Dynamic Team Builder

When it comes to managing projects, one of the most critical aspects is building the right team. TaskRay provides the Dynamic Team Builder for managing assignments on projects. In this article, we explore the topic of project teams and how to effectively leverage the Dynamic Team Builder for managing assignments.

Project Team

Every TaskRay project has a team, which can consist of Resources (a.k.a. team members) and/or Roles (a.k.a. placeholders for assignments). The team provides insight into how responsibilities are allocated on projects, including individual team members and the project owner. In a private sharing model, the team is also used to define who has access to a project, as well as what level of access each individual has. 

To view the team on a project, simply locate the project in the TaskRay app, open its Project Details, and navigate to the Team tab. Additionally, when in any of the main (All Work) TaskRay views, you will see the selected project team in the right sidebar.

TaskRay uses profile pictures to visually represent every team member.

• For Resources, TaskRay displays the associated user's profile picture which can be uploaded from the Chatter tab or the My Profile option in Salesforce.
• For Roles, a monogram is displayed using the first letter of the first (& second if applicable) word in the Role Name. The default TaskRay Unassigned role is signified by a white question mark in a blue circle.
• For Public Groups, the members from that Group will automatically display in the Team sidebar.

Dynamic Team Builder

The Dynamic Team Builder is where you can build and manage project teams. The Dynamic Team Builder makes it easy to identify the right resources for every project by leveraging contextual knowledge that helps match up team members for assignments based on their areas of expertise. Additionally, the Dynamic Team Builder helps optimize project teams by making it easy to swap out team members and reassign work whenever changes need to be made. 

Build a Project Team

When kicking off a new project, one of the first action items is to structure the project team. Typically, new projects (especially those that are created from templates) are created with tasks initially assigned to Roles. Roles are used as placeholders to organize the work according to job functions and they are used for guidance when assigning work to individuals.

1. Locate the new project on which you would like to manage the team and open its Project Details.
2. Within the Project Details modal, click on the Team tab. This will open the Dynamic Team Builder. Assuming that Roles were used to organize the work on the project, you will see a summary of work by Role. Placeholder Role assignments are used for guidance when searching for specific team members to allocate work to.
3. To reassign work from a Role to a specific Resource (a.k.a. team member), click on the action menu icon for the Role and select Reassign Work & Remove.
4. On the right, look for a Resource that you would like to allocate the work to and add to the team. By default, TaskRay will suggest Resources that are assigned the Role that is being removed.
   • [Optional] You can clear suggested search criteria to expand your search to other Resources.
   • [Optional] Premium Edition customers can also incorporate Attributes when searching for Resources. This can be useful if the work on the project requires team members with specialized skills.
5. Once a Resource is identified, hover over the Resource and click Assign Work.
6. Repeat steps 3 - 5 until all Roles are filled on the team.
7. [Optional] If you would like to add additional Resources to the team, use the Add New Team Member search and look for Resources using their name, Role, or Attribute of the Resource that you want to add.

Manage a Project Team

Project plans can change, which could require making updates to the project team. Making changes on the project team could be necessary for various reasons, such as if one of the assigned Resources goes on leave or needs to lessen the previously delegated workload. Or, it could simply be necessary to adjust the project team if the work is reprioritized.

The Dynamic Team Builder makes it easy to manage assignment changes, including swapping out and adding new team members.

1. Locate the project on which you would like to manage the team and open its Project Details.
2. Within the Project Details modal, click on the Team tab. This will open the Dynamic Team Builder. Assuming that this is an in-flight project, you will see a summary of work by Resource, representing team members who are already assigned work on the project.  
3. This will open the Project Details. Click on the Team tab. This will open the Dynamic Team Builder where you can see information about each resource on the team. 
4. To reassign work from one Resource to another, click on the action menu icon for the team member that you would like to remove and select one of the following options:
   • Reassign Work: This action will reassign all remaining open tasks and checklist items from the team member. This is a great option to use if a Resource is not available to manage the remainder of the work on the project but needs to stay on the project team.
   • Reassign Work & Remove: This action will reassign all remaining open tasks and checklist items from the team member and remove that team member from the project. This is a great option to use if a resource is not available to manage the remainder of the work and no longer needs to be on the project team.
   • Reassign Project Owner: This action allows you to transfer ownership of the project from the current team member to another resource.
   • Remove: This action will remove the team member from the project team. This option will only be available if the team member has no open tasks or checklists. 
5. For the first 3 options, the right sidebar will return a list of resources to reassign the work/project to. By default, TaskRay will suggest Resources that are assigned the same Role as the one assigned to the team member whose work is being reassigned.
   
   • [Optional] You can clear suggested search criteria to expand your search to other Resources.
   • [Optional] Premium Edition customers can also incorporate Attributes when searching for Resources. This can be useful if the work on the project requires team members with specialized skills.
6. Once a Resource is identified, hover over the new Resource and click Assign Work or Set as Owner.
7. [Optional] If you would like to add additional Resources to the team, use the Add New Team Member search and look for Resources using their name, Role, or Attribute of the Resource that you want to add.