OneNote for PMs

1. OneNote for PMs February, 2013

2. The Challenge • PMs manage a LOT of stuff: • Document Management • Version Control • Change Management • Asset Management • Configuration Management • Financial Management • Issues Tracking • Incident/Problem/Defect Tracking • Action Item Tracking • Basis of Estimate/Estimating • Meeting Management • Call Management • Collaboration • Business Opportunity Capture • Research • Sandbox • … and lots more! • Proposal • Contract • Charter • Guiding Principals • Scope Management • Requirements Management • Risk Management • Staff Management • Asynchronous Work • Geographical Team Distribution • Stakeholder Management • Communications Management • Integration Management • Lessons Learned • Procurement Management • Knowledge Sharing • Tracking and Reporting

3. The Tools • Nearly every PM has some tools available, such as: • Microsoft Project/Primavera • SharePoint/Notes • Web-Based Project Management Toolkit (e.g., EPMLive) • Company Portal • Company-made or purchased Templates • Office Productivity Suite (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Visio, Access) • Outlook/Notes (email, calendar, contacts, ToDo) • Telephone • Web/Video Conferencing • Time Tracking Tools • Business Intelligence Tools • Business Process Automation

4. Some Other Tools • Some PMs have access to additional tools … if the contract can afford to pay for them • Version/Source Control (e.g., SubVersion, Jira) • Requirements Management (e.g., Caliber, Rational, Contour) • Testing Management (e.g., Silk Central, Rational, HP) • Workflow Management (e.g., MetaStorm, BMC) • Incident/Problem Tracking (e.g., Remedy, Jira, Serena) • Etc…

5. Tool Gaps • While these tools work for their targeted functional area, they typically leave some gaps regarding the full set of tools that can help PMs. • In particular, these gaps are: • Information Management and Sharing • Integration between Data Sources • Collaboration and Team Building • SharePoint, the Portal, Web-based PM tools, email, and intranet project folders provide some information sharing and some integration, but in general “it ain’tpurty, and it sure ain’t fun”.

6. Information Management and Sharing • If your folders are well organized, you might get something like this: • With well named documents • Descriptive Titles • Version IDs • Dates • etc…

7. Information Management and Sharing • But for many, you might get something like this: • With documents that have cryptic names • QPR013.doc • No Version IDs • No Dates • etc… • What are the Tasks? • What the heck is PZD2?

8. Accessing Information • The same can be true of a SharePoint or Notes site • However, you need to know where to look to find documents, and you still have to open files to get to the information • Searching project content is not easy and is frequently not useful

9. Integration Between Data Sources • Outlook and Notes can provide some integration between emails, attachments, contacts, calendar appointments, and ToDo items • But, unless you’re into advanced journaling, really useful integration and linking is quite limited. • Wiki pages on SharePoint and Web-based tools can provide some links and integration • But Wikis are not particularly easy to build or maintain

10. Collaboration and Team Building • Again, Wikis on SharePoint and Web-based tools can provide some collaborative workspace and team building support • But Wikis are not particularly easy to build or maintain • Notification of updates or new content is challenging, when available

11. Filling the Gap • So, how do we fill these gaps for information sharing, data integration, and collaboration? • The answer is actually right under our noses… • Microsoft OneNote • OneNote of part of Microsoft Office • OneNote is installed on most PCs with Microsoft Office installed • OneNote on the Web is free

12. Introduction to OneNote • If you have a PC with Microsoft Office installed, you likely have OneNote (it is part of MS Office) • There are three versions: • 2003 is barely functional • 2007 is nice, but • 2010 is much nicer • 2013 coming soon • Just Windows, iOS, and Android • Start Button ( <CTL><ESC>) • All Programs • Microsoft Office • Microsoft OneNote 2010 • I drag the icon to my Quick Launch Toolbar in the Tray • oh, and there is

13. Introduction to OneNote • Notebooks, Sections, and Pages, OH MY!

14. Flexibility of Organization You can easily move pages and sections as needed

15. Create Content It is VERY easy to create content (text, table, image, links, draw)

16. Tags • Use existing Tags to label content for later search or action • Create your own Tags (SDLC status? EA elements? ITIL ties?)

17. Templates • Create your own Page, Section, or Notebook Templates • Or, leverage Templates created by others

18. Share, Sync, and Review Changes • Share the Notebook across your team • Changes are Synchronized near real-time • See and Review Changes and Page Versions

19. Security • Anyone who can access the location of your Notebook can open the Notebook • You can password protect Sections in OneNote • And, you can control access to the Notebook, Section Groups, and Sections using file access controls in your OS

20. Office Integration: Outlook Email • Copy emails from Outlook for sharing or document trail • Creates a link in both OneNote and Outlook

21. Office Integration: Outlook Appointments • Create Meeting Note Pages from Appointments in Outlook • Copies over all of the metadata from the appointment • Creates links in OneNote and Outlook • Great place to use Templates for meeting minutes!

22. Office Integration: Linked Notes • Take note in OneNote about a Word document, or PowerPoint presentation, or an IE Web page, and have them linked • In this case, we’re ready to take notes on this Microsoft PowerPoint file. • Note the PowerPoint icon showing the link – clicking that takes you to the content in the linked file

23. The PM Template • The OneNote Notebook Template is designed to be a starting ground, a sandbox, for Project Managers to use with new (or even existing) projects. • Just copy the Template, rename, share, and collaborate! • It is intended to help the PM and Team collect, organize, find, and share information about the project • It is intended to fill gaps, not to replace any of the tools that PMs have available to them

24. The PM Template

25. The PM Template

26. The PM Template • Staffing

27. The PM Template • Staffing

28. The PM Template • Personnel Notes

29. The PM Template • The Execution Section Group is designed to be flexible according to the needs of the type of Project • SDLC Phases are included in the Template • For Task oriented projects, just copy the Task Sections • If you have a particular layout for your Task information, create a Task Section Template for your Project

30. The PM Template • The Meetings and Calls Section Group provides a location for capturing meeting minutes, call logs, etc. • This is a great place to use Templates tied to Sections

31. The PM Template • The Project Information Section Group is primarily designed as a Sandbox and document capture location • Setup Sections and Pages to suit your needs for Planning and Close Out • Here are proposed Pages for Project Documents included in the Template

32. The PM Template • Here are proposed Pages for Planning activities included in the Template

33. The PM Template • Here are proposed Pages for Close Out activities included in the Template

34. The PM Template • The Reporting Section Group is a location for capturing information for internal and external reporting • Customize as needed, per client expectations • Easy for team members to add their status information • The Tracking and Control Section Group is a location for managing Action Items, Incidents, Problems, Changes, etc.

35. OneNote: A Productivity Enhancement Tool for PMs • Easy to add information • Easy to find information • Easy to share information • Facilitates collaboration • You might already have it!