Tool Map vocabulary
Know what each tool does. 28 hand-written terms with real workplace examples.
Learn tool map terms every day.
One hand-written term. A real workplace example. Thirty seconds before your day gets loud.
Team Chat
An app for quick messages between coworkers, one to one or in group conversations, so everyday questions get answered fast instead of getting lost in long email chains.
Channel
A named group conversation inside a team chat app, set up for one topic, team or project, like #volunteers or #budget. Members join the ones they need, and everything said there stays in one place.
Thread
The replies tucked under one message in a team chat app, so a side conversation stays together and the channel around it stays easy to read.
Shared Inbox
One email inbox, such as info@ or help@, that several people read and answer together, so messages from the public do not depend on one person being at work.
Document Library
A team's shared, organized home for its files, with clear folders and names, so everyone opens the same current copy instead of emailing attachments around.
Cloud Storage
Saving files on an online service instead of only on one device, so you can open them from anywhere, share them with a link, and still have them if a laptop breaks.
Version History
The saved list of earlier versions of a file, showing who changed what and when, so you can look back or bring back an older copy.
Knowledge Base
A searchable collection of how-to articles and answers, written once so people can look things up instead of asking the same question again.
CRM
Customer Relationship Management. Software that keeps one entry for every person and organization you work with, plus each call, email and meeting, so anyone on the team can pick up where someone left off.
Contact Record
The single entry for one person in a CRM or contact list: name, email, phone and address, plus notes and a timeline of calls, gifts and meetings with them.
Donor Database
Software, often a CRM made for fundraising, that keeps every donor and every gift in one place, so a nonprofit can thank people on time, see who gives each year, and plan who to ask next.
System of Record
The one tool your team agrees is the official home for a kind of information, such as donors or contracts. When copies disagree, this one wins and the others get fixed to match.
Project Board
A shared board of cards, one per task, arranged in columns such as To Do, Doing and Done, so a team can see who is working on what at a glance.
Issue Tracker
A shared list where a team logs problems and requests, often something broken on a website or app, giving each one an owner and a status until it is fixed.
Help Desk
The team, and the software it uses, that takes in questions and problems from customers or staff, assigns each one to a person, and tracks it until it is answered.
Ticket
One logged request or problem in a help desk or issue tracker, with its own number, a status such as open or closed, and every reply, so anyone can see where it stands.
Spreadsheet
A grid of rows and columns for lists and numbers that can do math for you, like totaling a column. Great for quick lists, risky as the only home for important records.
Dashboard
A screen of charts and key numbers that pulls from your data and updates on its own, so you can see how things are going at a glance without building a report by hand.
Data Import
Bringing many entries into a tool at once from a file, usually a spreadsheet, by matching each column to the right place in the tool.
Duplicate Record
Two or more entries for the same person or thing in one tool, often from typos or repeat imports. They split the history in two and cause double mailings until someone merges them.
Integration
A connection between two tools, often a ready-made one you switch on, so information moves between them by itself, like web form entries appearing in your CRM without retyping.
Automation
Letting software do a repeated task by itself, following rules you set once, such as sending a welcome email every time someone signs up.
Trigger
The event that starts an automation, such as a form being submitted, a new row appearing in a spreadsheet, or a set time arriving. You pick it first, then choose the steps that follow.
Data Migration
Moving all your information from an old tool to a new one, usually once: cleaning it, deciding where each piece goes, testing a small batch, then switching everyone over.
SaaS
Software as a Service. Software you use in a web browser or app and pay for by subscription, while the company that makes it runs and updates it for you.
Single Sign-On
Signing in once with one work account to open many tools, instead of keeping a separate password for each. When someone leaves, turning off that one account stops them signing in to any of them.
Two-Factor Authentication
Signing in with two different proofs, such as your password plus a code from your phone, so a stolen password alone is not enough to get in.
Permissions
The settings that decide who can see, edit or share each file, folder, channel or record. Good permissions give each person what their job needs and no more.
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