Initiatives Archives - ActionPlanner

Creating Key Performance Indicators (KPI)

Victor Veloso — Tue, 20 Sep 2022 11:12:19 +0000

Adding KPIs in ActionPlanner follows the general goal theory, stating that people perform better if a goal is specific and even better if it is measurable. KPI’s can help you make initiatives measurable.

To add KPI’s on an initiative, follow these steps:

Go to the initiative you wish to add a KPI;
Access the “Initiative options” in the upper right hand corner of the screen;
Select the option “Edit initiative”.
Proceed to scroll to the section: “Key performance indicators” and click the “Add KPI” on the right side of the section:

When creating KPIs you are expected to as a minimum to fill out the mandatory fields (marked with *). If you for example want to create a “Sell more licenses” KPI, then:

KPI name = Sell more licenses
Target = 1000
Unit = New licenses

Other examples are (KPI name, target, unit):

Client visits, 15, meetings
Test products, 3, pilot projects
Lean production, 15, sprints

You can also make a KPI description to clarify the specifics about the KPI.

You can furthermore set the type of KPI you want. These include:

Ascending KPIs: A KPI that is increasing over time. More is better e.g. units produced per hour.
Descending KPIs: A KPI that is decreasing over time. Less is better e.g. number of errors.
Smiley: Qualitative (rather than quantitative) KPI where report on via a green, yellow or red smiley. Examples are (KPI name): Better at motivating, Client service, Support level, Price level etc.

Now you are ready to save the KPI and create more KPI’s if needed by repeating the procedure above. Finalize by saving the initiative.

The next time the responsible gives feedback on the initiative, he can report on the KPI’s as part of the feedback.

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Feedback requirements

Victor Veloso — Tue, 20 Sep 2022 11:10:45 +0000

Feedback Requirements are used by the owner to communicate how often the owner expects the responsible to give feedback to the initiative i.e. provide a status and progress report. By choosing a frequency ActionPlanner push reminders to help people keep a realtime overview.

Feedback requirements express how often you as expect the initiative is updated (get feedback). If milestones are not created, we recommend feedback requirements to be set at a minimum every month. That is why the default setting on new initiatives are monthly feedback requirements.

This can be changed if you wish to do so from the initiative edit page.

With the requirements, ActionPlanner becomes a reminder system triggering notifications to youonce a feedback is due.

Add/edit feedback requirements

To add/edit feedback requirements on an initiative, follow these steps:

Go to the initiative you wish to add/edit feedback requirements on;
Access the “Initiative options” in the upper right hand corner of the screen;
Select the option “Edit initiative”;
Scroll to the section “Feedback requirements”;
Unfold the “Frequency ” and select how often you expect the intiative to be updated by the responsible:

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Move initiatives to other roadmaps

Victor Veloso — Tue, 20 Sep 2022 11:08:54 +0000

This feature is relevant for users that are working with more than one roadmap.

You can move initiatives and sub initiatives to other roadmaps by modifying the relation in two ways as a User:

Through Quick Edit on your Initiative detail page
Through the Edit option in your “Initiative options” dropdown

1. Through Quick Edit on your Initiative detail page

Modify the relation through quick edit by clicking the pencil icon located next to the initiative name (when you hover the name). Proceed to unfold the “Align to” setting and unfold the roadmap you wish to re-align your initiative to:

2. Through the Edit option in your Initiative Options dropdown

Go to the initiative you wish to re-align to a new roadmap;
Access the “Initiative options” in the upper right hand corner of the screen;
Select the option “Edit initiative”;
Proceed to unfold the “Align to” setting and unfold the roadmap you wish to re-align your initiative to:

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Delete initiative

Victor Veloso — Tue, 20 Sep 2022 11:07:14 +0000

To delete an initiative as owner, follow these steps:

Go to the initiative you wish to delete;
Access the “Initiative options” in the upper right hand corner of the screen;
Click the section “Other options” and select the option “Delete initiative”.

You can delete initiatives as owner on an initiative OR admin user.

Please note that once you delete the initiative, there’s no going back meaning, you can not retrieve it.

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Attaching files to initiatives

Victor Veloso — Tue, 20 Sep 2022 11:06:12 +0000

There are several ways to attach files in ActionPlanner:

Direct attachment to the initiative
Attach when you give feedback to initiatives and milestones
Attach when you are commenting items

1. Direct attachment to the initiative

When you are viewing the initiative, you can attach the file directly by going to the “Initiative options” dropdown in the header and click the option “Attach file”.

2. Attach when giving feedback to initiatives and milestones

If you are giving feedback to your initiative or milestone, you can always add supporting documents using the “Attach file” functionality.

3. Attach when you are commenting

When you are posting comments, you can also attach documents. The link will be found below the comment box on the right.

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Share initiatives

Victor Veloso — Tue, 20 Sep 2022 11:04:36 +0000

To share an initiative, follow these steps:

Go to the initiative you wish to share with yourself or another user;
Access the “Initiative options” in the upper right hand corner of the screen;
Select the option “Share initiative”.
When clicked an select user pop-up will emerge from where you can select the user/users you wish to share the initiative with and click save:

Tip! Some users may not be able to see your initiative due to view permissions. Use the share feature to allow these users to view your initiatives. Users with share rights will get updates on feedbacks made to the initiative and any date changes made.

Tip! If you are depending on the progress of another initiative, share that initiative with yourself to subscribe to updates.

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Invite supporter

Victor Veloso — Tue, 20 Sep 2022 11:03:30 +0000

The Supporter on an initiative has the same authorities to make changes and updates as the responsible. So, if you are truly co-operating on an initiative, you can invite one or more people as supporters to any Initiative.

We also see the supporter role used in case of the initiative editing and updating being delegated to an assistant or support function, e.g. sales support functions updating actions on behalf of the Key Accounts or a Personal Assistant updating on behalf of her manager.

To invite a supporter on an initiative, follow these steps:

Go to the initiative you wish to invite the user to support;
Access the “Initiative options” in the upper right hand corner of the screen;
Select the option “Invite supporter”.
When clicked an invitation pop-up will emerge from where you can select the person and write an invitation message:

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Parking initiatives (save as draft)

Victor Veloso — Tue, 20 Sep 2022 11:01:47 +0000

If you are creating initiatives, which you are not ready to assign, you are able to park those initiatives – in other words, save them as draft initiatives.

Additionally, you are also able to take an initiative from “active” state and save it as a draft at a later stage, to keep the history but not clutter up the overview reports in case it is an initiative which is not worked on.

To park an initiative/save as draft follow these steps:

Go to the initiative you wish to park;
Access the “Initiative options” in the upper right hand corner of the screen;
Click the section “Other options” and select the option “Park initiative”.

Where do I find my draft initiatives?

Use the filters available in your overview reports, to switch on the “DRAFTS”:

Proceed to click the “Draft” option in the section “Initiative state” and click save:

TIP: You can draft standard templates of initiatives you expect to be reoccurring. By doing so you can quick and easy create initiatives when necessary and align them without the, at times, time-consuming work of creating initiatives.

To copy a draft initiative draft you simply click the initiative you want to activate and click copy in the “options” dropdown .

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Approve initiatives

Victor Veloso — Tue, 20 Sep 2022 11:00:43 +0000

When an initiative has been assigned to you, you actively need to approve or decline that initiative.

Approve the initiative from the top section “Initiativs awaiting action” on first page you see once you log in to ActionPlanner, in the “PRIORITY” tab:

Note: You unfold the section by clicking the “unfold” button on the very right side of the section (see pic below above for reference).

Click the button on the right side for “Approve/Modify/Decline” to take a decision whether to take on the responsibility or not.

Approve/modify/decline

When you have been assigned an initiative, you are able to choose from the following three options:

Approve – you are willing to take on the responsibility to drive and complete the initiative.
Modify – you would like to take on the responsibility with certain modifications, which you will propose and send back to the owner for approval.
Decline – you are not ready to take on the responsibility due to circumstances you will elaborate upon as part of you declining the initiative.

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Complete initiative

Victor Veloso — Tue, 20 Sep 2022 06:18:43 +0000

As OWNER of an initiative, you request completion by following these steps:

Go to the initiative you wish to complete;
Access the “Initiative options” in the upper right hand corner of the screen;
Select the option “Complete”.
When you complete an initiative, you are asked to comment with the reason for completing that very initiative:

If you are the initiative responsible, the drop-down option will say “Request completion”. Read more about requesting completion HERE.

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