The purpose of this document is to provide a foundation for discussion, decisions, and definition of your system This document defines the current Time and Labor business practices of the Client along with ideas for the forthcoming implementation.
Question and Answers
Time Collection Process, Time Period and Time Reporting Code
1. Do you electronically track employee time worked? If so, what technologies are used to enter time?
Internet
Intranet
Electronic Timesheets
Clocking systems (Kronos)
Swipe card (i.e. Employee Badges)
Other (please describe)
2. Do you have employees or groups of employees who record time on paper-based time sheets? If so is there a need to print new timesheets?
3. Is employee time entered centrally or is time entry decentralized?

4. Does the time collection system allow time entry for groups of employees or for one employee at a time?
5. Do you have staff, such as timekeepers, who collect and post time? Please provide details of the process of collecting time and who collects and posts time.
6. Is there a restriction on who can enter hourly employees’ time versus salaried employees’ time?
7. Can employees enter their own time?
8. Can employees inquire and view their entered work hours?
9. Is time approved? If so who approves time? What is the procedure for approving employee time? Can time be approved electronically?
10. How is time capture for both electronic and paper timecards: hours per day or punch time ins and outs or are employees paid a standard schedule and only exceptions are captured or all three depending on the employee?
11. Currently, where is time entered corrected if there is an error? At the data entry level or is it corrected in the payroll process?
12. What is the input of incremental time, such as half days for vacation, etc. currently allowed?
13. If standard hours are used, what are your employees’ standard hours?

14. If time capture differs for different employees, explain the business process on what determines how the employees’ time will be captured.
15. Can retroactive time and labor adjustments be made once a time period has ended? Describe any situations that require you to pay employees hours and/or amounts from the prior period.
16. How are new employees set up for reporting time? Please describe the business process for “enrolling” your new hires in your existing time management system.
17. What are the beginning and end days of the time period? How does this relate to the payroll cycle?
18. What are the beginning and ending times for a 24 hour period?
19. Describe all of the specific time codes that are used in recording time in the current system, including any recorded hours for unpaid time, such as Unpaid Sick, Unpaid Vacation. Does the present system track absences or tardiness?
20. What are the Public Holidays offered to the employees? Are the same Holidays offered to all employees’ or are there different Holiday Schedules for different employees.
21. If more than one Holiday Schedule, what determines which Holidays are offered to an employee?
22. What are the specific business processes that must be adhered to for time reporting, such as Education leave must have at least 1 hour keyed to a maximum of 8 per year?

23. Aside from capturing hours, do you also record data elements such as dollar amounts or units? Such as flat dollar bonus amounts or units like 30 cents per mile.

Cost Allocation, Schedules and Shifts Processes
1. Is your timekeeping system used for allocating costs? Do you define how and/or where an employee time is spent? Are there certain tasks that are grouped together? Please describe how your costs codes are structured and how they are assigned to the time reported by employees.
.
2. Does the organization use Work Orders to capture information about labor costs? How is the information used?
3. Do your employees work shifts? What are they?
4. Is an employee assigned to one shift or are they allowed to work multiple shifts? Can they work multiple shifts in a day and/or in a week?
5. How many shifts make up a workday?
6. Are shift employees paid a differential? How is the differential calculated?
7. Describe your FLSA processing requirements? What days constitute the definition of your workweek? (E.g. Mon – Fri, Sun – Sat). Are FLSA requirements union driven?
8. Do all employees work the same schedule or are they flexible work schedules? Please describe all the different schedules that employees work.

9. Are employees allowed to work several jobs in the same week? In the same day?
10. If an employee is working out of his/her job classification, is their different rate of pay and how does the timekeeper or payroll representative determine the rate of pay?
11. Are employee’s represented by Unions/Bargaining unit(s)? If so, how many Unions/bargaining units?
12. When do these unions bargain? What are the bargaining seasons?

Time Administration Processes
1. What are the time processing rules currently used today? For example: How is Overtime calculated, only hours worked or does the calculation included Vacation, Holiday etc? Is it overtime after 8 hours in a day or after 40 hours in a week? Are these rules the same for all employees or different for each class of employee? If so, please describe each rule being used.
2. Are leave balances maintained at time entry level? If so, list all types of leave that are maintained.
3. If leave balances are maintained at time entry, describe what happens when the employee’s leave requested is greater than the employee’s leave balance or are the employee’s allowed to carry a negative balance?
4. If employees work flexible schedules, are the hours paid for vacation, holiday and sick based on the flex schedules.
5. How is the entered time validated? For example, if total time entered exceeds standard hours, does the current system provide red flags for the approver to review?

6. List any reports that are used to validate this time. Please submit an example.
7. Are control totals used to reconcile employee time entry? Describe the process. Please identify and give an example of any reports used for reconciling.
8. What are the mechanisms for correcting error data? Please describe the business process for correcting data that your time collection system has invalidated.
9. Do you have any audit needs regarding who has changed or approved time?
10. What employee information is available for time entry personnel?

Compensatory Time Management Processes
1. Are Client employees allowed to report Compensatory Time (Comp Time)?
2. How is Comp Time earned? Can the accruals be recorded in the existing time collection or payroll systems?
3. How do employees take their Comp Time?
4. Are Comp Time balances maintained automatically by the existing system?
5. Are Comp Time balances adjusted at the end of the year? How is that adjusting done? Manually? Electronically?

6. Can Comp Time expire? What are the conditions under which Comp Time would be considered to have expired?
7. Can Comp Time be bought, sold or donated? How are these transactions handled?

Time and Labor Integration with Payroll, Human Resources, and Projects
1. Is the timekeeping system electronically integrated with an automated payroll system? Please describe the process of integrating the two systems.
2. Which system calculates the time rules, such as Overtime, shifts and such?
3. How often is time collected and uploaded to payroll? Do the time periods, used for capturing time, follow the payroll period?
4. What is the current deadline that time must be entered and calculated so payroll can be processed in a timely matter
5. If time does not load to payroll, what are the procedures for investigating, rectifying, re-approving and paying for that time?
6. Describe how your Time and Attendance business process integrates with human resources and payroll? Does your existing T&A system interface electronically with your payroll and HR systems?
7. Aside from Payroll, does your current time keeping system interface to any other system (internal or external)? Such as a Project or Funds. Please list those interfaces and describe what they do.

Reporting/Outbound Data
1. Are there reports generated to balance and prove employee time entry?
2. Are time reports generated to be sent back to time originators/collectors?
3. Are time reports generated for managers to approve time?
4. Please list and describe all time reports that are generated from the current system. Please submit an example of all the reports.

Policies and Procedures
Please provide any policies and procedures manuals and desk references currently being used by your department for time management.

How will the project be administered?

Projects need to have a governance model and the project team needs to understand the model and agree to work within it’s construct.

How this activity works:
By reviewing the standards of the methodology you are using.  Will it be Compass, Rational, or some similar project methodology.  Many groups are looking to Agile to implement or upgrade faster. This might be a good methodology if your technical team is also solid in understanding the functionality associated with the application.
Reporting relationships will be identified and how status reporting will take place is important to the success of your project.  Do you have a status report template so all reporitng is consistent.

Determine status reporting responsibilities
 How often will you require status reports? Daily? Weekly by team rolled up once a month by Project Manager?  Discussed at weekly meetings?
 What is the format or template that will be used for your status report?  How can you determine at a quick glance the status of the project.
 Who should receive the status reports? How will they be distributed, posted?
• Define project filing system/repository or project diary to maintain all information in a central location.
• Determine meeting schedules and format
• Determine issue resolution procedures
• Determine change request procedures
• Determine configuration management procedures
• Determine quality review procedures
 how often
 who will perform
 what will they review

Management Procedures

Objective
To determine the tools for tracking the project and how we will measure progress and budget
Overview
How this activity works:
This discussion is about the collection of input, processing and reporting of project information and what tools will be used for these activities.  Examples such as Excel, Project, Word, Powerpoint for progress presentations (standard project template, logos etc..

It begins with the your methodology standard as a “straw man”.
Additional Materials
Distribute methodology standards

Let’s talk about some of the roles that you might want to consider for your project.  Depending on the size of the project, you may or may not need all of the roles but someone will have to assume the responsibilities.

Client Executive:  The client executive is responsible for the overall relationship with the customer.  This is the role that would address and resolve issues that cannot be resolved at the  vendor level. They keep the customer aware of new products, services, and software updates as they become available.  They are also the ones who look for opportunities where they can add value to the customer’s business.

Program Manager: The Program Manager may support the Client before and after their software acquisition, especially on large complex projects.  Sometimes called the Enterprise Manager, they would be a part of the Client’s Steering committee and should help shape the project success through the use of best practice, project and business practice.

The Enterprise Manager participates on the Steering Committee, and helps drive the project through to success.  They use industry best business process and practice.  They provide advice that will minimize risk and accelerate the implementation or upgrade.  Many organizations use the engagement manager and project manager interchangeably, however, their responsibilities re significantly different.

Project Manager: The individual in this roles provides the leadership for the project team and produces the status reports, plans, budgets and formal methodology (such as CSC, Compass, Rational) and resourcing.  The Engagement Manager supports the Project Managers both client and consulting in all aspects of project planning and control, and supports the design,development and deployment of a strong quality program.  The Project Manager is responsible for the “care and feeding” of the consulting and client project team members and for supporting the client Project Manager.

Process Specialists (Functional and Technical) Functional specialists are charged with guiding the project team through those steps that require detailed applications functional knowledge and related industry best practices. This consulting-sourced role is usually a full-time member of the project team.

The Technical Specialist executes the technical steps by providing support in the design and management of databases and in tuning the system and architecture. This is a consulting sourced role working in lock step with the client role.

System Engineer The System Engineer designs and creates technology solutions in response to business requirements. They are brought into a project when the solution requires some specific knowledge in the emerging technologies. Skills include: Workflow,  Electronic Commerce; Security including OLAP, Multi-dimensional modeling, compare report decisions, eApplications and solutions to customization requests.

Education Representative This person is responsible for working with the customer to make sure they use the education resources available to them in the most effective manner. This includes executing training plans, setting up on-site classes, and making the customer aware of alternate training formats including stand up training, interactive training, webinars and other venues. It is also the responsibility of this role to have a clear understanding of the business processes used and reflect those processes in User Productivity Kit or Tutor development.

Planning is so critical for a project and what makes a project successful is in the way you approach the first few weeks.  I have conducted these strategy and implementation workshops in a week but the work of the team goes well beyond that.  The first few weeks, however, are what can determine success or failure for a project.  So far we have discussed how important it is to get a project right the first time, the importance of scope, and organizational impact or change.  Another important factor that needs to be addressed in the first week is how you will handle issues that arise during the project and what the process will be for resolving those issues.

If you are working with a standard implementation methodology there is probably a process for issue resolution.  If not, develop a database, excel spreadsheet or similar method for tracking issues.  It is important that you establish what an acceptable time frame is for resolution and what will be done if the issues are not resolved in a timely manner.  What are the roles involved in the resolution process, who identifies, who assigns, who tracks, how high up in the organization will you have to go to find a solution, and finally who determines if an issue is closed.

Issues should be addressed on a weekly basis at meetings.  If critical you might have a process in place to identify them on your project website, or even use twitter to get information out to your team in a timely fashion.

Of course, there is a deliverable that would be associated with this part of the workshop which would be a template for tracking issues.

So we have now addressed one more small part of what would happen in Day 2 of your implementation/upgrade workshop.

Looking forward to any additions you might provide via comments.

So what should you have completed at the end of the Workshop on the first day.  A Goal of the workshop has been established and there is a solid understanding of how to implement or upgrade “right the first time”.

A template with a rough draft of some of the Charter information will be complete with time for review.  It is also important that team members understand they may have homework such as reading through draft documents and making comments or edits.

So what do you think should be included in a project charter?  I would suggest the following:

1. A mission statement for the project

2. Project Objectives and measuresments to establish when those objectives have been met.

3. A strategy for the project

4. A critical element is the Scope statement.  More projects fail from scope creep than probably any other factor.

5. An Issue Resolution methodology with initial issues identified

6. A Risk Resolution methodology with initial risks and level of risk identified.

7. The resource plan with roles, responsibilities and rules.

8. Constraints, Assumptions and a plan for next steps

9. An initial project plan at a high level which identifies critical milestones.

So at the end of the first day the team has started to develop the deliverables and resolve some of the issues that are open.  This is the time when the Project Manager should schedule a time for a presentation to the steering committee or management team.

Communication with the team and leadership is critical and the fourth day should be used for that communication with a sold presentation in place.  We have discussed the first day and what will be addressed. The timeline for the workshops may vary depending on how extensive in terms of modules and functionality the implementation or upgrade is determined to encompass.

Please make additional suggestions or comments to enhance this program.

Our team has been working diligently to complete training for EmpoHR 9.0 for the NFC. It is the NFC’s version of PeopleSoft 9.0 for Human Resources. It is a challenging project in that we so not have access to a training database which makes the development with UPK more difficult. The User Productivity Kit is a great tool though and produces nice training manuals, online training, instructor manuals and job aids. I have enjoyed learning the development side of this application and look forward to more development of training materials and programs.