Monitoring the progress of your projects using SmartBeats
Resources submit SmartBeats to help project managers keep up to date on how their tasks are progressing. This data can help managers understand the status of projects, and know when a task is going off the rails and needs redirection.
Resources can record SmartBeats data in the SmartBeats UI or in their timesheets.
SmartBeats include the time worked, work remaining, estimated completion date, and comments entered for each task. Refer to the SmartBeat fields below for more details on where SmartBeat data originates.
As a project manager, you'll need to keep tabs on the SmartBeats your project team members submit. You can view a feed of all SmartBeats related to the projects you manage from the SmartBeats page.
Monitoring SmartBeats
The SmartBeats page allows you to access all entries for all projects you manage, even if entries for which the resource didn't record a work remaining value.
To monitor SmartBeats data:
- Click the SmartBeats entry in the Polaris side menu.
- Adjust the data range value, if you want to view older beats or entries.
- To select only particular projects and users for display, enter a term in the Search field or click the
icon in that field. You can also sort by columns, by clicking the 
that displays when you hover over a column header, like Date.
icon in that field. You can also sort by columns, by clicking the 
that displays when you hover over a column header, like Date.
- To drill down and view details for a particular task, click the
icon.
icon.
The drawer for the task will open.
SmartBeat fields
|
Field name |
Description |
|---|---|
|
Date |
The date when the SmartBeat was submitted or time entry was recorded |
|
User |
The owner of the task, who submitted the beat |
|
Previous Work |
Number of hours worked on that task before this beat was recorded or entered |
|
Hours Worked |
Number of hours worked on the day the beat was submitted |
|
Work Remaining |
Number of additional hours the resource estimates will be required to complete the task |
|
Estimated Hours At Completion |
This value is automatically calculated using this formula: Previous Work + Hours Worked + Work Remaining |
|
Estimated Completion Date |
The date the resource estimates they will complete the task |
|
Comment |
The resource’s comments on the status or progress of the project. |
FAQs
Can I approve SmartBeats from this page?
No. In a previous incarnation of this page, you could 'accept' beats, but now this page is purely for tracking project work. If you need to approve SmartBeats, use Polaris' submission-based approval functionality.
Can more than one resource compete SmartBeats for the same task?
Yes, any resource who has access to a task will be able to record beats against it. However, beat data is not grouped by task, so each user will complete beats using their data only, and beats will not reflect work or estimate changes made in other resources' beats.
Can we edit or comment on entries from the SmartBeats page?
No, you can't. But if you can edit timesheets, you can update a SmartBeat from its timesheet.
What happens if a resource misses submitting a beat?
If a resource misses submitting a beat, we recommend they don’t add it retroactively. Beats are most accurate and most useful if they apply only to that day’s work.
What do the difference values shown beside the estimate fields mean?
These show the difference between the current estimate, based on the latest SmartBeat, and the original estimate set by the project manager.
Can I view the beat data anywhere else?
Yes. Details about beats are available in the Beats Report report template.