PM Easy

Solution Reference

By using ConceptDraw MINDMAP software, you can quickly start the small projects with Mind Maps. Create a list of project milestones and phase definitions using brainstorming to identify these items. When you finish brainstorming, your project milestones and project phases are visually organized. The tasks and subtasks related to each phase can be also identified and placed on the Mind Map. After placement, you can add additional details to the task, such as its relationship to an associated task, using the visual tools in ConceptDraw products to identify the connection method. Once this initial phase is completed for your project, with a simple push of a button, your project can be exported into a Gantt Chart diagram inside of ConceptDraw PROJECT. From that point on, it is easy for the project manager to assign all available resources and to set up the appropriate project calendars. So, to start quickly your project using Mind Map, follow the next steps:

1. In ConceptDraw MINDMAP, use the Input tab and click the Quick Project Start button at the Project Management -> PM Easy section, now plan the high-level project tasks and milestones using the opened Mind Map project plan template.
2. Add subtopics to the topics that represent high-level tasks or project phases to create details.
3. Press the Relation button on the toolbar on Mac or on the Home ribbon in Windows version of ConceptDraw MINDMAP to create the logical relationships between the tasks. The type of relationship choose from the appeared drop-down menu.
4. Use Open in PROJECT button from the Share tab in ConceptDraw MINDMAP Windows version or from the toolbar on Mac, to create a project from your Mind Map and automatically open it in ConceptDraw PROJECT.
5. Set the properties for your project tasks, phases, and milestones using the Gantt Chart View and Task dialog. The Gantt Chart View is activated by Ctrl+Alt+G combination or using the Gantt Chart button from the toolbar.
6. Open the Resources Sheet using Ctrl+Alt+R combination or the Resources button on the toolbar and press Enter to add human or material resources.
7. Setup the individual calendars for resources using the Calendar button on the Home tab in Windows or on the toolbar in your Mac version.
8. Use the Gantt Chart View and Assign Resources Panel to assign resources to the tasks of your project.
9. To send today’s To-Do list to project participants, use the Gantt Chart View to select a Phase, next click the Microreports button on the Home ribbon in Windows or on the toolbar on Mac and choose the “Today task list with assigned resources” command from the appeared drop-down list.

The ConceptDraw PROJECT extends users abilities allowing to track the tasks, phases, and milestones, to control the project directly in the project views, to change dependencies and completion levels, to track assignments and availability of resources fast and easy. To track the executions of tasks, phases, and milestones in ConceptDraw PROJECT, use the Gantt Chart View. To change the work assignments, use the Gantt Chart View and Assign Resources Panel.

Use the ConceptDraw PROJECT and ConceptDraw MINDMAP to dynamically plan, to define the project phases and to detail them using mind mapping, and also set dependencies between tasks and assign resources. To determine details for the next project phase using a Mind Map, use the Menu File -> Send -> Open in MINDMAP command in ConceptDraw PROJECT. Thus, add more topics and subtopics related to the project. To create dependencies between the tasks and to setup the logical connections in ConceptDraw MINDMAP, use the Home ribbon in Windows or toolbar on macOS and click the Relation button. You can setup dependencies as start-to-start, start-to-finish, finish-to-start, or finish-to-finish using the corresponding commands from the appeared drop-down menu. And finally, to assign resources to tasks, use the Open in PROJECT button from the toolbar on macOS or from the Share tab on Windows and then assign resources to your project tasks in the ConceptDraw PROJECT application.

Example 1: Project — Cleaning Shedule

This project example represents a schedule of cleaning the house and strict instructions on cleaning each premise of this house, namely the kitchen, living room, dining room, family room, stairs, upstairs common areas, bathrooms, common basement, and bathroom in a basement. Finally, it includes the inspection of the cleaning completion all over the house and all its premises. For cleaning each premise, the defined number of days is allocated. The specific dates, priorities, workers and their working time are also defined.

Example 2: Project — Commercial Construction

This example is a project on constructing the commercial building. All steps and tasks of this process are represented in detail in the project. There are described all construction steps and works, beginning with the contract award and finishing by landscaping near the constructed commercial building, as well as the introduction of a punchlist. The construction process itself starts with laying the foundation and backfill; building walls, floors, and roof; conducting the ductwork, plumbing and electrical works; and it ends with the finishing works — installing the drywall and painting; performance of plumbing, heating, and electrical works; installing interior doors, sanitary equipment and appliances; laying the flooring and carpeting.

Example 3: Project — Home Construction

This example demonstrates the project of home construction, which contains nine phases needed to be sequentially executed to achieve required results: development, site planning, utilities, foundation, framing, concrete work, exterior finish, interior finish, and landscaping. Each of these phases includes the defined sequence of works. The Gantt Chart designed in ConceptDraw PROJECT software is a precise and visual way to observe the project status, the time-frames of execution of each work, costs, responsible persons and degrees of works' completion. At this, coloring of completed works or their parts with green color on a Gantt Chart, gives the additional vividness. The milestones are marked as yellow diamonds.