ATMS User Guide

The Main Actions Screen

 

Action Tracking System Overview

As we know already ATMS™ (Action Tracking Management System) is an action tracker database used by clients worldwide to track and manage projects. The basic principle behind ATMS™ is that an individual creates an action and assigns it to someone who does some work with it before indicating that it is complete.

The figure below shows the main action screen. This screen lists all available actions in ATMS™ that the signed in user has access to see. The Main Actions Screen is displayed first as most users will spend most of their time interacting with it.

As you can see there are many different colours showing on the Main Actions Screen.
Each action when created can have a variety of controls associated with it.

Each one of those controls is configurable to a user's specification including text and appearance (colours). We will explore Controls in detail in another section but for now we can say that most of the colours shown above (e.g. Yellow and Green and Red coloured lines corresponding to Priority) come from a user's control input.

There are however specific system created colours that define the status of an Action. They are:

• Black background with White font for Actions that are Closed & Archived
• Light Grey background with Black font for Actions that are Closed
• Light Grey background with Black font for Actions that are Cancelled
• Dark Grey background with Black font for Actions that are On Hold
• White background with Light Grey Italics font for Actions that are in Draft Mode.

Toolbar & Sidebar

The toolbar shown at the top left of the screen contains a set of buttons. Some of these buttons are only available on certain screens, or when you have an item (action) selected.

Hovering the mouse over the toolbar buttons without clicking on any of them will display a tooltip.

The sidebar shown at the left of the screen contains a set of default buttons and user created buttons. Some of these buttons are only available on certain screens, or when the user has been given certain administrative privileges. Hovering the mouse over the sidebar buttons without clicking on any of them will display a tooltip.

These buttons are largely self-explanatory however the “Import Actions”, “Import Users” and “User Created Sidebar” buttons require some more detail.

Importing Users

This function allows you to import a CSV file.

To import users, first click on the “Administration” button of the sidebar and then select the “Users” tab. Now the “Import Users” button will be available on the toolbar. Click on it and the “Upload User Data” screen will be displayed as shown below.

To avoid mistakes and erroneous data getting into the system it is advisable to download a blank template prior to using the import functionality. The template will be a CSV file pre-populated with the field names already configured in the database.

Click on the button and a windows dialog will pop up asking you to Open or Save the file.

Save your file locally.

Once you have captured the required data in your CSV file go back to the Import Users Screen and select the Company and if applicable, the Department to which you want users to be added.

Browse to the CSV file you have populated and click the “Import” button. The system will now run a check on the validity of the data file. If the file is valid the information panel will display details of the number of users which it has found in the file, but if errors were found a list of these errors will be displayed. Fix any errors and repeat this process before proceeding. If the file is valid, the “Import” button will be enabled - click this button to perform the user data import.

If you want ATMS™ to send the users a “Welcome to ATMS™” email, then select the “Email User” radio button. The “Welcome to ATMS™” email is designed to provide a user with their username, a link to set their password and a link to access the ATMS™ login page.

Importing Actions

This function allows you to import a CSV file, a useful feature which allows off-site data to be quickly captured in the Action Tracker.

To import actions, first click on the “Import Actions” button of the toolbar.

To avoid mistakes and erroneous data getting into the system it is advisable to download a blank template prior to using the import functionality. The template will be a CSV file pre-populated with the field names already configured in the administration/controls section of ATMS™.

In the Import Actions Screen select a Project so that the “Download Blank Template” button becomes enabled. Click on the button and a windows dialog will pop up asking you to Open or Save the file.

 

Save your file locally. This will download a template specific to the selected project and the control group used by it. We will talk about Control groups at the Administration section of this user guide.

This means that all the field names already configured in the administration/controls section of the action tracking management system will be pre-populated in the downloaded file.

Once you have captured the required data in your CSV file go back to the Import Actions Screen and select the project to which you want actions to be added. You should also select a default user to whom all unassigned actions will be assigned – in case no match can be made with user names in the CSV file (it happens!).

Browse to the CSV file you have populated and click the “Upload” button. The system will now run a check on the validity of the data file. If the file is valid the information panel will display details of the number of actions, projects and new companies which it has found in the file, but if errors were found a list of these errors will be displayed. Fix any errors and repeat this process before proceeding. If the file is valid, the “Import” button will be enabled - click this button to perform the data import.

If you want ATMS™ to email the users responsible for each imported action (Actionees) then select the “Send E-mail to Actionees?” radio button under Import Options.

If you add new fields to a control group in the system you can generate a template to capture these at any time by clicking again on the “Download Blank Template”.

User-Created Sidebar Button

This function allows you to create a custom button on the sidebar. This is a useful feature which gives the user quick access to internal organisation links such as websites or shared folders using ATMS™.

To create a new Sidebar button first click on the “Administration” button of the sidebar and then select the “Sidebar” tab. Now the “Create New” button will be available on the toolbar. Click on it and the “Add Sidebar Entry” screen will be displayed as shown below.

Here you can give your new sidebar button a name (title), specify the link it will direct the user to and the sort order it would appear on screen.

By default, the sort order will always increment to the next available number so if you already had 2 custom made sidebar buttons the next one would have a sort order number of 3.

Administration

Overview

The main administration screen can be accessed by clicking the “Administration” icon on the sidebar. It is important to note that only administrators will have the full access to this section and some user may have restricted access (may only see the projects tab for example) to this section depending upon the permissions set on their login by the administrator.

General Tab

The General tab is the first tab of the Administration module. Most of the options here are self-explanatory and can be configured to suit specific business needs so we will just list them briefly.

Action Options Menu

This section allows the administrators to set general information that will be displayed on the action edit screen.

You can select the Auto Generate Action Number using either the Project or Sub Project name. This is a good way of identifying Actions between projects.

To use the Auto Generate Action Number you will need to add a Short Name to either your Parent or Sub project or both.

The following scenarios will help illustrate how this functionality works.

Scenario 1:
We have a Project with Short Name set to PSN.
We have a Sub Project with Short Name set to SPSN.
We have set the Auto Generate Action Number to use BOTH the Project AND the Sub Project short names.

When creating a new Action the Action number will be created by using BOTH the project AND the sub project short names like so: "PSN - SPSN - XXX" where XXX is the next sequential number in line.

Scenario 2:
We have a Project with Short Name set to PSN.
We have a Sub Project with Short Name set to SPSN.
We have set the Auto Generate Action Number to use ONLY the Project short name.

When creating a new Action the Action number will be created by using ONLY the project short name like so: "PSN - XXX" where XXX is the next sequential number in line.

Scenario 3:
We have a Project with Short Name set to PSN.
We have a Sub Project with Short Name set to SPSN.
We have set the Auto Generate Action Number to use ONLY the Sub Project short name.

When creating a new Action the Action number will be created by using ONLY the sub project short name like so: "SPSN - XXX" where XXX is the next sequential number in line.

Scenario 4:
We have a Project with Short Name NOT SET.
We have a Sub Project with Short Name NOT SET.
We have set the Auto Generate Action Number to use BOTH the Project AND the Sub Project short names.

When creating a new Action the Action number will be created by using ONLY the next sequential number (without project short names) like so: "XXX" where XXX is the next sequential number in line.

You can set a default Strategic Review Due In Day if your company has a specific time line for processing an action.

Configure Action Edit Screen Size Menu

This section allows the administrators to set the height and width of the action edit screen.

Depending upon the numbers and types of controls used on the action edit screen an administrator can adjust the height and width of the screen to make it look appropriate.

If the number of controls can’t fit within the screen size defined in “Configure Action Edit Screen Size” section, then some controls may overlap, or some portion of the action edit screen may not appear.

Configure Action List Screen Page Size Menu

This section allows the administrators to set the number of actions displayed per page.

The page size options allow the administrator to enable/disable paging or set the page size. Once page size is set, the page navigation bar at the bottom of the main action screen can be used to navigate between pages.

Configure default Email Reminder Menu

This section allows the administrators to set the system wide e-mail reminder settings.

Administrators can enable or disable the reminders service, set the default number of days for a due in reminder and the default number of days for overdue reminders.

They can also limit overdue reminders to just one reminder after the action is overdue.

Advanced Administration Options

This section allows large scale changes to be made to ATMS™ data. It’s intended as an advanced tool for experienced administrators and hence there is a big disclaimer before the main screen. Please read the Warning and only proceed if you accept the risk.

Checking the checkbox enables the “Bulk Replace” button. Clicking Bulk Replace only loads the Bulk Replace page, it doesn’t touch any ATMS™ data. Bulk Replace provides an easy way of remapping ATMS™ Actions from one user/role to another.

Bulk Replace works in two ways:

If you know who you’re replacing, then use Individual Replacement
If you don’t, for example there’s a new person filling an ATMS™ role, then use Role Replacement
We’ll look at them both in turn.

Individual Replacement

The “Individual to Be Replaced” is the person who’s been reorganised, or promoted, or moved on. The “Replacement” is the replacement for the “Individual to Be Replaced”.

Select your Project as well as the Roles the Individual to Be Replaced and the Replacement are meant to be performing. You can be choosy about the Projects and Project Roles affected by your Bulk Replace. This is where the “Project Name” and “Role to Be Replaced” drop lists come in.

Project Name filters the projects affected, letting you select the projects that you want to update. This is useful where someone’s project responsibilities change. Perhaps they’ve taken on more project responsibility, or someone has taken over one of their projects.

The Project Name drop list allows you to replace a person on a project, leaving all other projects as they were. For example, if “Test Project” is selected in Project Name, this means that in every Action in the Test Project, Test User is replaced by Tom (Admin) Fuller. All other Projects will remain untouched.

Role to Be Replaced filters the Project Roles affected (Action creator, owner, reviewer 1, 2, etc.) For example,
if Reviewer 1 is selected in Role to Be Replaced, this means that in every Action where Test User is Reviewer 1, he’s replaced by Tom (Admin) Fuller.

Nothing happens until you click the Replace button, but once you click the Replace button all changes are final – there’s no undo option.

Role Replacement

This will replace whoever is in “Role to Be Replaced” with whoever is selected in the “Replacement” drop list, for the “Project Name” selected. In the example above, Tom (Admin) Fuller is taking on the role of Actions Owner for the Test project.

Bulk Replace does not affect archived projects or closed actions.

There are two more options under the Advanced Administration Options:

• Active Directory
• Security Options

Checking the checkbox enables the “Active Directory” button and the “Security Options” button.

Active Directory

Clicking Active Directory only loads the Active Directory page, it doesn’t touch any ATMS™ data. Active Directory provides an easy way of adding ATMS™ users on a self hosted system.

A self hosted ATMS™ system bypasses the login screen and recognizes valid ATMS™ users by using Active Directory. This allows for a Single Sign-On experience for the user. Active Directory can be enabled for your system by contacting Pisys Support.

As users get added to Active Directory they will also get ATMS™ access when the system administrator re-syncs Active Directory ATMS™ Users. It is good practice to periodically re-sync Active Directory ATMS™ Users as this also helps clear any unused accounts.

Security Options

Clicking Security Options only loads the Security Options page, it doesn’t touch any ATMS™ data. Security Options provides an easy way of managing ATMS™ user lockouts and password options such as length, change period and strength as seen in the screenshot below.

Organisation Tab

The organisation tree is used to model the companies, departments, teams and users in your organisation, and is important for granting visibility to projects, and as a way of grouping your users.

You manage your organisation tree on the Organisation tab in administration.

Your organisation can contain one or many companies. A company can contain none, one or many departments. Teams are independent of any Company / departments hierarchy. You can have none, one or many teams in your organisation.

Teams and Departments are used to control project visibility. The left side of the screen shows the tree. Clicking on one of the nodes of the tree will bring up the relevant edit screen (company, department, team, user) in the right-hand side. The add new Company / Department / Team buttons are enabled based on where you are in the tree.

For instance, if you have a company node selected, you will have the “Add Company” button enabled to add another company at the same (top) level. You will also have “Add Department” enabled to add a new department for the company you have selected. Adding a new team is always available.

Even though you can view a user from the tree in the Organisation screen you cannot create a new user or delete an existing user. To do that you have to go to the User administration screen. Users can have their details edited on the Organisation screen, but their primary purpose for appearing here is to manage their membership of teams, and their place in the Company / department hierarchy.

Once a user has active Projects/Actions they cannot change Company or Department

A user must belong to a company. They can then optionally belong to one of that companies’ departments, or to any team in the system. They can be a member of multiple teams. So, a user’s company must exist in the system before you can create that user.

Add new company

To add a new company simply select an existing company node or if no companies are present the top node of the Organisation tree and click on “Add Company” button. A new node will appear at the very top of the organisation tree with the temporary name of {New Company} as seen below. At that point the add new Company / Department / Team buttons will be disabled as you will be in edit mode for company.

Some fields are marked as required and must be completed. Fill in all required fields and when you are happy with your inputs click on the “Save” button to save your changes. Depending on the name of the new company you may have to scroll to see it as ATMS™ will always order the Organisation tree in alphanumeric order.

Add New Department

To add a new department simply select an existing company node on the Organisation tree and click on “Add Department” button. A new node will appear under the selected company node with the temporary name of {New Department} as seen below. At that point the add new Company / Department / Team buttons will be disabled as you will be in edit mode for department.

Fill in all required fields and when you are happy with your inputs click on the “Save” button to save your changes. Depending on the name of the new department you may have to scroll to see it as ATMS™ will always order the Organisation tree in alphanumeric order.

Add New Team

To add a new team simply select a node (company, department, user) on the Organisation tree and click on “Add Team” button. A new node will appear at the very top of the organisation tree with the temporary name of {New Team} as seen below. At that point the add new Company / Department / Team buttons will be disabled as you will be in edit mode for team.

The table “User (Full Name)” will list all available users in ATMS™. Here you can select as many users as you want. This is a useful way of grouping users that will work on the same project for example.

Fill in all required fields and when you are happy with your inputs click on the “Save” button to save your changes. Depending on the name of the new team you may have to scroll to see it as ATMS™ will always order the Organisation tree in alphanumeric order.

Projects Tab

Projects represent one of the core entities within ATMS™ - actions and users both have strong links to projects and it is important to understand how they operate. An administrator or users with special permissions can create, update or delete projects in ATMS™. This is done on the Projects tab in administration.

The tree on the left-hand side shows the projects in the system. Projects can be sub-projects of other projects. Checking the “Include Archived” checkbox will show archived projects listed on the tree. When a project is selected its details will appear on the right-hand side.

Project Tabs

There are 3 default tabs that will appear for every project. A project can have additional tabs that will need to be configured by Pisys Support to be visible in the project edit screen. Let’s have a look at the most common tabs starting with the Basics Tab.

Basics Tab

A project will always belong to a company. A project has a control group, and this cannot be changed once this project has actions. We will talk about Control groups at the Administration section of this user guide.

The short name field can be used to set a prefix which can be used to auto generate project action numbers (if enabled). For example, if we set the project short name to be “ATMS Demo” for the project shown and the auto generate “Project Action Number” feature is enabled then every time a new action is created it will have project actions numbers like “ATMS Demo – 001” where number at the end (001) will be incremented for each new action. The Parent Project dropdown allows you to move the selected project (and the portion of the project tree below it if it has sub-projects) to a different part of the tree.

The “No New Actions Allowed” checkbox, if enabled, prevents actions from being created for the selected project. The project will not be deleted, and it will be shown on the “Select Project” tree when a new action is being added but the user will not be able to select it.

The “Archived” checkbox, if enabled, can be used to archive old projects. These projects will not be deleted but they will not be shown on the project screen unless the “Show Archived” checkbox is checked.

A project cannot be archived unless all its actions are closed and archived

Project Roles Tab

In the Project Roles tab, you will define who will be the default reviewers, strategic reviewers and approvers for the actions of this project. You can have an unlimited number of reviewers and strategic reviewers in the approval process, but if your project does not need one of the approval stages, you can just set it to “not required” as shown.

 

Once actions are created a user cannot add or remove roles for that project, however you can select a new person for an existing role

The additional “Strategic Reviewer” roles are optional. If a user selects names in any of these roles ATMS™ will create an additional stage in the action lifecycle as follows:

If the project has none of the Strategic Reviewers selected, then when an action is created it will have a state of ‘open’ before going through the review/approval workflow and being marked as complete. The review process can have an unlimited number of people set against it.

If the project has one or more of the Strategic Reviewers selected, then when an action is created instead of going straight into the normal review/approval workflow it will instead go to someone to indicate a strategy for completion. Once this strategy has been created it can be reviewed by an unlimited number of “Strategic Reviewers” who can approve or reject the strategy in the same way as actions are reviewed. Once strategy review is complete the action is “open” and can be completed in the normal way.

A “Skip Strategic Response” feature is added to the strategic review stage which allows reviewing of an action before it is officially “assigned/open” for action response. It is different from strategic review stage because it doesn’t require formulation of Strategic Response. If used, as soon as an action is created it will go to the first strategic reviewer. If they reject it, then it will become a cancelled action. If they approve it, then it will go to the second Strategic Reviewer and so on until all selected Strategic Reviewers have reviewed it. If at any point any of the remaining Strategic Reviewers reject the action then it will be cancelled, if they approve it then strategy review is complete, and the action is “open” and can be completed in the normal way.

Project Attachments Tab

If you have any attachments relevant to the project (as opposed to individual actions) you can attach them in the same way as you would attach files to actions - these attachments will be available from the “Attachments” tab on project edit screen and “Project Details” tab on action edit screen.

Add New Project

To add a new project simply click on the “Add Project” button. Depending on whether you selected an existing project or the top node this will create a sub-project below the selected project – or at the top level if the “All Projects” node is selected.

A new node will appear with the temporary name of {New Project} as seen below. At that point the add new Project button will disappear as you will be in edit mode for project.

Fill in all required fields and when you are happy with your inputs click on the “Save” button to save your changes. Depending on the name of the new project you may have to scroll to see it as ATMS™ will always order the Project tree in alphanumeric order.

Project Visibility Tab

Project Visibility is where you manage which companies, departments, teams and users can see which projects. This is done on the Project Visibility screen in administration by pulling together the project tree from the projects screen and the organisation tree from the organisation screen.

Visibility can be managed in two ways – selecting a project and seeing which parts of the organisation can see it, or selecting an organisation element (company, department, team or user) and seeing the projects that that element can see.

Selecting a Project

Selecting a project on the project tree populates checkboxes in the organisation tree to show who can see this project. Solidly-blocked checkboxes show that some checkboxes below this checkbox are checked while others are not. The checkbox for user QC Reviewer01 above is checked and greyed out – they will have been selected as default in a role on the 1st ATMS Demo Project and will always have visibility unless removed from the project.

Checkboxes on the organisation tree are hierarchical. For instance, if you check or uncheck a department checkbox, all the users in that department will check or uncheck also. Similarly, if you check all the users for their parent container (company, department, or team) then that container’s checkbox will also be checked as you have effectively given visibility to it. This also works for selecting all departments in a company – the company effectively has visibility.

Organisation Element

Selecting an Organisation element

Selecting a company, department, team or user populates checkboxes in the project tree to show which projects the selected user can see. The checkboxes on the project tree behave slightly differently. Checking a project will automatically check all its sub-projects, to save time, but unchecking the parent project will not uncheck all children. This allows for mixed visibility at all levels of the tree.

Configure Tabs

ATMS™ allows customisation of the Action Edit screen. All controls (text box, date control, drop down list) are grouped onto Tabs on the action edit screen so all action data can be reviewed conveniently. In addition, tabs are organised in the system by control groups, (see controls section) so each group of controls can have their own set of tabs. By editing a tab, you can determine what the tabs are called, their width, and the order you’d like them to appear in.

It is important to mention that three fixed tabs, Attachments, Notes and, Recurrence are used on every action and cannot be removed. If a user created tab has no controls defined for it then it will not be displayed on the action edit screen.

Controls Tab

Every piece of data stored about an action or project is entered through a control - whether that is a drop-down list, a text box, a date control, hyperlink or a check box. ATMS™ has standard (fixed) controls which are necessary for each action. In addition to these, ATMS™ allows the creation of custom controls, so any data not stored against an action as standard can be defined by the user.

These controls are grouped onto Tabs and can also be shown as a column on the main action list screen.

There are two types of controls you can create, “Project” and “Action”. The process to create, update or delete the controls of both categories is the same. Select the type of control you want to work with from the pull-down list at the top of the control screen as shown. Here, action or project controls may be selected. Once control type is selected an admin can create, edit and delete controls via the toolbar or context menu.

Controls belong to a control group. You can have multiple control groups in the system and different projects can use different, or the same, control groups. Control groups are created by copying an existing control group, as starting from scratch would take a very long time.

Add Control Group

Clicking the “Add Control Group” button will give the options below, where you specify which control group you’d like to copy and provide a name. Then you will have another complete set of controls, which you can rename and edit to suit projects requiring different controls.

 

Add Control Type

Now that we have created a new control group lets go ahead and create a few control types. To create a new control type simply click on the “Add New” button on the toolbar or the context menu.

The “Add Control” screen has two sections “Action Edit Screen Settings” and “Action List Screen Settings”. The Action Edit Screen Settings contains common settings and settings which are specifically related to how the control will appear on the Action Edit Screen.

For example, in the control type above we can see that the control will be visible in the action edit screen because the “Show Label” checkbox has been selected. We can also set the name for the control and provide a tooltip for our users. The control type’s position on the edit screen can be selected by setting up the sort order number and the tab where it should appear. Once the “visible” option is selected for a control from the Action Edit Screen Settings section then the control will be visible on Add/Edit Action screen for all the actions.

The Action List Screen Settings contains settings which are specifically related to how the control will appear on the Action List Screen. For example, its width, position and alignment. A printing option is provided to select if the control data should be included when the user prints actions from the list screen.

Depending upon the type of the control selected to be added options on the control Edit screen will vary. For example, in the case of a drop-down control there will be an “Options” option which can be used to define the options for the dropdown control.

Once the “Visible/Export” option is selected for a control from the Action List Screen Settings then the control will be visible on Action List Screen for all the actions.

ATMS™ fixed controls can be displayed in different orders and on different tabs but can’t have their type changed (a dropdown for the Due Date would make no sense as a checkbox, for instance). Use of controls in this way, along with defining tabs, and controlling the size of the action edit screen allows the user interface for actions and projects to be very flexible.

We have 2 control types that have a few extra options. They are the Checkbox and the Date control type.

Checkbox
When a new control of type Checkbox is created for an existing form, Actions that were already raised will NOT be updated to have a value in the newly added checkbox. The following settings exist to help bulk set a checkbox value.

Under Edit Control you will see a section called Set Value Across Actions.

If the Check This Check Box Across Actions radio button is selected and the Update button is clicked, ATMS will update ALL actions that use the form to check the newly added checkbox.

If the Uncheck This Check Box Across Actions radio button is selected and the Update button is clicked, ATMS will update ALL actions that use the form to uncheck the newly added checkbox.

If the Include Actions That Already Have a Value checkbox is selected together with any of the above radio buttons and the Update button is clicked, ATMS will update ALL actions that use the form to either check or uncheck the newly added checkbox.

Date
When a new control of type Date is created for an existing form, Actions that were already raised will NOT be updated to have a value in the newly added Date.

The following settings exist to help bulk set a Date value.
Under Edit Control you will see a section called Set Value Across Actions.

If the Set This Date Across Actions date picker has a value selected and the Update button is clicked, ATMS will set the selected date to the newly added Date control for ALL actions that use the form.

If the Include Actions That Already Have a Value checkbox is selected together with the above date selection and the Update button is clicked, ATMS will update ALL actions that use the form and had a value to now have the new date value instead.

 

Project Controls

As mentioned above there are two types of controls you can create, “Project” and “Action”. In this section we will look at Project Controls.

Additional information for projects can be stored by customising already provided Project Controls from the controls section.

ATMS™ have various built-in custom controls for projects which are disabled by default and a system administrator can enable/disable and customise them to suit their need.

To enable a project control, in the “Controls” administration screen, change the “Control Category” dropdown from its default view of “Action” to “Project”.

Here you will see a list of fixed controls as shown. You can customise any of these controls by double clicking on them. In the screenshot that follows we have used an existing Project Control and customised it to suit our needs.

Originally the control was named “Date1” and it was later changed to be called “Audit Date” to accommodate the needs of the project.

A user can make this a required field for the project edit screen by selecting the “Required” checkbox. If enabled, these custom project controls will appear on the “Additional Info” tab on the Project Screen as shown.

Mail Tab

One of the key features of ATMS™ is its built-in workflow which allows selected users to be informed when key events take place.

Each control type that involves actions performed by users will have a “Mail Type” created by ATMS™ automatically. These mail types can be reviewed and edited in the “Mail” tab of the Administration module.

 

Edit Mail Type

A user cannot create a new Mail Type, just alter existing ones to suit the needs of their projects. The “Edit E-Mail Screen” allows the administrator to customise how workflow email notifications are sent.

For example, if a user wants to change the subject/header or footer of an e-mail which is sent went a new action is created all they must do is double click on the relevant mail type (Message sent on creation of new action) from the “Mail Type Description” list and this will open it for editing in the “Mail Edit Screen” as shown.

This screen describes what happens when a new action is created - the subject line, description and footer are all included in the email which is eventually sent on action creation.

For each mail type a user can also specify which control from the action is included in the subject line and body of the email, and in which order.

Single line text fields can be assigned to the subject line and/or email body by selecting the sort order to control where they appear. Multi line text boxes (like action summary) can only be displayed in the email body. A user can control who receives emails when an action is created. This is done in the “Distribution” tab.

In this tab a user can select another user from the review chain to be notified when a new action will be created. This can be another user in addition to the next responsible person of the workflow. Remember that ATMS™ has a built-in workflow which allows selected users to be informed when key events take place. External email addresses can also be specified which are not set up for any of the action participants.

Users Tab

This section allows the administration of ATMS™ users. For large lists of users, a “Surname” or “First Name” filter is provided. Users can also be filtered by organisation (company, department or team) and by projects they have visibility on. There is also a text search.

 

Create User

To create a new user simply click the “New” button. The “Add/Edit User” screen will be displayed.

Editing a user uses the same screen so all you have to do is select the user you want to edit and either double click to open the “Add/Edit User” screen or click on the Edit button of the toolbar.

Fill in all required fields and when you are happy with your inputs click on the “Save” button to save your changes. Depending on the name of the new user you may have to scroll to see it as ATMS™ will always order the user list in alphanumeric order.

 

Teams Tab

In this tab administrators can assign users to existing teams in ATMS™. Back when we looked at the Organisation section of ATMS™ we saw that when creating a new team or editing an existing one an administrator could select several users per team as a useful way of grouping users. The same principle applies here too. An administrator can select several teams to which to add a newly created or existing user to.

Permissions Tab

This tab allows the administrators to define some of the key ATMS™ user rights which are described below.

 

Is System Admin?

This option is used to set the user as system administrator. If selected, it allows the user to have full control over the ATMS™ system. Generally, a single point of contact within the organisation is set as system administrator.

Is Action Admin?

This option is used to set the user as action administrator. If selected, it allows the user to have full control over the actions in the ATMS™ system.

Can Create Actions.

If selected, users can be given the authority to create actions. If a user is not given this permission, they will still be able to receive actions and complete them, but they will not be able to create new actions.

Can Upload Actions.

If selected, users can be given the authority to upload/import actions. If a user is not given this permission, they will still be able to receive actions and complete them, but they will not be able to upload/import new actions.

Can Change Status.

If selected, users can be given the authority to change the status of actions. If a user is not given this permission, they will still be able to receive actions and complete them, but they will not be able to change their status.

Can Change Strategic Review Date.

If selected, users can be given the authority to change the Strategic Review Date of actions. If a user is not given this permission, they will still be able to receive actions and complete them, but they will not be able to change their Strategic Review Date. This will only apply to Projects that use the “Strategic Reviewer” roles.

Can Change Due Date.

If selected, users can be given the authority to change the Due Date of actions. If a user is not given this permission, they will still be able to receive actions and complete them, but they will not be able to change their Due Date.

Can Change Strategy Creator.

If selected, users can be given the authority to change the Strategy Creator of actions. If a user is not given this permission, they will still be able to receive actions and complete them, but they will not be able to change their Strategy Creator. This will only apply to Projects that use the “Strategic Reviewer” roles and do not skip the “Strategic Review” stage of the approval workflow.

Can Change Owner.

If selected, users can be given the authority to change the owner of actions. If a user is not given this permission, they will still be able to receive actions and complete them, but they will not be able to change their owner.

Can Change Reviewers.

If selected, users can be given the authority to change the reviewers of actions. If a user is not given this permission, they will still be able to receive actions and complete them, but they will not be able to change their reviewers.

Can Hold Actions.

If selected, users can be given the authority to mark actions as “On Hold”. On hold actions are not deleted from the system but they cannot be put through the approval workflow until they have been marked as not on hold. If a user is not given this permission, they will still be able to receive actions and complete them, but they will not be able to mark them as On Hold.

Can Edit Custom Report Template.

If selected, this will allow the user to save and edit report templates in the custom report window. Without this permission set, they can still utilise existing report templates to generate reports.

Can Create and Edit Projects.

There may be a need for certain users to have some administrative rights over ATMS™ to create and edit Projects in the Projects Tab but not be full administrators of the system. In this case this checkbox should be selected.

Can Create and Edit Matrices.

If selected, this will allow the user to save and edit matrices in the Matrix tab. This is an extra administrative Tab that not all projects will utilise. Please contact Pisys Support if you need this feature enabled.

Can Create and Edit Teams.

There may be a need for certain users to have some administrative rights over ATMS™ to create and edit Teams in the Organisation Tab but not be full administrators of the system. In this case this checkbox should be selected.

Own Company Only.

This permission works with the create/edit projects permission above to restrict the user to their own company’s projects.

Lock ‘Require My Attention’.

If selected, users will only be able to see the actions which require their attention, in other words actions which are outstanding on them.

Lock ‘Actions Involving Me’.

If selected, users will only be able to see the actions in which they are involved as creator, owner, Reviewer 1, Reviewer 2, Strategic Reviewer 1, approver, or final approver etc.

Lock ‘Actions Involving My Company’.

If selected, users will only be able to see the actions in which at least one member of their company is involved as creator, owner, Reviewer 1, Reviewer 2, Strategic Reviewer 1, approver, or final approver etc.

Delete User

Deleting a user is sometimes necessary as organizations change. This action has been reserved for administrator users of ATMS only.

Simply navigate to Administration and select the Users Tab.

A full list of users will appear. You can filter this list by First Name or Last Name or you can search using free text.

Once you have located the user you wish to delete simply click on the Delete button.

 

If the user is not involved in any actions then the delete will be successful and the user will be deleted.

Sometimes, if a user is involved in an action or project, administrators cannot delete the user. A sys admin can take actions to ensure the user is no longer involved in any actions or projects only if they know exactly where the user is involved.

New functionality in the form of a "User Involvement Report" was added in the latest release of ATMS.

An administrator can now generate this report via the following 3 methods:

Attempting to delete a User who has Involvement will display a new dialog allowing downloading of info.

 

Right-click Context Menu option in User List screen.

Button on the User Edit window (existing Users only).

The "User Involvement Report" will allow administrators to locate actions and projects a user is involved in and decide how to best proceed with the deletion.

An example "User Involvement Report" is shown below.

 

Audit Tab

Audit events are logged when an administrator adds or edits anything in one of the Administration Tabs. The system automatically adds to the audit log when certain events take place - for example a team is created, a user membership has been changed, or a control has been deleted.

As the audit event grows to make it easier for an administrator to find specific events filters are provided as shown.

Item – lists all available items in ATMS™ that can be changed. For example, users, passwords, reminders etc.

Event – lists all available event types in ATMS™. For example, created, deleted, changed, etc.

From and To – date pickers to filter using specific event dates if known.

There is also a text search where an administrator can search using the event name for example.

Matrix Tab

Pisys built a risk matrix functionality into ATMS™, which allows users to set up custom matrices to suit their needs. Many engineers are already familiar with risk matrices, and will not have to learn a new approach - this saves on training times and associated costs.

The Matrix Tab in ATMS™ can be configured by the user to add matrices for a number of procedures. The Matrix Tab is not visible by default so please contact Pisys Support if you would like it to add to your ATMS™ instance.

Add New Matrix

To add a new Matrix simply navigate to the Matrix Tab and click on Add Matrix button as shown below. You also have the ability to Copy a Matrix that was used in the past and just make changes to it.

A Matrix is a grid with a maximum 8 rows x 8 columns. The user will have to first define the:

Matrix Name
Number of Rows
Number of Columns
Matrix XAxis Title and
Matrix YAxis Title
before they are able to define the grid. As you can see from the picture below the Define Matrix Grid button is greyed out. It will only become available once a Matrix has been Saved to the System.

Once a Matrix has been Saved to the System it can then be defined by a user to capture information relevant to their projetcs. The image below shows a Risk Matrix as an example.

Once set and defined Matrices can then be selected for use by a Project on the Project Edit screen as shown.

 

 

Status Tab

The Status of each stage of an action is automatically set when a Control Group is created and controls are set. The basic principle behind ATMS™ is that an individual creates an action and assigns it to someone who does some work with it before indicating that it is complete.

The word "Complete" above is a Status. ATMS™ will automatically create a set of stauses for every quaifying control type that gets added. Statuses are normally created for Reviewer control types and action stages (creation, completion, etc.)

Some Statuses can be edited (title ONLY) and others are fixed and cannot be edited at all. The Statuses can be edited on the Status Tab.

Edit Status

The Control Group dropdown at the top of the Status Tab page allows the user to select the control group that applies to their project in order to see the statuses available. Each control group will most likely have different statuses depending on what control types have been added to it.

To edit a status simply select it from the list of available statuses and either click on the Edit button or double click to open the edit status screen. As seen below each status will have a Title (Status Text) and a Description.

The Description is not editable but the Title can be edited on statuses that were created by the addition of an action state control type (Completed, Open, Canceled, etc.). Statuses that were created by the addition of reviewer control types cannot be edited at all.

 

 

Translations

We have seen in many occasions in this manual that ATMS™ is completely configurable - we know that different businesses need to track different things and some times in different languages as well.

Sometimes businesses may not even call the items they are tracking "actions". All of the ATMS™ labels can be found under the Translations Tab.

To explain simply Translations is where ATMS™ labels are build. So for example, we know that we have a tab called Users where an administrator will create users and add them to teams and give them permissions. Perhaps this tab can now be labeled as: Users Administration.

All a user has to do is go to Translations find the Users entry and change it to be called Users Administration.

Another good use of Translations is for situations where a client wants to use ATMS™ in a different language. The Translations Tab is where they can come and change all labels to match their requirements.

Offline Data

The "Project Export" feature allows download of projects as .zip files. All action data and attachments for the projects and any sub-projects will be stored in a windows readable format for reference offline or after project close out.

To export a project you have to select it from the Project drop down. Only one project at a time can be exported.

If a project has child projects then they will need to be selected separately for export.

Once a project has been selected the screen will be updated to reflect the changes. The number of any project attachments or action attachments will be shown together with the number of available actions in the project.

Click on the Write Offline Data button to start the export of your data.

A .zip folder will be generated by the system and it will have the name of the Project that was exported.

The zip folder will in turn include a separate folder for each Action and inside each of the Action folders you will have the pdf of the action and any attachments the action had.

 

Actions Screen in Detail

The Main Actions Screen is displayed first as most users will spend most of their time interacting with it.
Action Filters

The Action list is the heart of the Main Action Screen. Although it might start empty or with just a few actions, it will fill up with rows and eventually pages of Actions. This is when “Filters” become useful. The actions displayed can be filtered by using various filter options.

Useful Filters

As the number of actions increases, you may find that you only want to see actions which are relevant to you. Here’s the Filter section of the Main Action Screen.

 

Changing drop list selections and checkboxes changes which actions are displayed in the Action list. ATMS™ allows filtering by:

Project - Select a project from the pull-down list to see all actions related to the project.
Status - View all actions with a specific status (open, closed etc.).
Priority - Show all actions at the selected priority.
Category - Show all actions with selected category.
Role / Name - Show all actions from a specific person in a specific role.
Overdue - Show only actions that are still not closed beyond their due date.
Strategy Overdue – If a strategic review stage has been included you can track actions that haven’t passed this stage by the strategy due date.
Include Archived - Closed actions can be archived - by default they don’t appear on action views but you can force them to be displayed. ATMS™ can be configured to automatically archived closed actions.
Require My Attention - Show only actions that you are required to complete or approve.
Actions Involving Me - Show only actions that you are or have been involved with (includes actions you have already approved).
Actions Involving My Company - Show only actions that you or any of your company colleagues are or have been involved with.

A user is involved with an action if they are the creator, owner, reviewer or approver of the action.

It is possible for a user to combine these filter parameters to provide a flexible search tool. There are other ways to search which will be covered in another chapter of the manual, but this is a fast way to narrow down the list of actions a user is looking at.
Once a filter has been defined the resulted actions can be printed or exported as required. If filtering is no longer required and the full actions list needs to be displayed again simply click on the “reset all” button to clear all the filters and therefore display all actions.

It is worth mentioning here that if a user frequently applies similar filters, they can use the “Save Search Filter” feature to save it as a default filter which will be automatically applied every time they login to the system.

Free Text Search

If you are still unable to find the action(s) you are looking for, you can use the free-text search facility located to the right of the toolbar buttons at the top of the main page:

 

Enter the required search criteria in the search box and click “Search” or press the ENTER key. The actions list will then be filtered by actions containing the search phrase.

The "Text Search" function on the main list screen has been extended to include all action responses in the search, instead of the information from the first response only.

Using the "Text Search" function a user can also search for all words in the text box as well as phrases defined in quotes.

For example,

Test 123 ABC - returns Actions which have "Test" OR "123" OR "ABC" in the various defined fields.
Test "123" ABC - returns Actions which have "Test" OR "123" OR "ABC" in the various defined fields.
"Test 123" ABC - returns Actions which have "Test 123" OR "ABC" in the various defined fields.
"Test 123 ABC" - returns Actions which have exactly "Test 123 ABC" in the various defined fields.

If you only wish to search within the actions displayed on the action list check the 'search filtered actions only' checkbox - Otherwise ATMS will search ALL Actions ignoring any filter selections ( which will be reset)

Risk Matrix Filters

We have added a new Risk Matrix filter on the action list screen. To enable it simply go to the Matrix Edit screen in Administration.

 

Once the filter is enabled a button will appear in the Action List Screen filter area.

 

Clicking the filter button will open the matrix in a pop-up window.

 

Here the user can select a matrix cell to apply the filter. The filter shows a count of all actions for each matrix cell.

Once the filter is applied the system will show all actions using the selected matrix value.

 

To clear the filter, click the filter button again and then click Clear and apply.

 

The Action Tracker will always filter the actions list by actions matching the search criteria until you click the “Clear” or the “Reset All” button.

Any of the column headings can be used to sort displayed actions in ascending and descending order– for example, clicking on “Date Raised” will group the actions in order of their created/raised date.

You can also export everything displayed on the main screen to an Excel spreadsheet by clicking the export button. Even though ATMS™ has separate fixed and custom report functions, this combination of search filters along with print and export can also be used as a powerful action tracking reporting mechanism.

Action Controls

Action Paging

If the number of actions to be displayed is large, you can select paging from the navigation bar at the bottom of the screen.

 

System Administrators can enable/disable paging or configure the default page size through the administration section. In the administration “General Tab” alter the required paging parameters as shown

 

Control Group Tabs

The actions list screen will display all the actions relevant to a project selected as a filter including its child projects or sub projects. Depending on which project you have selected (and its sub projects), the actions to be listed may come from more than one control group.

Control groups are highly configurable, and they could have different names for control types, and different columns displayed on the action list screen. For that reason, they must be shown separately. Tabs for each control group with a count of the actions within (only shown when the tab is selected) will be displayed at the bottom of the Actions List Screen.

 

The Context Menu

The “Context Menu” is available by right-clicking on an action/control/user/project etc. The options available depend on which screen’s context menu you have selected but for the Actions List Screen we have: New, Edit, Delete and Print. These options are all identical in function to their corresponding entries in the toolbar at the top of the screen.

 

Add an Action

The lifecycle of action creation, assignment, review and closure starts from the ATMS™ Main Action Screen. Let’s create a new action and explore ATMS™ further.

 

Selecting a project and clicking OK will show the action edit screen - like the one shown below. The information displayed in the various tabs describes the action.

 

Clicking the 'eye' button at the top right will reveal; the screen under the form you're looking at - this applies to several areas of ATMS and allows easier viewing of data

The first tab is the Basics tab. More information is on other tabs. Remember that ATMS™ is highly configurable, so your Edit Action screen and Tabs may look different. The core functionality remains the same however. Each action will have a set of key roles and they will be displayed when a project is selected. The names of these roles can be changed to suit your own business. It’s also possible to have fewer approval stages - this is set up at the project definition stage.

It’s also worth mentioning that although the default roles for the project are populated, you also have the option of assigning other people to these positions. The pull-down list for each approval stage will be populated with Individuals who work for a company which either owns or has access to the project. A user can also assign individuals from other companies to projects.

This functionality is useful as it allows a high degree of control over workflow - it also allows delegated authority to be exercised if key individuals are absent for any reason.

Fields marked with “Required” are mandatory and if a user tries to save the action without filling the mandatory fields then ATMS™ will generate an error message as shown.

 

A Save as Draft button has been added to the action create screen. This button allows actions to be saved while they are still being worked on, so that the creator can come back to them at a later point in time.

Saving an action as Draft prevents it from being set in motion, and only the creator can access it. Once they become Live they will be visible to all members of a project/team.

Selecting the priority of the action is another useful mechanism is filtering and quickly viewing actions are that high in priority over ones that may be not. Actions are colour coded when displayed on the main actions screen (Red-High, Yellow-Medium and Green-Low) - but of course the colours and labels for this coding method can be changed in the administration controls section (Priority control).

Many fields can be switched off or on by clicking the 'Visible' and 'Printing' flags in the controls admin section

Selecting “Print” produces a summary report of the action to be produced as a PDF file - you can use this facility as a handy means of producing quick action summaries for distribution ‘on the fly’.

Another great feature of the Print functionality is that the Project Action Number hyperlinks are included in action print/exports making it easy to navigate to the Action itself just by clicking on the hyperlink.

The default file names for actions that are printed to .pdf file consists of the action number and the current date.

“Print Tab” allows any single tab to be printed.

You can attach multiple files to an Action using the Attachments Tab. The files can be documents, pictures or even emails.

All action and project attachments are date-time stamped automatically on upload.

 

Generating Linked Actions

There might be a need for actions to be grouped together between one or several projects. ATMS™ provides a simple way to link actions together.

 

The figure above shows the “Generate Linked Action” button at the bottom of the Action Edit screen. This button will open a blank action screen to allow the user to create a new action after first selecting the project this action will belong to. The project here can be either the same project as the action the user was viewing when the button was clicked or a different project the user has access to view. The newly created action will be “linked” to the action the user was looking at when they clicked the button.

There is no other relationship created by linking actions. For example, a user will not have to close off all linked actions when closing an action. The link facility is simply a way to “group” actions together.

The newly created linked action is a normal action in every sense. It carries its own workflow and status and behaves exactly like any other action. On the main screen, actions which have linked actions will be indicated by a link symbol in the linked actions column. Clicking on the linked actions symbol will provide a preview list of linked actions as shown.

Clicking on any of the actions in the preview will navigate the user to the actions main screen where they can view full details of linked actions. All linked actions will be displayed. Clicking the “Reset All button” will return the view to all actions.

Link to Existing Action

We have added a new button called Link to Existing Action. It is available from the Action Edit screen after an action has been created.

 

Once the user clicks on the button a project selection screen will appear.

Select the project you want to link to and new screen listing all actions in that project will appear.

 

Here the user can search for an action using the search functionality or simply select one of the listed actions and then click the Link button.

Once an action has been selected the system will show the link icon next to both the actions that are now linked.

 

To clear the link, click the link icon next to the action you wish to unlink and from the screen that appears select the Remove Link.

 

You cannot link an action to itself - feel free to test our error message !

Generating sub-actions

In addition to Linked Actions you can also create Sub Actions. These actions have a relationship with the parent action. A parent action cannot be closed out until all its sub actions are completed.

 

The figure above shows the “Generate Sub Action” button at the bottom of the Action Edit screen. This button will open a blank action screen to allow the user to create a new sub action after first selecting the project this action will belong to. The project here can be either the same project as the action the user was viewing when the button was clicked or a different project the user has access to view. The newly created action will be the child of the action the user was looking at when they clicked the button.

Sub actions can also have sub actions of their own. If the review cycle of a parent action is complete, then it will not close until all its children and grandchildren and so on are closed out. The parent action’s status will be left at the final stage status before closure. Viewing the action will result in the following message:

Information: This Action has open Sub Actions and it can only be closed when all its Sub Actions are closed.

On the main screen, actions which have sub actions will be indicated by a hierarchy symbol in the sub actions column. Clicking on the hierarchy symbol will provide a preview list of sub actions as shown.

 

Clicking on any of the actions in the preview will navigate the user to the actions main screen where they can view full details of sub actions. This preview list only shows the direct one-level-down sub actions of the selected actions. But further levels can be viewed by clicking the hierarchy symbol of the relevant action and repeating the process. Clicking the “Reset All button” will return the view to all actions.

Audit and action notes

Audit events are logged when the action has been raised. The system automatically adds to the audit log when certain events take place - for example an action is reopened, or the status is changed. There is also a facility for actionees to add their own notes on the action. The figure below shows the audit notes.

 

Recurrence

The figure below shows the “Recurrence” tab which allows creation recurring actions. A recurring action is a special type of action in ATMS™ which allows the user to create an action once, and then have it recreated automatically after a designated time interval. We find it's often used for recurring commercial agreements, inspections etc.

 

Any user with permission to create actions (or system admin rights) can create recurring actions. Existing non-recurring actions can also be converted into recurring actions.

The “Recurrence Tab” on Action Edit Screen can be used to create a Recurring Action. Actions can recur by day, week, month or year. To create a recurring action simply edit an existing action or create a new one and click on the “Recurrence” tab. Select the frequency (daily, weekly, monthly or yearly) at which you want the action to recur. Depending upon the frequency selected other recurrence options will be available, such as the option to “Copy Custom Controls Data” and the option to “Not Send E-mail on Recurrence”. Setting an end date will stop the action recurring as soon as the date is reached.

If you don’t want the action to stop recurring after a certain date, then leave the recurrence end date as blank. Once an action is configured for recurrence, then when that action reaches its due date it will recur – a new copy will be made. When that new copy of the action will recur will depend on the setting you have chosen.

Recur by Day

This example shows an action which is configured to recur by day. If an action is configured to recur after every three days and it was created on 01/01/2018 with due date 02/01/2018 then the first time it will be recreated on 02/01/2018 with due date of 05/01/2018 and the second time will be recreated on 05/01/2018 with due date 08/01/2018 and so on until recurrence end date, if set, is reached.

 

Recur by Week

This example shows an action which is configured to recur by week. If an action is configured to recur after every 4 weeks on Tuesday (every 4th Tuesday) and it was created on 01/01/2018 with due date 02/01/2018 then the first time it will be recreated on 02/01/2018 with due date of 30/01/2018 and the second time will be recreated on 30/01/2018 with due date 27/02/2018 and so on until the recurrence end date, if set, is reached.

 

Recur by Month

This example shows an action which is configured to recur by month. If an action is configured to recur after every 2 months on the 31st day of the month and it was created on 31/01/2018 with due date 31/03/2018 then first time it will be recreated on 31/03/2018 with due date of 31/05/2018. If there is no 31st day in the month then it will be replaced with the last day of the month. The second time will be recreated on 31/05/2018 with due date 31/07/2018 and so on until the recurrence end date, if set, is reached.

 

Recur by Year

This example shows an action which is configured to recur by year. If an action is configured to recur after every 2 years on the 19th of February and it was created on 31/10/2018 with due date 31/12/2018 then the first time it will be recreated on 31/12-2018 with due date of 19/02/2018 and the second time it will be recreated on 19/02/2018 with due date 19/02/2020.

 

Copy Custom Controls Data

The “Copy Custom Controls Data” checkbox is used if custom controls are used for the action screen and the user wants to copy the data of those controls into the recurred actions.

This option is provided because if the user populates the custom controls at different review stages then copying the data for those controls into the new recurred actions doesn’t make any sense. By default, custom controls data will not be copied into recurred actions until this checkbox is ticked.

An extra column is included to flag recurring and recurred actions. This icon represents recurring actions and any recurred actions are represented by this icon .

If there is a small green arrow appearing on a recurring action, then by clicking on it a user can view a list of all the actions recurring from this action as shown.

 

Reminders

ATMS™ can send email reminders to the accountable persons for actions which are already overdue or about to reach their due date. An accountable person is the person whose response is required for the action to progress to the next stage.

A project can have a default system wide email reminder setting and it can also have different reminder settings for individual actions. System wide email reminder settings can be set from the Administration’s General tab section and individual action’s reminders can be set from the action edit screen.

Individual action settings will always take priority over default reminder settings

 

If “Number of Days Before Due Date” is set to 7 days and “Number of Days After Due Date” is set to 2 days, then the accountable person will get a reminder e-mail 7 days before the action’s due date. Then the next reminder will be sent on the day the action will become overdue and after that a reminder will be sent after every 2 days until the action is closed out. If the “Limit to One” option is set, a reminder will be sent on the day when the action will become overdue and another reminder will be sent 2 days later, and no reminders will be sent afterwards.

For example, if an action is due on 10th June 2018 and “Number of Days Before Due Date” is set to 7 days and “Number of Days After Due Date” is set to 2 days then on the 3rd of June 2018 a reminder will be sent to the person accountable for that action stating that the action will be overdue in the next 7 days.

Then on the 11th of June 2018 another reminder will be sent to the accountable person stating that this action is overdue by one day and after that every 2nd day on 13, 15, 17 June 2018 and so on until the action is closed. If the “Limit to One” option is set, then a reminder will be sent on the accountable person on the 11th of June 2018 and another reminder will be sent on the 13th of June 2018 and no overdue reminders will be sent after that.

Action Workflows.

When an action is raised, one or more individuals will receive a notification email depending on how ATMS™ has been configured.
Each user will then log in to ATMS™ and open the action for which they are responsible, add any notes which may be required and indicate the completion of the stage.

The action then gets passed to the next approval level, with everyone indicating completion or rejection, until the action has been finally approved and closed out by the relevant lead.

Action status emails are sent to designated individuals with the Audit & Action Notes section automatically updated to reflect any status changes.

If ATMS™ is configured to allow the Action Owner to reassign an action upon approval or rejection, then the Action Owner can for example, reject the action and reassign it back to the Action Creator with either explanatory text in the Action Notes or entered on the email preview page.

The following sections show some of the most common workflows when processing actions in ATMS™.

Strategic Review with Strategic Response

The lifecycle of action creation, assignment, review and closure starts from the Administration Projects Tab and Project Roles and finishes on the ATMS™ Main Action Screen.

Let’s see it in action. Create a new Project that has the following settings:

Now let’s look at an Action that uses the above Project and take it through the various stages of the Strategic Review with Strategic Response workflow.

The following controls will be used for this workflow:

• Action Creator – Person who will create the action. They will select a Strategic Review Due Date, Due Date, Strategy Creator, Strategic Reviewer 1-3, Owner, Reviewer 1-7.
• Strategic Review Due Date – The date by which strategic response should be completed and approved by all strategic reviewers and the action should be marked open and ready for action response.
• Due Date – The date by which the action should be marked as closed.
• Strategy Creator – Person who will complete the strategy and provide the strategic response.
• Strategic Response – This is to be completed by the Strategy Creator where they will specify how the action will be performed.
• Strategic Reviewer 1 – First person who will review the Strategy Response. If they approve it, then the action will go to next strategic reviewer. If they reject it, then the action will become reopened for strategic response and go back to the Strategy Creator to update the strategic response.
• Strategic Reviewer 2 – Second person who will review the Strategy Response. If they approve it, then the action will go to next strategic reviewer. If they reject it, then the action will become reopened for strategic response and go back to the Strategy Creator to update the strategic response.
• Strategic Reviewer 3 – Third person who will review the Strategy Response. If they approve it, then the action will be marked open and ready for action response. If they reject it, then the action will become reopened for strategic response and go back to the Strategy Creator to update the strategic response.
• Owner – Person who will complete the action and provide the Action Response.
• Action Response – This is to be filled by the Owner where they will specify what is done to complete the action.
• Reviewer 1 – First person who will review the Action Response. If they will approve it, then action will go to next reviewer. If they will reject it, then the action will become reopened for action response and go back to the Owner to update the action response.
• Reviewer 2 – Second person who will review the Action Response. If they will approve it, then action will go to next reviewer. If they will reject it, then the action will become reopened for action response and go back to the Owner to update the action response.
• Reviewer 3 – Third person who will review the Action Response. If they will approve it, then action will go to next reviewer. If they will reject it, then the action will become reopened for action response and go back to the Owner to update the action response.
• Reviewer 4 – Fourth person who will review the Action Response. If they will approve it, then action will go to next reviewer. If they will reject it, then the action will become reopened for action response and go back to the Owner to update the action response.
• Reviewer 5 – Fifth person who will review the Action Response. If they will approve it, then action will go to next reviewer. If they will reject it, then the action will become reopened for action response and go back to the Owner to update the action response.
• Reviewer 6 – Sixth person who will review the Action Response. If they will approve it, then action will go to next reviewer. If they will reject it, then the action will become reopened for action response and go back to the Owner to update the action response.
• Reviewer 7 – Seventh and final (in our example) person who will review the Action Response. If they will approve it, then action will become a Closed action. If they will reject it, then the action will become reopened for action response and go back to the Owner to update the action response.

You can add as many strategic review stages as required (same applies to normal review stages)

The following action statuses will be used for this workflow:

• Open For Strategic Response – An new action will have this status and it will be outstanding on Strategy Creator to complete the Strategic Response.
• Strategic Response Completed – An action will have this status after the Strategy Creator has completed the Strategic Response. It will be outstanding on Strategic Reviewer 1 to approve or reject it.
• Strategic Reviewer 1 Approved – An action will have this status after Strategic Reviewer 1 approves it. It will be outstanding on Strategic Reviewer 2 to approve or reject it.
• Strategic Reviewer 2 Approved – An action will have this status after Strategic Reviewer 2 approves it. It will be outstanding on Strategic Reviewer 3 to approve or reject it.
• Re-Opened for Strategic Response – An action will have this status if any of the Strategic Reviewers 1-3 reject it. It will be outstanding on Strategy Creator to update/complete the Strategic Response.
• Strategic Review Completed / Open – An action will have this status after Strategic Reviewer 3 approves it. It will be outstanding on Owner to complete the Action Response.
• Response Completed – An action will have this status after Owner completes the Action Response. It will be outstanding on Reviewer 1 to approve or reject it.
• Reviewer 1 Approved – An action will have this status after Reviewer 1 approves it. It will be outstanding on Reviewer 2 to approve or reject it.
• Reviewer 2 Approved – An action will have this status after Reviewer 2 approves it. It will be outstanding on Reviewer 3 to approve or reject it.
• Reviewer 3 Approved – An action will have this status after Reviewer 3 approves it. It will be outstanding on Reviewer 4 to approve or reject it.
• Reviewer 4 Approved – An action will have this status after Reviewer 4 approves it. It will be outstanding on Reviewer 5 to approve or reject it.
• Reviewer 5 Approved – An action will have this status after Reviewer 5 approves it. It will be outstanding on Reviewer 6 to approve or reject it.
• Reviewer 6 Approved – An action will have this status after Reviewer 6 approves it. It will be outstanding on Reviewer 7 to approve or reject it.
• Action Closed Out – An action will have this status after Reviewer 7 approves it. A closed action will not be outstanding.
• Re-Opened for Action Response – An action will have this status if any of the Reviewers 1-7 rejects it. It will be outstanding on Owner to update/complete the Action Response

Strategic Review without Strategic Response

The lifecycle of action creation, assignment, review and closure starts from the Administration Projects Tab and Project Roles and finishes on the ATMS™ Main Action Screen.

Create a new Project that has the following settings:

Now let’s look at an Action that uses the above Project and take it through the various stages of the Strategic Review without Strategic Response workflow.

Involved Controls

Action Creator – Person who will create the action. They will select a Strategic Review Due Date, a Due Date, Strategic Reviewer 1-3, Owner, Reviewer 1-7.

Strategic Review Due Date – The date by which strategic response should be completed and approved by all strategic reviewers and the action should be marked open and ready for action response.

Due Date – The date by which the action should be marked as closed.

Strategic Reviewer 1 – First person who will review the action. If they approve it, then the action will go to next strategic reviewer. If they reject it, then the action will become a cancelled action.

Strategic Reviewer 2 – Second person who will review the action. If they approve it, then the action will go to next strategic reviewer. If they reject it, then the action will become a cancelled action.

Strategic Reviewer 3 – Third person who will review the action. If they approve it, then the action will be marked open and ready for action response. If they reject it, then the action will become a cancelled action.

Owner – Person who will complete the action and provide the Action Response.

Action Response – This is to be filled by the Owner where they will specify what is done to complete the action.

Reviewer 1 – First person who will review the Action Response. If they will approve it, then action will go to next reviewer. If they will reject it, then the action will become reopened for action response and go back to the Owner to update the action response.

Reviewer 2 – Second person who will review the Action Response. If they will approve it, then action will go to next reviewer. If they will reject it, then the action will become reopened for action response and go back to the Owner to update the action response.

Reviewer 3 – Third person who will review the Action Response. If they will approve it, then action will go to next reviewer. If they will reject it, then the action will become reopened for action response and go back to the Owner to update the action response.

Reviewer 4 – Fourth person who will review the Action Response. If they will approve it, then action will go to next reviewer. If they will reject it, then the action will become reopened for action response and go back to the Owner to update the action response.

Reviewer 5 – Fifth person who will review the Action Response. If they will approve it, then action will go to next reviewer. If they will reject it, then the action will become reopened for action response and go back to the Owner to update the action response.

Reviewer 6 – Sixth person who will review the Action Response. If they will approve it, then action will go to next reviewer. If they will reject it, then the action will become reopened for action response and go back to the Owner to update the action response.

Reviewer 7 – Seventh and final (in our example) person who will review the Action Response. If they will approve it, then action will become a Closed action. If they will reject it, then the action will become reopened for action response and go back to the Owner to update the action response.

Involved Action Statuses

The following action statuses will be used for this workflow:

Awaiting Pre-Opening Approval 1 – A new action will have this status. It will be outstanding on Strategic Reviewer 1 to approve or reject it.

Awaiting Pre-Opening Approval 2 – An action will have this status after Strategic Reviewer 1 approves it. It will be outstanding on Strategic Reviewer 2 to approve or reject it.

Awaiting Pre-Opening Approval 3 – An action will have this status after Strategic Reviewer 2 approves it. It will be outstanding on Strategic Reviewer 3 to approve or reject it.

Action Cancelled – An action will have this status if any of the Strategic Reviewers 1-3 reject it. It will not be outstanding on anyone.

Strategic Review Completed / Open – An action will have this status after Strategic Reviewer 3 approves it. It will be outstanding on Owner to complete the Action Response.

Response Completed – An action will have this status after Owner completes the Action Response. It will be outstanding on Reviewer 1 to approve or reject it.

Reviewer 1 Approved – An action will have this status after Reviewer 1 approves it. It will be outstanding on Reviewer 2 to approve or reject it.

Reviewer 2 Approved – An action will have this status after Reviewer 2 approves it. It will be outstanding on Reviewer 3 to approve or reject it.

Reviewer 3 Approved – An action will have this status after Reviewer 3 approves it. It will be outstanding on Reviewer 4 to approve or reject it.

Reviewer 4 Approved – An action will have this status after Reviewer 4 approves it. It will be outstanding on Reviewer 5 to approve or reject it.

Reviewer 5 Approved – An action will have this status after Reviewer 5 approves it. It will be outstanding on Reviewer 6 to approve or reject it.

Reviewer 6 Approved – An action will have this status after Reviewer 6 approves it. It will be outstanding on Reviewer 7 to approve or reject it.

Action Closed Out – An action will have this status after Reviewer 7 approves it. A closed action will not be outstanding.

Re-Opened for Action Response – An action will have this status if any of the Reviewers 1-7 rejects it. It will be outstanding on Owner to update/complete the Action Response.

No Strategic Review No Strategic Response

Of course you don't have to have any strategic review stages - in this case the structure is simpler:

Involved Controls

The following controls will be used for this workflow:

Action Creator – Person who will create the action. They will select a Due Date, Owner, Reviewer 1-7.

Due Date – The date by which the action should be marked as closed.

Owner – Person who will complete the action and provide the Action Response.

Action Response – This is to be filled by the Owner where they will specify what is done to complete the action.

Reviewer 1 – First person who will review the Action Response. If they will approve it, then action will go to next reviewer. If they will reject it, then the action will become reopened for action response and go back to the Owner to update the action response.

Reviewer 2 – Second person who will review the Action Response. If they will approve it, then action will go to next reviewer. If they will reject it, then the action will become reopened for action response and go back to the Owner to update the action response.

Reviewer 3 – Third person who will review the Action Response. If they will approve it, then action will go to next reviewer. If they will reject it, then the action will become reopened for action response and go back to the Owner to update the action response.

Reviewer 4 – Fourth person who will review the Action Response. If they will approve it, then action will go to next reviewer. If they will reject it, then the action will become reopened for action response and go back to the Owner to update the action response.

Reviewer 5 – Fifth person who will review the Action Response. If they will approve it, then action will go to next reviewer. If they will reject it, then the action will become reopened for action response and go back to the Owner to update the action response.

Reviewer 6 – Sixth person who will review the Action Response. If they will approve it, then action will go to next reviewer. If they will reject it, then the action will become reopened for action response and go back to the Owner to update the action response.

Reviewer 7 – Seventh and final (in our example) person who will review the Action Response. If they will approve it, then action will become a Closed action. If they will reject it, then the action will become reopened for action response and go back to the Owner to update the action response.

Involved Action Statuses

The following action statuses will be used for this workflow:

Open – A new action will have this status. It will be outstanding on Owner to complete the Action Response.

Response Completed – An action will have this status after Owner completes the Action Response. It will be outstanding on Reviewer 1 to approve or reject it.

Reviewer 1 Approved – An action will have this status after Reviewer 1 approves it. It will be outstanding on Reviewer 2 to approve or reject it.

Reviewer 2 Approved – An action will have this status after Reviewer 2 approves it. It will be outstanding on Reviewer 3 to approve or reject it.

Reviewer 3 Approved – An action will have this status after Reviewer 3 approves it. It will be outstanding on Reviewer 4 to approve or reject it.

Reviewer 4 Approved – An action will have this status after Reviewer 4 approves it. It will be outstanding on Reviewer 5 to approve or reject it.

Reviewer 5 Approved – An action will have this status after Reviewer 5 approves it. It will be outstanding on Reviewer 6 to approve or reject it.

Reviewer 6 Approved – An action will have this status after Reviewer 6 approves it. It will be outstanding on Reviewer 7 to approve or reject it.

Action Closed Out – An action will have this status after Reviewer 7 approves it. A closed action will not be outstanding.

Re-Opened for Action Response – An action will have this status if any of the Reviewers 1-7 rejects it. It will be outstanding on Owner to update/complete the Action Response.

Processing an Action

When an action is raised, one or more individuals will receive a notification email depending on how the system has been configured. They will then log in to ATMS™ and open the action for which they are responsible, add any notes which may be required and indicate the completion of the stage.

The action then gets passed to the next approval level, with everyone indicating completion or rejection, until the action has been finally approved and closed out by the relevant lead.

If the system is configured to allow the Owner of the action to reassign actions, then they can reject any action and reassign them back to the Creator. They can leave an explanatory text either in the Action Notes or entered on the email preview page. Action status emails are sent to designated individuals with the Audit & Action Notes section automatically updated to reflect any status changes.

Let’s now look at an example. An action has been created and assigned to “StrategyCreator1”. It has a status of: Open for Strategy Response. A new action will have this status and it will be outstanding on Strategy Creator to complete the Strategic Response.

Let’s have a look at what “StrategyCreator1” sees when they log in to ATMS™. Once logged in “StrategyCreator1” double clicks on the action that requires their attention to view it.

The Basics Tab tells “StrategyCreator1” what they need to do. At this stage they will need to complete the strategy response so that the action can move on to the next person in line. They can consult the “Attachments” tab to see any supporting files and they can also look at the “Audit” tab to see both the history of the action and any changes made to any of the fields or action status.

Once “StrategyCreator1” has completed their work they can mark the strategy response as complete and enter a comment in the strategy response text field. They then click on the “Save” button which will automatically generate an email to the next designated strategic action reviewer.

“StrategyCreator1” has indicated that they have completed all work on the action they were assigned, and that the action response is complete - it must now be signed off by the rest of the people in the list of strategic reviewers and reviewers - in this case “QC Strategic Reviewer01”.

Depending on how the mailer has been configured, “QC Strategic Reviewer01” will get an email telling them that an action requires their attention, and when they log into the system they will see the action.

An example of the email is shown below. However, all email types can be edited to change their heading, body and footer so depending on how your ATMS™ instance is configured emails may look different in your system.

Now let’s have a look at what “QC Strategic Reviewer01” sees when they log in to ATMS™. Once logged in “QC Strategic Reviewer01” double clicks on the action that requires their attention to view it.

The action now has a status of: Strategic Response Completed – An action will have this status after the Strategy Creator has completed the Strategic Response. It will be outstanding on Strategic Reviewer 1 to approve or reject it.

“QC Strategic Reviewer01” can see that “StrategyCreator1” has entered some text in the strategy response field describing what they have done to complete the action. “QC Strategic Reviewer01” can now decide whether to approve or reject the action. Let’s assume they are not satisfied with the work done and they want “StrategyCreator1” to re-do some of the task. “QC Strategic Reviewer01” selects the “Reject” radio button and enters comments as to why they are rejecting the action at this point.

This will send an email to “StrategyCreator1” telling them about the rejection and it will set the action status to Re-Opened for Strategic Response – An action will have this status if any of the Strategic Reviewers reject it. It will be outstanding on Strategy Creator to update/complete the Strategic Response.

“StrategyCreator1” must then revisit the action and repeat the process until “QC Strategic Reviewer01” is satisfied. Depending on how many people are involved in the review process, “QC Strategic Reviewer01’s” approval of the action will generate an email to the next person in the chain and so on until it reaches the person responsible for final approval.

Rejection of the action at any stage will lead to the status being reset to Re-Opened for Strategic Response or Re-Opened for Action Response and sent back to the beginning of the chain for re-work.

Reports

Report filters

As the number of projects and actions increases, you may find that you only want to see reports which are relevant to you. Here’s the "Filter" section of the Reports Screen.

ATMS™ allows filtering by:

• Report Type – Select a report from the pull-down to view actions in a graphical format.
• Project - Select a project from the pull-down list to see all actions related to the project in a graphical format.
• Organisation – Show actions from a specific Company, Department, Team.
• Accountable / Action Item Owner - Show all actions from a specific person in a specific role.
• Control Group – Show actions from projects that use a specific control group.
• Status - View all actions with a specific status (open, closed etc.).
• Display Config – This can be set to either “Standard” or “Display Project Complete Status”. This is not available on all report types.
• Due In Days – This can be set to All (shows everything), Overdue (shows only actions that are still not closed beyond their due date), 0-30 (shows actions that have a due date of between 0 and 30 days), 31-60 (shows actions that have a due date of between 31 and 60 days), 61-90 (shows actions that have a due date of between 61 and 90 days) or 91 or More (shows actions that have a due date of more than 91 days).
• Include Archived - Closed actions can be archived - by default they don’t appear on reports, but you can force them to be displayed. ATMS™ can be configured to automatically archive closed actions.
• Include On Hold - Actions can be put on hold by a user - by default they don’t appear on reports, but you can force them to be displayed.
• Require My Attention - Show only actions that you are required to complete or approve.
• Actions Involving Me - Show only actions that you are or have been involved with (includes actions you have already approved).
• Actions Involving My Company - Show only actions that you or any of your company colleagues are or have been involved with.

It is possible for a user to combine these filter parameters to provide a flexible reporting tool. Once a filter has been defined the resulted report can be printed or exported as required. If filtering is no longer required simply click on the “reset all” button to clear all the filters and therefore display all actions when you next run a report.

Reports will only show data to which a user has access to. If a user does not have access to a specific project, then they won't be able to see any of its details.

Reports can be downloaded as pdf or printed.

Action Summary by Status

This report lists the number of actions at each status for each project/sub-project. It also shows how many actions are overdue. Overdue actions are actions that have not been completed and their due date has passed.

Detailed Action Summary by Status

This report lists the total number of actions and a brief overview of each action at each status for each project/sub-project, it also shows overdue state of each action and how many actions are overdue for each project and sub project.

Outstanding Actions

This report lists the total number of outstanding actions per user for each project and how many of them are overdue. It also shows the System ID of the actions that are overdue. An outstanding action is an incomplete action which is awaiting response/approval from a user.

Detailed Outstanding Actions

This report lists the total number of outstanding actions per user for each project and how many of them are overdue. It also has a brief overview of each action. It shows the System ID of the actions that are overdue. An outstanding action is an incomplete action which is awaiting response/approval from a user.

Outstanding Actions by User

This report lists the total number of actions outstanding on a person and how many actions are already overdue or due in next 30 days, 31 - 60 days, 61 - 90 days or due in 91 or more days.

Detailed Outstanding Actions by User

This detailed report lists the total number of actions outstanding on a person and how many actions are already overdue or due in next 30 days, 31 - 60 days, 61 - 90 days or due in 91 or more days.

Overdue Actions by Accountable Graph

This graph shows the number of overdue actions grouped by the persons on which they are outstanding on. Overdue actions are actions that have not been completed and their due date has passed.

Overdue Actions by owner Graph

This graph shows the number of overdue actions by the Owner/Action Party of these actions. Overdue actions are actions that have not been completed and their due date has passed.

Overdue Actions by Priority Graph

This graph shows the number of overdue actions by the priority of these actions. Overdue actions are actions that have not been completed and their due date has passed.

Overdue Actions by Priority per Month Graph

This report is designed to list the number of actions at each status for each project/sub-project. It also shows how many actions are overdue. Overdue actions are actions that have not been completed and their due date has passed.

Closed Actions by Priority per Month Graph

This graph shows the number of closed actions in each month of a selected year grouped by their priority.

Overdue Actions by Project Graph

This graph shows the number of overdue actions grouped by their projects. Overdue actions are actions that have not been completed and their due date has passed.

Overdue Actions Summary

This report shows the total number of actions which are overdue and an average number of days these are overdue for. If a project is using the Strategic Review stage, then it also shows the total number of actions which are overdue for strategic review and average number of days their strategic review is overdue for.

An action can be overdue for strategic review if its strategic review is not complete and its strategic review due date has passed. Overdue actions are actions that have not been completed and their due date has passed.

Project Actions Report

This report prints all the actions of a selected project and any attached PDF files in a single PDF file. It is important to note that only PDF attachments can be printed, and it is possible that an attached PDF file may not print because it is password protected or corrupted or not supported by ATMS™ PDF reader.

However, this report will always include the list of files which are not printed along with the system IDs of the actions these were attached to.

Custom Reports

Custom Reports are an easy way to add new report templates that can be used to extract data from ATMS™. A user must have the "Can Edit Custom Report Template" permission set on their account. If selected, this will allow the user to save and edit report templates in the custom report window. Without this permission set, they can still utilise existing report templates to generate reports.

To access the Custom Report Window navigate to the Main Actions Screen and click on the Custom Report button.

There are several settings on the custom report window. Lets have a look at them one by one:

Select Control Group

As we have already seen every piece of data stored about an action or project is entered through a control - whether that is a drop-down list, a text box, a date control, hyperlink or a check box.

These controls are grouped as complete sets and can be used by a project. They are necessary for each action. A user can select the control group that belongs to their project when creating a new report. This will allow them to load all the relevant filters for their project.

Search Report Template

There are two ways a user can create a new report: from scratch or by using existing Report Templates as a start and editing them to their specification.Once all editing is finished the user can provide a new name for their report and save all changes.

Special Filters

In this section the user can specify a range of special filters on top of the report builder filters (coming from the control group) that they need to make their report specific to their project. They have the option of:

• Include Archived
• Include On Hold
• Require My Attention
• Actions Involving Me
• Actions Involving My Company
• Build Custom Report Filter

As we discussed earlier a user can select the control group that belongs to their project when creating a new report. This will allow them to load all the relevant filters for their project.

The filters can be seen under the Build Custom Report Filter section. They work in the same way as when you add an action whether that is a drop-down list, a text box, a date control, hyperlink or a check box.

The Operator column will define how the query display the information selected and the buttons (Set, AND, OR, Clear and Generate Report) will build the query with every control selected.

So for example if we created a report that would need to show us actions created by a specific user on a specific date we would select the relevant filters like so:

Created By = Peter Henderson (click SET button to add it to the query string)
Date Raised = 21/08/2009 (click AND button to add it to the query string)
The query string will look like this: ( Creator = 'Peter Henderson' ) AND ( Created Date = '21/08/2009' )

You can select a report that will show actions from different projects so for example this time we can use the OR button like so:

Project = ATMS COMOPS 2008 (click SET button to add it to the query string)
Project = ATMS A1 HAZID (click OR button to add it to the query string)
Project = HSEQ (click OR button to add it to the query string)
The query string will look like this: ( Project = 'ATMS COMOPS 2008' or Project = 'ATMS A1 HAZID' or Project = 'HSEQ' )

When you are done building your query simply Save your changes and click on Generate Report. The report will appear on a new screen.