Basic Terminology
What is a Block?
A block describes a specific strategy. Blocks describe: what has to be achieved, by whom, and by when.
They are arranged in a top-down hierarchy and describe your organization’s strategic activities at all levels. Often strategies need to be broken down into smaller tasks. The top block is the parent and the blocks under it are child blocks. A block at the very bottom of a tree, with no child blocks, is called a leaf. For more information on how blocks are arranged, checkout Block Structure.
Block Permissions
The block functions available to you depend on your level of permission. The table below outlines the different permissions a user can have relative to a block.
Note that the adjustable company setting Block Owner Can Manage allows Owners the ability to edit blocks. Read more on these capabilities.
| User | What they can do |
|---|---|
| Owner | Is responsible for completing the task. Can update progress and create child blocks. |
| Manager | Is the owner of the parent block. Ensures that the owner is making adequate progress. Can change the block details (including the owner) Once the owner has marked it as complete will close the block, and rate it. |
| Watcher | Receives email reports about the block’s status, and see newsfeed items about its activity (comments, progress updates, etc…) |
What is Progress?
Progress indicates the percentage completion of a block, if a block’s progress is updated to 100% then the block is complete. Only blocks at the bottom of a tree, which we call “leaf blocks” have their progress updated directly by the user. When you update the progress of the leaf, it rolls up its progress to the block(s) above. This is illustrated in the images below. If you want to learn more about how to update the progress of a leaf block, read the update progress page.
What is a Metric?
A metric describes a numeric value (measure) that can help determine if a strategic activity is driving an expected result. Metrics almost always have a target, so at any particular point in time it is possible to determine a variance from an expected target or plan. A metric can be linked to 1 or more blocks or no blocks.
You can view all your organisation’s metrics on the Metrics Table.
What is a Dashboard?
The Custom Dashboard view is a layout tool for creating highly graphical, multipage reports updated in real-time, allowing for the creation of personalised custom
dashboards via a simple drag and drop UI. Users can customise information to individual preferences, with data that is updated in real-time.
The Personal Charts view provides a complete overview of each users strategic activity regarding their owned and managed blocks. Blocks, Metrics, and Risks are also displayed, showcasing the health and progress shown in milestone sequences and the different stages of each risk.
What is a Health?
The health of a block is determined by several factors. These factors include progress (updated within the progress bar), metrics and risks. You can create your own health definitions allowing you to choose the type of weighting that you believe that each factor should have on your blocks. You have the option of using the default set of health definitions or creating more sets of health definitions. Each set can be applied to different blocks.
