Using the Project Pools Pane

You can use the Project Pools pane to view and assign yourself to unassigned projects and worksteps. Pools are lists of unassigned work that are defined by the firm. Your firm might refer to pools as crates, bins, drawers, or shelves.

From this pane you can perform the following project management tasks:

• Assign projects to yourself
• Open a project or its route sheet
• Update the status or file holder for a project

Before you can use the Pools pane, you must add it to your dashboard. See Adding, Moving, or Removing Panes in Your Dashboard for information on adding panes.

Tip: To ensure you are seeing the most current information, click at the top of the window to refresh the list.

Select a Pool

You can select a project pool from the Select a pool list in the Filters section of the pane. You might need to click in the Filters section to display the sort options.

Tip: By default, the items in the Project Pools pane are listed according to the last status change. Select an option from the Sort by box to choose a different sort field. You can also click the arrow next to the Sort by box to indicate if the list should be sorted in ascending or descending order. The settings you choose here are retained for your current session only.

The information that displays for each item in the list varies depending on the size of the pane and whether the item is a project or workstep.

Field	Description
Client	Displays both the client name and the client ID for the project.
Project	Displays the project name.
Start Date	Displays the actual start date for the project, if one has been recorded.
Project Status	Displays the current status of the project, as well as the date and time when the status was last updated.
Planned Finish/Due Date	Displays the planned finish or due date for the project, if one has been entered.
Priority	Displays the priority of the project, if one has been selected.
Complexity	Displays the complexity of the project, if one has been selected.
Budget Hrs	Displays the number of hours set aside for the project, if any have been set.

Working with Items in the Project Pools List

Once you have selected a pool, you can search for a particular project in the list. You can then perform any of the tasks listed below for an item in the list.

• Assign yourself to a project. You must have Working from the pool functional rights to assign yourself to an item.
  1. Locate the project in the list
  2. Click.
  3. Select Assign to me.
  4. If your firm uses roles and you have Edit project functional rights, you can select a role to assign to yourself from the list. If a role is already assigned to another staff, you have the option to assign yourself to the role as an additional assignee.
  5. Click Assign.
• Open a project route sheet.
  1. Locate the project in the list.
  2. Click.
  3. Select Open route sheet.
• Open a project profile.
  1. Locate the project in the list.
  2. Click.
  3. Select Open project.

     Note: The project opens in read-only mode if you do not have Edit project permissions.

• Update the status or file holder.
  1. Locate the project in the list.
  2. Click.
  3. Click Update status or file holder.
  4. If needed, select a new status.
  5. If needed, select a different file holder. You can select a specific staff member or a role on the project. You also can put the project back in the pool.
  6. Click Update Status.