An initiative is like a project, it has an end-date, a specific deliverable.
- To add a new initiative click on ‘Add New’ and give your initiative a name.
- Choose an org. unit. The main purpose of Organizational Units is to enhance the capability to filter reports. Org. Units can have multiple levels (such as company, division, department). Org. Units are only created in the admin function but can be assigned by all users with edit rights.
- Add a description.
- Then choose a responsible person.
- Select which tags you want to link to this initiative: Tags are labels which can be assigned to Matrix Elements, Initiatives, KPIs and Tasks. They are used for filtering purposes. Tags are only created in the admin function. See the separate tutorial on Tag management.
- Now select what priority the initiative has.
- Select the stage. Is it still in the idea phase, in planning, in execution or closed out?
- Select the scope: Not shareable means it cannot be copied or linked to any other matrix element. Shareable means it can be copied or linked within the current matrix group.
- Select the activity status – active, cancelled, finalized, parked.
- Here you can choose what the resource requirement will be – will it be budgeted or not?
- And finally, choose a color. This color will be displayed in the Kanban board Once you save, the new initiative will be on the dashboard. Click on it to start adding information.
This process is completely up to you. As a suggestion, start by adding your team members. Click on Team and add your team members. See separate tutorials for more details on all the individual sections.
Now you can add the measurements or KPI’s you will use to measure the performance or health of this initiative. Click on Metrics and add your KPI’s. Now that we know our KPI’s, we can create tasks we need to do in order to complete the initiative successfully. We can then assign them to our team members and track these through execution stages.
We can now identify any risks that may arise during the execution of this initiative. A risk here is considered an uncertain event or condition that if it occurs has an effect on at least one project objective. Add any possible risks by clicking on risks.
You can also add any supporting documentation or resources in the documentation section. This could be a link to a video, a research document, an image and more.
Finally determine what dependencies there could be. Dependencies represent the relationship of the proceeding initiatives to the succeeding initiatives. Here we look at a finish-to-start relationship. Therefore, the initiative we are creating must be finished before its successor can start. See the separate tutorial on dependencies.
This would be considered the initial set up. Once the initiative starts, additional sections can be added - for example analytics, issues and notes.