Initiatives¶
Initiatives are strategic programs that group related projects and outcomes. They provide portfolio-level visibility, resource coordination, and executive rollup of value realization.
Who this is for¶
Executive Admin End User
Prerequisites¶
- At least one active project or approved business case
- Role permission to create or join initiatives
- An organizational value framework or strategic theme defined
Overview¶
Initiatives sit above projects in the value hierarchy. They represent strategic bets—such as "Digital Transformation 2026" or "Cost Optimization Program"—that cut across accounts and teams.
Strategic grouping¶
Projects are grouped into initiatives by:
- Strategic theme — such as revenue growth, operational efficiency, or risk reduction
- Value driver — all projects targeting the same driver family
- Account cluster — multi-phase engagements with a single customer
- Time horizon — quarterly or annual programs
To create an initiative:
- Navigate to Initiatives in the top rail.
- Click Create Initiative.
- Enter name, description, and strategic theme.
- Set a target time horizon and total forecasted value.
- Click Save.
Portfolio view¶
The initiative portfolio view shows:
- Project count — active, at risk, on hold, and closed
- Total forecasted value — sum of project business case forecasts
- Realized value YTD — sum of achieved outcomes
- Realization rate — realized divided by forecasted
- Milestone health — percentage of milestones on time
Rollup logic¶
Value rolls up from project to initiative using the following rules:
- Forecasted value — summed directly across child projects
- Realized value — summed directly across child projects
- Variance — computed as realized minus forecasted at the initiative level
- Status — derived from the worst child project status unless all are closed
The rollup refreshes every 15 minutes. A manual refresh is available once per minute.
Cross-project dependencies¶
Initiatives can declare dependencies between projects:
- Finish-to-start — Project B cannot start until Project A finishes
- Benefit transfer — Project A's outcome is Project B's baseline
- Resource sharing — Projects share a constrained resource pool
Dependency violations trigger alerts to the initiative owner.
Initiative health score¶
The health score is a composite metric (0–100) derived from:
| Factor | Weight | Calculation |
|---|---|---|
| Realization rate | 40% | Realized / Forecasted |
| Milestone health | 25% | On-time milestones / Total milestones |
| Budget health | 20% | 1 - (variance / budget) |
| Risk exposure | 15% | 1 - (open high-severity risks / total risks) |
Scores are color-coded:
- Green (80–100) — Healthy, on track
- Yellow (50–79) — Needs attention
- Red (0–49) — Requires executive intervention
Health scores appear on the portfolio dashboard and in weekly executive summaries.
Example¶
A "Manufacturing Excellence 2026" initiative contains three projects:
| Project | Forecast | Realized | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Predictive Maintenance | $1.2M | $900K | Monitoring |
| Quality AI | $800K | $820K | Closed |
| Energy Optimization | $600K | $200K | At risk |
Initiative rollup: $2.6M forecast, $1.92M realized, 74% realization rate. The at-risk project triggers an executive alert.
Permissions required¶
| Role | Permission | Scope |
|---|---|---|
| Admin | Create and archive initiatives | Organization |
| User | Create initiatives | Assigned accounts |
| User | Add or remove projects | Owned initiatives |
| Executive | View all initiative rollups | Organization |
initiatives:write to create or edit; initiatives:read to view.
Limits and guardrails¶
Limit A maximum of 100 projects per initiative.
Limit A maximum of 50 active initiatives per organization.
Limit Cross-project dependency chains are limited to 10 levels to prevent circular references.
Troubleshooting¶
Issue: Initiative realization rate does not match project totals
Cause: A project was added or removed after the last rollup, or a project has unreported actuals. Resolution: Click Refresh Rollup in the initiative header, or verify that all child projects have up-to-date actuals.
Issue: Cannot add a project to an initiative
Cause: The project is already owned by another initiative, or the project status is cancelled. Resolution: Remove the project from its current initiative first, or restore the project from cancelled status.
Issue: Dependency alert fires incorrectly
Cause: The dependency date was not updated after a schedule change. Resolution: Open the initiative's Dependencies panel, edit the affected dependency, and adjust the target date.
Issue: Initiative health score dropped suddenly
Cause: A large project was added to the initiative, diluting the realization rate, or a high-severity risk was logged. Resolution: Drill down into the health score breakdown. If the drop is due to a new project, confirm the project's forecast is realistic. If due to risk, review the risk register.
Related pages¶
Escalation path¶
For initiative governance or access issues, contact your workspace admin. For rollup calculation discrepancies, open a support ticket with the initiative ID and a screenshot of the portfolio view.