Using Chat to SD to go from being a good manager to a great one

Summary Managers can use the Chat to SD feature to help employees turn vague complaints and emotional venting into structured, actionable problem statements. Highlighting text and converting it into sections with clear issues and specific examples breaks a complex "text swamp" down into discrete, solvable components. The result is a professional Strategy Document that enables systematic problem-solving, better coaching conversations, and permanent solutions by addressing root causes.

Steps

Step 1

The problem with traditional problem solving: many employees struggle to tackle complex issues because they use vague, absolute language, such as all, everyone, always, never, they and no one. The result is a tangled "ball of wax" when they try to discuss their problems, aloud or in writing, and the specific problems get lost.

Step 2

Ineffective communication: people often vent with broad statements like "My boss never listens to me". Statements like this mask the precise issues and prevent effective problem solving.

Breaking a complaint down with Chat to SD

Step 3

Open Chat to SD on the employee's message in the chat: swipe the message from right to left, and task, reply and sd appear at its right. Click sd, the orange option at the far right. The Inline SD window opens.

Tip. The Chat to SD module covers every button in the Inline SD window.

Step 4

Chat to SD lets your staff write down their issue, then highlight sections of the text and convert each one into a Note or a Section Header within a Strategy Document. The message is on the left of the window, under Inline Comment, and the new SD builds up on the right. Highlight some text and a small Section Header | Note menu appears above it: click Section Header or Note. This instantly breaks complex or emotional venting down into clear, actionable items.

Step 5

For example, "My boss sucks at communicating" can now be presented as an issue, Communication, followed by a specific example of it.

Step 6

Break the message down by pulling out the main issue, then a specific example of it: highlight the word or phrase that names the issue and add it as a Note, then highlight the passage that gives an example and add it as a Note too.

Step 7

Use the manual button, the first of the three buttons in the middle of the window, to create custom section headers. Add one for each issue, to separate each issue and its example from the rest.

Step 8

Work through the whole message this way: divide and conquer. This separation transforms a confusing mix of issues (a text swamp) into discrete components, making it easier to identify and solve each problem systematically.

Step 9

Managers can use this tool for coaching and growth: to guide staff in articulating specific issues and brainstorming targeted solutions. This fosters much stronger problem-solving skills, and reduces stress for the employee, the manager and the business.

Creating the SD and following up

Step 10

When you have finished breaking down the message, type a title for the SD in Type the title for your inline SD, at the top right of the window. Then click Create SD, the purple bar at the bottom right.

Step 11

The SD is ready. It opens with your title at the top, and each section header followed by its notes.

Step 12

Edit the SD as needed. For example, add more section headers to include a plan of action and the outcome for each issue.

Step 13

Then, in each issue's chat thread, set out what you did to try to address the issue, with details of the communications about it. A row's chat opens from the speech bubble at the right end of the row. The key is to provide actual data to support the complaint.

Step 14

The PaT advantage: with Chat to SD, you can turn poorly articulated complaints into a professional list of distinct items, so your team can overcome challenges with clarity and precision. When managers apply this level of skill, they materially lift their employees' problem-solving capabilities and open a path to solving problems permanently, because they deal with the root causes.

Step 15

You can use this technique with Chat to SD on a PaT chat, or on an email once it has been converted to a PaT chat. It gives supervisors a digital way to use one of the most powerful techniques they have to support staff with their problems and challenges.