Double It! QuickTips

Here are some fast tips to help you work with Double It!

• Run Double It! at 800 by 600 resolution or higher (not 640 by 480).  This will improve clarity and ease of use. To do this click on the Start button, select Settings/Control panel, double click the Display control panel, click the Appearance tab, and set the lever to 800 by 600 resolution.

• Be sure to go through ALL steps of the Introduction before proceeding with Phase 1.  You will need to register the program, print the manual, select your business type (this is Critical!!) (Note: customized versions of Double It! may disable this function because it's not necessary), and then print and delete the sample data in the Introduction before proceeding with Phase 1.

• Backup up your Double It! data. Periodically make a backup of the two files Double It! and Double It!_Be stored on your hard drive in the folder C:\Program Files\Double It to a backup device such as a Zip drive.   Keep regular backups in case your original data gets corrupted due to crashed hard disk, or other causes.  In that case, you can then restore the two files from your backup device to your hard drive.

• Deleting Records--Avoid just blanking out all of the fields to delete a record.  To delete a record you need to run the delete Record routine to fully eliminate the record.  You can delete a record by selecting (if available) Delete Record from the Edit menu. 
  

• Build strategic plan for multiple companies, divisions in Double It!

Phase Specific Issues

Here are some tips grouped by each of the three phases of Double It! (plus the Introduction & Other Tools)

INTRODUCTION

• Double It! Setup -
  Be sure to go through ALL steps of the Introduction before proceeding with Phase 1.  You will need to register the program, print the manual, select your business type (CRITICAL!), and print, and then delete the sample data in the Introduction before proceeding with Phase 1.

PHASE 1: SURVEY

• Editing Posted Data
  Once you have entered and posted a set of survey data, you can edit that data by clicking on the View Posted button on the Enter Assessment Scores screen.  Then click on the View Posted button Data button, which will open a screen where you can edit the scores (provided you know the ID for the statement (for the employee) for the entry. You can get this information from the filled out paper survey.

PHASE 2: PLAN

• Working With Goals
  -When you enter goals in Goal Entry you can enter them as a general goal (e.g. Increase Sales) and breakdown the sub-goals in the Objectives field (e.g. Increase Sales 25% in the XYZ line), or you can enter a goal more specifically-e.g. enter the goal as Increase Sales 25% in the XYZ line and leave the objectives area blank.  Remember you will later in Phase 3 be setting strategies for the goal you create (as well as the values you create).  
  
  -You should try to establish goals for each of the five growth engines (market, technology (products & services), organization, people, and finance.

PHASE 3: ACT

Advanced Tips

• Using Double It! for additional strategic plans
  If you want to do additional strategic plans, use the following procedure:

Double It! is not normally a program that can be shared on a network. If it can be shared, it is only when the server computer has the software installed on its C drive (not a shared drive like H or S), and a shortcut is created on workstations to one of the files in that C drive that resides on the server computer. The instructions below describe that process, but we cannot guarantee it will work (though we have had some successes).

Also, Microsoft Access 2000 must be on either the client workstation or the server.

We'll assume that you have entered some data into the program on a local computer. If you have, be sure to make a copy of the files Double It.mdb and Double It_Be.mdb that were installed in C:\Program Files\Double It to another location on the computer. The names of the copied files must remain the same. Making this copy is a precautionary move in case we lose the current data so we can restore these two files from the backup.*

1. Now install Double It! as you normally would, on your server. Double It! wants to install to C:\Program Files\Double It. It can ONLY be installed on the C drive on the server. 
   
2. (*If you entered data earlier on a workstation, then you will want to copy those files that you backed up, Double It.mdb and Double It_Be.mdb back into C:\Program Files\Double It, to override the same named files on the server that you just installed. That way you'll have the data you earlier entered on your desktop.)
   
3. Now you have Start menu shortcuts on the server to access the program. Now you need to create DESKTOP shortcuts on each client workstation (not Start menu shortcuts). To do this, normally you right click the desktop on a workstation, and select (e.g.) New Shortcut. The shortcut needs to be a shortcut of the file Double It.mdb that is stored on the C drive on the server. That's the key. You can name the shortcut whatever you choose. (Note: The individual users may also have to have Microsoft Access 2000, though it can possibly work without Access locally but through the server's version of Access, though it will run much slower that way, if at all.) Create the shortcut for each client workstation in this way.

We cannot guarantee this will work, because of the variety of operating systems, versions of Access or Office with Access, hardware and networking configurations, etc.

CONTACT US

Last Update: 07/03/08