Monitoring Project Status using Excel Dashboards
August 18th, 2015
PART ONE (Pinned Documents for Smooth Tracking)
The status of the deliverables for an ongoing project or the status of standing issues for a team is as vital as it can be. It must be monitored at all times by the the project manager or the team lead, to breathe the same air as the team and to be able to present it to the upper management as part of the routine progress reports/meetings.
The way I use dashboards allows me to see the status of tasks (or deliverables) per each of the teams. By looking into the status, it is simple to know how far the team has to go in order to reach the final or intermediate milestone or deadline.
This post reflects my first step in my evolving routine, that allows me to precisely track the progress of my project. I’ll continue in a second post, which will include Pivots to analyse data, and possibly a further post to talk about how I monitor everything using a unified, integral solution; and how I monitor everything at one location, without having to travel between documents all the time, and being able to do that when I need to.
PART ONE: Pinned Documents for Smooth Tracking
As in many organizations, there are different media that are used to track different aspects (tasks or deliverables). Many of us use several different Excel spreadsheets (which are “Shared”, so that the team can update simultaneously), task management tools or project scheduling tools to plan and track deliverables, commitments, to-do lists, document releases, etc.
I will talk how to effectively monitor the Excel sheets using a smooth and routine tactic. We all have Excel sheets to list different tasks with status, unless we work at a team that has a unified method for project management. I know there are some magical companies that are able to do that. But many of us are not able to convince the whole team or company to work within a constrained IT solution.
Task management tools and project scheduling tools deserve different posts of their own. So let’s see how I handle several Excel sheets effectively.
Having ten to fifteen different Excel sheets is already a big challenge in itself. It takes a relevant amount of time to update, to monitor, and to analyse what is going on, although it is updated by the responsible parties. The productivity of the team depends a lot on setting the priorities right, and dynamically balancing the priorities as fast as the team/project requires. So the project manager (read, team lead) must see the big picture at all times.
My first step was to reach the different Excel sheets more easily. I started to “pin” the different documents into Excel, in the taskbar.
Pinning is not a secret functionality, but many of my team mates did not know that Windows 7 had this functionality. They were impressed when I demonstrated it for them. If you did not use it before, just give it a try. It’s the best feature that I’ve seen in years about Windows. Irrelevant Note: I’ve used almost all versions of Windows, from Windows 3.1 until Windows 7. Win95, Win2000 and WinXP were my favorites. I have not used Windows 8, and Windows 10 is just a few weeks old as of now.
In Windows 7, and most likely in the more recent Windows versions, pinning a document is as simple as right clicking the Excel Group at the taskbar, and then clicking the “pin” icon next to the relevant documents. Remember that, the document must be open, or must be recently opened, to see it in the list.
Pinning is also available for Word, Explorer and almost all other applications. It certainly helps you live a simpler and more productive work life!
Pinning documents is effective in two ways. First, it helps you routinely and smoothly visit each excel spreadsheet, as they are simply pinned to your Excel. Second, it helps you visually remember which topic-area (which Excel sheet) is more important that particular week.
I’m visiting about ten different Excel sheets routinely. Some of these lists have 150, some have 400 rows of deliverables/tasks in them. It’s a pleasure to know that everything is under control, without having to remember where each one hides. And it also helps the team align better with the project deliverables.
By using pivot tables and pivot charts, it is a matter of seconds to see what the team status is. Seeing which area needs more focus, which teams are unable to catch the milestone, or if the deadline will not be met, beforehand, allows you to really manage your team. Knowing the status, and the probability of success, or failure, it’s also possible to search for ways to mitigate the risks or ask for help, before these risks become project problems. It keeps you and your team awake and alert, too.
That’s all, for now.
If you tried this method “pinning”, or a similar one, please let me know what you think about it. I’d like to hear what others are doing to keep an eye on the many commitments and deliverables that they are accountable for.
This is certainly a very simple method for many people, especially those who are already using similar technics.
