Best Practice Library: Writing Amazing Updates for Envisio

If you aren’t sure what to include in your Envisio update - don’t fret! In this style guide, we’ll cover all the features of a good update. Your updates are critical to the success of our organization and we want to help you provide the best version that accurately reflects the work you’re doing. Let’s begin! 

The Basics - Your Update Framework 

Your Envisio admin team has likely developed a template or framework to help structure your update and provide some guidance. Simply add your update on the same line for each section. Make sure to include at least one sentence for each. 

If your administrators haven't set up an update template (this is your chance to nudge them!), follow this simple structure, providing a sentence or two for each section:

Accomplishments	What actions have you taken since the last update? What are you proud of?
Roadblocks	What’s preventing you from completing this task on time? Are you experiencing any difficulties or challenges?
Next Steps	What will you be working on between now and the next reporting cycle? What can management or the public expect in the coming months?

Remember to be specific and succinct when providing your update. Keep your tone professional and diplomatic. Don’t include anything you wouldn’t be comfortable with the public reading. 

Shared Notes – if you are a contributor to an action item, you may be taken to the “Shared Notes” field when logging in to provide your update. Enter any relevant details in this section and make sure to inform the “owner” of that particular action. 

The button for submitting your update will remain grayed out until the system detects you have entered text in the narrative update. Once you've entered your update, the button will turn orange as a visual cue to remind you to save the page.

Using Checklists 

If your work is broken down into actionable steps and you’ve created a checklist, go ahead and check the box relevant to your update. The item you check will appear in your update, but you’ll want to include additional details following the structure outlined above. Simply checking the box is not enough information for an update, so be sure to add some context to make it valuable to your audience!

Status Update & The Progress Bar 

Every Envisio action or project will be assigned a status - even if the project has not started! The legend below explains the various status indicators using a color-coding system. Updating the status of your item is mandatory - you will not be able to complete your update without assigning a status. 

Your Status Guide 

The following status values are available in Envisio. Please note that your organization may choose different labels for the green, yellow, and red status values.

	Upcoming (purple)	Indicates upcoming actions or projects set to begin at a future date.
	Status pending (grey)	This action has not been assigned a start date/end date. Actions should not be in pending status.
	On Track (green)	Indicates the project is on track and expected to be completed on time.
	Some Disruption (yellow)	Indicates a minor block in the project. May delay the completion date.
	Complete (blue)	Indicates a completed project.
	Major Disruption (red)	Indicates a major block in the project that will likely result in a delay in the completion date.
	Discontinued (black)	This status will be assigned by your plan administrator and indicates that the project is no longer a priority and can be removed from the plan.

The Progress Bar

Progress is represented in % and is used to indicate how far along you are in completion of the deliverable. When providing the lowest level planning element (Action) update, the Owner/Contributor provides the progress % at the same time they're marking the status.

Some folks over-think (and over-worry!) about their progress values; go with your gut and don't stress about whether something is 31% or 33% complete. In fact, it might be easiest to stick to round numbers, incrementing progress by 5% or 10% as you move forward. The important thing is that you're providing an update and demonstrating progress or explaining why none's been made.

Note that you will not have to pull the progress bar to 100%. When you change the status field to Complete the progress will automatically set to 100%.

Good news for those of you have set up a checklist with equal or manual weighing: the system will automatically assign your progress based on what has been checked off your list!

Making Edits - Adjusting & Changing the Plan

Contact your plan administrator if there are any parts of the plan that you think may need to be changed. Strategic planning is a dynamic process and it’s important to accurately represent the work being done. If a part of the plan is no longer relevant, needs a better description/title, or if you’d like to add a checklist to your section, it's best to check in with your plan's owner or Envisio system administrator prior to making changes.

If you’ve submitted an update but forgot to add important information, updates can be edited and re-written at a later date. You may see a small pencil and paper icon to the right of your update under the Previous Updates heading on the Submit Updates page. If not, check in with your plan owner or system administrator for assistance.