The Mother of All Windows Books/CD-MOM.iso/cd_mom/workmodl/mpro/guidtour.tut

Text File | 1993-07-19 | 25KB | 480 lines

Guided Tour (Basic) with Sample Database
2
SAMPLE
#Introduction
>The purpose of this tutorial is to provide you with a quick "guided tour" of
>ManagePro with the help of a very simple sample database.  It should take
>about a half hour to follow along with this text and put ManagePro
>through its paces.  If you're ready to start, press on the Fwd/F3 button
>below or press the F3 key.  To exit, press the Exit/F9 button or the F9 key.
=E
#*Running the Tutorial
>To run through the tutorial you can use the buttons
>below or press the F2 and F3 keys to move from back and forth between these
>tutorial text screens.
>You can hide and show this window by pressing the F4 key.  This
>may be necessary at times in order for you to view the whole screen.
> Also, please note that every 10 minutes or so the program will
>automatically
>save the database in the background and display an hourglass.
>Okay! Let's begin!
=E
#*Setting the Usage Style
>If you have been using ManagePro previously and changed the Usage Style
>to any but the "Integrated Performance Manager" model, use the Options Usage Style
>command from the main menu to change back to the "Integrated Performance
>Manager" model.
>This model will let the tour take you through all of ManagePro's features.
>Otherwise, just press F3 or "Fwd/F3" and we'll get started.
=E
#*The SAMPLE database
>Our SAMPLE database has some goals and people entered into it as if it
>had been created by the general manager of a toy company.  You will see
>goals for sales, marketing, and product development.  Of course,
>ManagePro is suitable for all industries, so don't be thrown by the
>particular goals you see here.
=E
#ManagePro Opening Screen
>The main ManagePro screen consists of three main work areas:
>  - the Main Menu bar at the top for access to commands
>  - the View Bar for quickly launching different views of your data
>  - a workspace where multiple windows can be viewed
> Optional Tool and Message Bars may also appear on your screen.
>Note that we will often use "view" and "window" interchangeably.  This
>is because each window on the screen represents a different view of your
>data.
=E
#*ManagePro Opening Screen
>In the View Bar area below the main menu bar you will see three groups of
>buttons labeled "Goals", "People" and "Action", then three individual buttons.  Each
>of these buttons opens a unique window that gives you access to your
>goal, people, and action information.  The last button, the Advisor
>button, provides context sensitive management advice.
=E
#Goal Management Tools
>ManagePro is designed to help you achieve your goals through effective
>management of your people.  The Goal side of the program has three main
>goal management tools: the
>Top Level Goal Planner, the Timeline View, and the Goal Status board.  Let's
>take a look at each one.  Press the first button in the Goal group, which
>looks like a bull's-eye.  Then press F3 or push "Fwd/F3" below.
=E
#The top level goal planner
>You are looking at four very high level goals for this manager.
>If you wish to see the supporting goals below any top level goal, simply
>click on the little "+" button to the left of the goal.  ManagePro
>will "expand" the detail below.  If you expand the first goal in the list
>you will notice that you can define multiple levels of detail.
=E
#*The top level goal planner
>The purpose of the top level goal planner is to let you outline what
>your major goals are, then divide these up and delegate sections of
>them to your people and teams.  Some of these sub-goals may be your
>own -- you can assign them to "Myself" in the "Who" column of the
>planner.  The top level planner gives you the flexibility to plan at
>any level of detail and coordinate your work with your people's.
=E
#*The top level goal planner
>You may want to experiment with changing the view on display using the
>Planner menu in the menu bar and the "View As" command.  You can also
>change the width of the columns on display by moving the mouse to the
>title area and clicking and dragging one of the dividing lines. The
>Goal Planner and all similar windows with rows and columns of data are
>very configurable - see the Reference Manual or on-line help for more
>details.
=E
#The Timeline View
>If you specify start or due dates for your goals, you may want to see
>simple graphical "timeline" displays of the top level goal planner.
>Press the second button in the Goals Group to open the Timeline View window.
>This displays the same top level goal planner data with graphical lines
>representing the start and end dates of your goals.
=E
#*Moving Windows in the Workspace
>You may want to experiment with moving these two windows around the
>screen and resizing them by grabbing at their sides or corners.  You'll
>notice that only one is "active" at a time, with its title bar
>highlighted.  A complete list of open windows is available in the
>main Window menu, as with other Windows applications.
=E
#*The Timeline View
>Expand the first goal in the list by pressing on the "+" next to it.
>Try clicking and dragging the left edge of the timeline bar for the
>fourth goal in the list.  A box displays the dates for this line as you
>move left and right.  Release the mouse to complete your change.
>You can rapidly compress or expand the dates on display with the plus
>and minus magnifying glass buttons at the top of the window.
=E
#The Goal Status Board
>To see how all of the top level goals are progressing in a graphical way
>you can
>call up the Goal Status Board by pressing the third button in the
>Goals Group
>or by selecting the "View/Goal Status Board" command.  You
>will see a row of colored lights that represent the "top level" goals in
>the system.  As you click or move the cursor around, the "sub goals" that
>support any goal are displayed below that goal.
=E
#*The Goal Status Board
>You will see that the color of the light and the due date of each goal
>"rolls" up from the goals below.  The light color
>is set with the "Status" field of the goal.  You can update it whenever you
>enter progress data or from the goal planner.
=E
#People Management Tools
>Use the Window Close All command to shut down the three windows you have
>opened.  Let's move to the People Management side of ManagePro.  Press
>the first button in the People group to open the People/Team Planner window.
=E
#The People/Team Planner
>The People/Team Planner window is a table where you can store data for the
>people and teams you work with.  The buttons on the left of the window
>launch other windows with more detailed information for the highlighted
>person (row) in the people/team planner table.  All of this information is
>optional -- you can use whatever parts of the program you find valuable.
=E
#*The People/Team Planner
>The first four buttons on the left store information on the
>core "people/performance management" cycle embedded in ManagePro.
>The premise is really very simple.  To manage people effectively you
>have to:
>    - Set clear goals
>    - Monitor progress
>    - Give feedback and coaching
>    - Evaluate, recognize, and reward people's contributions
> Let's take a minute to examine each of these steps.
=E
#*The core management cycle
>1) Setting clear goals
> Setting clear goals for your people with specific due dates and a
>sense of how they will be measured is critical for achieving your goals.
> 2) Monitoring progress
> It is also important to set interim checkpoints for major goals and
>identify what your people need to "deliver" at those checkpoints.
=E
#*The core management cycle
>3) Giving feedback and coaching
> Surveys consistently show that employees have very little sense of what
>their boss thinks of their performance.  Giving regular feedback to your
>people and helping them through coaching are critical parts of managing.
> 4) Evaluating, recognizing, and rewarding
> It is also very important to recognize and reward people according to
>their contribution; if people know that performance pays off they will
>work harder to achieve success.
=E
#*A person's core information tables
>This process sounds easy!  But most managers, although they realize
>the need for it,
>have trouble keeping track of the important little details on their
>direct reports' goals, performance, skill and development requirements,
>etc.   That's why ManagePro makes this core cycle explicit with a
>table for each step in the cycle.  Let's move through these four steps
>for Mark.
=E
#*Mark's Goals
>Select Mark by clicking the mouse on his name or using the down arrow
>keys until his is the highlighted row.  Now press on the Goals button
>or press Ctrl-G (hold down the "Ctrl" key and press G).  A new window
>is opened with a table containing Mark's goals.  This is a goal planner
>just like the Top Level Goal Planner, but focused only on Mark.
=E
#*Mark's Goals
>In the first column is the title of the goal, followed by due date,
>priority and status columns.  Now because goals are so central
>to ManagePro, there is actually some additional information that can
>be stored about them in the Goal Form.  Double click on the name of one
>of the goals or press Ctrl-Enter to bring up the Goal Form.
=E
#The Goal Form
>The Goal Form shows all the detail on this goal.
>Of course almost all of these fields are optional - they are just
>recommended as effective ways of tracking goals and people's performance.
>(To see the whole form you can press the F4 key to hide this window, then F4
>again to pop it back up).
=E
#The Expert Advisor
>Before we leave the goal form you should test out the expert advisor.
>Press the Advisor button at the right end of the top button bar.
>Keyboard users can call up the Help menu with Alt-H
>and select Advisor.
=E
#*Expert Advice - On Demand
>The general advisor help available on the Goal Form is a tutorial about
>setting goals for people and teams and how to think about this
>process.  This kind of help is available for all of the major areas
>of performance/people management in the database - especially the
>core cycle.  Cancel the advisor by pressing Escape or Ctrl-F4
>and click on the word "Result"
>near the top of the form; then press F3 or "Fwd/F3".
=E
#*Expert Advice - Specific Help
>Select Help/Advisor Help from the main menu (or Shift-F1).
>This time the advisor pops up with specific help on the Goal Type field
>of the form, explaining how result goals differ from skill and mode
>type goals.  Close down the advisor window by pressing escape
>and then the goal form by pressing
>the Cancel button and you return to the planner, right back where
>you started.
=E
#*Entering a new goal
>Now to see how easy it is to add new goals, move the red cursor box
>to the first line in the planner, press Shift-Enter, then type:
>   "Get trade press reviews on new products", <Shift-Enter>
> ManagePro inserts a new blank line for you to add a new goal.  Type in
>   "Laser blaster"
> then hit Ctrl-D for demote, or the right arrow button, then <Shift-Enter>
>   "Robby Robot"
=E
#*Creating subgoals
>Now you have created two "sub-goals" in an outline fashion.  These goals
>"support" the goal above them or they may be checkpoints or milestones
>on the path towards getting the main goal accomplished.  You can set
>specific start and due dates and a measurement basis/scale for each of these
>sub-goals in their detailed forms.
=E
#*Closing down Mark's goal planner
>Close down Mark's goal planner by pressing the "Exit" button or Ctrl-F4.
>You return automatically
>back to the People/Team Planner.  Let's explore
>the next part of the cycle - monitoring progress.  Press the Progress
>button or press Ctrl-O.
=E
#*Mark's progress data
>Inside Mark's progress data file you will find a table of contents that
>shows a history of the recent progress data input by the manager.  You
>can double click on a line in the table of contents to bring up the old data.
>Notice that it's a very simple form - really it's just a convenient way to
>store what kind of progress or results a person or team has accomplished.
>If you use this feature to track the progress of his goals, you'll have
>a rich image
>of what Mark worked on and how he did along the way when it's review time.
=E
#The progress data form
>In the form you get to link progress data to one of Mark's goals
>if you'd like to sort by that later (This is towards the bottom of the
>form. You may want to press F4 to hide this window.)  At
>the same time, the program
>will give you the opportunity to change the status, priority, and
>due date of that goal - to save you a trip
>to the goal planner!  Close down the progress form window by pressing
>the Cancel button.  Then press the Exit button to return to the People
>Planner.
=E
#*Mark's feedback/coaching data and reviews
>Press the "Feedback" button to open up the Feedback/Coaching window.
>Again, this is a table of contents of previous feedback and coaching
>entries in the database.  Double clicking on an old entry shows a
>simple form - again note the link to expectations and the completeness
>of the data you'll have when it comes time to do a review.  Close down
>the form and feedback/coaching window and press the Review button.
>Once again, you can see a summary table of any previous reviews you
>have made that are stored in the database (we haven't made any for
>Mark.)
=E
#Other people information
>If you close the review window by pressing the Escape key or pressing
>the Exit button you return again to the People/Team Planner.  Below the
>Review button you will see buttons for Development plans, Commitments,
>and other tables for Mark.  The Reference Manual describes them in
>more detail.  The "Details" button gives you access to job and personal
>information forms for each person.
=E
#*Add a new person
>To add a new person press Shift-Enter to create a new blank line then type
>in a new name:
>     "Roger"
> If you would like ManagePro to generate people management reminders for
>this new person, then <Tab> to the "Reminders?" field and type "Y" for
>"Yes", then Enter.  You may also define the new person's relationship to
>you by <Tab>ing to the next column and selecting
>the appropriate type.  You can press '?' to see a list of options or
>press the numeric keypad plus and minus keys to scroll through
>them.
=E
#*Defining a team
>If you want to group together some people into a team and treat that
>team as if it were one person by assigning it goals, tracking progress
>data, etc., use the "Team" button.  Move the cursor to the
>"Quality Team" line and press "Team".  A list box appears showing
>all of the other people and teams in the database.  You can highlight
>a couple of names with the mouse and press "Ok."  When you return to
>the planner you will see those names indented under "Quality Team".
=E
#*Moving to the people status board
>Close down the People/Team Planner window by pressing Escape or the "Exit" button.
>Now press the second button in the People group to bring up the People
>Status Board or select "View/People Status Board" from the main menu.
>You see several
>rows of colored lights, one row per person or team in the database.
>These lights are green, yellow, or red depending on the status of the
>data in the database.  See the manual for a detailed description of
>each light.  We're just going to look at a couple of them so you can
>see how the status board works.
=E
#*Why is that light red?
>Move the cursor to the second column for our friend Mark.  You should
>see a red light in this column
>labeled "Progress".  This light indicates that you have not made any
>progress data entries in a while.  The program is reminding you to
>put some data in the database - again, to build up a complete record
>of what people worked on and how they progressed during the year.
=E
#*Getting explanations for red lights
>Double click or press <Enter> on the red light and an explanation pops up
>stating when you last entered data and what the interval is that you
>have defined for being reminded.
>There are several options presented to you.  You can reset this reminder - just
>say "go red again in another 15 days", change the interval, quick input
>some progress data, or view all of Mark's entries.  Select quick input now and
>a progress data form pops up on the screen, with Mark's name and
>the date defaulted to today.
=E
#*Quick input progress data
>Just type in any comment, press OK, and
>you're back at the status board and the red light has turned
>green.  This is a very powerful tool for providing some gentle
>reminders to really do that core management cycle that we know
>is important but is hard to put into practice.
=E
#Setting the frequency of reminders
>The lights on the people status board are controlled by your
>Reminder Frequency.  You can see the current global reminder frequency
>by selecting "Options/Reminder Frequency" from the main menu.  You will
>see a form with a variety of intervals defined for the core management
>cycle.  This is where you can specify "Remind me every 3 weeks to
>enter progress data (light goes red) and let me know 2 days ahead
>of time (light goes yellow)."  Press the "Cancel" button here to return to the
>status board.
=E
#*Getting data to help you plan
>Suppose the feedback/coaching light goes red (as Mark's is).  Double-click
>on it and imagine that you're trying to think whether there is any
>feedback or coaching you should do for Mark.  Press the Plan button to
>let ManagePro help you figure that out.  A report appears with recent progress
>data for Mark.  You can glance through this on-screen or print it out.
>Below the report you can jot some notes to yourself on any feedback or
>coaching you'd like to do.
=E
#*Coaching Topics
>What if you have a particularly tricky problem with Mark?  You can get
>some advice on coaching by pressing the "Coaching Topics" button.  (Press
>F4 to see the button or move this window up on the screen.)  Each
>boxed phrase is linked to a set of "diagnostics" that helps you think through
>common people management issues.  Press on "How to coach on individual
>skills and behaviors" to see topics in this area.  Click on "Having a Sense of
>Urgency" to see a sample diagnostic.  Close the Advisor window by pressing
>the Escape key, then press the Cancel button on the Plan Feedback/Coaching
>form to return to the People Status Board.
=E
#Action Tools
>Close all of your windows by selecting the "Window/Close All" command.  Now
>let's briefly look at some of the action support tools available to you.
>Because there are is a lot of information in the database with dates - from
>to do items, goal due dates, reminders to enter progress data,
>feedback, etc., there are three tools designed to help you sort through all
>these events.
=E
#To Do Lists
>ManagePro has two types of rapid-entry to do list planners.  Press the
>first button (with check mark) in the Action Group on the View Bar to open
>the master To Do List.  Simply type new to do items directly into this list.
>Fill in a title and click on the date field.  Let's say you want to
>set this to do item for 2 days from now.  Just type "+2" and hit <Tab>. The
>date is automatically calculated for you.
>As with other ManagePro planners, the To Do List supports quick column fill,
>date and choice pickers, and allows you to navigate further into the database
>by double-clicking on an item.
=E
#*Goal-Specific To Do List
>ManagePro also supports goal-specific to do lists. Open the Top Level
>Goal Planner.  Press the expand button next to the first goal of "Double
>Sales in 3 years".  Select (single-click on) the first sub-goal "Increase
>share in existing markets".  Press the To Do's button to the left.
>You can now enter as many to do items as you wish for this goal.  Each of
>these items will automatically be copied to your Master To Do List (and
>appear in your calendar if you also assign a date).  Close this window.
=E
#*Accessing an Existing Goal-Specific To Do List
>If you entered to do items for the goal of "Increase share in existing markets,"
>you will notice a checkmark icon immediately to the left of that goal on the
>Top Level Goal Planner.  By clicking on this icon, you can recall this to do
>list on demand.
=E
#The Action list
>The second support tool available to you is the Action list.  You
>can bring it up by pressing the second button in the View Bar Action group.
>The action list contains five different kinds of events: to do items that
>you input, goals that have due dates, events that you input, commitments
>that you create, and people management tasks that are generated by the
>program for you.  You can modify any item in this list, or double-click on
>an item to navigate into the ManagePro database to get more data.
=E
#The Calendar
>Bring up the calendar by pressing the Calendar button in the top button bar.
>The calendar tool offers year-at-a glance, month-at-a-glance,
>week-at-a-glance and day-at-a-glance views of the database.  In the year and
>month views, a list box shows you all the tasks or events for the currently
>selected day.  This list box is at the bottom of the screen, so you may want
>to press F4 to hide this window, then F4 again to restore it.
=E
#*Updating dates from the calendar
>In the year and month views days that have events on them are marked with
>a gray box (year view) and a black X (month view).  You can change the
>date of any task by clicking and dragging the gray box or black X.  Just
>be sure a single event or task is first
>highlighted in the list box.  Then drag the red rectangle (year view)
>or black "X" (month view) to the new date.
=E
#Daily Appointment Calendar
>In the day view, you'll see a one- or two-day appointment
>calendar.  Checkboxes at the bottom of the window allow you to tell ManagePro
>which type of data to display.  Items without specific times attached will
>appear at either the top or bottom of each day, based on your preferences.
=E
#*Using & Configuring the Daily Calendar
>The calendar will automatically display any items in your ManagePro database
>that have a date (and optionally time associated with it).  You can also
>schedule new items by double-clicking on the desired time.  To configure the
>daily calendar to your needs, press the Configure (wrench) button on the Tool
>Bar when the daily calendar is showing.
=E
#The Assistant Window
>The Assistant Window helps you plan your day with a one-screen overview
>of goals, people and action items in your database requiring immediate
>action.  If it is not currently displayed, launch this window by pressing
>the third button from the right on the View Bar above (or select View/Assistant
>from the main menu).  You'll see the default scan of "Today's to do items",
>"Critical Goals" and "Upcoming People Management Tasks".
=E
#*Navigating Around & Programming the Assistant
>You can "navigate" into your ManagePro database by double-clicking on any
>item on display.  It's easy to change the number or type of database items
>that the Assistant presents to you.  Simply press the configure (wrench)
>button from the tool bar (or choose Assistant/Configure from the main menu).
>Use Options/Assistant from the main menu to tell ManagePro how often you
>wish to have the Assistant automatically present this information to you.
>Select Window/Close All before moving on to the next section.
=E
#The Reports Window
>The Reports Window gives you access to many predefined reports for
>extracting information from the database.  You can select from three
>different categories - Goals, People, and Action List.  Each report can
>be viewed on the screen, printed out, or saved to a disk file.
>You can create custom reports using any planner or table.  See Chapter
>6 in the Reference Manual for more details.
=E
#End of the Sample Database tour
>That brings us to the end of the guided tour. Please explore the sample
>database and the whole rest of the program and see the Reference Manual
>for a more detailed explanation of each window.  Also be sure to see
>the Getting Started Guide for information on setting Usage Styles. With
>different usage styles, you can remove features in the program you don't
>need to access.
=E
#*End of the Sample Database tour
>There are two other tutorials you may want to take - "Version 2.0 New
>Features Guided Tour" and "Creating your first database."  To begin
>another tutorial simply choose the Help/Tutorial command and select
>a tutorial from the list.
=E