Task "Start Date/Duration" field to Task forms and the "Duration" field to Appointment forms in the Admin Module.

As part of the set-up, your Admin will also confirm your organisation’s Working Days which are used when calculating Activity duration to ensure that the Duration is the number of working days.

You can see the Duration in the Objective View and can “Inline” edit the values (along with most other values in this view) ⤵

When you create a new Task or Appointment using the “Create New” button and then "Save" it, it will be created in a default “Activities without Objectives” section. Simply drag&drop it into the correct Objective as needed ⤵

Click on the “Filter” button to filter Activities based on "Status" or other attributes or search for an Activity by name by typing in the Search box ⤵

Select any Activity to open up the right hand Preview Panel. You can manage all details of the Activity using the options and can also add Comments to each Activity “on the fly” ⤵

Activities with Comments will be highlighted with the “Comments” icon, clicking on the icon will open the "Activity" with the Comments section open ⤵

Use the "Gantt Chart" View for a time-based perspective on your Project’s Objectives and Activities ⤵

The menu buttons, search and "Filter" options work in the same way as the Objective View.

Click on “Today” to jump back to the current date which will be highlighted as a blue column or “Jump to the first planned activity” ⤵

Choose to see "Activities" displayed Weekly, Monthly or Quarterly ⤵

Select any Activity to open up the right hand "Preview" panel to work with the Activity or add Comments and move it in the timeline by hovering over it and then dragging and dropping ⤵

You can dynamically manage "Duration" by selecting an "Activity" and using the arrows to shorten or lengthen the duration ⤵

The current status of each Activity is colour-coded in both the Objective View and the Gantt Chart View: Overdue Activities are in red, Completed Activities green, Not Started Activities are grey and In Progress and Waiting Activities display as blue.

Remember to keep each Activity’s Status up to date as you work on it!!! ⤵

Just as everywhere else in Pipeliner, the Feeds tab gives an overview of “everything going on” with the latest interaction at the top. Select the items you want to see by using the "Filter" selections ⤵

Attach all project documentation to the "Documents" tab for ease of access and also, most usefully, email selected files to the main Account or to your primary Stakeholder directly ⤵

Capture general background and generic project information as notes ⤵