Adding Deliverables and Activities to Process Model Stages

A deliverable is a document or other item (such as a physical model or prototype) that contains information that gatekeepers use at gate meetings to decide whether to continue with a project. Process Designers add deliverables to stages within new and existing process models so the deliverables are available for each project based on the model.

An activity is a task required to complete a deliverable and can include documents as well. Activities are created the same as deliverables within the process model.

Note: The procedure below applies to all model types.

To add a deliverable or activity to a stage within a model:

From the System menu, select Process > All Models and create a gated, non-gated, or an idea model, or select the model to edit.
Do one of the following:

To add a new deliverable - In the Model tree, click next to the stage to add the deliverable to.
To add a new activity - In the Model tree, click next to the deliverable to which the activity applies.
To edit an existing deliverable or activity - Expand the stage or deliverable within the Model tree and select the deliverable or activity.

In the Deliverable Editor section, complete the following information to identify the deliverable or activity:

Required fields display with red text and an asterisk * if the field is empty.

Field	Description
Name	Enter a name, up to 64 characters long, which identifies the deliverable or activity.
Description	Enter a description of the purpose or nature of the deliverable or activity. This description helps others identify the deliverable or activity within each project.
Order	Enter a number to specify the deliverable or activity's place when it displays in a list. Lower numbered deliverables or activities display higher in the list.
Restrict to These Roles	To restrict access to the deliverable or activity based on a user's assigned user role, select the user roles that can access the deliverable or activity. If restricted, only users with access group, project access, and one of the assigned user roles have access to the deliverable or activity through the project, search, and external links. Use this option to add an additional layer of security to certain documents required for a project, such as financial or business statements. Setting restrictions at the model level helps to ensure that portfolios and other projects are created in the correct access group location. If no restrictions are selected, projects that use this model can be created or moved to any access group a Process Manager or Idea Manager has access to select.
User Function	If a person in a specific job role, such as an Accountant or an Engineer completes the deliverable or activity, select the job role's function from the drop-down list. Select the Enforce function on user selection check box to limit the selection of users for this deliverable or activity to those who have the function defined on the assignment. Selecting this option also disables the ability to change the function for the deliverable or activity and is enforced even if the function is inactive. To enforce user selection based on function for all deliverables, activities, workflow actions, and gatekeeper selections, use the Enforce function on user selection option for the model available on the Pages & Layouts tab within the model editor. See Defining Project Pages and Display Options for more information on this option.
Conditional Rule	Select a conditional rule to apply to the deliverable or activity. If a condition is already applied, it will display in the field. To add a new condition, click [Add New] and complete the rule information. The newly created rule is automatically assigned to the deliverable or activity and displays on the Conditions tab of the model. See Conditioning Deliverables and Activities Overview for more information on condition rules with models.
Configuration Access Groups	Select the access groups to which the deliverable or activity belongs. Process Designers with matching permissions will be able to edit and/or view the deliverable/activity. The access groups displayed are based on the current user's access group permissions and the access groups the process model belongs. See Restricting Configuration via Access Groups Overview for more information on using access groups restrictions within models.

In the Content and Workflow Options section, define the contents of the deliverable:

Field	Description
Template	Click to select a template file from the Template Library to use for the deliverable or activity. Assigning a template to a deliverable or activity is optional. If the deliverable is stored outside of Accolade (as a link or web page), or if the deliverable or activity only requires entries in a quick grid, the deliverable does not need a template. Templates selected in this field are available for download from the All My Work page, the Stages page in a project, or from the Deliverable or Activity Details dialog box. (missing or bad snippet) If you use Microsoft Project to create Project plan templates, only plans uploaded to the Template Library that contain the model you are working in display for selection. See Creating Microsoft Project Plans as Templates for more information on creating these templates.
Link To	If the deliverable or activity is a continuation of a deliverable or activity from a previous stage (in gated and idea models), or if the contents of this deliverable or activity is the same as that from a previous stage in a model but still pertinent at a gate meeting, select the linked deliverable or activity from the drop-down list. For example, you may have a marketing deliverable in Stage 1 that gathers basic information on potential customers. You can link it to the marketing deliverable in Stage 2, where you want to gather more detailed information on the same customers. Creating a link is helpful if the same document applies to multiple stages or gate meetings, but is not necessarily developed from a template. Linking allows you to continue to build on a deliverable or activity's contents as a project progresses through stages and gates. Note: You can link to the latest version or the published version, but not to documents based on online forms (web documents) or a Microsoft Project plan template. Some browsers may treat this as a pop-up, if so disable pop-up blockers or make an exception for this occurrence.
Quick Grids	Click and choose one or more quick grids to use for the deliverable or activity. To ensure that all data is entered in a deliverable or activity that uses the selected quick grid, select the Disable Complete status when required data is missing check box. When selected, the deliverable or activity cannot be set to Completed unless all the data fields set as required in the quick grid are completed. Note: Quick grids are only displayed if the user has edit access to the quick grid, the quick grid belongs to a child access group of the deliverable or activity's access group, or the quick grid is already attached to the deliverable or activity. Quick grids are only editable during the current stage. To continue to manage the metrics within a grid in other stages, add the quick grid to deliverables or activities in that stage, or link the deliverable or activity to a prior stage. To clear a selected quick grid, click and click next to the associated quick grid or click Clear to clear all of the selected grids.
Workflow	Click and choose a workflow to use for the deliverable or activity. If you specify a workflow in the model, the workflow is required for the deliverable or activity. (Deliverables Only) To prevent the workflow from starting until all the activities associated with the deliverable have the status Completed or Not Required, select the Activities must be Completed or Not Required to start workflow check box. If you select a Smart workflow that contains metrics to define rules, the metrics are automatically added to the process model. See Workflows to Complete Documents Overview for more information on using workflows within models.
Workflow Template	If the selected workflow contains an automated step to generate a PDF, click and select the workflow template file to use for the deliverable or activity. Templates in this field are not available for download from the All My Work page, Stages pages, or from the Deliverable or activity Details dialog box. (missing or bad snippet) If a template is selected here and in the Template field, workflow creators have the option to select which template to use when adding steps to the workflow configuration. Only templates assigned the Process Document (File) type are available for selection. See Templates Overview for more information about template types.
Publish On Upload	Select whether to publish the deliverable or activity when a user uploads new versions. The system default is based on the Default New Versions to Published system parameter. Selecting Yes or No potentially overrides the system parameter for the specific deliverable or activity. Activities added to deliverables in projects, however, respect the system parameter. Additionally, the publish setting does not apply to linked deliverables. The Publish On Upload field does not apply to deliverables and activities with WebDoc templates and is thus disabled.
Process Assistance URL	Enter the address for a website where the document owner can find information or perform research for this deliverable or activity. Adding a website here adds a Process Assistance button to the deliverable or activity detail page.

Select one or more of the "Allow" options to further define the deliverable or activity:

Option	Description
Allow "Not Required" status	(Deliverables Only) Select this check box if the deliverable can be optional for its gate meeting. Optional deliverables do not have to be completed for a project to be considered ready for its next gate meeting. If this check box is selected, the project manager or deliverable owner can select the Not Required status for this deliverable within a project. When a deliverable is not required, it does not trigger the warning icon on the Upcoming Gates page if it is incomplete.
Allow shared ownership by default	Select this check box to allow team members to assign and unassign themselves as the owner of the deliverable or activity. This is useful if more than one person needs to work on a deliverable or activity, and the deliverable or activity does not contain a workflow to route it for completion.
Allow versions to be deleted	Select this check box to allow the deletion of versions of the deliverable or activity. The Protect versions from deletion option in the model configuration overrides this setting and disables the deletion of any deliverable or activity in the project when selected. Note: This option is for team members working with a deliverable or activity. It does not apply to propagation when deleting a deliverable or activity from the model.
Allow Lead/Manager and deliverable owner to delete activities	(Deliverables Only) Select this check box to allow the team leader and deliverable owner to delete the activities associated with the deliverable. If this check box is clear, only a Process Manager with Delete Activity rights can do so.
Hide related documents	Select this check box to prevent users from uploading related documents specifically for the deliverable or activity. Selecting this option ensures that team members cannot add or modify related documents during a workflow.
Disable "Complete" status when no document version is published	Select this check box to prevent users from changing the status to Completed when no document version is published.

In the Default Start, Default Deadline and Default Finish Date fields, indicate whether the deliverable or activity start, finish and end dates are entered manually or are relative to the days after the start of the deliverable, before a stage ends, or a percent of stage duration.

Using the Days before stage end, Days after start, or Percent of stage duration allows the dates to shift depending on deliverable start and stage end dates for the project, without having to manually re-enter new dates. This shift is exclusive of the start date, hence this calculation applies after the specified start date. Also, if dates are manually updated in the project, the defaults specified in the process model will no longer be followed.

Example

If a deliverable or activity does not start until 5 days before the gate meeting that follows the stage, select the Days before stage end option in the Default Start Date field and enter 5. As the dates for the stage move, the start date for the deliverable or activity in the project is automatically recalculated to always be 5 days before the gate meeting, even if the gate meeting changes. And, as this calculation is exclusive of the start date, if the start date set is June 1, then the end date will be June 6.

(Optional) If one or more matrices are associated with the model, set matrix metric filters in the Matrix Metric Filters section.
Click Create to add the new deliverable or activity, or click Save to save changes to an existing deliverable or activity.
(Optional) Repeat this procedure to add activities required to complete the deliverable.

Notes:

To rename an existing deliverable or activity, access the deliverable or activity within the model as described above, update the name in the Name field, and click Apply.
If you modify an existing deliverable or activity definition within a model, the deliverable template or name in the model updates in projects before, but not after, a version of the deliverable is uploaded in the project.
To delete a deliverable or activity, display the deliverable or activity and click Delete. See Deliverable, Activity, and Gate Document Best Practices before deleting deliverables and activities.
Collaborative Workflow is an optional Accolade component that you may not have access to. To implement this solution, contact Sopheon Customer Support.
Accolade's integration with Microsoft Project is an optional Accolade component that you may not have access to. To implement this solution, contact Sopheon Customer Support.

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