Before you gag on this pseudo New Age Title, realize that this is really about the contracting and permissioning functionality of PositiveWare. Recent gripes here and here about competitor software have pointed out the unusual power of the sub-contracting functionality that we released recently.

PositiveWare makes it possible for a services firm to permission in a contractor with as much or as little ability to see the rest of the firm’s data as you wish. You can restrict the contractor to making time entries, or you can allow them to flesh out their project plan. This flexibility makes it seem as if your contractors were part of your firm.

Similarly, PositiveWare makes it possible for a firm to permission in a Client to see as much or as little as they wish of the client’s project. Interestingly, while this used to be a frequently requested feature, not so many of our users actually take advantage of it.

PositiveWare Release 2.2.0 introduces groundbreaking new subcontracting functionality to PositiveWare.

PositiveWare users can now engage with subcontractors through the PositiveWare system:

• Create subcontractor relationships within PositiveWare
• Assign Plans and Actions to subcontractors as if they were your employees

PositiveWare is now designed to facilitate the creation of relationships between PositiveWare users - without compromising each user’s independence or business confidentiality. This new functionality means that organizations can now manage a much wider range of projects and activities through their PositiveWare accounts.

You can now proactively invite subcontractors to work with you in PositiveWare, improving efficiency and simplifying subcontractor management.

See the video.
Read the release notes.

A review of the book How To Measure Anything mentions time tracking…

He cites the example of a time tracking system, whereby the actual time to complete an IT project was not materially different from the estimated initial estimate, yet it was the largest measurement in the organization and “it literally added no value since it didn’t reduce uncertainty after all.

To which I commented

n the absence of time tracking the actual investment is not known, so I would argue that the uncertainty is vast, and almost identical to risk since there is little upside and tremendous downside on IT projects in particular. The idea that the estimate was the same as the actual is an outlier as far as IT projects go.

The value of a time tracking system is to create accountability for everyone in the value chain, from the person delivering the service to the project manager to the owner and on to the client. Without feedback from the time tracking system it is not possible to know if a budget is being adhered to. In the case of retainer based services this can lead to dramatic overservicing of the client with little benefit to the service provider.

Heisenberg applies to management as well. The act of measuring influences what is being measured. With better information at hand, processes can be refined, quality can be improved or at least traded against additional investment, and everyone benefits.