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Autopilot for projects

Let Autopilot keep an eye on your project and send smart mailings when things drift off track.

Lucas Bauche avatar
Written by Lucas Bauche
Updated this week

Autopilot in awork is a series of mailings that keep the project manager and the project team informed about a project’s progress.

Instead of constantly asking “Are we on schedule?” or “Are we still within budget?”, you can hand that job to Autopilot. As long as Autopilot doesn’t sound the alarm, everything is fine. If the time budget or a due date is exceeded, Autopilot intervenes and informs you with appropriate mailings.

Key benefits and use cases

Autopilot helps you stay in control without hovering over the project every day:

  • Alerts when key limits are exceeded (time budget or due date)

  • Sends different mailings to different roles (project manager vs project team)

  • Keeps project managers informed for project controlling

  • Keeps project members focused on urgent to-dos

How to use Autopilot for projects

Activate or deactivate Autopilot in an existing project

  1. Open your project

  2. Go to the Settings tab

  3. In the Autopilot section, activate or deactivate Autopilot

Open and edit Autopilot settings

There are two ways to reach a project’s Autopilot settings:

  1. Click the awork icon in the project in the Details tab (upper right corner)

  2. Go to the Settings tab in the project and scroll to the Autopilot section

In this window, you can:

  • Enable or disable Autopilot

  • Switch between Agile and Waterfall

  • Select notifications for project members

Select a project management mode (Agile or Waterfall)

  • Agile for projects without a fixed schedule, guided by available working hours rather than fixed due dates (e.g. Kanban or Scrum)

  • Waterfall if you already know due dates and fixed responsibilities in detail, work with milestones and a Gantt chart, and the time factor is very important

Messages sent out by Autopilot

Project managers and project team members receive different notifications throughout the project.

What project manager messages show

Depending on the message, project manager notifications can show:

  • Project due date

  • Open tasks

  • Tracked times

  • Remaining planned effort

  • Remaining budget in days

Project manager notifications

  • New project: Reminds the project manager that there are still to-dos to plan a project, triggered if not all required planning steps have been performed (Waterfall and Agile mode)

  • Project started: Informs the project manager that a project has been started, and the team has been briefed, triggered when a project is set to the Progress (yellow) status (Waterfall and Agile mode)

  • Project not yet started: Informs the project manager that there is a project with project team and planned tasks that has not yet been set to the status Progress (yellow) (Waterfall and Agile mode)

  • Project behind schedule: Shows tasks that are behind the schedule, tasks that should already start, but have not yet been started, completed tasks that led to the delay (Waterfall and Agile mode);
    assumes a linear burn down of all tasks in Agile mode and triggers the message if the project falls behind this

  • Project behind time budget: Shows tasks that took longer than expected (planned effort vs tracked time), completed tasks, triggered when the expected remaining expense exceeds the remaining budget (Waterfall and Agile mode)

  • Project close to due date: Shows tasks with a high planned effort that have not yet been started, overdue tasks, tasks for which the planned effort was exceeded and which are not completed (Waterfall and Agile mode)

  • Project time budget soon reached: Shows tasks with a high planned effort that have not yet been started, overdue tasks, tasks for which the planned effort was exceeded and which are not completed (Waterfall and Agile mode)

  • Project due date exceeded: Shows tasks with a high planned effort that have not yet been started, overdue tasks, tasks for which the planned effort was exceeded and which are not completed (Waterfall and Agile mode)

  • Project time budget exceeded: Shows tasks with a high planned effort that have not yet been started, overdue tasks, tasks for which the planned effort was exceeded and which are not completed (Waterfall and Agile mode)

  • Project completed: Informs you that a project has been set to the Done (green) status (Waterfall and Agile mode)

  • Project canceled: Informs you that a project has been set to the Canceled (red) status (Waterfall and Agile mode)

  • Project neglected: Informs you that there has been no activity in a project for 14 days (Waterfall and Agile mode)

What project team messages show

Project team messages always show:

  • Project due date

  • Open tasks

  • Remaining planned effort

Project team notifications

  • New project started: Triggered when the project is set to Running (yellow) status. In waterfall mode, the message shows the next tasks for the user. In agile mode, it shows the most important tasks (based on planned effort) or the first five if no effort has been planned.

  • Project behind schedule: In waterfall mode, the message shows critical (overdue) tasks for the user. In agile mode, it shows critical (overdue) tasks for the project.

  • Project close to due date: In waterfall mode, the message shows the user's open tasks. In agile mode, it shows the project's open tasks.

  • Project canceled: Informs the team that a project has been canceled; triggered when the project status is set to Canceled (red). (waterfall and agile)

  • Project completed: Informs the team that a project has been completed; triggered when the project status is set to Completed (green) (waterfall and agile)

Tip: If you're wondering why someone isn't receiving emails, first check whether the roles in the project are correctly defined (project manager vs. project team).

Best practices for Autopilot

  • Pick the right mode by choosing Agile for projects without a fixed schedule and Waterfall for projects with defined due dates, milestones, and responsibilities

  • Use Autopilot settings for member notifications by selecting which project member notifications should be triggered in the lower part of the Autopilot window

FAQs

What is Autopilot for projects?

Autopilot is a series of smart mailings in awork that keep the project manager and the project team informed about a project’s progress and alert you when a time budget or due date is exceeded.

Where do I find Autopilot settings in a project?

You can open the Autopilot settings by clicking the awork icon in the Details tab (upper right), or by opening the Settings tab in the project and scrolling to the Autopilot section. Here you can activate the Autopilot and set notification options.

What’s the difference between Agile and Waterfall mode?

Agile is recommended for projects without a fixed schedule and is guided by available working hours rather than fixed due dates (e.g. Kanban or Scrum). Waterfall is best if you already know due dates and fixed responsibilities in detail and work with milestones and a Gantt chart.

Do project managers and the project team get the same mailings?

No. Project managers receive information needed to control the project, while project members receive general information about the status of the project and upcoming due dates.

When is the “Project started” message sent?

This message is triggered when a project is set to the Running (yellow) status.

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