Using Autopilot for Projects

The Autopilot (now Smart alerts) in awork is a series of emails that keep your project manager and project team updated on your project's progress.

Instead of constantly asking yourself "Are we on schedule?" or "Are we still within budget?", you can let Autopilot handle it. As long as it doesn't sound the alarm, everything's going smoothly. When time budget or end dates are exceeded, it kicks in and notifies you with appropriate emails.

Key Benefits and Use Cases

Smart alerts help you stay in control without having to worry about your project every single day:

• Alert you when important thresholds are exceeded (time budget or due date).
• Send different emails to different roles (project manager vs. project team)
• Keep project managers updated for project management
• Help project members focus on urgent tasks

Setting Up Smart Alerts

Enabling or Disabling Smart Alerts in a Project

1. Open a project

2. Click on Settings in the header. (If you don't see this tab, click the More dropdown menu first.)

3. Scroll to the Smart alerts section.

4. To enable:

   • Click the Set up button.
   • Toggle on Enable project notifications.
   • Click Save.
   • A green status indicator (Active) will appear.

5. To disable:

   • Click the Set up button.
   • Toggle off Enable project notifications.
   • Click Save.

Choosing Your Project Management Mode (Agile or Waterfall)

The calculation depends on your project type:

To select a mode, click the dropdown menu next to Behind Schedule and choose either Agile or Waterfall.

Messages Sent by Smart Alerts

When Smart alerts are enabled, different messages are sent to project leads and the project team.

Notifications for Project Leads

These messages contain (depending on the message) above the main message:

• Project end date
• Open tasks
• Time tracked
• Remaining planned effort
• Remaining budget in days

Notifications for the Project Team

Messages to the project team always show above the main message:

• Project end date
• Open tasks
• Remaining planned effort

Customizing Notifications

After enabling Project notifications, click Customize notifications. A dropdown menu with more options will open. Toggle on each option you want.

Available Options for Project Leads

• Behind Schedule Shows tasks that are behind schedule, tasks that should have started but haven't, and completed tasks that led to the delay (Waterfall and Agile).
  For agile projects, a linear burndown of all tasks is assumed; if the project falls behind, the notification is triggered.

• Due Soon Shows tasks with high planned effort that haven't started yet, overdue tasks, and tasks where planned effort has been exceeded but aren't completed (Waterfall and Agile)

• Overdue Shows tasks with high planned effort that haven't started yet, overdue tasks, and tasks where planned effort has been exceeded but aren't completed (Waterfall and Agile)

• Over Budget Shows tasks that took longer than expected (planned effort vs. time tracked), including completed tasks; is triggered when the expected remaining effort exceeds the remaining budget (Waterfall and Agile)

• Budget Running Out Shows tasks with high planned effort that haven't started yet, overdue tasks, and tasks where planned effort has been exceeded but aren't completed (Waterfall and Agile)

• Over Budget Shows tasks with high planned effort that haven't started yet, overdue tasks, and tasks where planned effort has been exceeded but aren't completed (Waterfall and Agile)

• Neglected Info that there has been no activity in a project for 14 days (Waterfall and Agile)

• Not Yet Started Info that there's a project with a project team and planned tasks that hasn't been set to "Running (yellow)" status yet (Waterfall and Agile)

Available Options for the Project Team

• Behind Schedule In Waterfall mode, the message shows the user's critical (overdue) tasks. In Agile mode, it shows the project's critical (overdue) tasks.
• Due Soon In Waterfall mode, the message shows the user's open tasks. In Agile mode, it shows the project's open tasks.

FAQ

What are Smart alerts for projects?

Smart alerts are a series of intelligent email notifications in awork that keep your project manager and project team updated on your project's progress and notify you when a time budget or deadline is exceeded.

How do I open the Smart alerts settings in a project?

Open the Project Settings. In the Smart alerts section, you can Enable project notifications and set notification options.

What's the difference between Agile and Waterfall?

Agile works well for projects without a fixed schedule (for example, Kanban or Scrum). Waterfall is better when your end date and responsibilities are clearly defined and you're working with, for example, milestones and a Gantt chart.

Why do project leads and the project team receive different emails?

Smart alerts support both roles differently: project team members mainly get info about project status and their own upcoming tasks. Project leads get additional information needed to manage the project.