Project management
What is project management?
Project management constitutes "a systematic process of planning, executing, and controlling resources and activities to achieve predetermined goals." This methodology enables managers to anticipate risks through organized evaluation of project scope, resource assessment, and timeline estimation. By implementing effective techniques, project managers can ensure initiatives remain on schedule, within budget, and accomplish their intended objectives.
The three project types
When creating a project, you choose its way of working:
| Type | Method | For whom |
|---|---|---|
| Planning — Gantt | Classic planning by tasks and dependencies | Planned, milestone-driven projects |
| Flow — Kanban | Visual management by cards and columns | Continuous flow, support |
| Sprint — Scrum | Iterations (sprints) and backlog | Agile teams |
The type drives the available screens: a Gantt project emphasizes Planning, a Kanban/Scrum project the Card & Story.
Managing projects
Creating projects
FoxPlan offers two approaches for project creation:
- Blank projects — From the project menu, select "New project" to start from scratch.
- Template-based projects — Reuse a predefined template containing phases, tasks, milestones, and dependencies (without pre-assigned resources). A template becomes usable once marked as "Available"; while in preparation, it stays private. To create a template, choose "New project" and select "Create as a template." To open a template to whole teams without adding them as members, use Project template access by group. The start date suggested at creation is the date of the template's first task; the one you enter positions that first task; the following tasks keep the same offset.
Converting an idea into a project
An idea ("Idea" state) is created with the "Create a project idea" button or through the workspace's public idea submission link. To launch it, move it to another state, in its definition or in the portfolio's Arbitrations view: the "Convert idea into project" window opens.
- Project template — choose one of the Gantt templates you have access to, or "No template" to only change the state.
- The template completes the idea, it overwrites nothing: only the fields left empty are filled, and its tasks, milestones, kanban columns and budgets are added to the idea's.
- Start date — the template's first task starts on that day; the following ones keep the same offset. The project end date follows the template's duration.
- Preview — before confirming, the window shows how many fields, tasks, columns and budgets the template will add.
- Project leader — an idea submitted through the public link has none: tick "Make me project leader" to take the role.
Closing the window without converting leaves the idea in the "Idea" state. Fields the public-link visitor left blank stay empty, so that a template can complete them.
Additional project operations
- Insert templates — A template can be inserted several times within an existing project, to reuse recurring task sequences.
- Delete projects — From Definition & Members, click Delete and confirm via email (a safeguard against accidental deletions).
- Duplicate projects — Use the duplication icon in the project list.
Project planning
Project planning organizes tasks, optimizes timelines, and distributes the necessary resources. It distinguishes short-term objectives from long-term goals. Everything is built in the Planning screen.
Auto Schedule feature
The auto-schedule function automatically adjusts task dates based on their dependencies. It is enabled task by task, in the Other section of the edit panel. The default settings (auto-schedule on or off for new tasks) are configurable at the project level in Definition & Members.
Scheduling constraints
FoxPlan supports multiple constraint types to force a task's placement:
- As soon as possible
- As late as possible
- Start no earlier / later than
- Finish no earlier / later than
Deadline indicators
You can set a deadline on a task or milestone. It is displayed visually in the Gantt and the system generates indicators when the deadline is missed, at project and portfolio levels, along with a margin display in dashboards.
See also
- Planning — build and run the project's Gantt
- Definition & members — calendar and auto-schedule settings
- Task list — the tabular view of tasks
- Budget management — track the project's costs
Leverage templates: turn your typical projects (V-cycle, rollout, onboarding) into Available templates. You start each new project with a proven structure, then assign resources.