Contents
1Searching and Viewing Projects in Xchange
Searching
1.1 Searching UsingQuick Finder2
1.2 Advanced Searching UsingObject Finder3
Viewing
1.3 Project Header5
1.4 Project Tabs5
2 Adding and Amending Projects in Xchange
2.1Definition of a Project and Project statuses7
Adding
2.2Adding a NewProject8
Amending
2.3Amendingor Adding Relationships11
2.4Adding or Amending Key Information12
2.5Amending the Name or Status of aProject13
3 Project Communications and Documents
3.1 Recording a Project Related Communication14
3.2 Recording a Project Development16
1. Searching and Viewing Projects in Xchange
1.1 Searching Using Quick Finder
You can utilise a number of different methods to search for Projects. The simplest way is to use the Quick Finder. When you open Xchange the Quick Finder box should appear automatically. To open the Quick Finder at any other time click the large binoculars to the far left of the top tool bar. Select “Projects” from the drop down box next to type. This will display “Organisations” as a default.
When searching for Projects by name, the same rules apply as with searching for Contacts or Organisations with regard to “Assume trailing wild cards” and “Include names that sound like”. If you are only sure of part of the Project name then encase your search term in * to search wild cards at each end of the word or letters you have typed. For example *Process* will find all Projects with the word “process” any where in the name. Also ticking the “Include names that sound like” box will search for similar sounding names.You should not search for the type of Project here e.g. “KTP” as this should not be included in the name of the Project.For more information on using the Quick Finder see “Searching Using Quick Finder” on page 1 of the Contacts, Organisations and Communications User Guide.
1.2 Advanced Searching Using the Object Finder
The Object Finder icon is usually located as the thirdicon from the left handside on the top toolbar.
You will need to select “Projects” from the type drop.
The Object Finder provides a number of additional searching fields compared to the Quick Finder. You can search by Project ID number using the Object Finder, as with Organisations and Contacts, each Project is given a unique ID number by Xchange. This can entered into the number field of the Object Finder to navigate quickly to a specific Project.
In addition to searching by ID number you can also search by usinga number of very useful criteria:
To search by project type select the Activities tab. Then select “Project Type” from the Category drop down box.
Now select the type of Project from the “value” drop down box. This will search for Projects of that type in the database.
Another useful criteria that can be searched for using the Object Finder is the Project Status. To search for Projects of a particular status select the “Codes” tab and then select the Status you would like to search for from the drop down.
Another useful criteria to search under the Codes tab is “Accessible To”.This will search by owning department for example selecting SOBE from this drop down will search for projects that are owned by the School of Business and Economics.
You can use any combination of these criteria for example “Knowledge Transfer Partnerships” that are at the status of “2.Project Definition” and owned by “Research and Enterprise Services”.
Viewing Project Data
1.3 Project Header
When you have found and opened a Project the Project Card is displayed:
The header of the Project Card is the white area at the top. In the header you can see a range of useful information on the Project. In the top left is the Project name and below this is the Xchange ID Number. Displayed In the central area isKey Information on the Project which includes the type of Project and also the Total Project Value if this information has been added.
Below this you will see the department which owns the Project and below this the Status of the Project is displayed.
To the right hand side of the header is a free text field where any general notes about the Project are displayed.
1.4 Project Tabs
When a Project Card is opened the Project Information Tab is displayed as a default. This tab will show a summary of the related Project Contacts. In the first box the University Project Manager is displayed. All Projects must have a University Project Manger. The next box below displays all the other Contacts that are related to the Project. This will include any external Project Managers, external Contacts and any other internal Contacts. By looking at the Contacts you can also see the Organisations that are related to the project.
The next tab down is the Maintain Comms tab. By selecting this tab you can view all the Communications, Documents and Developments that are related to the Project in detail.
The next tab is the Key Information tab. Under this tab you can amend the Key Information on the Project which is displayed in the header. For example you can add a Total Project Value using this tab.
Below the Key Information tab is the Contacts/Organisations tab. This tab displays details of the Contacts, Organisations and sometimes Projects that are related to the project.
You will see listed all the relationships including;related Organisations that have been created as “Spin Outs” of the Project, external Contacts and their Organisations, internal and external Project Managers and also any other related Projects. You can add or delete these relationships using this tab.
The last tab is the General/Notes tab. This tab allows you to amend the status of the Project and make changes to the name of the Project.
With the exception of the Project Information tab, right clicking on any of these tabs allows you to amend the information (See “Adding and Amending Projects” on page 7 of this guide).
2. Adding and Amending Projects in Xchange
2.1 Project Definitions and Project Statuses
A project in Xchange is any defined piece of work proposed to be undertaken by the University that will involve at least 1 other external partner.
Includes: sponsorship, research projects involving industrial partners, student project placements (inc GBP and STEP), KTPs, Link Funds, HEIF company projects, funded chairs or researchers, intellectual property exploitation, spin outs (see additional notes below), consultancy
Does not include: events, training, professional development, meetings, student jobs, business accounts (ie organisations that have been identified as a ‘Key Account’), research projects involving only academic partners or funding councils (which are recorded in InfoEd).
Project Statuses:
Projects can be given a status in Xchange. The status should be updated as the project develops throughout its life cycle. For guidance on how to amend a Project Status see “Amending the Name or Status of a Project” on 13 of this guide. Below are definitions of the five statuses;
- Promotion.
An idea for a project or a university initiative has been defined. This is now being promoted through mailshots, sales calls, presentations etc. These activities will be recorded as communications related to the project.
- Definition.
An enquiry has been received from an external organisation. This may have been generated by a promotion or not. The definition stage incorporates any correspondence, meetings, contract negotiations entered into before the project action starts. These activities will be recorded as communications against this project and the relevant Contacts/Organisations. At this stage you would probably set up a relationship between the Project and a Contact at an Organisation. Many Contacts can be linked to one project.
- Action.
The Project is underway. The University Project Manager (UPM) continues to monitor the progress and records any developments as file notes against the Project. At this stage the Project MUST have at least one external Contact related to it.
- Impact
The Project has been completed and its impact is being assessed. Again this should be recorded against the Project, as a case study, through the communications log. At this point the UPM should start identifying subsequent Projects with the Organisation, if they haven’t done so already. These Projects should then be linked back to the original Project. If the Project has led to a spin out organisation this should also be linked back to the original Project via a “Spin out Organisation” link
- Closure
The project is closed. No further action or activity.
2.2 Adding a New Project
To add a new Project first select the Quick Finder. Select Projects from the “type” drop down box and then Click the New button adjacent to this box.
The New Project popup will appear. Under the Name tab enter the name of the Project. You do not need to enter the type or the name of any Organisations that are involved just the name of the project e.g. “Business Process Management”
Write a more detailed description of the Project in the notes field but still do not include Organisations involved or the project type here just elaborate on the aims of the Project.
Select the “Status” tab andselect the status from the drop down menu. Generally this will be “1. Project Promotion”
The Activity Category Selection popup will appear. Select the Project Type from the drop down.
The types of Projects you can enter are restricted according to your department. The Project Types that are available to you can be amended if you would like a new Project Type added please contact the CRM team at .
After selecting the Project Type click Ok, the Relationship Selection popup will appear. All Projects must have a University Project Manager and it is the University Project Manager that is responsible for keepingthe Xchange record up to date. To select the University Project Manager click the “?” button at the top of the popup. The list of University Project Managers will appear:
Select the appropriate Project Manager from the list and click OK. If the Project Manager is not listed please contact the CRM team at d we will add any University members of staff to the list.
University Project Manager is the only compulsory field from this popup. However other Contacts that are related to the Project can be added here. External Contacts, Project Managers and further University Contacts can be selected here by clicking the “?” button next to the list of relationship types. It is possible that a Project may not have any external Contacts in the early stages, these may develop as a result of Communications relating to the project (see “Recording a Project Related Communication” on page 14 of this guide). Only when a Contact and their Organisation is firmly committed to a Project should they be related to the Project in Xchange.
Any relationships can be added or amended later if required see “Adding or Amending Relationships” on11 of this guide.
When the University Project Manager and any other relationships have been selected, click Ok. Always click No to the “Enter a default Contact for this Project” popup.The new Project Card will be displayed
Amending Projects
2.3Amending or Adding Relationships
To amend or add a Project relationship to aContactand their Organisation or another Project select the Contacts/Organisations tab. Right click on this tab and the maintain relationships window will open:
If you wish to delete an existing relationship select it from the list and click delete.
To add a new relationship, click the New button at the bottom of the window. Select from the “Relationship With” drop down (either a Contact, Organisation or Project). Now select the relationship type from the next drop down and finally who the relationship is with by clicking on the “?” button next to the “Relationship To” box. Always click yes to the Create Complimentary Relationship popup.
Note: By relating an external Contact you will automatically create a link to that Contact’s Organisation. The only time an Organisation should be directly related to a Project is when that Organisation is created as a “Spin Out” from the Project.
You can add further relationships by clicking New and repeating the process. Click close when finished.
2.4Adding or Amending Key Information
As with Contacts and Organisations, Key Information can be added to or amended against Project records in the database. To add or amend Key Information right click on the Key Information tab. You will now be able to amend the highlighted Key Information by changing the Category selection and Values if necessary. To add new Key Information click the New button at the bottom of the screen to open the blank Key Information window.
Select the category of Key Information from the first drop down, for example “Total Project Value” then select from the Value drop down for example “100k – 500k”. Click the “?” button next to the source field and click Ok to the source popup. Click savewhen finished. You can add additional Key Information by clicking the New button and repeating the process.
2.5Amending the name or status of a project
To change the Status or amend the name of a project, right click the General/Status tab. The following screen will be displayed:
You can amend the name of the Project from here and also amend the Project notes that appear in the Header, but remember any developments with a Project should be recorded as Communications (see “Recording Project Developments” on 15 of this guide).
To change the Status of a Project select the Source and Status tab. Then select the required Status from the drop down menu. You can record the Status as changed at any previous date by selecting from the calendar drop down next to the status selection box.
For guidance on the definitions of the five project statuses refer to the “Adding a New Project” section of this guide on page 7. Click Ok when finished to return to the Project Card.
3.Project Communications and Documents
3.1 Recording a Project Communication
To record a Project related Communication you should first open the card of the Project that the Communication is related to. Click the Document Creator icon at in the top left of the tool bar. Select Precis Only from the Document drop down and then the type of Communication from the Type drop down (e.g. Email). Fill a meaningful Subject such as “Invitation to participate in Project”. Fill in the Precis field with the details of the communication, if this is an email you can copy and paste the contents into the Precis field.
Now select the “Who” tab.The “Related to” box is where you will need to enter the Contacts that have either sent or received the Project related Communication. You can do this by using drag and drop where the Contact or Organisation appears in your navigation panel.
If the Contact or Organisation that you need does not appear in your navigation panel you can search for them using the “?” button of either the Contact or Organisation sub tab. This will open the Contact Finderor Object Finderallowing you to search the database for the Contact or Organisation respectively. When the Contact or Organisation has been found click the “Related” button to add to the “Related to” box.
You can add as many Contacts or Organisations to the “related to” box as needed to show if the communication has been sent to several Contacts or Organisations.This ismaybe useful for recording Project Communications during the “Project Promotion” stage.
Also under the “Who” tab, if you add a University colleague into the “Copy to” or “Distribute to” boxes you will have the option of sending these colleagues a notification that informs of a new document for their attention when they next login to Xchange.
3.2 Recording a Project Development
A Project development is really another type of Project related Communication. To record a development,open the Project Card and click the Document Creator icon. Select “précis only” from the Document drop down and“File Note” from the Type drop down. Enter a subject and details of the development into the Precis field.