Top-down work planning

Top-down work investment and capacity planning adoption pathway

2. Design and set up

Audience	Planview administrator, PMO, portfolio manager, finance manager, project manager
Objective	Design, set up, and configure Portfolios to support top-down work investment and capacity planning at your organization.

Enable the Planning menu, options, and role features

The first step for an administrator is to enable the planning menu, options, and role features essential to using investment and capacity planning.

Step	Role	Description	Resources
Enable the planning menu	Planview administrator	Enable the planning menu by checking the Display option.	Enabling or Disabling Option on the Main Menu
Enable the use of investment and capacity planning	Planview administrator	From the Strategic Management Options page, enable Use Investment and Capacity Planning.	Enabling the Use of Investment and Capacity Planning
Enable the sub-menus for planning	Planview administrator	From the Menu Actions tab, select the Planning tab on the left, then select the checkbox to display all the available options. Feature controls may also be added from this page.	Enabling or Disabling Action Options
Enable required features for roles	Planview administrator	From the Configure Roles screen, enable the following features for each role that will use planning. Strategic management: Use investment and capacity planning Investment decisions: Define portfolio targets Make investment decisions Publish to shared scenario Publish to entities	Review Role Screen Basics for a User Role

Set up the financial planning models

Top-down work investment and capacity planning supports operational models that use a departmental planning process. In top-down work planning, work (demand) is compared to a higher-level of the work primary structure (capacity).

In this example, capacity comes from the department or business unit level of the work structure, and demand comes from the in-flight and potential projects planned for the department.

Both the capacity and demand data come from versions of the financial plan, and use the Enterprise Financial Model. For more information on Planview’s recommended financial plan versions and naming conventions, see the recommended financial plan versions table.

To carry out the required analysis, there must be commonality between capacity and demand. The same account lines or attributes must be used in the capacity financial plan version as in the demand financial plan version.

Step	Role	Description	Resources
Ensure the Enterprise Financial Model is configured for Work financial planning	Planview administrator	To confirm the Enterprise Financial Model is configured correctly, go to the Administer Financial Planning Models screen, and confirm that Work is listed as a financial model Type for the Enterprise Financial Model.	Adding Financial Planning Models
Enable accounts on the Enterprise Financial Model for investment and capacity planning	Planview administrator	On the Configure Accounts for Enterprise Financial Model screen, select Use in Investment and Capacity Planning for each account that will be used for planning. Planview recommendation: As you consider which accounts to include for investment and capacity planning, only include those accounts that you need to make investment decisions. The accounts you select will make up the content and depth of the pivot table that compares the capacity and demand financial plans.	Configure Versions for Financial Planning Models Screen Basics Business Rules of Financial Management and Financial Planning
Add a new version for the Enterprise Financial Model	Planview administrator	Go to Configure Versions and add two new financial versions. Name one version Investment Planning Target and the other version Investment Planning Demand. Planview recommendation: Review the financial versions chart to understand more about different financial versions and their purpose.	Adding Versions of Financial-Planning Models Configure Versions for Financial Planning Models Screen Basics
Review and add financial data for demand (work)	Planview administrator Project manager PMO	This is a two-step process. First, populate or edit the Actual/Forecast version. Data can be added to work (demand) financial plans in two ways: Load – The work financial load can be manually performed or scheduled within job stream management. For information about scheduling a financial plan load job by using a job stream, see Configuring Financial Plan Load Job Parameters. Manual entry – See What is Needed to Make it Work for more information. Note that in-flight projects will probably be loaded from resource assignments and timesheets, while new projects added as part of planning may need financial lines and data to be entered manually. The second step is completed by the Planview administrator. They will copy all the financial data from the Actual/Forecast version into the Investment Planning version just before the planning cycle starts. It is imperative that all projects that will be part of the planning process have financial data. If the financial plan for a potential project is blank, or contains lines with no financial data within the horizon dates, the project will not pull into the investment and capacity planning portfolio.	Job Stream Management Configuring Financial Plan Load Job Parameters How to Load Data into a Work Financial Plan Editing a Financial Plan
Review and add financial data for capacity (higher-level work entity)	Portfolio manager Financial manager	From the Work Portfolio edit Financials for the capacity entity to be used in investment planning. Data for the capacity financial plan (capacity targets) must be manually entered in the Investment Planning Target version. See Editing a Financial Plan for more information on manually entering financial data. Data is often defined by Finance and maintained manually by the Portfolio manager, but these roles vary by company. There is also an option to use Excel Importer to load data.

Define and use financial versions

Defining and using specific financial management versions is critical to the success of investment planning. Financial versions are used to manage different sets of data for the investment demand and portfolio targets. When working with versions, it’s essential to define ownership of each version, and the process associated with it.

Versions are used to manage:

The current/latest view on spend to-date and forecast to complete for in-flight (in-delivery) projects
Data that is pulled into investment planning for manipulation as part of the planning and approval process
Data that is published after investment decisions are made
Baseline data to track project and work delivery cost management and compliance

Recommended financial plan versions

The table below details the recommended financial plan versions and names to be created and used in the investment planning process.


Version name	How is it used?	Purpose
Actual/Forecast version	Data from this version is copied into the Investment Planning version for demand planning in Investment and Capacity Planning. Holds the current view of spend to date (if any) and forecast to complete. Can be top-down or bottom-up.	Holds the current view of spend to date (if any) and forecast to complete. This data can be derived two ways: Top-down – entered directly into the Financial Plan version when doing initial scoping/sizing of the demand associated with the work, or Bottom-up from the project plan (activities, resource assignments, timesheets and expenditures.) This version is marked as "Forecast" in the financial model configuration. It is used in project delivery portfolio views and reports. It is standard practice to run a Financial Management version load daily to summarize the delivery data. The project manager or work manager owns this data (version).
Baseline version	Used for variance reporting for project/work delivery. Not typically used as part of Investment and Capacity Planning.	Holds a snapshot of financial data that represents the approved baseline budget. This version is marked "Baseline" in the financial model configuration. Used in project delivery portfolio views and reports.
Investment Planning version	Holds the data taken into Investment and Capacity Planning for planning and publishing. Often used as the Demand version in Investment and Capacity Planning.	Used to hold the financial plan data that is pulled into a planning portfolio for investment analysis, scenario modeling, and approval. When investment management decisions are published, this version is used to communicate the approved investment budget to the work manager or project manager.
Investment Planning Target version	Holds the budget/capacity for the business unit which will be used as planning portfolio target/budget. Often used as the Capacity version in Investment and Capacity Planning.	Holds the budget/capacity for the business unit which will be used as planning portfolio target/budget.

Set up planning column sets and optional features


Step	Role	Description	Resources
Create a column set for investment and capacity planning	Planview administrator	Columns included in the investment and capacity planning column set will drive how you rank potential and in-flight investments. Create a New column set for Work that includes all criteria that should be considered for ranking and prioritization such as category, regulatory, scoring attributes, and risk. This will require financial subtotals and other attribute columns. Key actions: Include In: Check the box for Investment and Capacity Planning. Set to Working Version so that data from the active scenario (the shared scenario or user-defined scenario) is shown. Roles: Select either Corporate Wide or specific roles that will be involved in the portfolio planning process. Planview recommendation: If your company approves the budget for a time horizon shorter than your 3-5 year strategic planning portfolio, (such as the current year or next year), you can add time limits to some columns in your column set.	Creating and Editing Column Sets
Create column sets to share published decisions	Planview administrator	To communicate the published plan to project and resource managers, configure Portfolios to support viewing details about a scenario's investment ranking values. These details typically include: Investment ranking values that exist within the scenario at the time it was last published Planning portfolio from which those values were last published Name of the user who last published the scenario Date on which the scenario was last published You can add the columns to column sets relevant to the Investment and Capacity Planning screen, Resource Management and Assignments screen, or Work Portfolio View screen. The investment ranking details a user will be able to view after selecting one of the column sets you configure is dependent on which investment ranking columns you add to that column set.	Allowing Users to View Published Investment Ranking Details
Edit financial subtotals and calculated columns	Planview administrator	In Manage Attributes, identify and configure Financial Subtotals you want to make investment decisions against. Make sure they are configured for the correct level of capacity and demand. Key actions: Check the box for Primary Structure: Work and other options, as needed. Check the box for In Investment and Capacity Planning, do not respect portfolio capacity, if needed. Check the box for In Investment and Capacity Planning, do not respect portfolio horizon, if needed.	Adding Subtotal Financial Planning Columns Adding Calculated Financial-Planning Columns Adding Internal Rate of Return (IRR) Columns
Enable required features for roles	Planview administrator	From the Configure Roles screen, enable the following features for each role that will use planning: Strategic management: Use investment and capacity planning Investment decisions: Define portfolio targets Make investment decisions Publish to shared scenario Publish to entities	Review Role Screen Basics for a User Role
Set up planning alerts (optional)	Planview administrator	Alerts are dynamic calculations that an administrator can configure to help users resolve issues as they make investment decisions. For example, you can configure the % Over Target alert to be displayed when the financial planning column total for investments with a status of Accept or Conditional reaches 100% or more of the target amount in the planning portfolio. As an administrator, alerts are configured by enabling one or more alerts on the Investment and Capacity Planning Alerts screen within System Configuration and then entering information that defines the alert using the grid. If no alerts are enabled by the administrator, the alerts pane will not show within investment and capacity planning.	Why Use Alerts in Investment and Capacity Planning? Configuring Investment and Capacity Planning Alerts Understand Thresholds and Time Periods of Investment and Capacity Planning Alerts
Create Impact Analysis visual tiles (optional)	Planview administrator	Impact Analysis visual tiles provide portfolio managers with the ability to visualize and compare investment scenario impacts across portfolios. Impact Analysis tiles are a unique type of output that are created on the Planning menu, using the Analyze button. They can only be viewed on the Planning Portfolio View ribbon. Users with access to the Planning menu can create as many tiles of this type as needed to analyze data in different ways. As an administrator, the Analyze tile can be enabled or hidden from the Ribbon Options screen within Global Options.	Enabling or Disabling the Analyze Tile Understanding Impact Analysis Report Tiles Create an Impact Analysis Report Tile Using Configurable Visualizations
Create investment dependencies (optional)	Planview administrator	An investment dependency is a connection between two entities that describes how those entities influence one another from an investment perspective. For example, if project A is dependent on project B, you must commit to project B if you are going to pursue project A. If project C is codependent with project D, both must be pursued, or neither pursued. Work and project dependencies are often created on the Work View screen, but the decisions on which investments to approve are done within Investment and Capacity Planning. The system uses both investment approval status and dependency type to help determine whether an dependency between investment entities is valid or results in a conflict. As an administrator, Use Investment Dependencies can be enabled within Global Options. Then you can configure alerts for dependencies, add information about them to Planning Column Sets, and use them on both Work and Planning menus.	How to use Investment Dependencies in Investment and Capacity Planning Reviewing Dependencies in Investment and Capacity Planning Reviewing Work Investment Dependencies

Understand investment approval status values

Investment approval status is an alternate structure used in investment and capacity planning. It is used to show or exclude potential project investments within specific sections on the planning pages, or trigger successive lifecycle workflows for the relevant projects based on the selected value.

The table below describes when each investment status should be used and where they are displayed on the Investment and Capacity Planning screen.


Status	Description	Visibility
Pending	Indicates the investment opportunity has been identified, however, the business case has not been completed and the opportunity is not ready to be considered. Investments with this status are not displayed on the Investment and Capacity Planning screen.	Will not appear on Investment and Capacity Planning screen
Analyze	Indicates the investment opportunity has been identified and the business case prepared. The opportunity can be considered, however, no final investment decision has been made.	Below the line – Analyze view
Accept	Indicates the investment opportunity has gone through the investment and capacity planning process and that your organization has chosen to proceed with the investment. Anything approved in the previous planning cycle will already appear above the line (in-flight).	Above the line – Analyze view Included in Shift and Balance Views
Conditional	Indicates the investment has gone through the investment and capacity planning process and has been accepted under certain conditions.	Above the line – Analyze View Included in Shift and Balance views
Refuse	Indicates the investment opportunity has gone through the investment and capacity planning process and your organization has chosen not to accept it.	Below the line – Analyze View
Resubmit	Indicates the investment opportunity has gone through the investment and capacity planning process via a lifecycle, and your organization initially refused to accept it. The opportunity has been revised and should be reconsidered. This status is used in investment and capacity planning if your system is configured for lifecycles.	Below the line – Analyze View

Set up the investment approval status alternate structure

Step	Role	Description	Resources
Understand and enable the investment approval status (OpCapAppr)	Planview administrator	Investments (or projects) must have an investment status (OpCapAppr alternate structure) of Analyze, Accept, Conditional, or Refuse to be included in a planning portfolio. As an administrator, you must edit the investment demand structure, then the status must be added to all potential and in-flight projects. Things to consider: Many set the default to Analyze for simplicity. To do this, select the definition link next to the Investment Approval alternate structure, then select Analyze in the default drop down. Pending can be used to enable a lifecycle checkpoint before moving to planning. Resubmit and Repropose can be used in sub-lifecycles in advanced configurations and are not required. If used, the status chosen in the lifecycle can trigger successive workflows for the relevant entities or projects.	Investment Approval Alternate Structure (OpCapAppr) Updating Investment Approval Status and Priority

Step

Role

Description

Resources

Understand and enable the investment approval status (OpCapAppr)

Planview administrator

Investments (or projects) must have an investment status (OpCapAppr alternate structure) of Analyze, Accept, Conditional, or Refuse to be included in a planning portfolio.

As an administrator, you must edit the investment demand structure, then the status must be added to all potential and in-flight projects.

Things to consider:

Many set the default to Analyze for simplicity. To do this, select the definition link next to the Investment Approval alternate structure, then select Analyze in the default drop down.
Pending can be used to enable a lifecycle checkpoint before moving to planning.
Resubmit and Repropose can be used in sub-lifecycles in advanced configurations and are not required.
If used, the status chosen in the lifecycle can trigger successive workflows for the relevant entities or projects.

Investment Approval Alternate Structure (OpCapAppr)

Updating Investment Approval Status and Priority

Create a new planning portfolio and confirm configuration and data


Step	Role	Description	Resources
Create a new planning portfolio	Planview administrator	Create a new planning portfolio.	About Creating Planning Portfolios as a User Creating Planning Portfolios Planning Menu Basics
Confirm configuration and data	Planview administrator	From the planning menu, navigate to the Investment and Capacity Planning tab. Use the View dropdown to select each view option, and make sure the portfolio displays rows for each option. If no data displays, review this criteria: The projects (demand) must be associated to the department (capacity). Demand data for the selected financial version must be available for the selected capacity entities. The demand must exist within the selected planning horizons. The investment approval status must not be Pending. If an additional demand portfolio was applied to the planning portfolio, the investments must also be included in the definition of the selected demand portfolio.	Understand Where Investment and Capacity Planning Obtains Its Information Associating Work with Strategy Entities Reviewing or Modifying Financial Allocation Values