Odoo, a popular open-source business software package, has been the choice of many companies around the world. With the release of Odoo 16, the platform has taken project and task management to new heights. In this article, our Project Manager in the company Netframe explores the exciting features and capabilities that Odoo 16 offers in project and task management.
The Odoo 16 helps to manage multiple projects. All the main functions that guarantee accurate tracking and organization of projects are contained in this module.
The following depicts some benefits of using the Odoo 16 project module
- With Odoo's project management module, project managers can set up, organize, and monitor projects from start to finish, promoting teamwork and maximizing the use of resources.
- Project managers can create projects, assign tasks, set deadlines, and develop task dependencies with Odoo, providing a clear path for project progress.
- Effective distribution of tasks among team members is made possible by task management in Odoo, which also promotes accountability and transparency in task execution.
- Odoo's Kanban board view gives tasks a visual representation so they can be tracked individually or as a whole. Users can assign tasks to specific people, monitor their progress, and handle task-related documents and conversations all in one place.
- Project managers can track resource usage with time tracking and resource management tools in Odoo, ensuring efficient resource allocation and prompt completion of work.
- Odoo's collaboration capabilities, such as real-time messaging and activity feeds, promote seamless teamwork by facilitating communication and collaboration between team members.
- Odoo's reporting and analytics features give stakeholders access to information about project performance, enabling data-driven decision-making and continuous improvement.
The project overview gives you a look at the projects the company is working on, and a lot of information can be found in the Kanban view itself. It contains information about the client, the project period, the responsible employee, the number of tasks, the hours spent on the timesheet, the milestones achieved, and the status of the project, whether it is in progress, not in progress, at risk, etc.
You can create a new project from the dashboard by clicking on the ‘New’ button, and a window appear to add up details, including the project name. Make it a billable project by marking ‘Billable’, and if the project requires planning of shift to resources can enable ‘Planning’ and ‘Timesheet’ to record employee spent hours on project or task.
Hitting on the CREATE PROJECT creates a project. Once the project is created, all features required for the project can be enabled from the project configuration.
From the project dashboard itself, you can view tasks, milestones, documents related to the project, planning details of the project, and project updates. The Reporting section will give you the task analysis, burndown chart, timesheets and planning analysis, and Customer ratings. The ‘Settings’ option leads you to the project settings.
In the project form, one can add the ‘Name of the Tasks’ based on the work nature and industry. Some businesses use the term ‘Task’, while others may use ‘Threads’ or ‘Activity’. If the project is for some customers one can add ‘Customer’ in the specified field. Next is ‘Tags’ to identify what kind of project is this. The company defines the company the project belongs to. Next can add the ‘Project Manager’ and the planned date of the project which defines the duration in which the project needs to start and end. Allocated hours are the planned hours to complete the project.
Under the description tab, one can add the details of the project like its goal, things to complete to achieve the goal of the project, Materials required to complete the project, etc can be mentioned.
When you open a project from the dashboard you will be redirected to a window where you have to add the task stages. The button enables you to add a task stage to your project.
The ‘See Examples’ link suggests the stages required for different types of projects. One can simply choose the right stages based on your project type.
From the Kanban examples, choose an appropriate one for your project. Thus task stages are added to the respective Project.
Similar to task stages, projects can also be kept under project stages. For that Odoo provide the feature of ‘Project stages’ that can be enabled in the configuration settings of the project module.
Thus in the project dashboard, projects are arranged in the project stages.
Task Management
Now let's discuss how tasks are managed in the project. Tasks are certain activities or work that are assigned to the employees. Thus tracking the task is important. One can create a task by clicking on the NEW button.
Now Add the task name as Task Title and the project manager can add the assignees to the task. The ADD button creates a task with the entered basic information. The EDIT button can be used to edit the task details.
Under the ‘Timesheets’ tab assignees can add the time spent for various operations. They can add what they have done in the task in the description.
The ‘Blocked By’ tab is used to set the task dependencies. Here we actually add the which task blocks by another task and hence the task order is defined.
Each task may have a deadline. Here the task ‘Collect Suggestions’ is blocked by the task ‘Sent invitations’.One can move tasks to appropriate stages as task progress. There are different views available for the tasks and in the Gantt chart, the task dependency can be able to see in a pictorial way.
The menu MyTasks shows all the tasks of the login person from various projects.
Finally, the Task Analysis report shows the number of tasks of projects that are in different stages.
Module is an effective tool, not to manage projects and tasks but also the timesheet tracking, task and project planning with resources, billing, and of-course feedback from the customer.
Timesheet in Odoo 16
The Timesheet Management module in Odoo includes a number of functions, including timesheet entries, task management integration, project assignment, approval procedures, reports, analytics, and overtime management. These features guarantee precise time tracking, simplify project administration, and encourage openness within the company.
More valuable than everything else is time. On opening the Odoo timesheet module, you will get the page, as shown in the screenshot below.
Here, as in the image, you can have the page visible in the pivot, kanban, graph, grid, and list view. You can make use of the Filters, Group By, and Favorites options if required. Here, on the page, you will get all the timesheets, which belong to us. The timesheet displayed here is based on week, which can be altered to day or month accordingly. You can also have today’s timesheet, the previous day’s, and the next day’s as well. You can also see a START button in order to record the time. On selecting the option, the record will begin, and once it is completed, you have to go to the STOP icon as well.
The list view of the page will be as in the image below.
Now, you have the Kanban view of the page, as shown in the screenshot below.
Here, with the help of the NEW icon, you can create a similar one here. The page of creation will be, as shown in the screenshot below.
Here, you can add the name of the project, task, sales order item, date, and hours spent, respectively. Below that, you can add the description of the activity as well. Then you have the Pivot view, which will be, as in the image below.
Now, finally, you can have the graphical view, which will be as in the image below.
Under the Fiters option, you can have various filters, as in the image below.
Here, those filters include my timesheet, my project, my tasks, draft, validated, billed at a fixed price, billed on the timesheet, billed on a milestone, billed manually, non-billable, date, suspicion duration, and add custom filters, respectively. Similarly, you have the Group By option, under which you can have some options, such as in the image below.
Now, under the Timesheet menu, you have got the options, such as my timesheet and all timesheets, as in the image below. With the aid of Odoo, it is simple to analyze the total number of hours worked each week, each month, and each day on average.
On a specific day, the total number of hours that each employee worked can also be determined. This makes it possible for the manager to determine the precise amount of time needed to complete a task. Timesheets can also be used to ensure job planning and staff distribution that is efficient. The complete work hours can be divided into various chunks with the use of the Odoo Timesheet. With the help of this tool, the time spent on various tasks may be simply measured. All timesheets will be helpful in achieving this.
Odoo aids in the verification of working hours. A timesheet can be used to verify the number of hours worked on several days as well as the overall number of hours worked. One week or one month can be used for the validation. The employer can use this information to determine salary payments and increase working hours.
The timesheet assists in producing reports of each employee's working hours and in computing their productive hours. If there are less effective working hours, employees can be informed. Additionally, the employee has the option of creating a work schedule and following it to the letter. A timetable can also be assigned by the employer to increase a team's output.
Odoo 16's Project Management and Timesheets modules are invaluable tools for project managers. They offer a holistic approach to project management, covering everything from planning and execution to timesheet tracking and billing.
By seamlessly integrating these modules, project managers can enhance their ability to plan and execute projects effectively, optimize resource allocation, and ensure accurate billing. The result is improved project success rates, increased client satisfaction, and greater efficiency in managing projects of all sizes. Odoo 16 truly empowers project managers to excel in their roles and achieve project management excellence.