UpDiagram in Agile methodologies: How Alex uses UpDiagram to streamline his Scrum teams.

UpDiagram in Agile methodologies: How Alex uses UpDiagram to streamline his Scrum teams.

Alex is a Scrum Master at ITC Group, a software company that offers IT consulting and solutions to many businesses. Alex has played an accomplished and core role at ITC Group’s engineering team, Alex with his company has helped many businesses be successful on their digital transforming path.

How Alex applies UpDiagram to support his work

While waterfall and other similar methodologies may have been the approach on projects in the past, agencies that traditionally functioned under such frameworks are now turning to more agile models to provide benefits such as greater flexibility, improved accuracy, and efficiency in delivering requirements, and quicker turn-around of products.

Agencies that have historically used waterfall methods however would likely be familiar with the Scrum framework which helps manage tasks from start to finish.

Working at ITC, an innovative IT Outsourcing provider, we apply modern versions of Scrum in our project because it is believed to facilitate greater efficiency and productivity when compared to previous project management methods without sacrificing quality at any point during the life-cycle of a product or service.

In this method application, we can not miss our great helper, UpDiagram – a tool that supports us a lot in managing and tracking our Scrum project with less effort and more productivity.

How to apply UpDiagram in Scrum team?

1. Product Backlog
The product backlog contains many tasks and ideas involved in the development of a product. To manage all the user stories in my backlog, we use the Kanban Board mode view in UpDiagram to visualize user stories.

kanban board

UpDiagram Kanban Board is easy to use for us at first due to its user-friendly interface. Just with some basic setup, we can freely add or drop and drag tickets in the product backlog, which saves me much time for switching their status.

2. Meeting
– Project Quotation
For each client meeting, I need a lot of time for calculating the price for the project quotation. But now with the UpDiagram computation field, I can easily add some formulas to my project. Everything I need is just to input the number into the field, and it assists me to do the rest of the things.

– Export Excel for a quick report
Working along with the Scrum team, we take time for reports in meetings. Traditionally, if I want to add statistics or information from a project to my reports, I usually have to solve it conventionally, copy and paste. But now with the Export Excel function in UpDiagram, I just need one click to export all my data into a spreadsheet format without losing any data.

export to excel

3. Free templates
Whenever starting a new project, I prefer to go to the UpDiagram template library. For my personal use, I often apply from the UpDiagram Software Development templates. And I suppose these templates to be specialized and helpful because all settings mostly adapt to my recent team’s demands, so I don’t have to adjust them too much.

free templates

How UpDiagram boosts Alex’s team productivity

1. Collaboratively attaches files:
A user story can include plenty of information such as epic briefs, design briefs, project plans, and more. In each ticket created in UpDiagram, we can easily share documents by attachment function, we attach a wide range of file formats such as doc, spreadsheet, image, pdf,…

attachments

2. Multiple Assignees:
We found it collaborative to co-working and keep every teammate in the loop by adding multi members to a project in UpDiagram. We can easily assign a person in charge of a task and follow up on their progress by customized fields. With a comment function below each task and speedy notification, team members can raise their problems and feedback for particular assignments.

task assignment

3. Manage team members’ working hours:
Tracking the working hours of the members seems to be an unfamiliar piece of work to me, but as the UpDiagram team suggested to me as a power that supports us in tracking members’ performance, I try to apply this feature to my Scrum team. What I ask them to do with this feature is check-in and check out every time they start or finish a task. No one wants to be the latest or solve their assignments for a long time, so they try to do it in a more effective and time-saving way. I think it might be because of their awareness of the time passing effect on the Time Tracking bar, time is money, right?

time tracking

Feedback to improve:

Tickets in the UpDiagram Kanban Board Model view take large space. UpDiagram had better enhance an interface that can help me observe tickets neater and space-efficient. Filter in UpDiagram is a supportive function, but it is limited in other views, especially the Kanban board. We hope that UpDiagram will have the plan to develop this function for users to easily find and track the specific information in the project that they need swiftly

For a better UpDiagram Community:

UpDiagram is an innovative and client-centered platform. Every time I get into trouble or confused with some features or function, UpDiagram support team is always willing to contact me and help solve my problem timely. In Particular, UpDiagram is ready to listen to my team. While using UpDiagram, my team sometimes finds limitations in some UpDiagram features, so we suggested they develop one that can meet our demand.

For all those dedicated efforts from UpDiagram, I’m nearly an UpDiagram lover. Now I’m confident that I have knowledge of how to operate a project proficiently on this platform. I’m eager to share and help other UpDiagram lovers in their ways of mastering this tool. If you’d like to connect with me, reach out on LinkedIn!

A big thanks from UpDiagram

We are thankful to Alex for your precious feedback on our platform. We are proud that we did provide value to your team as well as your company, ITC Group. Our team is so grateful for your suggestion, we will have a plan to enhance and develop UpDiagram in our effort to provide you as well as ITC Group the best experience when using our tool. Thank Alex again for your interest in UpDiagram!

Any questions or feedback?

If UpDiagram users have any questions or feedback, please feel free to send them to us through our support email info@updiagram.com. We will be in touch within one business day.

Will we support implementing Agile in UpDiagram for your work?

The essential elements of implementing agile in UpDiagram have been covered in this guide. I deploy one of our pre-built solutions and then adjust based on the needs of the specific teams when I work with to maximize their agile setup in UpDiagram.

With this guideline above, you may tweak it and develop a custom framework in UpDiagram to organize your sprints.

If you would like to receive assistance with your Agile setup, please don’t hesitate to reach out to UpDiagram. You can contact us directly through our UpDiagram contact page, LiveChat or via our UpDiagram messengers. We are here to provide you with more information on our tailored solutions for Agile agencies and discuss how we can meet your specific needs.

6 Reasons to Switch from Jira to UpDiagram

As a project manager, you’re probably getting to know the project management software Jira. If you are a Jira user, have you ever felt this tool is not efficient and its process is too complicated for you?

Cheer up, there’s nothing to panic about. Did you know that each tool is created for different purposes, maybe that’s the tool that might not be suitable for your demand? In this situation, you should consider transferring your project in Jira to a new one that might be appropriate, UpDiagram can be a promised selection in your list. But before the transition, you need to be clear about what you really need to change. Here are 6 reasons for switching Jira to UpDiagram we have researched you can refer to them for your comparison and decision.

Not now, when?

Many teams have chosen Jira over the years:

– Jira includes a large number of tools and functions
– Able to integrate with different external systems
– Provide an overview of team activities
– Allows users to set team permissions
– Qualified for product-centric workflows, such as scrum projects and bug tracking

Since Jira announced some significant modifications to its services, users have faced a lot of trouble. If you’re thinking about switching, there’s no better time than now.

– Many previous subscribers saw their fees increase by 11 percent to 15 percent, depending on the number of users, as of February 2021.
– Another significant change is that Jira will phase down its server-based licensing, with all support for these services ending on February 2, 2024.

Although Jira developers inform that this will enhance overall the performance of their service, these significant shifts are supposed to result in some rising issues for both Jira and most of their consumers.

Jira forces server-based customers to recreate their infrastructure in the Jira cloud from the ground up. Unfortunately, this don’t accomplish with one button click. Continue reading to know what trouble you get with Jira and UpDiagram solutions.

6 Reasons to Switch from Jira to UpDiagram

1. Cost

Jira problem:
Is it worth it for Jira users to pay an arm and a leg in the future? 🤔

Furthermore, as previously said, Jira is predicted supposed to offer a more expensive price plan in the future. At present, Jira’s Cloud service costs $7/month per user for basic services. You’ll likely need to purchase more than just one package in Jira to get all the features you need. Jira’s monthly fee may exceed $7 per user. For instance:

– If you wish to have documentation and wikis, you need to buy a Confluence subscription.
– Trello subscriptions can be purchased for the non-product teams.
– For features like Goals and time tracking, you’ll almost certainly need a third-party add-on.

UpDiagram solution:
The special feature of UpDiagram’s pricing in comparison to Jira is that it is less expensive while still meeting all of the fundamental functionalities and user demands. The maximum you may spend for UpDiagram per month is only $7. Pricing Details:

– Starter (Free) includes unlimited projects and work packages, customization, and fundamental features. Basic customer service (email)
– Professional ($3 per user): Aside from the advantages of Starter, users can also integrate other tools into UpDiagram which helps users manage all in one platform. Time tracking, Gantt chart, tables, and a formula column are all available with a premium support level (Email, Phone, Quarterly review)
– Enterprise ($7 per user): This includes everything in the Pro and Starter programs. Especially, users can request integration and suggested custom development, enterprise assistance (Email, Phone, Quarterly review, Extensive training & personalized support)

UpDiagram also offers an annual billing scheme (savings of 20%) for two-priced packages. It is suitable for businesses who want to entirely switch from Jira to UpDiagram.

Furthermore, UpDiagram offers a discount program for Startups and Enterprises, which includes a two-year free trial of the Pro package with dedicated customer support. Enterprises only make a payment after the first two years. Besides, if an enterprise has a long-term partnership with UpDiagram, it will be able to take advantage of further discounts.

UpDiagram also features third-party integration, such as Slack, Github, Gitlab, etc. This means you won’t have to input your data if you switch from Jira to UpDiagram. So, even if some of your teams opt to stick with Jira, you can easily migrate to other teams which are ready for the transition. The team collaborators’ migration is simple, all you need is just to add their emails (UpDiagram registered) in the import process.

2. Customization

Jira problem:
Jira offers some features that are used for various purposes. Jira projects may require a full-time administrator to effectively set up administrate. In addition to the expense of package purchasing, it implies that your team is investing more time and money in using Jira. ROI reduce because the investment cost is large.

So why not restart with a management platform which takes you fewer resources?

UpDiagram solution:
UpDiagram provides friendliness and ease of use for all users’ levels without code requirements, expertise, and well-trained admin. UpDiagram provides over 20 metadata fields, a variety of ways to customize the view, a large number of feature combinations, and assisting purchase users in “taking care” of the project comprehensively.

(A) The UpDiagram Hierarchy
The streamlined task hierarchy in UpDiagram allows you to arrange your team’s activities quickly and easily. It has an easy-to-follow but completely customizable structure:

Projects > Work Views > tasks > subitems > data fields

(B) Multiple Views
UpDiagram also provides you with a variety of project views to adapt a variety of working methods. In the same project, you may switch between views! And here is a deeper look at these modes:

1- Required task views

Kanban View: Multiple projects may be easily dragged and dropped into other categories to shift them from task to task and project to project.

Grid view: All your tasks are shown in one view (as if they were on a checklist), and you may select data fields for yourself. The Grid facilitates an overview of all work and progress for the Scrum Master and Project Manager. This is an excellent solution for folks that need to know immediately and get their tasks done.

2- Mind map:

This view provides users with a structured overview of the project, allowing them to comprehend the position of tasks, and their dependencies, as well as grasp their priorities.

3- Calendar view:

A view similar to your calendar The jobs will be nicely placed on the Calendar View, and UpDiagram will additionally display the task’s timeline/due date. The mode may be set by the week and month. UpDiagram will collect and display jobs with particular deadlines to the right of the Calendar.

4- My Assignment
Users can view the task that has been assigned to them by clicking on “My Assignment”. Users’ focus easily filters their tasks in Grid, Kanban, and Calendar view to shorten their time and effort to search for their assignments. Furthermore, UpDiagram provides Due Assignment, which allows users to keep track of the due date.

3. Fast

Jira problem:
Slow loading times, in the end, will be a limitation for a project management tool, because we might need quickness in some urgent cases.

Jira is a sophisticated tool that takes specialized knowledge to set up and maintain, its complexity comes at the expense of efficiency and speed. User comment about Jira’s slowness:

“Jira and Confluence(Cloud) are toooooo slow!”
Wonkyung Lyu on Community Atlassian

UpDiagram solution:
UpDiagram always brings a smooth experience, which helps users feel comfortable when participating in project management. Some comments about UpDiagram speed:

“It’s absolutely transparent to my team and me. There is no worry about missing priority or updating status before every meeting. It is easy to learn and use very fast. Their support team is also energetic to give me a hand to build projects as soon as possible.”
Enterprise G2 Reviewer

“Clear layout, beautiful interface Reasonable interface arrangement Fast App Loading Speed.”
Lilina on Saashub

“Fast. I can operate quickly on the tool, and data is converted quickly, without any speed problems when using UpDiagram.”
User on alternativeto

We also recognize that speed is only beneficial when combined with dependability, which is why we take pleasure in maintaining the highest levels of availability!

And to top it all off, UpDiagram is simple to use and has an excellent UX UI, anybody can get into the project process and co-working harmoniously. That means no more workflow will be pending cause other team members waiting and ensuring the progress of the project.

4. One for all

Jira problem:
As previously said, Jira and Atlassian software are siblings. How does this affect a single business?

– Jira is a project management tool for developers and product teams.
– Trello is for kanban projects, marketing, and other simple project workflows.
– Confluence is used to save, share, and keep track of wikis, documents, and playbooks.
– To fill up the gaps, a range of integrations such as goals, OKRs, time tracking, and automation…

Having your work distributed over numerous software applications invariably results in a lot of multiple processes and searching for resources, resulting in a loss of productivity, messages, and composure.

UpDiagram solution:
UpDiagram is here to simplify processes but maximize productivity. This platform is customizable and offers all work perspectives. UpDiagram maintains all of your work in one place, which means it provides you with all of the necessary tools you require. We assist you in becoming more efficient. For example, you can schedule a meeting for tasks that have Date features installed, be up-to-date and alerted with Notification, or integrate Slack, and RocketChat every time the meetings come.

On top of that, we’re always trying to improve your working experience by releasing new features and upgrades every week.

5. Customer support

Jira problem:
Jira’s support documentation is difficult to understand. Searching for specific phrases is both time-consuming and confusing. You’re not simply provided a support doc resource; you might get stuck with its community forums and articles. Overall, troubleshooting Jira bugs on your own is a nightmare.

UpDiagram solution:
We place a high value on offering assistance. In truth, at UpDiagram, our number one Core Value is to “deliver the best satisfying client experience.”

We’re here to help you get the most of every feature and have the greatest possible user experience, whether you need to refer to our thorough Support Docs (guideline, features detail, etc), ask a short question through chat on social media (Facebook, LinkedIn), send an email, or book meeting for a free coaching call.

We’re here to support you whenever you need it, 24 hours a day, seven days a week!

6. Partnership with Start-up

Jira problem:
Jira is an old-established tool; as previously said, Jira costs are high and fluctuate over time. Because they don’t need to partner with startups, Jira’s target users are big enterprises.

UpDiagram solution:
Although UpDiagram has just appeared on the market, UpDiagram provides ideal and similar functions that adapt startups’ and enterprises’ needs to manage their projects at reasonable expenses. And what makes UpDiagram an ideal partner with startups is the desire for a win-win partnership for both sides. With the partnership, start-ups will:

– Within two years, you’ll get a Premium package license for free—up to $0 for a long-term partnership.
– When you provide feedback and suggest additional new functions, you will earn more accumulation points, which will increase your discount for the next payment.

Furthermore, UpDiagram also has a stable pricing plan for startups and enterprises to ensure the pricing will not be increased forever. Let’s contact us for more information.

Conclusion

With more changes, Jira loses consumer sentiment. If you’re searching for a Jira alternative due to pricing, ease of use, performance, convenience, support service, or because you’re being forced to leave their server-based service, go no further than UpDiagram to satisfy all of your work management needs! These offers UpDiagram gives you:

– The interface is user-friendly, modification is straightforward, and the function is simple to use.
– Any team may use it, and any project can benefit from it.
– Customer service is critical. Points of Interest.

Don’t wait, check out this guideline, which walks cloud-based Jira users through the process of importing their data into UpDiagram in minutes.

Agile workflows – the right implementation for your projects

Adopting an Agile workflow has never been more popular, with so many firms adopting the Agile approach to project management. Agile workflow is trusted because that brings convenience, speed, and effectiveness. But what exactly is an Agile workflow, and how do you put one in place? This article contains all you need to understand Agile workflows development and put its concepts into practice in your enterprise.

What is Agile project management?

The fundamental concept of Agile project management

Agile is a method of project management. Agile enables management teams to transcend the traditional sequential model and get more done in less time. It accomplishes this by:

Dividing your project into smaller, individual cycles.
Customers should be actively involved in the product development process, and their feedback should be implemented on a regular basis.

What differentiates Agile workflow from traditional workflow?

Most traditional methodologies allow customer feedback only after the product has been published, such as Waterfall. And so, it is done in stages, with each one starting only after the preceding one is completed. Although the waterfall speeds up the process, it may pollute the efficacy of your product because it has not been tested with clients. As a result, Waterfall or other classic methods are not appreciated in terms of customer collaboration.

But Agile methodologies include clients in the process at all times. It is constantly providing tiny jobs and receiving feedback from customers. This enables teams to adapt fast to changes.

The Agile workflow process with an Agile tool

Let’s take a look at the breakdown of an Agile Workflow.
* Note: We will focus on the software development process because Agile development methods are the most popular form of Agile. On the contrary, no matter what kinds of your project are, most of the workflow processes are similar.

The Agile software development cycle

1. Ideation
Here, your project is planned. The Agile team defines and develops the product backlog. You need to plan out your Sprint.

Assigned task

2. Inception
Once you have defined what’s going to be done. Now, you create your Sprint team. This is what you assign tasks for them.

3. Iteration
Tackling your product backlog items. It means, they’ll start working in each sprint, launch product releases, get customer feedback, and repeat the cycle. Until the product should meet all the customer requirements.

4. Release
When once Sprint is completed, you give the product to the customer and get feedback. Next step, you combine the feedback with testing before going to the next Sprint.

5. Retirement
This is the end of the workflow process. The workflow process concludes with the completion of work on software development. The Agile team can move on to the next project or develop a new product.

The Sprint development cycle

Workload show all packages (Sprints)

Other than “The Agile software development cycle”, “The Sprint development cycle” is detailed development workflows. It’s crucial to break down the Agile development workflow for each sprint. Below are five factors that need attention.

Move Items

* When The Sprint development cycle run in UpDiagram
1. Requirements
Based on the product backlog, you need to clearly define the deliverables for each Sprint. Sprints may be created and managed with UpDiagram. The manager will move the tasks according to the appropriate Sprints.

2. Development
Your backlog items will be designed and developed by the developer. UpDiagram will assist developers in comprehending the significance of various backlogs. They will develop backlog items based on assignment, level and status of tasks.

3. Testing
When tagging jobs in UpDiagram, testers (QA/QC) will actively test the product before it is delivered to clients. Testers can also rely on the user stories listed beneath the comments to provide the most accurate findings. The status of each item can update with one click after testing.

4. Delivery

Export Excel for sending Sprint reports to clients

Give your backlog items to the client base for the final stage of testing. You can use Export Excel to send Sprint reports to customers or you can add your clients to view the whole progress of the project. Role and Permission will help you manage who to see what they should know.

5. Feedback

Get their comments and finish developing on it before moving on to the next sprint. You can leave your comment and communicate via any favorite tools such as Slack, Rocket chat, Microsoft team, Zalo, and so on.

How to create an Agile workflow and organize workflow with a tool

To build an Agile workflow you need to go through 4 steps

Step 1: Forming
Your team need to comprehend the Agile method (principle and practices). To make it simpler for your team to adapt to the new development workflow, you should guarantee to go over step by step these Agile practices.

You will have three things in this stage:
– Implementing and comprehending Agile specialization roles
– Monitor and review Agile activities such as daily standups, sprint planning, and sprint retrospectives
– Understanding the different Agile principles and the reason why we implement them

Step 2: Storming
Begin generating your product backlog and breaking it down into sprints. Your team in the sprint planning process will be responsible for carrying it out. Check that your sprints are appropriate and realistic. Ensure that you are not attempting to handle too much in too short a period of time.

Step 3: Norming
You must assign various members of the team to different sprints and specify what they will work on in each sprint. Start defining the team role and permission. Like most project Agile, you will select a product owner, a project manager, your project team, and the project stakeholder.

Role permission

It is important to note that the roles you establish will determine by the Agile technique you adopt. If you use a Scrum method, for example, you’ll need to choose a Scrum master. Similarly, when comparing Lean and Agile, your team configuration may differ. Adopting Kanban project management or any other Agile management methodologies is the same.

Step 4: Performing
This is the phase that Agile will work. Following the principles of the Agile Manifesto, keep in mind to have daily standups to keep track of any changes. Let the product owner present with your customer, the owner is reliant on the feedback and your team is able to work on it as soon as possible.

Collecting customer feedback by Comments

After working and collecting customer feedback, an agile sprint review should be conducted to move on to the next sprint. Bear in mind that, nothing is perfect for once. You should repeat the process again and again until everything is complete.

The right tool for Agile workflow process

Besides the Agile workflow process, you need an Agile tool to synchronize and unify all your Agile events that help you manage them easier in one place. An ideal tool makes you enjoy the benefit of Agile.

* Fact: tip use the right workflows tool
– Keep track of your product backlog.
– Plan out your sprints.
– Encourage team collaboration.

How to Use UpDiagram to Implement an Agile Workflow

As mentioned above, with the appropriate project management platform, Agile workflow management has been easier.

Because we understand our user’s needs, UpDiagram develops to provide not only the suitable tool but also the solution that satisfies customer needs with agile workflow management.

OK, now let’s start to see how UpDiagram assists you to implement the principles of Agile to manage your tasks and sprint smoothly.

1. Multiple work view facilitates your Agile frameworks management

One of the principles of Agile methodologies is to be ready to adapt to any changes. So, UpDiagram provides multiple work views to easily adapt to your team’s Agile frameworks.

In addition, you can actively change different work views in one project to allow you to select which views your team can work with effectively instead of forcing you to adapt to our interface. UpDiagram support Agile Project with four popular approaches:

1. Kanban view
The display of Kanban view allows users to manipulate tasks, you can drag/drop items everywhere to stay up with the Agile process. Here is the interface of Kanban and how you actually use it to manage your Agile workflow.

Kanban View

2. Grid view
This is the perfect view for fans of GTD-style to-do lists. Here, your tasks are listed down in a simple checklist that can be checked off as you progress. UpDiagram grid view is the solution for you to apply the Get-thing-done methodology. This view is useful for you to keep track of your sprint. You can select each sprint to show tasks to do. At the same time, It is able to show all sprints to help you have an over of your whole project with one view.

Read more: GTD-style to-do lists

If there are too many sprints and tasks, don’t worry because you can sort and filter tasks to define what you actually want to see in a Gird View. And so, this view adapts to your needs, not makes you adapt to them.

Grid View

3. Calendar
Be using this view to carefully plan your forthcoming sprints and know when things from your backlog may be added. You can track your team’s progress and what needs to be done with high priority and the due date is coming. Moreover, details of each task on Calendar view can be easily managed when you open each task popup detail.

Calendar View

Additionally, you can define the timeframe to show your sprints by selecting:
– Week: to view your weekly sprints
– Month: to see your project roadmap in a month

4. My Assignment
My assignment is a quick filter that allows you to show all the tasks and subtasks that you are assigned. It is no longer a distraction when you are looking for your task among thousands whilst you can pay attention to your better deliverables.

2. Track your Sprints with UpDiagram Packages

To add new items/tasks in UpDiagram projects, you have to create at least one Package. Additionally, this package use as a sprint for your Agile workflow process. This helps you create your own sprint lists to divide tasks and ensure deliverables for each sprint.

Closed tasks and sprints can easily archive. Also, you can drag and drop your tasks between sprints to adapt to any changes and move on to the next iteration. As a result, you can even add Scrum points to each list to keep a check on your product backlog items. UpDiagram allows you to add a Calculated column to estimate and calculate Scrum points for each sprint as well.

All packages on Grid View

Simultaneously, a scrum manager filters and changes the status of tasks to save and record progress as references during their scrum meetings.

3. Comments promote teamwork to collaborate

To enhance and encourage the team to communicate and collaborate, UpDiagram allows users to leave their comments on every single task which facilitates your team to exchange opinions, documents and files. Also, you can set Comments as private to take notes for yourself while meeting. Besides, you can integrate your favorite communication software such as Slack, Rocketchat, Zalo, Skype to organize your communication

An Agile project management platform also provides thousands of useful features including:
– Task Status and Priorities – to define and prioritize the urgent tasks first
– Time Tracking – Allow you to track specifically for each task and members to complete
– Android and iOS mobile app – catch up on the progress no matter where you are

Conclusion

Putting in place an Agile process does not have to be complex! Following the steps listed here with the right agile tool to simplify and maximize Agile workflows value to your team. Signup for free to use the right agile platform and Contact us for better consulting for your Agile management workflow.

Top Project Management Methodologies

Project Management Methodologies are used in industries other than technology and construction. Others such as Human Resources, hotel and restaurant management, etc, also adopt productive Project Management Methodologies. It’s impossible to accomplish projects as a project manager when clients and stakeholders frequently provide ambiguous direction. That reason, methods of project management develop a framework for the protection, enforcing standards, and control to manage complicated projects of all requirements.

Project management methods provide a system of principles, standard processes, and the ability to manage projects with multiple perspectives that meet all shapes and requirements across all industries.

The blog will show you:
– The best project management methodologies employed across many industries
– UpDiagram functions that are recommended for particular project management approaches

Top Popular Program Management Methods

Adaptive Project Framework (APF)

The adaptive project framework is an incremental way to meet the goals and outputs of a project. In other words, a project’s strategy is divided into small phases of work. This aids in task dependency structure and creates clear deadlines.
* Read more: Adaptive Project Framework (APF)

The phases of the adaptive project framework:
– Project Scope: Create a project charter to record the project plan (mentioned earlier)
– Cycle Plan: Outline each task and its dependencies
– Cycle Completion: When one cycle is finished, another begins
– Control Point: The customer or stakeholder meets with the team to assess the quality and identify possible areas for improvement in the next cycle
– The final report: Establishes whether or not the objectives were met.

💫 Using Adaptive Project Framework (APF) in UpDiagram:
– Project Scope: PMs can use project templates of UpDiagram, already installed all data fields
– Cycle Plan: Users in UpDiagram must create tasks and assign members to suitable assignments
– Cycle Completion: When one cycles is finished, PMs will create new cycles by creating New Packages
– Control Point: Comment and description tasks is the suitable function for this stage. Project Team will know requirement of clients
– The final report: PMs can use functions export Excel to send Sprint report

Agifall/Hybrid

The hybrid approach combines the finest features of both Agile and Waterfall methodologies. Agifall/Hybrid is based on the waterfall process, while execution is based on agile principles.
* Read more: Agifall/Hybrid

💫 Using Agifall/Hybrid in UpDiagram:
UpDiagram is a tool that can satisfy the requirements of the Agifall/Hybrid, UpDiagram combines the efficiency and adaptability of both methods. The key attraction is the ability to generate and move tasks across Sprints; Sprints may still be created continually to keep up with the speed of Waterfall. Meanwhile, the backlogs are still preserved in the original Sprints in accordance with Agile principles, with the goal of modifying based on customer feedback.

Agile

Agile is a project management methodology used in modern Project Management. Agile, which may be viewed as a management credo and is arguably more flexible than earlier management systems, allows management teams to transcend the traditional sequential paradigm and accomplish more.
* Read more: Agile

The five steps in the Agile methodology are:
– Step 1: Creating a release strategy and a product roadmap
– Step 2: Designing and constructing a product feature
– Step 3: Helping to improve and testing product
– Step 4: Launching
– Step 5: Maintenance and closure

💫 Using Agile in Trello:
– In Trello you can use Board view for Agile project
– Users can only construct one board or another project to hold backlogs; they cannot build Sprints

💫 Using Agile in UpDiagram:
– In UpDiagram you can use Board view & Calendar View for Agile project
– Users are easy to Drag & Drop tasks
– You can create Packages that allow you to manage your Backlogs and Sprints. Backlogs may also be readily transferred across Sprints

Get Things Done (GTD)

The GTD (Get Things Done) method is a project management style that focuses on personal productivity in order to develop the best methods for tackling life and work.
* Read more: Get Things Done (GTD)

The five simple steps:
– Capture: to free up mental space by recording your notes
– Clarify: go over your notes and decide whether they should be transformed into tasks, filed for future reference, or discarded
– Organize: designate a single location for your thoughts and tasks
– Reflect: Review your collection on a regular basis to check for relevancy and potential
– Engage: to take action on your things, utilize the system you’ve developed

💫 Using Get Things Done (GTD) in UpDiagram: The five steps will be most effective, when PMs use UpDiagram. That tool provides comment and text fields for “Capture” & “Clarify”, you can note everything with their features. After taking note of the necessary items and considering the future course of action, you need “Organize” & “Reflect”. UpDiagram will assist you to sort them by level, status, and packages. “Engage”– Using data you note, create in UpDiagram to run your project.

Lean

The Lean project management approach concentrates on tools and procedures that are highly focused on client value. The defined tasks and activities that must be accomplished at a certain time reduce the possibility of squandering time and resources.
* Read more: Lean

The five principles of lean methodology are:
– Define Value: integrate processes to suit client needs
– Map the Value Stream: remove any impediments to the flow
– Create Flow: to guarantee a smooth operation, manage team member workloads and production phases
– Establish Pull: developing an on-demand delivery mechanism to eliminate inventory overproduction
– Seek Perfection: constantly improve in order to eliminate any errors

Add Members to Projects – UpDiagram

💫 Using Lean in UpDiagram:
UpDiagram allows administrators to recognize inefficiencies in business operating systems and bring more value to customers. UpDiagram creates collaboration between customers and project personnel thanks to the comment and description feature. The core meaning of lean governance is continuous process improvement and UpDiagram can create packages for many processes. Helps to improve the process of capturing information as well as customer requirements.

Rational Unified Process (RUP)

The Rational Unified Process is based on software processes that prioritize iterative development throughout. This enables for fast modifications on high-risk items at each level. As just a corollary, the structure of RUP lends itself to the assembly of high-quality software manufacturing.
* Read more: Rational Unified Process (RUP)

The four project phases:
– Inception: defining the scope of work, conducting an impact analysis, identifying critical use cases, and estimating costs
– Elaboration: creating an architect-designed basis
– Construction: accomplishing the majority of the effort required to construct all software
– Transition: presenting the available to end customers, dealing with problem concerns, and assessing result objectives

💫 Using Rational Unified Process (RUP) in UpDiagram: UpDiagram is a tool that works RUP well, because it can effectively satisfy the 4-phase of the method.
– Inception: Managers can use the built-in templates or write the needs in the description to model the company and gather requirements
– Elaboration: When the management team enters the design phase, they may rely on the diagram to comprehend the project’s direction because UpDiagram includes a Mind Map mode for RUP methodology
– Construction: Data fields displaying job status, assigned, and product completion date (timeline, due date) are frequently utilized
– Transition: In terms of transitions, UpDiagram’s alerting features are critical to timeliness

Scrum

Scrum project management complements the agile method by introducing a significant role known as the Scrum Master. In method have The Scrum Master, the Product Owner, and the Development team. Then, they choose the highest-priority items from the Product Backlog from list feedback, to release in a single sprint.
* Read more: Scrum

These high-priority items are added to the Sprint Backlog and are built, tested, and released by the development team. Throughout the sprint cycle, a daily scrum meeting is held for each project contributor to share: what they completed the day before, what they plan to do today, and hurdles.

A Sprint Review meeting will be held at the end of the sprint to go through accomplishments and adjustments. This evaluation aids in the improvement of future sprint performance.

💫 Using Scrum in Trello:
– Board/Calendar/Table are the views in Trello, they don’t have Grid View, Therefore, the efficiency of the method is significantly reduced.

💫 Using Scrum in UpDiagram:
– Grid View/Calendar/ Board/ Mindmap are the views in UpDiagram. Grid View show all packages and manage Sprints (UpDiagram display full column data fields of task), So the efficiency of the method is increased
– Users allow to create and control Sprints for project
– UpDiagram support project team store product backlogs in Sprints

Scrumban

Scrumban is “the marriage of Scrum and Kanban”. Kanban extends the Scrum technique with metric visualizations and process enhancements. For example, a distinguishing component of the Scrumban approach is the WIP (work in progress) board, which aids in visualizing all tasks from start to finish.
* Read more: Scrumban

This board, divided into three sections (product backlog, add progress, and finished), displays the overall amount of additions to a certain segment. The Scrum team may make changes based on this information in order to keep an eye on workloads.

Drag & Drog tasks

💫 Using Scrumban in Trello:
– Users can Drag & Drop items (tasks)
– Member can add Attachments to make tasks clear

💫 Using Scrumban in UpDiagram:
– Users can Drag & Drop items (tasks), also can move items other Packages (Sprints)
– Member can add Attachments to make tasks clear
– Users allow to create and control Packages (Sprints) for project
– Keep track of the status of tasks

Here are UpDiagram functions that satisfy any project type and project methodologies

UpDiagram is the digital ultimate platform for managing projects, collaborating, integrating, customizing, working smarter, and consolidating all work into a single tool. Let’s look at the functions that relate to the approaches mentioned above.

📊 Dashboards

This is a function that provides users with an overview of the overall development of the project. Track particular tasks, Sprints, the number of tasks each Sprint, and a wealth of other statistics.

Dashboard detail

The methods of optimally exploiting the above function are:
– Agile
– Integrated Project Management (IPM)
– Package Enabled Reengineering (PER)
– Rational Unified Process
– Adaptive project framework (APF)
– Scrumban

🗒 Grid view

Grid View is a view in UpDiagram that allows users to inspect, sort, filter, or organize columns in any way they like. Grid View columns may be filtered to pick desired data or changed in the Custom Field area to assist enhance the viewing experience.

Grid View

The methods of optimally exploiting the above function are:
– SCRUM
– PRINCE2
– GTD
– New Product Introduction (NPI)

✴️ Subitems

UpDiagram’s Subitems will let you break down your jobs. It makes it easier to discuss activities in more depth. Subitems have no effect on large tasks on UpDiagram, but users should be aware that they must finish those Subitems in order to accomplish large tasks.

Using Subitems

The methods of optimally exploiting the above function are:
– Critical Path Method
– Agifall/Hybrid
– Outcome Mapping

🗓 Timeline/due date

Additional timeline and due dates are provided to assist teams in better understanding and managing their product roadmaps. Timelines are established so that managers and teams may understand the status of tasks.

Timeline on Grid View

The methods of optimally exploiting the above function are:
– eXtreme Programming (XP)
– Agile
– Agifall/Hybrid
– Adaptive project framework (APF)

🗂 Kanban view

The Kanban view in UpDiagram is ideal for project teams who need a fast overview of a project, users will know what tasks are in progress and what are the tags of each task. You may choose which fields display above the tables, and you can quickly drag and drop jobs between them.

Tasks on Kanban View

The methods of optimally exploiting the above function are:
– Lean
– Agile
– GTD
– Scrumban

🗂 Package (Sprints)

UpDiagram Packages (Sprints) are group tasks at cycle time, with extra UpDiagram functionality to help teams understand and manage their product roadmap. Packages which are available on all plans, leverage tasks are work items so that teams do not have to depend on other applications to complete their duties.

Change Packages

The methods of optimally exploiting the above function are:
– eXtreme Programming (XP)
– Agile
– Agifall/Hybrid
– Adaptive project framework (APF)

UpDiagram is suitable for a wide variety of project management methods, whether complex or simple. Contact us to learn more about the software and modern management methods. Signup for free! UpDiagram may help you change the way you develop and manage projects now!

The Best Way to Manage Agile Software Development Projects

Have you ever wondered what the advantages of Agile are and why so many professional managers are interested? Managers will tell you about Agile or a few new variants like Scrum and Kanban if you ask them about project management.

The benefits of Agile may be exaggerated, but this methodology truly assists software development teams in sprinting projects and delivering greater goods to clients. So, in this article, UpDigram will present you with The 9 Most Important Advantages of Agile Software Development.

Read more: Agile & Scrum, truly assists

How do you define Agile Software Development?

Agile software development entails dividing huge software projects into claw development periods known as Sprints (each sprint lasts two to four weeks). During which teams build specific features and deliver templates to clients.

Consumers judge the change and provide feedback, which the team incorporates before moving on to the next features. This frequent input, similar to the taste testing you conduct when making a delicious dish, shows you how to enhance the program to satisfy client demands.

Add New Packages On Grid View

Read more: huge software projects, Sprints

What are the Advantages of Agile Software Development?

So here are the top nine advantages of Manage Agile Software development:
– Greater adaptability
– Continuous enhancement
– Improve teamwork
– Boosts motivation
– Metrics that are relevant for data-driven choices
– Improvements in project predictability and control
– Enhances product quality
– Increased client satisfaction
– Greater Return on Investment

Benefits are achieved earlier in the development process this manner.
Read more: Agile development, the Waterfall methodology, Agile team members, Agile principles

Best Way to Manage Agile Software Development Projects?

Certainly, there are also several fantastic Agile benefits for both enterprises and customers. Furthermore, if you want to get the benefits of Agile, you must adopt it correctly. UpDiagram features are designed for the Agile team and it is ideal for enterprises to start your Agile transformation journey.

– How do you make that work?

To get started on your Agile transformation journey right away, we recommend utilizing the world’s most popular Agile project management software. Here’s a brief rundown of key UpDiagram capabilities tailored specifically for Agile teams:

– Views: To easily adjust to project and team needs, pick from four Work Views: Grid, Kanban, Calendar, and Mind Map. Create a project with several heights and angles.

GridView – UpDiagram

– Packages/Sprints: Manage each Sprint as well as the workload of your team. You may even utilize New Packages to design based system for your backlogs.

Manage Sprints and team workload with Packages

– Comments: Task-specific talks and collaboration can help to strengthen teamwork.

– Dashboard: monitor key indicators like velocity, burnup, burndown, and cumulative flow to ensure your projects are on schedule.

– Permissions: Invite stakeholders to your project environment without jeopardizing their privacy.

– Integrations: UpDiagram integrate with Slack to generate and assist you in following, communicating, notifying, and pulling requests from your UpDiagram tasks.

It is Time to Become Agile Manager with UpDiagram

With improved adaptability to faster ROI, the Agile mentality assists teams in avoiding the frequent pitfalls of conventional development.

Thus, if you have software projects with a high level of unpredictability, the Agile operating style can be the appropriate dish for you. With plenty of contemporary functions, UpDiagram makes Agile project management simple.

UpDiagram is an agile software development tool that allows you to solve software development difficulties with agility. Please contact us if you want to learn more about the software, Agile solution and current management practices. Sign up for experience! Now is the time to alter the way you develop and manage projects using UpDiagram!

What is Time Tracking? Benefits and how to use it effectively

For professional project managers, every second(s) of tasks counts in money. So tracking and calculating time is always something they are concerned about. In fact, there are many ways to keep track of time. In the past, they used manual recording methods to keep track of time, in modern times they apply computer science technologies to record time. The trend of using project management tools is increasing, and it is great if a project management software has a time tracking function.

Time Tracking solution for time calculation

Time is an abstract concept, colorless, odorless, and tasteless. Humans cannot “touch” it, but with the need to know the time, people from ancient times have created many different tools, with the purpose of calculating time: hourglass, using writing paper time,…

Instrument diagrams are no longer suitable for track time, so with the trend of technology, project managers have launched Time Tracking, as a completely new way to track the flow of time

It is a kind of computer software function that allows employees to track and record the time it takes to complete a task. This feature is used in many different industries, including freelancers and hourly workers. You can also understand that Time Tracking is like an automatic stopwatch, helping the home. Management and project members are more active in their work. It will record the start time and end time, then give a time, that is the plan the result of the whole recording process (calculated by the end time minus the start time).

For large, professional projects, a stopwatch will be a useless item. Continue reading the blog to see how Time Tracking will be for project management?

Applying Time Tracking function to project management software Project

Managers always face headaches with time management of small tasks, as well as staff time. But with Time Tracking, everything is optimized:

Time will be tracked specifically, making work progress not delayed
Each person will have a different “charging source” of time, clearly each employee.

Because of the optimal ability and efficiency that Time Tracking brings, the management software all possesses this function in their group of time functions. Realizing that efficiency and necessity, the UpDiagram development team. A new generation project management tool, has launched the Time Tracking function in each session management tool with that function.

Management software will optimize the process of calculating the time of your tasks (start – end), this software will give you data such as total, average,. .. the time when performing tasks. The manager will rely on that to calculate the cost for the whole project. In addition, time tracking will integrate with automation technology when used on the tool. Helping to solve work faster, clearer, and more efficiently.

The German proverb says “We need to go with the time, not let the time pass”, this is also the motivation for UpDiagram to develop the Time Tracking function. Users will be able to see the passage of time, helping managers to:

Track details of work completion time
Amount of time worked for employees
It easily costs working time
Create multiple Sessions for complex tasks
Flexible to customize the time

The biggest value that Time Tracking brings is the monetary value. Because for a project manager, the time of tasks can be converted into money. For a human resource manager – an employee’s working time is a whole month’s salary… If time don’t track properly accurately as well as reasonable calculation, which can lead to waste for the manager. In addition to Time Tracking, UpDiagram also has a lot of functions to support through the time flow manager such as Due date – for important dates for those tasks, Timeline helps users to clearly see the progress of tasks. …

It is currently a hot and trending function of project management software. It will not be too difficult to find this function in the management tools. But for the Time Tracking function to resonate with other functions such as Due date, Timeline,… is still quite a few. Contact or book a demo with UpDiagram to learn more about the group of time management functions.

Import projects from Jira

Because of the desire from our users to migrate data from their existing project management platform into others to save their time and effort, UpDiagram has supported users to be able to import project from Jira.

Import your Jira project into UpDiagram

Only Admin and Member in a Jira project can import project into UpDiagram.

Step 1: Log in to your UpDiagram account. Then, select Add project >>> Import Project.🙌

Step 2: select import your Jira project to UpDiagram

Step 3: Input required information to import

After clicking on Jira project, you will be navigate to the page where to input the necessary data. Here you will need to enter data according to the requirements: “your email”, “your Jira Workspace name”, and “your API token”.

How can I get my Jira Workspace name?

Jira Workspace name is the name of your workspace on Jira (you can check in your Jira URL). Ex: your URL is testing001.atlassian.net, you should input testing001 in this field.

How can I get API Token?

To get API token, let’s access your Jira account, go to “Account setting”

Then, It show you Atlassian account page. Select “Security “and “Create and Manage API tokens”

After that, you can create your API token in there.

*Note: you should save these token somewhere in case you may need to reuse them again.

Step 4: After entering the required data, click “Connect”.

Step 5: UpDiagram will display all available projects on Jira and now you just need to select the project you would like to import.

Step 6: Map user

You are able to map UpDiagram user to user in Jira project (enter email address to link).

Note: only users who are in your Jira project can be mapped with UpDiagram users.

Step 7: Your data will be completely transferred from Jira to UpDiagram. You can input some basic data to make your project on UpDiagram clearer.

It’s that simple, right? With just clicks and clicks, you can integrate Jira easily. Details can found in the video. Good luck with your project input!

If you need more assistance from us, please fill this form and you have any question about this or anything else about this article, feel free to reach out to us at support@updiagram.com.

How to manage your time to maximize your work

Everyone’s time fund is the same, but it is important how to manage the time. Society is growing, the demand for life is higher and higher, which requires us to have good working skills to be able to adapt to it, making it easy for us to achieve high results in our work and in our relationships other relationships outside society.

Photo by Curtis MacNewton on Unsplash

1. Wake up on time

Waking up every morning is the first thing of the day that can waste everyone’s time. Regardless of whether you deliberately slept for a while or accidentally turned off the alarm to wake up late for 30 minutes, getting out of bed at the right time every morning is always a difficult thing to do.

An extremely simple solution for that is to place an alarm out of your reach. This way make you leave the bed and will not return if you want to turn off the alarm.

2. Prepare meals smartly

Breakfast on the table includes salad, cake and coffee

Photo by Monika Grabkowska on Unsplash

Everyone is in a hurry every morning because this is the busiest time of the day. People who are on time often plan their own morning from the evening before. Their shoes and keys will be placed near the entrance. Lunch for the next day is carefully packed and coffee is just ready to press.

Some people even prepared clothes for the next day. Careful preparation will help us save a lot of time while helping us get out of the house on time.

3. Complete the job in time

People who do not know how to manage their time often put themselves in a state of what I should do next. In contrast, a smart time-user always plan ahead for what to do and how much time they will spend on each task.

If you answered the question, “How long does it take to do this?”, from the beginning, you’ll find that time management is simple.

4. Create habits for yourself

If you always have to go back to your house because you forgot to charge your phone, buy yourself an extra at the office. If you’re always struggling to find your car key, create a habit of putting it near the door. People know what they need to do to ensure that they are always on time.

5. Take advantage of free time

Most of the latecomers have a fear of waiting for something or have nothing to do. Sitting or waiting for something is likely savage torture to them. Instead of complaining about that, why don’t you use your free time by reading a book or sending the email which can save your work without working in the office?

6. Learn to say no

During the working process, It is essential to define what is important to you. That will help you decide to say “no” easier. In fact, Say “no” is a powerful skill to save your time not to do waste things. If you say Yes too much because you are afraid to make someone disappointed, you will disappoint yourself. Indeed, no one is responsible for your failure but you.

Therefore, you have to learn how to say “no” to move on to more productive tasks, manage your time and avoid wasting time later on.

7. “Backup” time between your work

If you consider the schedule of those who control the time well, you will easily realize they always leave a little extra time between meetings or work. This period is relatively important because no one knows whether any unexpected event will take place.

8. Recognize your most effective working-time.

“People who are good at arranging time know how to allocate strength for each moment of the day,” Morgenstern said. These people know the best time of day for each one.

If you feel your mind is the best in the morning, get it for the hardest work. By setting a schedule to maximize your performance, you won’t be down or wasting time on things that aren’t really relevant.

Improve your time management skill with these tips above will have you to accomplish your goals easily. By the way, it is believed to have more tips that could be contributed by leaving your comments below.

How to use UpDiagram?

After understanding UpDiagram Jargon, now you can easily start to play with us. This post will show you every single step to create and manage a project.

Sign up

This is the first step for every first action to start with any web app. Currently, UpDiagram requests to sign up throughout your email or connect with google account.

Create and archive a project

To create a project, you need to specify how your project structure will be to correctly apply the right custom fields.

For example, you need to create a project to manage employees based on their positions. You select Add project and create from scratch. You can then name the project “HR Management”.

Besides creating an empty project, you can also select Create from project templates, but this article only guides creating from an empty project.

Then, you create a Package (A package is often referred to as gathering related items/tasks into the same group. A project may have one or more packages if needed). In this case, you can create multiple packages such as Software Engineering, Marketing and Sales, Design and etc for the “HR Management” project. In each Package, there will be many tasks, each of which represents the profile of each employees (for the current case).

In this step, you can create multiple packages at the same time. For the above example, each Package will correspond to a human resource department, and the tasks will correspond to the profile of the staff. Therefore, you can create multiple packages at the same time for this case and can display work packages simultaneously to manage instead of tracking each package.

To select Show all packages, go to “Setting” and “Packages” to manage. Click on the icon as shown in the image to adjust the default Package. You will then have the option to display all packages.

Custom Fields

Next, what to do is to set up the Custom Fields to display and manage the data better. You can explore the detailed settings in our Custome Field comprehensive guide or watch the informative tutorial video of Custome Field.

Archive and Delete

For Projects, the deletion and restoration of the Project is an important element of management. , we provide 2 forms of archiving and deleting Projects.

To delete the project completely, you must “Archive” the project first to ensure you are doing on the right project. In case of a mistake, it is still possible to unarchive.

Once completed, your Project will be moved to the Archive section and you can delete or restore it later.

Custom Fields and How to use it?

Custom Fields (column) which is one of the most important features to help users manage their project effectively, is to add more personal/optional features. In fact, Custom Fields can be considered as the types of the column to help you define the value of each for individual purpose.

To set up the custom fields, you can access the “Setting” and choose “Custom Fields”. Then, you can play with it on your own.

Interface of adding custom fields to the project in UpDiagram

Moreover, you can customize the field type at the same type. When you create new “Field” (column), you can select the Field Type below. Currently, we support 10 types so that you can diversify your data.

– Text: where you can add simple text for descriptions

– Number: is to add numeral data

– Date: show the specific time of your items/tasks

– Attachments: insert files, image attached

– List: create multiple selections on one column of data (can be customized One or More Choices at the same time)

– Checkbox: quick mark on tasks

– Computation: support calculation based on your formula

– Person: empower/assign tasks to members

– Timeline: show the progress of task, including started date and end date

– Checklists: create detailed tasks of each item

*note: Timeline is the feature to help you keep track and estimate the progress. It is very important to follow up the whole tasks and understand where you are thanks to the timeline. To create the timeline, click on the Custom Fields and choose Fields Types – timeline. Then, you can set up the schedule for each item