In this Getting Started with Jolt guide, we’ll walk through the basic steps to create and activate operation checklists in the Jolt Web Portal. From building list templates to assigning roles and setting up notifications, this guide will help you get up and running with Jolt’s checklist tools, ensuring your team stays organized and efficient from day one.
Creating a List
Starting A New List Template
List templates are created and saved in the Jolt Web Portal and then synced over to the Jolt app for use by you and your team. While you can create one-off lists from the Jolt apps, the majority of Jolt lists are built as templates to use scheduled as part of a daily or weekly operation.
To start a new list, locate and select Lists. Then, select Edit Lists under the Manage tab.
The List page will have a folder for each location in your Jolt account as well as a folder for your Content Group, which is where you can add lists used at all locations in your account. As a reminder, you can switch between Content Group mode and Location mode in the top right of the Jolt Web Portal.
To start a new list, select the blue + button on the right side of the page. You’ll be prompted to give your list template a name.
Adding List Items
Start by selecting Add Item or New Item under the blue + menu. Both will bring you to the Item Type Menu.
Both of these options will bring up the item-type menus. Item Types are how an employee completes a task. This can vary from simply checking a box all the way to things like requiring a photo, scanning a QR code, or entering a measurement. For a detailed overview of all the Jolt item types, feel free to check out the Jolt Item Type Article.
All item types are completed by an employee signed into the Jolt app (either via personal mode or via pin) and each completed item documents when an item is completed and who completes it.
Select an item type for the task you are adding to your list template. You’ll see that item added to your left side menu and the options for this list item on the right.
Start by filling out the prompt text for the item. The prompt text is the task you are giving out to your employees. The more detail the better! It’s always best to be specific to give your employees a clear guide to how the assigned tasks are properly done.
Below the prompt text are a variety of options that will vary based on the item type. Some common item type options include:
Points: A gamification option where you can give out points to employees for each task completed and view them in a points report.
N/A Options: You can make a task optional for employees and allow them to mark the task as out of order or not applicable.
Display Criteria Options: A question can be optional based on a previous answer to a variable question, such as a Yes/No, measurement, or rating. For example: “Do we have a delivery today?” If yes, display a question that follows up with a “Unload the delivery” task.
Background Colors: You can change the color of any item on a list to highlight or separate sections of a list.
Information Library: Any item can have a media file attached from the Information Library subscription. This can add detail to your tasks with examples and tutorials.
Labels: You can attach a label from the Labeling Subscription to a task that involves your Jolt printer.
Bulk Importing Items
You can also select the Bulk Import option under the blue + menu to bulk copy and paste item prompts using the ctrl C and ctrl V keyboard shortcuts from another digital form, such as a spreadsheet, document, or PDF. Your checklist items go into the “Prompt” column and you select what Jolt item type you want to use in the “Item Type“ column. When bulk importing, you must also choose if you’ll utilize the points feature on your items. If you aren’t ready to use points at this time, you can put ”0” in the points column.
List Settings
Once you have created your list, you are ready to activate the list by assigning the list to the correct roles, creating a list schedule for completion, or creating notifications based on list results. All this and more are found on the settings tab near the top left of the list edit page.
The settings tab gives you all the available options for how a list can be submitted, whether or not you want the list to be scored, as well as the most important options: who’s completing lists and when they will be due. To get started, we’ll go over the 3 most important list settings, but for a detailed overview of list submission settings, check out the associated article, List Submission Settings.
Scheduling a List
The majority of checklists are best utilized on an operation schedule that matches the flow our your business. For each checklist, you can choose when it appears, when it is due, and when it will expire. This can be customized for the time of day, days of the week, certain dates of the month, or even seasonal scheduling.
Under List Schedule, select New Display Time.
From here you’ll pull up the scheduling window to choose your time of day and day of the week cadence. Again select + New Display Time to add a time.
A List Display Time has 3 elements:
The start time is when this list will appear on the Jolt app to complete.
The due time is when the list should be completed without being marked as late.
The expiration time is when the list will close itself out and no longer can be completed (only needs if the list goes uncompleted).
As an example: Our Opening Checklist could have a start time of 7:00 am, as the opening shift starts arriving between 7:00 am and 7:30 am. The due time could be 9:00 am, as that's when the store opens, and the expiration time could be 9:30 am to give a bit of flex room for wrapping up morning tasks.
Days to Repeat and Months to Repeat can be toggled for lists that you do not use 7 days a week with options for days of the week, days of the month, intervals, and date ranges.
List schedules are applied overnight for each company. This means if you set up a list schedule today, you typically will see the list for the first time populating tomorrow.
As an extra tip for scheduling: If you have a list that populates at different times depending on the day, you can set up multiple display times that are only for certain days ranges. Like if a list should be completed later on a weekend versus a weekday.
Assigning a List By Role
Below the list scheduling section, we have Role Based Access. By default, a list can be completed by anyone logged into the Jolt app, but you can assign or limit a checklist to chosen roles. Any roles you’d like to be able to complete a list can be toggled on in the Assigned column.
The Managed column gives a role admin permissions for this list on the Jolt app, such as changing the due time, manually deleting a list, or manually entering measurements set to a probe or sensor.
List Notifications
Scrolling up the top right section of list settings you’ll find the List Notifications Settings. From here you can choose roles to receive emails, texts, or push notifications related to actions taken on this list. To start, select New Notification.
From here, you can select which role will receive the notification, what kind of notification they’ll receive, and then why they receive it. The most common notifications used are either when an item on a list is overdue (passed the due time on the schedule) or when an item on the list is out of range (used with measurement or rating items).
You can set up multiple types of notifications for each list. For example, maybe you want a shift supervisor to get an email copy of a closing list when it's completed, but the owner can receive a notification when it is overdue.
As an extra tip for notifications: If you are just getting started with Jolt lists, try to be conservative with notifications until your team has a good rhythm of completing lists. Notifications can be a powerful tool, but too many can create unnecessary noise for your team.
Once your list is scheduled or set to notify, you can return to the Lists homepage and see that your list is scheduled or notifying in the two columns to the right of your list’s name and item count. Getting your lists scheduled is the key step to getting up and running with Jolt checklists!
