Edition: Professional, Business, Enterprise
User-level: Assistant Project Manager, Project Manager, Director, Assistant Administrator, System Administrator
Previous steps: Creating a New Billable Project
Projects in Synergy have two modes they can be in; Planning Mode and Delivery Mode. Each impacts the way your project figures impact each other. This article will cover the key differences between the two modes and things to look out for.
Planning Mode
When you first create a new project, it will default to Proposal status. Newly created projects that are in proposal status will be in Planning Mode. This is indicated at the top of the Budget or Work Breakdown.
In Planning Mode, the stage fee, budget, and resourcing are all connected. This means that if you:
Update the fee, the budget and resources will change
Update the budget, the fee and resources will change
Update the resources, the fee and budget will change
This is great for getting quick estimates on projects that are still in the proposal status. When you set a stage fee, the system will automatically update your budget and estimate the resources you will need for the project based on the budget. Use this as a starting point to tailor your actual budget and resource plans.
eg. You set the fee for a fixed fee stage to $1000. The budget will also be set to $1000, using the rates available to the stage based on the selected rate group. These budget rates and the hours used will then be used to create the resourcing for that stage.
Any changes you make to one of these will be reflected in the others. Changing your Budget will impact the Fee and the Resourcing. Changing the resourcing will impact the Budget and the Fee.
The budget created in planning mode may not be a true reflection of the resources you need to budget for. It's meant to be a rough suggestion based on the fees while you're planning the project. If this is the case, you can clear out the budget and use top-down or bottom-up budgeting.
Delivery Mode
In delivery mode, the budget, fee and resourcing are disconnected. Any changes to your stage fees, budget, or resources will no longer impact each other. This means that if you:
Update the fee, the budget and resources will NOT change
Update the budget, the fee and resources will NOT change
Update the resources, the fee and budget will NOT change
This is useful after the project starts, when your fees have been set and agreed on, but your budget and resources can vary across the life of the project.
When the project is made Active, it swaps to Delivery Mode, so project managers can keep track of costs, performance, and the resource forecast.
For example, you might find that you need to plan for more resources on a project than you initially budgeted for. As you adjust the resourcing from the Project Schedule or the planning boards, your budget will remain as it is, and your fees will be the same.
Customers using Synergy Business cannot see the stages in the planning board.
If this is the first time your organisation has used the planning board, there might be some setup work that you need to complete.
Changing modes
You can switch your project between modes, but there are some restrictions to this.
Changing from planning to delivery mode
When you change a project from Proposal status to another status, such as Active, the project will automatically be switched to delivery mode if it is not already there.
You can also manually change a project to delivery mode using the toggle at the top of the Work breakdown or Budget. This will keep the project in proposal status.
Changing from delivery to planning mode
To go back to planning mode, you'll need to ensure the following criteria are met:
There can be no transactions or invoices against any of the stages in the project.
All stages are in Proposal Status.
Once you've ensured this is the case:
Project navigation > Breakdown > Budget
Click the ellipses and select "Switch to planning mode"
Confirm the decision by clicking OK.
Your project will now be back in Planning mode.
If the Switch to planning mode option is not available, ensure your project meets the criteria.
The schedule in planning vs delivery mode
The schedule differs in planning and delivery mode
In planning mode:
The budget and resource plan on the schedule are connected, any edits made in the schedule will be reflected in the budget and vice versa.
By default, when extending the stages in planning mode the overall resourced hours will remain the same, but the weekly hours will change in proportion with the new length of the stage. The hours are split evenly across the weeks in the stage.
You can adjust the project start and end date directly by clicking and dragging the ends of the project, or by moving the whole project along the board.
When you adjust the dates for a project in planning mode using either of the above methods, Synergy’s elastic planning means:
Any affected child phases will adjust to reflect the new project date.
Any child stages will adjust to reflect the new project date.
Any child tasks will adjust to reflect the new project date.
In delivery mode:
The budget and resource plan are no longer linked, any changes made on the schedule will not impact the budget.
By default, you get the option to choose to keep weekly resourced hours or to keep the overall resources the same.
You cannot adjust the projects start or end dates directly. However, you can move the entire project to a new period or Synergy's elastic planning means the project start and end dates will adjust based on the dates of the stages beneath it.
Where to next?
What other features does this relate to?