What Are Guides?
Guides are the individual actionable steps that make up your Core Process. Each Guide represents one distinct action that needs to be completed as part of your business workflow. In MPQA, Guides form the foundation of your process documentation and include built-in RACI (Responsible, Accountable, Consulted, Informed) role assignments to clarify who does what.Guides appear as rows in your RACI Responsibility Matrix and as boxes in your Visual Process Flow diagrams. Each Guide can have its own Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) documentation.
Before You Add Guides
Make sure you have:- A Core Process created - Guides belong to Core Processes
- An understanding of your process steps - Know what tasks need to be completed
- Key team members identified - You’ll assign RACI roles when creating Guides
Creating Your First Guide
1
Navigate to Your Core Process
Go to Business Processes in the left sidebar and select the Core Process where you want to add Guides.Make sure you’re on the RACI tab to view the Responsibility Matrix.
2
Click Add Guide
Click the blue “Add Guide” button in the top right corner of the RACI matrix.This opens the “Create New Guide” dialog.
3
Enter Guide Name
In the “Guide Name” field (required), enter a clear, action-oriented name for your Guide.Good Guide names:
- “Review job applications”
- “Send follow-up email”
- “Approve budget request”
- “Schedule kickoff meeting”
- “Applications” (no action verb)
- “Do the thing” (too vague)
- “Step 1” (not descriptive)
4
Assign to a Blueprint (Optional)
In the “Blueprint” field, enter the name of the phase or stage this Guide belongs to.Examples:
- “Initial Screening”
- “Planning Phase”
- “Execution”
- “Final Review”
If the Blueprint doesn’t exist yet, it will be created automatically. If it already exists, the Guide will be grouped under that Blueprint. Blueprint names are case-sensitive.
5
Assign Responsible (R)
In the “Responsible” field, enter who does the work to complete this task.This is the person or team that actually performs the activity. You can assign multiple responsible parties if needed.Example: “HR Coordinator”, “Sales Rep”, “Project Manager”
6
Assign Accountable (A)
In the “Accountable” field, enter who is accountable for the completion and signs off.This is the person who ultimately owns this activity and has approval authority. There should typically be only one accountable person.Example: “HR Director”, “Sales Manager”, “VP of Engineering”
7
Assign Consulted (C)
In the “Consulted” field, enter who provides input and feedback.These are people who need to be consulted before or during the activity. This is two-way communication.Example: “Legal Team”, “Finance”, “Subject Matter Expert”
8
Assign Informed (I)
In the “Informed” field, enter who needs to be kept updated on progress.These are people who need to know about the activity’s progress or completion but don’t actively contribute. This is one-way communication.Example: “Executive Team”, “All Staff”, “Client”
9
Create the Guide
Click the blue “Create Guide” button to save your Guide.The Guide will appear in the RACI matrix under its Blueprint (if specified), ready for you to add documentation and detailed instructions.
Understanding RACI Roles
When creating a Guide, you assign RACI roles to clarify who’s involved and how: R - Responsible- Who does the work
- The person or team who actually performs the Guide
- There can be multiple responsible parties working together
- Who approves the work
- The person who ultimately owns the Guide and has final approval authority
- Should be only ONE per Guide
- Who provides input
- People whose opinions or expertise are needed
- This involves two-way communication and collaboration
- Who is kept updated
- People who need to be informed of progress or decisions but don’t contribute
- One-way communication
Guide Naming Best Practices
- Do
- Don't
Start with an action verb:
- “Review candidate resumes”
- “Send proposal to client”
- “Approve final design”
- “Schedule technical interview” vs. “Schedule interview”
- “Approve marketing budget” vs. “Approve budget”
- “Create monthly sales report”
- “Update project timeline”
- If one is “Send email,” don’t name another “Email is sent”
What Happens After Creating a Guide
Once you create a Guide, it appears in your RACI matrix with several features:In the RACI Tab
- Guide row: Your Guide appears as a row in the table
- Blueprint grouping: If you assigned a Blueprint, the Guide is grouped under that Blueprint header
- RACI columns: Each column (R, A, C, I) shows icons indicating assignments
- Details column: Space for adding detailed instructions or documentation links
- Actions column: Contains action buttons for the Guide
Available Actions
Each Guide has several action buttons:- Document icons (R, A, C, I): Click to view who’s assigned to each role
- + Add SOP: Create or edit the Standard Operating Procedure for this Guide
- Edit icon (pencil): Edit RACI role assignments
- Delete icon (trash): Remove the Guide from the process
In Other Views
- Visual Tab: The Guide appears as a box in the process flow diagram
- Swimlane Tab: The Guide appears in swimlanes organized by responsible person
- SOP Tab: You can document detailed procedures for the Guide
Editing Guide RACI Assignments
Need to change who’s responsible for a Guide?1
Find the Guide
Locate the Guide in your RACI matrix.
2
Click the Edit Icon
Click the pencil icon in the Actions column.This opens the “Edit RACI Assignments” dialog.
3
Update Assignments
Modify any of the RACI fields:
- Responsible (R): Who does the work to complete the task
- Accountable (A): Who is accountable for the completion and signs off
- Consulted (C): Who provides input and feedback
- Informed (I): Who needs to be kept updated on progress
4
Save Changes
Click the blue “Save Changes” button to update the Guide.The RACI matrix will immediately reflect your changes.
When you edit RACI assignments, the changes automatically update in all views including Visual diagrams and Swimlane charts.
Adding Documentation to Guides
Creating an SOP (Standard Operating Procedure)
Each Guide can have detailed procedure documentation:1
Click Add SOP
In the Guide row, click the ”+ Add SOP” button in the Details column.This opens the SOP tab with a rich text editor.
2
Document Your Procedure
Use the editor to create detailed step-by-step instructions:
- Write clear, numbered steps
- Add formatting (bold, italic, lists)
- Include links to resources
- Add tables if needed
3
Add Comments (Optional)
Click “Add Comment” to leave notes or ask questions about specific parts of the SOP.Comments help teams collaborate on documentation.
4
Create the SOP
Click the “Create SOP” button in the bottom right to save your documentation.Your SOP is now associated with this Guide and appears in the Version History.
Reordering Guides
Guides should be listed in the order they’re typically performed in your process. You can reorder them as needed:Using Drag and Drop
- Hover over the Guide you want to move
- Click and hold on the drag handle (usually appears on the left side)
- Drag the Guide up or down to its new position
- Release to drop it in place
Using Move Buttons
If drag-and-drop isn’t available:- Look for up/down arrow buttons next to each Guide
- Click to move the Guide one position at a time
- Continue clicking until the Guide is in the correct position
Moving Guides Between Blueprints
If you need to change which Blueprint a Guide belongs to:1
Edit the Guide
Click the edit icon (pencil) next to the Guide.
2
Change Blueprint Field
In the “Edit RACI Assignments” dialog, look for a Blueprint field (if available).
If the Blueprint field isn’t in the edit dialog, you may need to delete and recreate the Guide with the correct Blueprint, or check for a different edit option.
3
Save Changes
Save your changes to move the Guide to the new Blueprint.
Deleting Guides
To delete a Guide:1
Locate the Guide
Find the Guide in your RACI matrix.
2
Click Delete Icon
Click the trash can icon in the Actions column.
3
Confirm Deletion
Confirm when prompted that you want to delete this Guide.The Guide will be removed from your process.
How Many Guides Should You Have?
The right number of Guides depends on your process complexity:| Process Complexity | Guide Count | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Simple | 5-10 Guides | Basic approval workflow |
| Medium | 10-25 Guides | Employee onboarding, sales qualification |
| Complex | 25-50 Guides | Enterprise deal cycle, product launch |
| Very Complex | 50+ Guides | Consider splitting into multiple processes |
Too Few Guides?
If your process has fewer than 5 Guides, you might be too high-level. Consider:- Breaking down Guides into more specific steps
- Adding informal Guides that currently aren’t documented
- Checking if this should be a Guide within a larger process
Too Many Guides?
If your process has more than 50 Guides, consider:- Combining very similar Guides
- Breaking the process into multiple smaller Core Processes
- Moving some Guides to sub-processes
Examples by Activity Type
- Communication
- Review & Approval
- Creation
- Analysis
- Send proposal to client
- Notify stakeholders of decision
- Schedule kickoff meeting
- Update project status
- Respond to customer inquiry
- Distribute weekly report
Guide Checklist
Before moving on from creating Guides, verify that each one has:- A clear, verb-based name
- At least one Responsible (R) person assigned
- One Accountable (A) person assigned
- Proper Blueprint assignment (if using Blueprints)
- Correct sequence in the process flow
- Consulted (C) and Informed (I) roles assigned as needed
- SOP documentation created
- Detailed instructions or links added