By Michele Borovac


Published by: Clarizen Work Execution Software

Today is an exciting day in our offices. Clarizen InterAct, part of version 5.3, is ready for use and includes major, new functionality that makes it easy to manage project tasks and reporting directly from any email application. InterAct is patent-pending technology which allows users to update projects, log issues or even turn on a stopwatch to track their time, all from their email without having to log into Clarizen. Now email is more than just a communications tool.

As you can imagine, we believe InterAct will change how people use email and Clarizen. The whole idea is to break down the silos of communications and make it easier for people to complete work and keep teams informed about progress straight from the application people already spend the majority of their day using. InterAct also safeguards tasks, issues and updates from falling through the cracks. We think InterAct will improve how teams engage with tasks, projects, managers, customers as well as one another.

Here’s a breakdown of the key features:

• Gives users the ability to engage with Clarizen from any device using any email client.
• Allows users to send email directly to Clarizen, which in turn, updates tasks and projects automatically without needing to login.
• Includes predefined mailboxes that help apply the most commonly used functionality within Clarizen, making it fast and easy to begin emailing Clarizen.
• Offers customization so emails can perform any action users are able to do within Clarizen when logged-in.
• Generates vCards for each mailbox in InterAct so users know which email address to use when sending messages for specific projects and tasks.

In addition to adding InterAct to Clarizen, we’ve worked on a few other features as a part of v5.3 that will improve productivity:

• Stopwatch: This feature will help users understand who is working on what, empowering teams with a new level of visibility into projects and resources. Using the Stopwatch is simple, especially when triggering it from InterAct, Clarizen’s iPhone app or online. The Stopwatch keeps track of time on any reportable work item and runs in the background. 
• Relations Summary Fields: Users can look up related objects and calculate formulas such as the sum, average, minimum and maximum of related entities’ fields.
• Single Sign On and LDAP Integration: Organizations can configure Clarizen to synchronize with their AD/LDAP system to enable single-sign-on and single logout to various applications, depending on the connection to the corporate network. The feature also offers direct integration so new employees, teammates or contributors are added as Clarizen users.

All of the new features are now available for Clarizen users. We’re eager to see how InterAct and the other features improve collaboration and make getting work done more efficient. As always, we look forward to your feedback and please let us know how else we can improve Clarizen. Enjoy!

Clarizen, creators of the popular web-based project management software of the same name, is starting to wow the PM industry all over again with their newest release – which was just announced on October 20, 2011.  Clarizen InterAct, which is part of the Clarizen version 5.3 release, is a patent-pending email server that takes email from being a communication tool to being an execution engine. 

The capabilities InterAct adds in terms of project communication for project managers such as myself can really be a game changer.  Users can now customize mailboxes and build their own rules to perform just about any operation in the software including initiating or updating projects, logging issues, or performing time-tracking functions, to name a few.  InterAct improves how project teams collaborate, work assigned project tasks, and engage with their project managers and customers using something they already use throughout the workday – their email system.

InterAct features include:

• Gives users the ability to engage with Clarizen from any device using any email client.
• Allows users to send email directly to Clarizen, which in turn updates tasks and projects automatically, without needing to login.
• Includes predefined mailboxes that help utilize the most commonly used functionality within Clarizen, making it fast and easy to begin emailing Clarizen.
• Offers customization so emails can perform almost any action users are able to do within Clarizen when logged-in.
• Generates vCards for each mailbox in InterAct so users know which email address to use when sending messages for specific projects and tasks. 

Additional features new to Clarizen version 5.3 include:

• Stopwatch: Helps users understand who is working on what, empowering teams with a new level of visibility into projects and resources.
• Relations Summary Fields: Users can look up related objects and calculate formulas such as the sum, average, minimum and maximum of related entities’ fields.
• Single Sign On and LDAP Integration: Organizations can configure Clarizen to synchronize with their AD/LDAP system to enable single-sign-on and single logout to various applications depending on the connection to the corporate network.

To learn more about InterAct and Clarizen v5.3 visit Clarizen.com

Automation Centre, award-winning developer of TrackerSuite.Net (www.TrackerSuite.Net), received a "Promising" rating from Gartner Inc. in its recent report, "MarketScope for Project and Portfolio Management Applications".

Gartner Inc., a premier information technology research and advisory company that delivers technology related insight to CIOs and senior IT leadership, developed this MarketScope report based on the current Project Portfolio Management software market, and how solutions within it support various scenarios for PPM, including those experienced by IT departments.

This report is intended for use by prospective PPM and Project Office software users to review vendors supporting processes for managing projects, viewing project portfolios and resources. Its evaluation criteria included: customer experience, offering strategy, the product and/or services delivered, the organization's business model and history of innovation, market awareness and responsiveness, and finally the track record of the organization.

According to Gartner, "... Promising vendors are a mix of PPM vendors and products - older, more established vendors, as well as newcomers with innovative thinking, lighter PPM footprints, interesting development strategies, or simplified PPM process automation overlooked by more established vendors in the market."

"We are very pleased to receive a 'Promising' rating in this MarketScope report," said Steven Birchfield of Automation Centre. "The marketplace for Web based / SaaS solutions for Projects and IT has exploded over the last several years, and to be recognized by Gartner as one of fifteen 'Promising' contenders within such a competitive market is not only an accomplishment, but we also believe it is assurance that our company’s vision is correct and that our product development is moving in the right direction."

For interested parties, a free TrackerSuite.Net demonstration site is available for evaluation. Register here for immediate access.

About Automation Centre

Automation Centre (www.Acentre.com) is a leading provider of advanced Project and IT Service Management solutions for organizations of all sizes. Automation Centre's primary products include TrackerSuite.Net, Tracker Suite (www.TrackerSuite.com) for IBM Lotus Notes, and TrackerOffice (www.TrackerOffice.com) for Microsoft Outlook/Exchange. TrackerSuite.Net is a trademark of Automation Centre. Tracker Suite and TrackerOffice are registered trademarks of Automation Centre.

About the MarketScope

The MarketScope is copyrighted 2011 by Gartner, Inc. and is reused with permission. The MarketScope is an evaluation of a marketplace at and for a specific time period. It depicts Gartner's analysis of how certain vendors measure against criteria for that marketplace, as defined by Gartner. Gartner does not endorse any vendor, product or service depicted in the MarketScope, and does not advise technology users to select only those vendors with the highest rating. Gartner disclaims all warranties, express or implied, with respect to this research, including any warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose.

By: Cassie Doubleday

As remote communication becomes the increasing norm for clients, co-workers, employees, and managers, we as the sender need to think twice about how we write, and the possible ways our emails could be interpreted. 

I have to ask myself and you: do we really need to check the tone of our emails? Has it really come to a point that we’re unable to understand what’s being said to us via our screen? Or is it true what they say, “Face-to-face” communication can never be replaced”? 

Last year, Lymbix launched ToneCheck. The free product claims to be the solution to one of the biggest problems when communicating with people via email – misinterpretation of what the email really means.  We all have run into this problem. We send an email about a meeting or suggest an edit on a project and the receiver of the email takes it too personally. The result? You have an irritated employee/co-worker who thinks you’re out to get them.

It’s interesting because I’ve been using this product via my outlook and am going to implement it in my Gmail (just for kicks). What it does, is read what you’re writing, and based on your word choice and sentence structure, it tells you what the receiver may think you’re saying.  It claims to analyze emotional insight too. I’m still not 100% sold on that, but it does make me think twice about what I am writing.

This is a benefit and also problem. It’s time consuming to mull over and rewrite emails. It’s also time consuming to constantly worry that you’re going to upset someone when in fact you’re just being direct. It’s even more time consuming and mentally draining to deal with virtual conflict. Wouldn’t you agree?

The more I think about ToneCheck the more I realize that it isn’t necessarily the way we write our emails but rather the way we work in a team. Sure, we sometimes send an email that comes off different than what we intended, but, if the person you’re writing to already knows how you communicate, shouldn’t they be able to recognize that there’s no harm in those words?

This makes me think that it’s not our tone, but rather our team building and co-operation skills that may be the problem. If you’re going to be working virtually with a team, you may not get the chance to meet in person, so make your virtual introduction count. It will set the ‘tone’ for communications later on.

Here are three ways do this virtually:

1.     Skype

If you can, before you work with anyone virtually set-up a Skype meeting to introduce yourself and your company.  This is the new face-to-face. It will give the receiver a sense of who you are and put a face to the name in the emails they’re going to be getting.  Doing this first will provide long term benefits, and even make the way you interact more credible.

2.     Video Introduction

Video introductions are simple and easy. You don’t have to overdo it, just send a quick minute and half video about yourself, what you do and what you’re looking forward to in regards to working with this team.  It’s more personal and again, puts a face to the name.

3.     Send a Picture

If Skype or video are not available solutions, why not send a picture? A picture gives the person a better idea of who they are talking to – the face of the message.  This simple addition will add more personality to your email and increase the comfort level for you and your team.

While ToneCheck could be a solution to potential day-to-day remote communication misunderstandings, it could also create unnecessary worry and uncertainty. This is why it’s still the team building that provides security within us, our co-workers and the project.  And why it’s important to make sure that you have a good project management software, like Sharepoint Hosting 2010, which allows everyone to work in sync – not just via email.

If you’re going to be virtually working with a team, a proper visual introduction will give everyone that extra confidence boost needed in order to successfully and comfortably work together.

There’s no reason not to hold at least one virtual face-to-face meeting and I’m not sure there’s a need for ToneCheck.

Cassie Doubleday is a Canadian based tech geek and blogger with over three years experience in online social media marketing and online communities. She’s a Gen Y with a background in Public Relations. She often checks her tone. 

In our current global economy, the search for qualified project team members expands outward to include the entire globe. A virtual team may be comprised of individuals located throughout the world working together to complete anything from simple to complex projects.

Modern collaboration tools ease the management of these virtual teams by addressing these three primary areas:

1) Collecting information from the team
2) Disseminating information out to the team
3) Facilitating sessions with the team (i.e., status meetings, planning sessions, etc.)

A good foundation, a place to store information that is easy to get to, is a key component of virtual team management. Microsoft’s Sharepoint has become a stable and productive tool for use on any size project. Sharepoint Hosting 2010 adds the convenience of residing on a hosted platform yet is still available to all members of the team. Maintaining the tool becomes the responsibility of the vendor, freeing up the team to focus on the project and deliverables.

Sharepoint provides a place for storing and indexing documents for quick retrieval. Multiple team members can work on the same documents allowing collaboration between people, groups or teams.

Workflow capabilities allow projects to move forward against a defined workplan. Members of the virtual team have a place to enter time worked and status information. Community boards give team members a place to ask questions and discuss project issues.

Another tool, Google Docs, is a relative newcomer to the collaboration toolset. It allows people to work together on various document types, save and organize them, and share them with other teams. With fewer features than Sharepoint but still a serious collaboration tool, Google Docs satisfies the needs of the budget-conscious project team.

For facilitated sessions, Skype and Microsoft Live Meeting allow people to come together from multiple locations and share information. Managing a virtual team still requires making a connection with the team members. These tools allow the project leaders to perform this critical function.

These tools support audio, video, file sharing and screen sharing, capabilities important in any team meeting. These are also very useful tools for training the team and creating presentations for executive members.

There are numerous other tools available online to help a manager coordinate the activities of a virtual team. Online calendar sharing (Google Calendar), scheduling (Tungle), task management (ToodleDo) are all functions available for little cost yet provide high value to the project.

The role of the project manager or team leader does not change when working with virtual teams. Only the tools that they use have changed and evolved. It is still vital for management to know who is doing what, when, how long it takes and the cost impact on the project.

Whether working with a full-featured collaboration platform or piecing together the needed components from various vendors, these tools allow the project manager to work with the virtual team as effectively as if they were all local resources.

(image source: nelsonbj.wordpress.com)

This is basically a call to respond.  I'm going to be creating a survey soon on the issues that project managers face when managing agile projects remotely.  However, I'd like to hear from my readers now on their thoughts on this topic.  

Have you managed an agile project remotely?  Have you utilized a completely or mostly geographically dispersed team on an agile project? What struggles did you face?  What failures did you encounter?  Was it more difficult than managing a waterfall project remotely?  How and why? 

Not much has been written on this topic so I'm looking forward to your responses.  Thanks in advance!