Availability All Editions
This article summarizes how you can use programs in Meisterplan.
Required User Rights
To open and view a program's details, your user group does not need to have specific rights.
- To edit the program's details, your user group needs to have the All right under Project & Resource Planning > Programs > Edit Programs.
- To view and edit sections with financial data, your user group needs to have the Access Financial Data right under Views & Areas.
- To assign projects and programs to one another, your user group needs to have the Change Rank & Assignment of Projects and Programs right under Project & Resource Planning > Rank, Sort & Assign.
Visualization of Programs
Portfolio Designer
In the list, programs have a double arrow icon before the program's name. Click the double arrow to expand or reduce the program, which then displays or hides the contributing projects. When the program is expanded, its assigned projects will be displayed below:
In the Gantt chart, a program is displayed as a bar running over the total duration of all projects that are assigned to the program. When a program is expanded, the associated projects will be displayed below the program bar in a box. Please note that only the assigned projects in the selected date range and portfolio are displayed.
Board View
In the Board view, programs are displayed by a frame around its project(s):
You can assign projects to programs and remove them in the Board view using drag and drop. Learn more in the article Board (View).
Program Details
In the Program Details, you can view and edit program-specific information as well as view summed KPIs of all contributing projects:
You can configure the Program Details for your Meisterplan system.
Learn more in the article Program Details - Overview.
Program Overview
In the Portfolio Designer, select a program and open the Program Overview in the Information Panel to get more information on the program:
Learn more in the article Program Overview.
Editing Programs
Adding Programs
By Import
There are several options for importing projects collectively:
- REST API
- Import with the Excel Template
- Quick Import for Projects (programs can only be added with an associated project)
Manually
Select the project or program after which the new program should be inserted. If you don't select a project or program, the new program will be inserted directly above the Cut-Off line.
In the toolbar, click Add and select Program.
Enter a Name and click Add.
Program Context Menu
Right-click the three dots behind a program's name to open its context menu with the following options:
- Move Above Must-Have Line and Move Below Cut-Off Line reprioritize the program and all projects assigned to it.
- Rank by Priority Score will assign a rank to the program according to the highest priority score among its contributing projects. See the Rank and Priority Score article for details.
- Duplicate will duplicate the program including all contributing projects (also non-portfolio projects), their allocations, milestones, financials and other data. Milestone dependencies to other projects are not copied with the project.
- Delete Program will delete the program but not its contributing projects. The projects will no longer be assigned toa program.
Creating and Editing Program Assignments
Assign projects to programs directly when adding a new project using the 'Add Project' form, or assign them to a program later in the Project Details view. Using the Program system field, you can change the assignment at any time, move a project to a different program, or remove it from a program entirely:
If you select a program in the Portfolio Designer and then click Add > Project, that program is automatically preselected in the Program (optional) field in the 'Add Project' form.
The same behavior applies when you select a project in the Portfolio Designer that is already assigned to a program and then click Add > Project. After the project is created, it is automatically placed in the project list under the selected program in the Portfolio Designer.
Alternatively, you can assign projects to programs in the Portfolio Designer. Select the project's name and drag it over the program in the list. When the arrow icon in the project's row header is indented to the right, release the mouse button.
To reprioritize projects within a program, drag and drop them to a different position in the list.
To remove a project from a program, simply drag it out of the program in the list.
With the Quick Import for Projects, you can add projects to programs, remove projects from programs and move the projects from one program to another. This is also possible for several projects at a time.
Reprioritizing or Moving a Program
When you reprioritize a program by dragging and dropping the associated row header in the list, all contributing projects will be reprioritized accordingly.
When you move a program by dragging and dropping the associated program bar in the interactive Gantt chart, all contributing projects will be moved accordingly.
Programs and Portfolios
Programs are always displayed in the active portfolio if at least one of the projects contained in the program matches the project filter of the portfolio. If a program does not contain any projects, it will be displayed in all portfolios.
Learn more about the project filter in the Portfolio Filters - Details article.