Contextual Communication

Summary Contextual communication connects every message to the body of work it relates to: its task, project, customer or team member. Most companies rely on email or chat tools, where conversations live in personal inboxes, hidden from the business and disconnected from the work they relate to. In PaT, each conversation stays attached to its work instead. The result is faster onboarding, rapid handovers, smarter decisions, and nothing falls through the cracks. This module shows it in four places: an SD for an internal project, an SD used as a learning module, a task on the Task Wall, and a customer's SD, through chat to email.

Steps

Step 1

Open the SD for an internal project. An SD can lay out the entire plan for a project, such as building a website.

Step 2

The rows under each section header list the parts of the work. In a website project, for example, each feature the website will show can have its own row.

Step 3

Each row has its own comments. SD members talk about each part of the work on its own row, so every discussion stays relevant to the part it is about.

Step 4

Each row also has its own attachments, so documents are filed with the body of work they relate to. At the right end of every row are a paperclip, for its attachments, and a speech bubble, for its comments.

Step 5

To see a row's files, click the paperclip at the right end of the row.

Step 6

The FILES panel opens on the right of the screen, with the list of that row's files.

Step 7

To open a row's discussion, click the speech bubble at the right end of the row, just to the right of the paperclip.

Step 8

The row's chat opens. Its messages are on the right, newest at the top, so you can see the latest updates. To join the discussion, type in the box on the left and click send comment.

In a learning module

Step 9

Open a learning module. In PaT, a learning module is an SD, and its knowledge is broken down into individual notes.

Step 10

Each note has its own dedicated chat thread, opened from the speech bubble at the right end of the note's row. If a student encounters a problem, they can ask a question exactly where they're stuck, right in the context of the note.

Step 11

Because the chat is tied directly to that note, the module owner can respond with targeted clarity, and future students benefit from these past discussions. This shared tribal learning lets everyone grow together.

Step 12

With email or disconnected chat apps, valuable Q&A often gets lost. PaT makes sure no question goes unanswered, which prevents repetitive issues, saves time and builds a collaborative, effective learning environment.

Inside a task

Step 13

Open a task on the Task Wall. PaT stores the task's chats directly within the task itself, so all communication about it is tracked over time: its full history is visible below the box for a new comment, newest at the top. Nothing gets buried in private inboxes, and there is no manual filing and no forwarding of missing emails.

Step 14

Everyone who needs access, whether to act on the task or to review it, can instantly see its entire history. That reduces delays and miscommunication: instead of chasing down information, the team can focus on getting the work done, with all the context it needs.

With customers, through chat to email

Step 15

Open the customer's SD. You can chat with a customer from within an SD, using the chat to email function.

Step 16

A message or document you send through PaT, such as a monthly invoice, is delivered to the customer by email. It also stays in the SD, in the chat thread of the section it belongs to, for example an Invoicing section header.

Step 17

Click the speech bubble at the right end of that section header's row. Its chat opens.

Step 18

The chat shows what was sent to the customer, such as the invoice. When they reply, their message appears as a PaT message in the relevant chat thread, so everything stays structured and easy to track.

Step 19

Their response is automatically stored in the Customer Minutes SD, creating a clear history. Next time you meet, their past messages and concerns are right there, with no digging through emails.

Tip. Start each conversation on the row, note or task it is about, rather than in an email or a separate chat. Discussions kept with the work they relate to stay clear, organised and easy to follow, and save everyone time and energy.