Mid-Year Updates

If you use yearly Scorecard metrics, you can now set them to be updated in a mid-year month.

You no-longer have to select a quarter-end month to see the values for quarterly Scorecard metrics, or a year-end month for Yearly metrics.  Once entered, the values show up for the entire period.

The Entity CSV Download has a new column that indicates whether each metric is Monthly, Quarterly, or Yearly.  If Yearly with a mid-year update month, it names the month.

Release 2013-12-06: Search

• Now find anything in the system instantly with the new Search box in the upper right hand corner of every screen.
  
  Just start typing and search results will appear. Hover over a search result for a description. Click on a result to navigate to it.
• In addition to being calculated by the system, Scorecard Metrics can now have Quarter-to-date and Year-to-date values entered manually.
• The Business Unit CSV download now includes 2 new columns. The Cumulative? column indicates whether QTD/YTD values are Not Cumulative, User-Entered, or System-Calculated. The Load? column indicates whether the metric is Manual, Batch-Loaded, or Financial (which is also batch-loaded).
• New screens: Instances of a Function Type and Instances of a Process Type provide additional perspectives on your Scorecards. Look for the little blue view instances link on the Function Types and Process Types list screens (and in search results).
• Pareto charts and Variance Analyses can now be displayed separately on the Process Review screen.
  

Release 2012-05-12: Longer Links

• Links to supporting materials can now be up to 500 characters long (was 255 chars). This affects objective/strategy reviews, tactic reviews, function links, and process definition links.
• Creation Status approval has been simplified - the two controls on the Strategy Edit screen have been merged into one for clarity and ease of use.
• Plan CSV Download now includes the Strategy Tag of the parent strategy next to each tactic.

Release 2011-11-30: Improved graphs and Move Strategy

Improved graphs in PlanBase Scorecard bring a new level of visual management to performance measurement:

• Green, yellow, and red background shading highlights on-track, behind-plan, and off-track performance over time.
• Click on any graph to display a full-size version suitable for presentations, printing, or copying to other applications outside of PlanBase Scorecard

As another improvement, you can now move strategies around when building or modifying a plan in PlanBase Hoshin. Easily undo a move if you change your mind. This feature enables you to:

• Move an objective/strategy to a different part of a plan
• Combine one plan into another
• Promote an objective/strategy to its own new plan.

Existing customers can access ShowMe learning modules on these new features.

Inquire today about how PlanBase Hoshin and PlanBase Scorecard can elevate your planning and process improvement!

Release 2011-10-05: Scorecard CSV

A new entity spreadsheet download (opens in Microsoft® Excel® or other spreadsheet application) shows a rolling 15 months of data (same as the Entity view screen) for every metric in an entity and its immediate sub-entities. Like the Heat Map screen, it shows two levels of entities. The CSV file format is easily machine-readable and should be compatible with most spreadsheet-type programs. This spreadsheet download can be used for "slicing and dicing" or reporting on data in the system or as a reverse of the Batch Data Load process.

Release 2011-04-15: Shared Objectives and Strategies

Have you ever wanted to repeat an existing objective or strategy in the same plan or copy it to another plan? With the newest release of PlanBase Hoshin, you can easily share an objective or strategy within the same plan or with a completely different plan. There is no limit to the number of times you can share a single objective/strategy. When you click on the shared objective or strategy, you will be viewing the original and its performance metrics and supporting tactics. If reviews have been completed on the original, you will also see the detail of the review. Users require access to view the original plan and strategy/objective to see this level of detail.

Below are additional notes on how to effectively share objectives/strategies:

• To set up a secondary strategy you must be able to edit the parent objective and view the plan of the child strategy. The Application Manager may be the only one who can set up some associations.
• Adding a secondary strategy to another plan makes that strategy visible in much the same way as associating a strategy with a process makes it visible on Scorecard. Only people who can view the original plan can see the description of the strategy in its secondary places. Others can see the number, owner, status, and reviews, but not the text of the secondary strategy. Making a secondary strategy never reveals sub-strategies, tactics, or ancestors of the secondary strategy.
• The objective/strategy keeps its original number.

Still need more help with this new feature? View the new "Show Me" video clip feature available in PlanBase Hoshin.

Another change you will notice in this release is the addition of a field for "Strategy Tag" in the CSV download.

PlanBase Hoshin Now Supports Multi-Year Plans

A new version of PlanBase Hoshin, released today, adds full support for multi-year plans. Existing plans can be extended to cover multiple years.

For enhanced security, we can now limit all logins to a single IP address. If your firewall/proxy gives all outgoing requests the same return IP address, this can be used to prevent people from accessing PlanBase Hoshin from anywhere but work (or signed into their work network using a VPN). Let us know if you would like us to enable this option for your organization.

We added two new columns to the CSV download for a more fine-grained view of how "healthy" the plan is. They tell you whether each objective/strategy has metrics and if each metric has a target or an actual value for the current period.

The system now checks that you have JavaScript™ and cookies enabled before allowing you to log in.

JavaScript is a trademark of Sun Microsystems.

"Spreadsheet Download" Release provides an Excel® report, email links, and more...

What's new in this release?

Responsibilities Screen:

View every objective, strategy, and tactic that you own, and every plan that you are authorized to view.

Document Links:

Link to scorecards, A3 charts, websites, spreadsheets, or any document available on your network.

All Plans Status:

Together in one place, read the top level objectives for every plan you are authorized to view.

Email Links:

Hover your mouse over the icon next to a user's name, and an email link will appear, as well as a phone number.

Download to Excel®:

Create an Excel Spreadsheet with columns such as Plan Creation Status, Review Status, Owners, or other data from your plan.

About PlanBase Hoshin

PlanBase Hoshin is an easy to use, highly secure, web-based planning tool that provides a clear line of sight from the highest objective to the lowest assigned task or tactic.  Presentation-ready status reports present your progress
in a clean, professional format that can be printed or shared online.  Drill down into any part of a plan to discover root causes and formulate corrective actions.

Using PlanBase Hoshin helps organizations to easily and clearly communicate the strategic plan elements to those who need to know.  It increases accountability but it also increases visibility and provides opportunities to recognize outstanding plan participants.  All of which will increase commitment and motivation in your teams.

The PlanBase web site (including a contact form) is planbase.com.

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Excel is a registered trademark of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or other countries.