Before your team can use Observations, an Account Owner or Super Admin needs to do one piece of setup: choose your Account's Process Managers. That happens in Account Settings > Observations, which is also where you can customize the terminology the Observations module uses to match the language of your organization.
This article covers both tabs on the Observations Settings page: Process Managers and Terminology.
Who Is This Article For?
Some features described here depend on your User level. If you do not see an option mentioned in this article, ask your administrator about your access. Observations involves these User levels:
Super Admin
Account Owner
Only Account Owners and Super Admins can open Account Settings, so this setup work belongs to them.
Getting to Observations Settings
Click your avatar in the top-right corner and select Account Settings.
Click the Observations tile.
This opens the Observations Settings page where there are two tabs: Process Managers and Terminology. You can return to the main settings page at any time with the Back to Account Settings link.
The Process Managers tab
A Process Manager is the person who builds and maintains your Account's Observation Processes — creating them, editing their Steps, publishing them, and archiving them when they are no longer needed. You can read more about each role in Observations Overview.
Selecting at least one Process Manager is what gets your Account started with Observations.
How to Add Process Managers
On the Process Managers tab, find the Possible Process Managers list. It shows every User in your Account in alphabetical order.
To narrow the list, type a name in the search bar or filter with the All Roles dropdown (Account Owner, Super Admin, Admin, or User). Any User level can be a Process Manager.
Click a User to move them to the Selected Process Managers list.
There is no Save button on this tab — every change is saved the moment you make it, and the auto-save timestamp at the bottom of the page confirms it.
How to Remove a Process Manager
Roll over a User in the Selected Process Managers list and click the trashcan icon that appears on the row. The removal is saved immediately.
What Happens Once You Select Process Managers
The Users you selected can now create, edit, publish, duplicate, and archive Processes.
Sibme's two Pre-Defined Processes — First Year Teacher Cycle and Experienced Teacher Cycle — are added to your Account as Unpublished Processes, owned by your first Process Manager. They are ready-made starting points your team can duplicate and adapt.
The Terminology Tab
Every organization has its own way of talking about observations. The Terminology tab — headed Observations Terminology Settings — lets you swap Sibme's standard terms for your own. You can rename any of these eight terms:
Observation
Process
Step
Sub-Step
Observer
Observee
Viewer
Signature
To rename a term, type your replacement in its Terminology Alternative field and click Save. To discard your changes instead, click Cancel.
Your custom terms replace the defaults everywhere they appear in Sibme — the menu bar, the Observations module itself, and email notifications. Plural forms are handled automatically, so you only enter the singular.
Note: Unlike the Process Managers tab, the Terminology tab does not auto-save. Your changes take effect only after you click Save.
Signature Disclaimer Text
Below the terminology fields is the Signature Disclaimer Text editor. This text is shown to Users whenever they sign a Signature Step in an Observation, directly above the Confirm & Sign button.
Sibme provides a default disclaimer to start from, but it is written to be replaced: have your organization's authorized representative review and customize it to reflect your policies and applicable regulations. Edit the text in the editor and click Save to apply it.
What's Next
How to Create an Observation Process | Sibme Help Center