Projects

Projects are the central organizational unit that connect clients with statements of work (SOWs). They represent a specific engagement, initiative, or body of work for a client, and serve as containers for related SOWs, team members, and deliverables.

What are Projects?

Projects help you:

Organize Related Work: Group multiple statements of work under a single project
Connect to Clients: Link work directly to specific clients and contacts
Enable Collaboration: Let team members follow and work together
Track Progress: Monitor the status of all related deliverables
Control Access: Define who can view and edit project-related work

Project Properties

Each project has:

Basic Information

Name: A clear, descriptive project name (e.g., "Website Redesign Phase 2")
Description: Detailed information about the project scope and objectives
Client: Which client this project is for
Primary Contact: The main person at the client for this project
Organization: Which organization owns this project (optional)
Owner: The person responsible for managing the project
Start Date: When the project begins (optional)
End Date: When the project should be complete (optional)

Status

Projects move through different statuses as work progresses:

Active: Currently in progress (default)
Inactive: Temporarily paused
Completed: Successfully finished
On Hold: Waiting for client or internal input
Archived: Closed for historical reference

Organization Features

Pinned: Keep important projects at the top of your lists
Followers: Team members who want to stay updated on project progress
SOW Count: How many statements of work belong to this project
Created/Updated: Timestamps showing when it was created and last modified

Project Settings

Each project has configurable settings that control which task management features are available:

Task Management Features (Enable individually based on your needs):

Task Dates: Add start and due dates to tasks, with automatic overdue tracking
Task Assignees: Assign tasks to team members for clear accountability
Task Costs: Track estimated and actual costs for budget management

Financial Settings (When Task Costs enabled):

Currency: Project-level currency for all cost fields (USD, EUR, GBP, etc.)
Default Hourly Rate: Optional default rate for time-based estimates

Flexibility: Enable only the features you need. Simple projects can use basic task lists, while complex projects can enable all features for full project management.

Learn more: See Task Management Features for detailed information on configuring and using these settings.

Project Hierarchy

Projects fit into the application's structure like this:

Creating Projects

What You Need

Required:

A clear project name that describes the work

Recommended:

A detailed description of the project
Link to the client
Primary contact at the client
Organization assignment for team visibility
Start and end dates for planning

The project will automatically:

Start with "Active" status
Assign you as the owner
Grant you full admin access
Allow you to add statements of work
Initialize with default settings (all task features disabled)

Note: All new projects start with task management features disabled by default. You can enable dates, assignees, and costs through Project Settings based on your needs.

When to Create a Project

Create a new project when:

Starting work for a client
Beginning a new phase of existing work
Managing a distinct initiative or engagement
Grouping related deliverables together

Working with Projects

Viewing Projects

You can see projects in different ways:

All Projects: Everything you have access to
My Projects: Only projects you own
Organization Projects: All projects in your organization
Client Projects: All projects for a specific client
By Status: Filter to see active, completed, or archived projects

Pinning Projects

Pin up to 3-5 critical projects to keep them at the top of your list:

Pin projects that are:

Currently active and need frequent attention
Approaching their deadline
High-priority client engagements
Critical to your team's goals

How pinning works:

Pinned projects always appear first
Unpinned projects show in order of last update
You can pin and unpin anytime
Each user has their own pinned projects

Following Projects

Team members can "follow" projects to stay informed:

Followers:

Receive updates when project status changes
Can see all SOWs in the project
Don't need edit access to follow
Can be added or remove themselves

Use followers for:

Stakeholders who need visibility without edit rights
Executives monitoring progress
Cross-functional team members (marketing, sales, support)
External partners staying informed

Searching for Projects

Find projects quickly using search:

Search by:

Project name keywords
Description text
Client name
Status

Tips:

Use quotes for exact phrases
Search refreshes as you type
Clear filters to see all results

Project Lifecycle

1. Planning (Status: Active)

Activities:

Define project scope and objectives
Set start and end dates
Identify primary contact
Add team members as followers
Create initial statements of work

Who's involved: Project owner, team leads, client stakeholders

2. Execution (Status: Active)

Activities:

Add and complete statements of work
Track progress on deliverables
Update team on status
Manage acceptance criteria and tests
Coordinate with client contact

Who's involved: Entire project team, developers, testers

3. On Hold (Status: On Hold)

When to use:

Waiting for client feedback or approval
Blocked by external dependencies
Budget or resource constraints
Strategic pause in work

Activities:

Document why work is paused
Set expected resume date
Communicate with stakeholders
Track blocker resolution

4. Completion (Status: Completed)

Activities:

Verify all SOWs are complete
Get final client sign-off
Document lessons learned
Prepare for archiving

Who's involved: Project owner, client, key stakeholders

5. Archiving (Status: Archived)

When to archive:

Project is fully delivered and signed off
No more active work planned
Moving to a superseding project
Closing out old projects

What happens:

Project moves out of active lists
All data is preserved
Can be unarchived if needed
Doesn't count in active project metrics

Access Control

Who Can Access Projects?

You can access a project if you meet any of these conditions:

You're the Owner: You created or own the project
Organization Member: The project belongs to your organization
Explicit Access: You've been granted specific access to the project
Follower: You're following the project (view-only)

Access Levels

Viewer (Read-Only):

See project details and SOWs
View progress and status
Can't make changes

Editor (Modify):

Everything a Viewer can do
Edit project information
Create and modify SOWs
Add acceptance criteria and tests

Admin (Full Control):

Everything an Editor can do
Change project status
Manage access and followers
Delete the project

Organization-Level Access

When a project belongs to an organization:

All organization members automatically get Editor access
Great for team collaboration
Ensures everyone can contribute
Simplifies access management

Granting Specific Access

For external collaborators or limited access:

Open the project
Go to Access Settings
Invite by email or select user
Choose access level (Viewer, Editor, Admin)
Optionally set expiration date

Managing Multiple Projects

Organization Strategies

By Client:

One project per client engagement
Multiple SOWs for different deliverables
Clear client association

By Phase:

Separate projects for each phase
"Phase 1: Discovery", "Phase 2: Build", "Phase 3: Launch"
Maintains focus on current phase

By Team:

Projects organized by which team owns them
Frontend project, backend project, design project
Supports parallel work streams

By Timeline:

Q1 Initiatives, Q2 Initiatives, etc.
Aligns with planning cycles
Easy to archive completed quarters

Keeping Projects Organized

Do:

Use descriptive, consistent naming conventions
Update status as work progresses
Archive completed projects promptly
Link projects to clients for proper tracking
Set realistic start and end dates
Add descriptions with context and goals

Don't:

Create duplicate projects for the same work
Let projects stay "Active" after completion
Mix unrelated work in a single project
Forget to update status when things change
Delete projects (archive instead for history)

Project Reports and Metrics

What You Can Track

Completion Metrics:

How many SOWs are complete vs. in progress
Overall project progress percentage
Which acceptance criteria are met
Which tests are passing

Timeline Tracking:

Days until end date
How long project has been running
Time spent in each status

Team Activity:

Who's working on what
Recent updates and changes
Follower engagement

Using Metrics

Daily:

Check active projects for blockers
Review what changed since yesterday
Update status on completed work

Weekly:

Review progress against timeline
Identify projects at risk
Update stakeholders on status

Monthly:

Archive completed projects
Review lessons learned
Plan upcoming project phases

Common Workflows

Starting a New Client Project

Create the Project
- Choose descriptive name: "[Client Name] - [Project Type]"
- Add detailed description of scope
- Link to client record
- Set primary contact
- Assign to your organization
- Set start and end dates
Set Up Team
- Add team members as followers
- Grant specific access if needed
- Identify project owner
Create Initial SOWs
- Break down project into deliverables
- Create SOW for each major deliverable
- Add acceptance criteria to each SOW
Kick Off Work
- Communicate plan to team
- Begin working on first SOW
- Track progress regularly

Transferring Project Ownership

When a project owner changes:

Update Owner Field
- Go to project settings
- Select new owner
- Save changes
Grant Admin Access
- Ensure new owner has admin access
- Remove old owner if needed
- Update team on the change
Transfer Knowledge
- Share project context
- Review active SOWs
- Handoff client relationships

Pausing a Project

When work needs to stop temporarily:

Change Status to "On Hold"
Document Reason
- Add note explaining why
- Estimate when it might resume
- Identify what's blocking progress
Notify Stakeholders
- Inform team members
- Update client contact
- Set expectations
Plan Resumption
- Track blocker resolution
- Schedule follow-up review
- Update status when ready to resume