Using SDs as a report or meeting minutes app

Summary An SD can be used as a report or as meeting minutes. The information people need is pushed to them, rather than them having to look for it. Each time the SD is closed, PaT files its unlocked notes and completed Action Points as an archived version, called a bookmark, which you can open again from the SD's history. When you close the SD you can also send a review task to the members you choose. One search covers the current SD and all its archived versions.

Steps

Introduction. This module shows how to use an SD as a report. The same process is used for professional Meeting Minutes, with database automation added to manage distribution, filing, monitoring and Action Points (tasks) on your behalf.

Note. SD reports use 'push reporting': the information people need is pushed to them, rather than them having to go into a system and find it (pull reporting). Push reporting is considered more intelligent and more efficient. Email, Word and Excel reports can also be pushed, but SD reports give four more benefits: - They file themselves, so versions are never lost and are easy to find. - Earlier reports are two clicks from the current report, which makes comparison and trend analysis much easier and supports insight and decision making. - One search covers the current SD and every earlier report at the same time. - Recipients no longer spend time scheduling or looking for the information they need: it flows to them. If the report is backed by a recurring task, PaT manages the report writer's compliance, so recipients don't have to chase it.

Looking back at earlier versions

Step 1

Open the SD that holds the report. It shows the current update of the report.

Step 2

To see the earlier versions, click SD History, in the row of grey buttons just below the search box.

Step 3

The SD Archives panel opens on the left of the screen. Each purple bar in it is a bookmark: a version of the SD that was filed when the SD was closed. Together the bookmarks are the report's historical record.

Step 4

Each bookmark, also called an archived version (the two terms mean the same thing), shows the title it was given, followed by a date and time stamp that PaT adds.

Step 5

A bookmark's title is typed in the Enter title for this archive/review box, at the bottom right of the SD, when the SD is closed. Closing is covered in Steps 15-19.

Step 6

Click a bookmark's bar. A list opens below it, and the arrow at the end of the bar turns to point down.

Step 7

The first card in the list shows the bookmark's title, how many rows were archived in that version, and when it was created.

Step 8

The cards below it are the review tasks PaT created automatically when the SD was closed, one for each person, showing the assignee and the task's status. By default PaT gives 5 days to complete the task. Each assignee must reject the task, negotiate a new deadline or complete it by reviewing the report. If they don't, PaT manages their non-compliance: it auto-escalates the task and lowers their task integrity. This keeps everyone in the loop: no one can say they weren't told, unless they close the task without reviewing the report.

Step 9

The colour of each task shows where it is up to: - Green: completed. - Red: overdue. - Black: work in progress (WIP). - Blue: requested to close (RTC), but not yet closed off by the SD owner. The SD owner can see at a glance who is up to date with the latest update. To hurry someone along, or to share more about this version, click the speech bubble at the right of their task to start a chat.

Step 10

To get a PDF version of the SD, click the print icon at the right of the bookmark's first card.

Step 11

Click the bookmark's title at the top of that first card.

Step 12

PaT goes back in time: the SD shows, shaded blue, all the items that were archived when the bookmark was created. This gives you context. Switch between bookmarks to benchmark data, gain insights and analyse trends across reporting periods, which traditional Word, email and Excel reports can't do.

Note. Bookmarks are made by archiving notes, and archiving works on unlocked notes: an unlocked note shows an open padlock at the right of its row. If you're not sure how to unlock a note, learn that first.

Step 13

To return to the current report, click Present, the top bar in the SD Archives panel.

Step 14

The search box above the SD, to the right of the purple buttons (it reads search description here), searches all the current notes and every archived version too, so one search covers the report's whole history.

Closing an SD to create a bookmark

Step 15

To close off (archive) the SD, first type a name for the archived copy in the Enter title for this archive/review box, in the dark bar at the bottom right of the SD. PaT adds a date and time stamp to the title.

Step 16

Click Archive and/or Review, just to the right of the title box.

Step 17

The SD Archive and/or Review Configuration panel slides in on the right of the screen, with two options: - Archive unlocked Notes and completed Action Points on this SD - Send a review task to selected members

Step 18

If only the first option is ticked, that is all PaT does: it finds all the unlocked notes and completed Action Points, removes them from the SD, files them under the title you typed, and stores this archived version in the SD's history. This tidies up the SD and speeds it up, so it works as a dynamic, live document.

Step 19

Tick the second option to list the SD's members, each with a Send Review Task box (select all ticks them all). Then click Confirm at the bottom of the panel: - With no members ticked, every SD member gets a browser alert and a chat saying the SD has been closed, and a notification in the PaT mobile app. They can click the SD link in the chat to open the SD and review it and its archived versions. - With one or more members ticked, PaT sends the chat and also sends each ticked member a task to review the report or minutes. These are the review tasks listed under a bookmark (Step 8).

Tip. Try both options to see which suits you. In the past, after an SD was closed and recipients were alerted by chat or task, they had to open the last bookmark to catch up. Depending on your situation: - Open the SD and add new updates beside the old ones, unlocking as you go. This helps when referring to past notes. - Name the bookmark something like "Complete [Report Name]". - Close the meeting. Then, when members open the SD, the latest information is visible straight away, without digging through the history.

Note. Owner- or nominee-controlled reports. So far, the SD's owner unlocks and closes the updates. You can also assign a nominee, who unlocks and closes them while the owner only enters the data. This is useful when more control is needed: for example, a CEO may want the final say on what is archived in a report owned by a Health & Safety Manager. Currently PaT has no formal setting for this, so agree it between the SD's members and note it clearly on the SD. A formal setting is expected in the future.