PaT SD Map Presentation

Summary The SD Map is the structured filing and organisational system in PaT. It uses Strategy Documents (SDs) connected in a parent-child hierarchy. Three primary SD types, the Business Unit Strategy SD, the Performance Agreement Review (PAR) SD and the Business Unit SD, form the foundation of an entire company's file structure, security framework and strategic alignment. Embedding documents where direct responsibility exists, and linking to them for quick access, creates clear accountability and seamless navigation, while security permissions automatically flow through the hierarchy.

See also: PaT SD Map Overview, the short version.

Steps

Introduction. The SD Map is the structural framework that organises your entire business inside PaT. It enforces the principle of a place for everything, and everything in its place, creating a seamless, intuitive and scalable filing system. Built on rigorously applied principles of process management (for Six Sigma enthusiasts: think 5S'ing your entire organisation's filing system), the SD Map unifies filing, reporting, training and operational management within a single, secure architecture.

Step 1

The problem: why do businesses struggle with filing systems? Most businesses have no universal filing standard.

Step 2

Common issues include: - Each individual or team builds their own ad hoc system, leading to fragmentation and chaos. - New hires and cross-department teams waste significant time locating essential documents. - Lack of embedded security protocols results in sensitive data being incorrectly stored. - People forget where things are saved, causing unnecessary duplication of work. - Critical documents become misplaced, outdated or inaccessible. The SD Map systematically eliminates all of these problems by enforcing a single, structured standard across the business.

Step 3

What is the SD Map? It is the structured filing system for your entire business, and it operates on a foundational principle: "A place for everything, and everything in its place."

Step 4

The SD Map connects Strategy Documents (SDs) into an intuitive, navigable web inside PaT. It ensures every file, document, form, template, process, report, audit and task has a clear, logical home, and it doubles as the business's security framework, controlling who can access what, and with what level of permission.

Inside an SD

Step 5

Every SD breaks down into three core components. On an SD's page they sit one above the other: Membership & Security at the top, with the members' pictures; the Toolbar under it, with the row of purple buttons and the grey tabs such as SD Settings and SD Files; and the Content Section, the body of the SD, below them.

Step 6

Membership & Security controls who can access the SD and what level of permission they have: - Author: full edit rights, upload/download, chat. - Guest: view only, download only, chat. - Ghost: view only, download only.

Step 7

The Toolbar provides the tools for forms, emails, file uploads, communication, and linking to other SDs.

Step 8

The Content Section is the actual body of the SD, where files, notes, videos, images, links and embedded SDs live. Important: the rest of this module focuses on the Content Section and leaves the Toolbar aside, to keep the examples simple.

The three primary SDs and how they connect

Step 9

There are three primary SDs in an organisation: the BU Strategy SD, the PAR SD and the BU SD.

Step 10

All SDs within PaT are ultimately connected under one of these three primary SDs: every other SD connects beneath them, somewhere in the map.

Step 11

The BU Strategy SD (Business Unit Strategy) is the strategic plan that drives a business unit.

Step 12

The PAR SD (Performance Agreement Review) is the key employment document that acts as the communication platform between the employee and the company. Employees are represented as PARs in the SD Map. A PAR includes the employee's goals, management style, training strategies, any areas of responsibility and direct reports.

Step 13

The BU SD (Business Unit) represents an area of responsibility (for example, a department, region or function) that must be actively managed. Every other SD "hangs" from one of these three primary structures in the map.

Step 14

How everything links together: the SD Map is constructed through Parent-Child relationships between SDs. A Parent SD can have one or many embedded Child SDs. This embedding process creates connections and builds the hierarchy of the entire SD Map. Think of it like a family tree: everything is connected.

Step 15

Two examples: - The BU Strategy SD is the Parent of the PAR SD, which is embedded in it. The PAR SD is the Child of the BU Strategy SD. - The PAR SD is the Parent of the BU SD (areas of responsibility) that the person manages. The BU SD is the Child of the PAR SD. So an SD can be both a child and a parent. This is the part that confuses some people; once it is clear, you understand how the SD Map hierarchy works. Key concept: the process of embedding these primary SDs builds out both the organisational hierarchy (how all the Business Units connect and who runs them) and the entire filing system for the business, simultaneously.

Step 16

This structure is recursive. Recursive means: relating to or involving the repeated application of a rule, definition or procedure to successive results. This recursive structure is what allows you to trace responsibility, work effort and strategic alignment from the top-level vision all the way down to day-to-day execution.

Step 17

How security works in the SD Map: security is tightly controlled through Membership settings at the SD level. If you are a member of a Parent SD, you inherit rights to drill down and access all Child SDs. This feature is incredibly powerful for supervisors: by combining document-level membership security with the way SDs are structured and linked in the hierarchy, leaders higher up the chain of command can drill seamlessly into every corner of the Business Units beneath them. The BU Strategy SD is an exception to this rule: drill-down must be disallowed, to prevent employees from accessing confidential peer information inside their PAR SDs where they are embedded in the same BU Strategy SD. Note: PARs are always embedded in either: - a BU Strategy SD (also known as a business plan), which forms part of a BU leader's PAR, signifying they are employed primarily to support the Business Strategy of that Business Unit; or - a supervisor's PAR, in the case where the supervisor has no formal BU responsibility.

Step 18

The membership types: - Author: full edit rights (add, delete, move, chat, view, download). - Guest: view-only rights; can download and chat. - Ghost: view and download only (typically when accessing via a shared link, with no PaT login required).

Step 19

The power of the BU Strategy SD: it is the anchor of every major business initiative. Every Business Strategy, at every level, rests on two core principles: \1. What's the plan? Captured via KRAs (Key Result Areas) and strategic tasks. \2. Who owns the plan? Defined via role ownership and accountability. In a BU Strategy SD, the Strategy section header holds the plan, and the Leadership Role(s) section header shows who owns the plan and is responsible for executing it.

Step 20

The Strategy > Roadmap > Goals > KRAs section organises all activity. KRAs (Key Result Areas) ensure that strategic intent is broken down into tangible, actionable, measurable work. The standard KRAs are: - Customer Centricity - Operational Excellence - People Capability - Pursue Growth - Maximise Profitability Tasks are filed under the appropriate KRA, linking daily activity directly to strategic outcomes.

Step 21

KRAs provide "line of sight" from everywhere in the business to the Master Strategy. People, represented as PARs, are employed to support the BU Strategy. Tasks agreed to support the Strategy of the BU are sorted into KRAs, then split over one or more PARs (embedded in the BU Strategy SD). These tasks are frequently broken down into subtasks and assigned to subordinate PARs in their KRA sections, which can then be broken down further and assigned to their subordinates, and so on. Using this process, tasks flow from the Master Strategy down through different levels of Business Units and their Business Strategies to every corner of the business, providing line of sight from anywhere in the business back up through the organisation to the Master Strategy. This system creates clear visibility for leadership: - You can see exactly who is responsible for what, at all times. - You can measure whether strategic goals are being actively executed.

Step 22

The PARs of the people employed to support the Strategy of the BU are embedded in the BU Strategy SD, under its Leadership Role(s) section header. This tells everyone who is responsible for delivering the plan.

Step 23

Embedding vs linking SDs and tasks: embedding an SD and linking to an SD have specific meanings. - Embed: you embed an SD as a child of a parent SD when the Owner of the Parent SD is directly responsible for the work represented by the Child SD. Embedding creates an explicit connection between the SDs, like wiring components together on a circuit board. The combination of these SDs and the explicit links between them forms the SD Map, similar to how relationships between parents and children create a family tree. - Link: you link to an SD when you simply need quick access without implying direct responsibility. Linking is like saving a bookmark to a regularly visited webpage: it's a shortcut, not a direct connection. Links point to an SD but don't embed responsibility into the parent structure; it's like pointing to a component on a circuit board without having to trace the wires.

Step 24

For example, a leader's PAR has the BUs they are directly responsible for embedded in it, along with the tasks they are responsible for. It links to the BUs they oversee indirectly, through staff they have employed: those BUs are embedded in the staff members' own PARs, because the staff are directly responsible for them, and the links give the leader a quick way to keep an eye on them and jump to them. Embedding physically joins the SDs within the database, maintaining the map's structure. Linking does not: it is simply a shortcut.

Step 25

The membership types in summary: - Author: full rights (edit, drill-down). - Guest: view-only, download, chat, drill-down. - Ghost: view-only, download (no chat, no drill-up or drill-down). Ghost access (shared via a link) bypasses membership, but has very limited permissions.

Step 26

Ghost access and security: when an SD link is shared externally, the recipient is treated as a Ghost, because they are not signed in and so are not 'known' to PaT. They can view and download attached files, but cannot edit, chat or navigate related SDs. For more access, they must be properly signed into PaT, which can be done as a guest, with restricted rights, or as a full PaT tenancy Member (usually only reserved for employees), and invited to the SD as either an Author or a Guest. The combination of SD Memberships and Map Structure forms a secure filing framework without needing external IT security layers.

The structure of the map

Step 27

The SD Map hierarchy is simple, structured and searchable. Every SD Map is built on the same foundational structure: the BU Strategy SD embeds the PAR SD, which embeds the BU SD. Every Formal BU SD contains six standardised Child SDs: \1. Projects \2. Training \3. Audits \4. Templates \5. Reports \6. Work

Step 28

+1 (optional): a BU Strategy SD can optionally be embedded as the 7th child SD within a BU structure, to develop a formal plan for growing and improving the BU. The decision to create a BU Strategy is a management choice. Not every BU will need one: only those considered large enough, complex enough or important enough to justify a structured, strategic plan.

Step 29

The SD Map is recursive. It repeats the same structural pattern across every layer of the business: BU Strategy > PAR > BU > Projects, Training and so on. A BU's +1 BU Strategy SD starts the pattern again one level down, with its own PARs and BUs. Once you understand this, navigation becomes intuitive. For example: - Need Training for the UK Operations BU? Navigate: BU SD > Training SD. - Need Audit records for Customer Support? Navigate: BU SD > Audits SD.

Step 30

When you understand this, the Map becomes intuitive. If you need to find CS training, you know it will be in the Training SD of the CS BU. If you need to find Audits for the Operations Dept in the UK, you know it will be in the Audits SD of that BU.

Step 31

The difference between a Formal BU and an Informal BU: - Formal BU: managed via a dedicated BU SD. It contains 6 (or 6 + 1) embedded SDs: the full structure, for comprehensive management. - Informal or Casual BU: managed inside the Working SD of a Parent BU. There is no need to spin up a formal structure; it is still structured logically, but simplified.

Step 32

Managing Informal and Casual BUs: - Informal BU: created as a standard SD inside a Working SD. Used when reasonable management is needed (maybe projects, contracts, contacts and so on), but not enough to justify spinning up a full formal BU structure, for example when you don't need training, reports, templates and audits. - Casual BU: managed as a section header inside a Working SD. Used for small, low-complexity areas of responsibility where you just need to store some basic info, maybe file quotes and invoices for your local plumber. Examples: USA BU > Working SD > a section header for Building Security (low-volume work); USA BU > Working SD > an embedded SD for Overflow Storage facilities (higher complexity).

Key concepts. - A place for everything, everything in its place. - Three primary SDs build the core map: BU Strategy SD, PAR SD, BU SD. - Embed what you directly own; link what you want to jump to quickly. - Formal BUs have 6 (or 6+1) SDs; Informal and Casual BUs are simplified. - Security is enforced through structure, not ad hoc permission settings. The SD Map transforms filing, security, reporting and management into a unified, intuitive system, making complexity manageable and driving better business outcomes.

Naming conventions. Name the SDs in the map like this: - Country-level BU: [Country] BU, for example AU BU. - A BU SD's sub-SDs: [Country] BU [type] SD, for example USA BU PROJECTS SD. - BU Strategy SD: [Country] BU STRATEGY SD, for example USA BU STRATEGY SD. - Other BUs: [Country] [BU] BU SD, for example UK OPERATIONS BU SD. - Other BUs' sub-SDs: [Country] [BU] BU [type] SD, for example USA OPERATIONS BU PROJECTS SD. - Other BUs' Strategy SDs: [Country] [BU] BU STRATEGY SD, for example USA OPERATIONS BU STRATEGY SD. - PARs: [First name] [Last name] PAR.