<< Click to Display Table of Contents >> Navigation:  Xitracs Planning™ > Planning Module Overview

The Xitracs Planning™ module allows you to create plans, gather input from a number of sources, track progress and publish in a website or PDF format.

 

Depending on your Xitracs system configuration, you can create two types of plan: Free-form or Goal-based. Free-form plans can be built with a more flexible structure in terms of headings and editable rows, whereas Goal-based plans only have headings under which goals can be added. The advantage of a goal-based plan is that it lets portal users create and link goals. The goals themselves can then be tracked over time.

In systems where goal-based planning is not enabled, all existing and new plans are designated as Free-form.

 

Plans are managed in cycles and associated timeframes. For example, a strategic plan cycle may be on a three-year timeframe, whereas an operational plan cycle may be on a one-year timeframe. Plans may also be linked for reporting purposes, such that a row in Plan A might be linked to another row in Plan B.

 

Plan input is managed through Fields. The fields are defined by the plan builder and are consistent for all rows in the same plan, but may differ from plan to plan. Fields may be completed through either (1) the assignment of a plan row to a team or (2) the assignment of a plan row to one or more portal users. Plan rows may optionally be linked to a Survey or to individual survey questions. This is a useful tool for gathering input.  

 

Click on the Plans tab to go to a list of plans available to you. The availability is determined by your membership of one or more teams.

If your plan list is empty or a particular plan is not listed, it is typically due to either: (1) you are not a member of any team or (2) you are a member of a team, but the team has not been assigned to any rows in the plan or (3) the plan has been set to Offline.

See the Teams function for further information about how to assign team members and Properties about how to set the status of a plan.

 

Plans can be organized by group and associated with a department via the Control Panel > Manage Plans function.

To switch views, click on the relevant link or click list to view all available plans. A user must belong to a plan's team for the plan to be available. A user's plan list will look similar to the following:

 

 

If a user's plan is not associated with a group or department, it will only be visible in the list view.

 

The Title and Description identify the plan

 

The Type column identifies the plan as Free-form or Goal-based. (see above).

 

The Cycle contains the number of the cycle that the plan is currently in. Plan cycles are set via Control Panel > Manage Plans > [Plan] >Properties.

For additional information see Manage Plans > Plan Cycles

 

The Timeframe contains the name of the timeframe that is associated with the cycle. Timeframes are set via Control Panel > Manage Plans > [Plan] >Properties. For additional information see Control Panel > Timeframes

 

The Status indicates the current state of the plan. This is set via Control Panel > Manage Plans > [Plan] > Properties.

•Online - the plan is available for editing by assigned team members.

•Locked - the plan can be viewed by assigned team members but cannot be edited.

 

The Function column contains a number of links which will take the user to an operation in the Xitracs system. Availability of these links is determined by the type of team that you belong to for a specific plan.  See the next section to understand how these functions work.