Reserve All - Release All Strategy Question

[Anonymous]

We just started using Teamwork so please forgive my ignorance.

Basically our beginning strategy is we load a project on to the server, and one person reserves the whole project and works while the other works on something else. Then when either of us are done for the day, we release all and the other person is free to work on that project.

We're running into the other person forgetting to release all and getting stuck not being able to work on it. This is more difficult for me as I tend to work in the middle of the night and he works during the day. While it's not so much of a problem for him to call me in the middle of the day to tell me to release all, it's a problem for me to call him in the middle of the night to do the same.

Regardless of that, how do you deal with this problem? Is there a way of forcing the other person to release all or to unreserve elements? Is there a timer one can set, let say that if you idle for 30mins you will automatically release all? Or is there some function that I might have not asked about that might have something to do with this area of Teamwork or is there a specific strategy that makes what we're doing "wrong".

One thing I should mention if it should matter is we both like having the ability to be able to modify everything and don't think having specific roles is what we're looking for. We're mostly happy that if one person is working on something then the other person works on something else.

Thanks for any input.

[David Larrew]

When working in TW, I've adopted the habit of "Release All" before exiting the project - no matter what. The "Reservation / Reserve / Release" of elements in TW2 is so quick and easy I find that this doesn't really interfere with my access the project.

In AC14, GS added the option to "Release All when closing Teamwork Project".

You will need to turn this "on" in every team members Work Environment (see attached - bottom of the dialog).

My question to you is why must you each work in the file exclusively? This seems so counter-productive - You might as well stick with solo ".PLN" project files.

[Karl Ottenstein]

David wrote:
My question to you is why must you each work in the file exclusively? This seems so counter-productive - You might as well stick with solo ".PLN" project files.

I echo this. There is no work sharing going on, so setting up a BIM Server and using TeamWork would seem to only make things super complicated for no reason.

If your work methods are indeed exclusive, just put the PLN on a shared volume and work solo. Ignore TeamWork. But, make sure you have a solid, frequent back-up plan. 😉

Cheers,
Karl

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the answers. The tip about the option may be useful for my problem.

As far as working exclusively on a file it's probably because we haven't learned how to do it right. But the jobs that we tend to do are small that splitting up the work would add a lot of overhead compared to a large job of figuring out whose going to do what. Basically we have several jobs going and it's a simple matter if one is working on a job, just work on another. And so far it's not been an issue for us to work this way. So splitting a job up has been unnecessary overhead for us (so far).

But then again that's why I explained we are noobs and I'm very willing to accept I'm doing it wrong and I/we need to change our work flow to take advantage of teamwork.

Where the BIM server has been good for us is our office topography is spread out. I tend to work from home and he is out on the road a lot. Then there is the office at his house and we just bought a new seat for AC and now we have added another CAD tech who is also mobile.

Working off the BIM server has helped us to work off the same file without having to pass it around or worry we are duplicating work. So far it's proved to be more useful for us than sharing a pln even if we are not using the teamwork function properly.

[Anonymous]

You can also kick the user out of the project if he forgets to release his reservations. The risk is that any unsent changes of his will not apply to the Teamwork project and be put into detached mode at his end.

[David Larrew]

You will find that TW2 allows you the freedom to not have to pre-assign tasks before signing-in... Just "Join/Open" the TW file and reserve what you need to do, then "Release" (if you are done with the task). If another team member has something "Reserved" that you need, just "Request"... Of course this would need the other team member(s) to be actively in the project - Which is why you need to adopt the "Release All" workflow that I previously mentioned.