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THE PARTICIPANT GROUPS 133

Tool Tip PlanView (PlanView, Inc.) is a project management
tool that deliberately approaches system use on a role-based
design. In its default roles, PlanView recognizes these two lev-
els of participants, calling them Deluxe Contributor and Con-
tributor. A simple Contributor would be expected to feed
periodic time and expense data into the system, and possibly
work status data. A Deluxe Contributor, or team leader would
also need to be able to add or modify work items.

Both levels of contributor would need ready access to the data, via a process
that we call Reports. Of course, the concept of reports has changed considerably
since the early days of 11″ × 14″ green-bar computer sheets. Today, reports are
likely to be screen views, giving the user almost immediate access to any of the
data. However, the big gain from today’s reporting technology is not speed—it’s
customization. When we printed voluminous reports, we tended to create one-
size-fits-all outputs. Everyone, regardless of role or need, received the same pack
of reports. As such, they received much more than they could use, generally in a
format that required them to search through the reports to get the information
that was specifically useful to them.

This is self-defeating. There is no reason, today, to create general use reports,
with excess data. Reports can be, and should be, designed for each user. To do
this, we would first identify the roles that would be receiving the data and design
a set of model reports for each defined role. Then we can go further. Each indi-
vidual can have his or her own set of reports, using a personal selection criterion.

Tool Tip The capability, in PlanView, of having a HomeView
for each individual epitomizes this concept. This not only
provides access to the specific information needed by each
contributor, but also limits access to the data that the indi-
vidual needs.

Access should not be overly restrictive. The information available to the con-
tributors should be enriched enough to inform them of the larger picture as
well as their particulars. It should also provide warnings of current and pending
critical items, missing items, and news of general interest. Here again, we
would expect that the Deluxe Contributors would have a wider span of interest