Multi-person timesheet approval

[Constantinos Symeonides]

I want to allow a Manager (not the project manager) to
approve timesheets for all resources across all projects.
It would also be good if this Manager could receive email
notifications whenever a resource updates a task with
actual work done. The online documentation mentions RBS
but is very vague. What do I need to do?

Constantinos Symeonides

 

[Dale Howard [MVP]]

Constantinos --

If you want to use the timesheet approval feature built into Microsoft
Project Server 2003, then your Project Server administrator must enable both
managed time periods and the timesheet approval features in the system. In
addition, your Project Server must create an outline code structure in the
RBS field to mimic your company's "org chart" and then select an RBS value
for each resource in the Enterprise Resource Pool to show the system "who
reports to whom." Beyond this, the Project Server administrator must also
place the managers who will approve timesheets in the Resource Managers
group in Project Web Access.

If you implement timesheet approval using the above steps, then whoever is a
Resource Manager in the system will be able to view and approve actuals
submitted by resources. Do know, however, that whether a timesheet is
approved OR NOT, the project manager will still be able to update the
actuals into the relevant projects. Also know that the Resource Managers
who do timesheet approvals are not allowed to update the timesheet actuals
into the projects, as this permission is only allowed for the actual project
manager for each project. Hope this helps.

 

[Constantinos Symeonides]

Hi Dale, thanks for your reply.

I've enabled managed time periods and defined RBS codes as
required. I'm not sure what you mean by enabling
the "timesheet approval feature" though; how can I do
this?

In any case, my Resource Manager still doesn't get a "View
timesheets" option anywhere in PWA, which as far as I know
is the only way of approving timesheets. Is there another
way?

Also, I was hoping someone might be able to explain this
Managed time periods feature to me a bit, because the
documentation isn't very helpful. If resources can only
enter actual hours worked during periods marked as Open,
then are we going to have to define an open period for
each week from now on? Doesn't seem very practical.


Many thanks for your help,

Constantinos Symeonides

 

[Dale Howard [MVP]]

Constantions --

There are two permissions relating to timesheet approval in the Tasks
section of the Features grid on the Server Configuration page in PWA. These
must be enabled globally on this page in order for the timesheet approval
process to work. Hope this helps.