Newbie PaT Intro – Chats and SDs

Summary New to PaT? Start with PaT Chat. After logging in, you can start a private one-to-one chat from the user list, or an ad-hoc chat with its own title, which stays a draft until you send it, and add members to it. You can also chat on an SD (Strategy Document): general comments go in the SD's Parent Section, and contextual chats and files are attached to a specific section header, note or action point, so the conversation stays with the work it's about.

Steps

Introduction. This module gets you up to speed with PaT Chat, and introduces the first step towards more advanced, streamlined communication.

Step 1

On the PaT login page, enter your username and password, then click log in below them. If you're unsure what your credentials are, ask your account manager or key contact.

Starting a one-to-one chat

Step 2

Open the Chat Wall tab, next to Task Wall at the top left of the screen. Below the list of chats, in the middle of the screen, is the PaT user list, under Contacts. Scroll through it to find the person you want to chat with. A one-to-one chat is private between you and that person.

Step 3

Click the person's name. The Start a Chat box asks you to confirm that you wish to chat with this user: click Yes. The one-to-one chat is created.

Starting an ad-hoc chat

Step 4

An ad-hoc chat is not tied to a one-to-one chat, a group or an existing chat. To start one, click the + on Create a Chat, the purple button at the top of the folder menu on the left. The create a draft Chat box opens.

Step 5

Type a title for the chat in the Enter title for this draft chat ... box, much as you'd give an email a subject, then click the tick to the right of the box to confirm the title. The chat starts as a draft.

Step 6

The new chat appears at the top of the list of chats, in your drafts. A draft stays a draft until you click the purple send comment button, at the bottom right of the chat editor. To work on a draft, click it in the list: the chat editor opens with that chat in focus, so anything you type in its message box belongs to that draft.

Step 7

To add members to the chat, click the + at the top left of the members list, the row of photos at the top of the chat editor. A panel for choosing members opens on the right of the screen.

Step 8

Type a name in the start typing to search box at the top of the panel: PaT uses fuzzy logic to show matching results as you type. Or choose from the Recent Assignee's list below it, which shows the people you've interacted with most recently, with the most recent at the top. Click the person you want to add.

Step 9

The person is now a member of the chat: their photo and name appear in the members list at the top of the editor.

Chatting on an SD

Step 10

Another common way to chat with a PaT user is directly through a Strategy Document (SD). SDs are proprietary, database-driven digital documents used extensively across PaT for things like projects, meeting minutes, forms and workflows. Their uses are vast, limited only by your imagination. SDs unlock powerful automation and systematisation, helping streamline work processes and ensuring nothing slips through the cracks, a key ingredient in operational excellence. Open the SD you want to chat on, for example from the Strategy Documents tile at the top of your dashboard.

Step 11

A general comment is about the SD as a whole, and belongs to the SD's Parent Section. An SD is made up of two sections: the Parent Section and the Body Section. The Parent Section includes everything above the toolbar, such as Date Raised, Description, Action By and Action Date. Comments and files added there usually relate to the overall purpose of the SD, rather than to specific entries in the Body Section.

Step 12

Down the right-hand side of the SD, each row has a chat icon and a paperclip. These are known as contextual elements. Unlike general comments, these chats and file attachments are linked directly to specific components within the Body of the SD, such as Section Headers, Notes and Action Points. This allows more precise and relevant communication, tied to individual parts of the document.

Step 13

Managing communications and files in context is a major strength of PaT. Critical information is organised right where it belongs, alongside the work it relates to, rather than buried in scattered emails or lost in obscure intranet folders. Because conversations and files stay tied to specific parts of the work, all key stakeholders gain immediate and long-term access to the information they need. This makes PaT ideal for seamless handovers, and one of the most effective ways to manage daily interactions between customers and suppliers. To post a general comment on the SD, click SD Chat, in the row of grey tabs above the column headings.

Step 14

The PaT Chat panel slides in from the right. The capsule at its top right reads SD - Parent Chat. Tick the box beside each member you want to chat with, in the row of photos at the top of the editor, then type your message in the large box below the purple formatting buttons.

Step 15

Try the GIF option, the purple button at the right of the editor, just above the message box. It can add a bit of fun!

Step 16

When you've finished typing your message, click the purple send comment button at the bottom right of the editor. PaT then notifies the selected members that a new chat has been sent. Each of them will: - see a Chrome browser alert notifying them of the new message; - see their personal PaT Alerts chat icon go up by 1; - receive a mobile notification, if they use the PaT Mobile app.

Step 17

Next, post a contextual chat on one of the SD's section headers. On the right of the SD, click the paperclip at the end of that section header's row. The chat panel opens again, and its capsule now reads SD - Section Header Chat.

Step 18

Tick the members, type your message and send it, as before. The conversation is now permanently linked to that Section Header (one of the three SD element types, alongside Notes and Action Points). It's no longer buried in someone's inbox: it's visible to all stakeholders, making handovers seamless and issue management far more professional.

Next steps. You're now a Blue belt in PaT Chat, which means you can chat with any PaT user. To get to a Black belt, you'll learn these additional skills: - Instantly: convert a chat to a task, a chat to a task to a project, or a chat to an SD message (advanced), and dock the chat. - Leverage automation: auto-follow a chat, auto-nudge recipients and auto-file it (contextual filing). - Rapidly: link a chat thread to other digital documents (other chats, SDs or even emails) with copy URL, and apply to BFF. The Chat to task, Chat to task to project, Chat to SD and Docked Chats modules cover several of these.