Contents of This Page

Main Page Overview

Main Page Summary
Main Page Header
Main Page Primary Panels
List Panel
Other List Header Controls, Used During Planning Stages
Discussion Panel
Main Page Secondary Panels and Menus

Main Page Summary

The Main Page consists of a header and three main panels:
▪ Map Panel
▪ List Panel
▪ Discussion Panel

Main Page Schematic

Main Page Screenshot

Main Page Header

The Main Page Header in Full Width Is Shown Here

Header Left Side:

Header Right Side:

Details on the Main Page Header controls are provided at
Main Page - Header Menus and Controls.

Main Page Primary Panels

Map Panel

The Map panel provides a visual, graphic, analytic focal point for the Session participants. Maps can be constructed using Drag and Drop or by adding rows to the List.

The most important thing in understanding ActionMap Process Maps is that the arrows represent the flow of "stuff": goods, energy, information, money or service actions.

Flow arrows specifically
Do Not mean:
▪ Go To
▪ Do Next
▪ Action that transforms the content of the flow, other than changing place.

Sample Map Panel

The guideline is:
Flows should only be used to mean "this stuff goes from here to there".

Having said that, Flows can also represent complex collections of "stuff" (e.g. "sales conversation", a collection of verbal statements) that go between people, organizations, systems, objects and locations ("entities"). They can also represent simple physical perceptions (e.g. "feel of texture" and simple physical events (e.g. "hammer strike") that go between entities.

More information on Maps can be found at
Process Maps - Purpose, Format and Construction.

List Panel

The List panel provides the mechanism for capturing information during the Session.
▪ All information on the Map is shown on the List
▪ Map Parts can be added via the List, and they will appear on the Map
▪ Comments about Map parts are captured on the List
▪ All Prioritizing is done on the List
▪ All Brainstorming is done on the List
▪ All Action Plan building is done on the List
More on the List panel can be found at the topic
Add Map Parts, Plan Parts and Comments to the List.

Note: all ActionMap Maps and Plans are said to be made of "Parts", such as Processes, Flows, Action Items, Comments and so on.

The idea of "parts" does not need to be understood by participants.
However it is a useful concept for explaining what goes on in constructing the Lists.

The List uses a standard row format (with variations) for most types of information, as shown below.

(There are a few special row types; those rows are described in the Help pages for the Activities where those rows appear.)

Sample List

The Shapes of Flow Arrows

The Arrows in the List have specific meanings, described here:

Adding Rows

While some rows are added automatically, most rows are added using context menus like this:

Other List Header Controls, Used During Planning Stages

During the Planning Stages of the Main Cycle, the List has a header row that says "Change Plan Header".
This indicates that the rows in the List are now part of the Action Plan that are associated with the Map.
During these Planning Stages, certain controls appear in the List Header.

Add Proposed Change

During certain of the Activities in the "Capture Proposed Changes" Stage there is an "Add Proposed Change" button on the List Header.

This adds a Proposed Change as the last such row on the List.

Add Action Item

During certain activities in the "Create Action Plan" Stage there is an "Add Action Item "button on the List Header

This adds an Action Plan Item as the last such row on the List.

Show/Hide All Proposed Change Detail

During certain of the "Capture Proposed Changes" and "Create Action Plan" Activities, the List outline shows:
▪ Action Items as they are being entered
▪ Proposed Changes that motivated those Action Items
▪ Map Parts and Evaluations that motivated those Proposed Changes.

Since this can present a complicated appearance, the "Show/Hide All Proposed Change Detail" button is provided to show or hide the detail under the Proposed Changes (see image above).

Additional detail on these controls can be found in the Help pages for the
Activities described above.

Discussion Panel

Notes: The Discussion panel has two main purposes:
▪ To collect comments and notes that are about the Session itself instead of the Session content.
▪ To collect comments that are not related to the Session content.

▪ There is a single Discussion for each Map.
▪ An example of Discussion entries is shown below.

Discussion Panel Format and Operation

Main Page Secondary Panels and Menus

These sub-panels and menus are accessed through the Main Page Header Menu.

Under that menu there are three additional sub-panels:

▪ Session Information - Panel - provides information on the current Session, Work Products, and Activity

▪ Activities - Selection Panel - an expandable menu that provides for navigating directly to Activities in the Main Cycle, instead of accessing them in sequence

▪ Select Work Product Action - Menu - provides various functions for creating, selecting and exporting Work Products during a Session

Session Information - Panel

The information panel provides various information about the Session, as shown below.

Activities - Selection Panel

An expandable menu that provides for navigating directly to Activities in the Main Cycle, instead of accessing them in sequence.

More detail on the Activity Selection Menu can be found at the page

"Select Next Activity to Perform / Go to Next Activity".

Work Product Action - Menu

Provides various functions for creating, selecting and exporting Work Products during a Session.

Suggested Next Pages

Main Page - Header Menus and Controls
Main Page - Create and Select Work Products in Sessions
Help Table of Contents

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