Project Planned Start and End Dates as they relate to Project Members

When you create a project in Synergy you enter a start date and end date in the Planned Period area. Theoretically those dates represent when the project will start and when it will be finished. Ok. so what's the big deal? Well, those dates are used as the default start and end dates for the participation of the project members. When you add the members to the project you can leave the dates as is or adjust them to the actual dates that each member will be involved with the project.

There are several ramifications related to those dates as far as the project members are concerned. First, members know approximately how long the project will last and how long they will be involved. But more importantly, during the period covered by those dates, the members can easily find the project card. They can do that by simply clicking on the Left Pane "Projects" link. That link automatically links the user to all projects they are active members of.

What happens when you are past the End date? Aha! That's where this gets interesting. Once the end date passes for an indidual member's participation, they can no longer use the Projects link to find the project. And in fact the project can be difficult to find. Especially if you use the "Only Visible to Members" functionality. Once the end date has been passed for a member, that person is no longer considered an active member of the project.

So the moral of the story is, if you are the project manager, watch those dates. And if the project is still active, you may need to extend the end date for some or all of the members.