PensionPro offers functionality to easily track the progress of Projects—including Distributions—and provide an at-a-glance view of the Project's status in Dashboards and Worktrays, as well as PlanSponsorLink. This functionality can be customized to suit a firm's needs and preferences.
Tier Availability: Business Bundle
Security Rights Required: Add/Edit Project, Maintenance
Article Contents
Status and Workflow
Any Task within the Project Workflow can be assigned a Project Status. When the Task is activated, the corresponding Project Status is automatically applied to the Project. For example, a Project Status could indicate that the Project is In Process or Awaiting Census, or show that there was a Form Submitted. As the Project progresses, its Status message will update to reflect the state that the Project is in.
These Status messages can be created and edited as preferred. Project Status is a List Value located under Core > Projects.
Additionally, Distribution Projects use a unique Distribution Status List Value, located under the Distributions category. Although each type of Status is maintained separately, there is no difference in functionality between Projects and Distributions.
Updating Project Templates
Before a Project can make use of Statuses, the Template will need to be edited, with appropriate status messages added to Tasks. This cannot be accomplished in an Excel workbook template; instead, the following steps must be performed within the Project Template in PensionPro:
- If necessary, select Add
to create a Task as normal.
- Hover over the Task, then select Edit
on the right.
- Choose a Project Status from the dropdown.
- Select Save.
If a Status should persist across multiple Tasks, that Project Status should be applied to each Task. Any Task that does not have a Project Status assigned will revert the Status of a Project to In Process upon activation.
Not In Good Order
Distribution Projects have one additional Status that is not controlled by Tasks and is not a List Value: Not in good order. This Status denotes that a Task is currently on pause.
To utilize Not in good order, a Distribution Template needs to contain at least one Task Item that is assigned the Yes/Not in good order Data Type. This will enable the Yes/Not in good order dropdown for that Task Item in a launched Distribution.
If a Task Item dropdown is set to Not in good order, and the corresponding Task is active, the Distribution Status will also update automatically to read Not in good order. Subsequently setting this field to Yes or completing the Task will remove the Not in good order status.
Viewing Statuses
Once a Project Template is updated to include Project Statuses in its Workflow, the Status can be easily tracked from a Dashboard, Worktray, or on PlanSponsorLink.
On Dashboards and Worktrays
The Project Status is meant to be a quick indicator of a Project's current progress. As such, it can be found on any Dashboard or Worktray where the currently-active Task is present, so long as the Project Status column is visible. To add the Project Status column:
- From the desired Dashboard or Worktray, select Columns
at the top-right of the grid.
- Select the Project Status checkbox.
- Select Apply.
The above steps also apply to Distribution Status.
For more information on using Dashboards and Worktrays, refer to the articles Using the Dashboard and Using Worktrays.
On PlanSponsorLink
Plan Sponsors with the proper Website Rights can track the Status of every Project and Distribution for a Plan on PlanSponsorLink. In this way, a well-constructed Project or Distribution Template can provide a Plan Sponsor with regular updates that can be checked at the Sponsor's leisure.
Along with the Project Status, the Projects tab on PlanSponsorLink shows Plans, Projects, and the dates the Project was started and completed. All of the following must be true for a Plan Sponsor to track a Project's Status via PlanSponsorLink:
- Show Projects Tab must be set to Yes in PlanSponsorLink Preferences.
- Enable Projects on PSL Projects Tab on the Plan tab > General view must be set to Yes.
- Enable to Show on PSL Projects Tab on the Project tab > Summary view must be set to Yes.
- The Plan Contact Role must have the Projects Website Right.
Distribution Statuses can be found on the Distributions tab on PlanSponsorLink, along with Plans, Participants, and the Distribution Reason. All of the following must be true for a Plan Sponsor to track a Distribution's Status via PlanSponsorLink:
- Show Distribution Tab must be set to Yes in PlanSponsorLink Preferences.
- Enable Distributions on PSL Distributions Tab on the Plan tab > General view must be set to Show.
- The Plan Contact Role must have the Distribution Website Right.
Frequently Asked Questions
- I launched a Project before adding the Project Status to Tasks in the Template. Can I still track this Project?
Project tracking will not occur automatically in this case, and cannot be added after the Project is launched. The Project Status can still be updated manually from the Summary view of the Project tab, but will revert to In Process each time a Task is completed.