In this article:
1. Introduction
2. How to Set up the Initiatives and Outcomes Management Dashboard?
3. How Does the Dashboard Work?
3.1. The Charts View
3.1.1. Types of Charts
3.1.2. N/A Values
3.1.3. Configuring your Charts
3.2. The Results Table
4. How to Use the Results Table to Gain More Insight into Your Objectives?
4.1. The Overall View
4.2. Outcomes Progress
4.3. Outcomes Projection
4.4. Work Progress
4.5. The Outcomes and Checkpoints Expanded Table View
4.5.1. Checkpoints visualization
1. Introduction
The 'Initiatives and Outcomes' management dashboard delivers a way to follow the progress of your Initiatives, Outcomes, and Checkpoints. It is designed to provide a comprehensive overview of your initiatives while offering advanced filtering options to help you focus on specific projects and goals.
To get started on the topic, please refer to our guide on outcome-based management in Businessmap.
You can access this management dashboard from the "Add Widgets" menu on every dashboard.
Note: You need to be a Dashboard Manager to add this management dashboard to a dashboard page.
2. How to Set up the Initiatives and Outcomes Management Dashboard?
To add the management dashboard to your page, click on the ‘Add Widget’ button and navigate to the Management Dashboards section.
Click on the Initiatives and Outcomes management dashboard to open its configuration window.
First, set up the filter for your management dashboard, by clicking on Add cards filter. Here you can specify the filters for your dataset (for example, workflow or lane) — these only have to apply to your top-level initiatives. Their child initiatives, outcomes, and outcome checkpoints will automatically be added as well.
By default, you will have two filters already added, Board and Section, but you can remove them both if you want by clicking on the respective delete icon in the top right corner.
There are 5 columns that will always be displayed in the Results Table of the management dashboard: the title of the initiative/objective, outcome progress, outcome projection, work progress, and target date. However, there is a checkmark in the widget settings that lets you hide the outcome progress and outcome projection from the results table. The option is visible only when updating the widget settings, and not in the initial setup.
You can add more fields from the ‘Table columns’ dropdown menu. This can help you better assess the performance of your initiatives. Once you save your settings, it will be ready and loaded on your dashboard page.
3. How Does the Dashboard Work?
The management dashboard collects data about all initiatives (based on the dataset configuration), their child initiatives, their outcomes (both regular outcomes and Outcome rules), and outcome checkpoints. Then, it analyzes them in depth, down to the last level, allowing for a more detailed understanding of your workflow.
Important: This management dashboard only visualizes initiatives (from Initiatives/Timeline workflows). Cards are not a part of the visualization but are used when calculating the initiatives' Work Progress.
There are two main areas in the management dashboard:
- The Charts View — an aggregated view of the data in the form of charts.
- The Results Table — a list of the initiatives (and their outcomes and outcome checkpoints) that are used in the calculations for the charts.
3.1. The Charts View
3.1.1. Types of Charts
There are three types of charts available in the Charts View of the management dashboard.
The default view will show you the Initiatives Outcomes Progress and Outcomes Progress pie charts.
- The Initiatives Outcomes Progress pie chart (1) shows aggregated data for the Initiatives (objectives) broken down by status. Focus on this chart if you want to see the overall progress of your initiatives' objectives. In the example above, we can see that 50% of your initiatives are on track.
- The Outcomes Progress pie chart (2) shows you aggregated data for your Outcomes (key results) broken down by status. This will show you data for each outcome within every initiative from your dataset. Focus on this chart if you want to see a more granular look into your outcomes. In the example above, we can see that 64.7% of your Outcomes are on track.
If you choose to slice your data by Work Progress, the system will show you the Initiatives Work Progress pie chart.
- The Initiatives Work Progress pie chart shows you aggregated data for the Initiatives broken down by the progress of their work items (initiatives and child cards). It is essentially the same data you would find under the Work Progress table column, displayed in a chart format.
If you are further slicing the data by any of the additional Table Columns, you will get a bar-chart version of the three described charts above, depending on your configuration.
3.1.2. N/A Values
If there are many N/A values on your dashboard, that can be for a couple of reasons. Here they are and how to fix them:
- The initiative has no outcomes — once you add at least one outcome, the N/A value will change into a different status (e.g. Off track).
- The initiative has an outcome, but no target date — once you enter a planned end date or a deadline, the N/A value will change to display the new target date.
- For work progress N/A values only: The initiative has a target date, but it has not been started yet (it is in Backlog or Requested) — once it is moved to In Progress, the N/A value will be updated.
3.1.3. Configuring your Charts
Using the additional configurations available, you can control your view of the data from both the charts and the results table. Additionally, you can click on the chart sections to filter your data as needed. Doing that will also be applied to the results table.
There are two main ways to aggregate your data:
Level (1) — from here, you can filter what level of hierarchy you wish to see on the charts.
The available options are:
- Full hierarchy — this will show data for all initiatives (including their child initiatives) from the selected dataset. By default, the system displays this level (unless you have saved a different configuration from the Save changes button). It will give you a bird's eye view of how all your initiatives are performing.
- Full hierarchy except top level — this will show data for all initiatives, except the top level (parent) initiatives. It will give you an overview of how your child initiatives are progressing.
- Top-level only — this will show data only for the parent initiatives. Use this level if you want to focus on the progress of your parent initiatives.
- First-level children only — this will show data only for the first-level children of the parent initiatives from the selected dataset. If the first-level children have child initiatives of their own, that data will not be included in the chart.
Slice the data by (2) — from here, you can adjust the charts to display different visualizations.
The available options are:
- None — if you choose this option, the system will hide the pie chart graphics and only the Results Table will remain visible.
- Outcomes progress — when slicing data by Outcome progress, you are visualizing a grouping of the initiatives using the progress of their Outcomes as the data points. This data mode helps you manage your Outcomes, both at an initiative level (the Initiatives Outcomes Progress pie chart) and at an Outcome level (Outcomes Progress pie chart). At a glance, you can spot delayed outcomes and potential bottlenecks.
- Work progress — when slicing data by Work progress, you are visualizing a grouping of the initiatives using the progress of their work items (initiatives and child cards) and how many of them are completed. This mode helps you spot project delays and initiatives that need immediate attention.
- Any additional table column (e.g. "Workflow name") you have added when configuring the management dashboard.
Additionally, if you choose any of the Table Properties options in the Slice the data by configuration, you will get the Progress dropdown (3) with the following options:
- Outcomes progress — this will give you aggregated data for the initiatives' outcomes (on an Initiative level in the Initiatives Outcomes Progress pie chart and on an Outcome level in the Outcomes Progress pie chart).
- Work progress — this will group your initiatives depending on the progress of their child cards.
Tip:
To help you better understand the status of your goals and work initiatives across different locations, you can dissect your results into categories by adding one or more of the Table Columns fields to your dashboard (e.g. “Board name,” “Workflow name,” “Color,” “Type,” etc.). This allows you to quickly inspect what and how many initiatives or outcomes with a certain status you have across boards, workflows, lanes, etc., in a bar chart view.
Note: Dashboard Managers can save the widget's current configuration (Level, Sort data by, and Progress) through the Save changes button in the upper right corner (see image below). That way, if you refresh the widget, the configuration setting will be preserved.
3.2. The Results Table
The Results Table is a multi-layer table and will always contain the following columns:
- Initiative / Objective — Displays the titles of the initiatives and arranges them according to the following priority:
- Outcome progress (from highest to lowest risk)
- Target date (earlier to later)
- Outcome projection (from highest to lowest risk)
- Alphabetically
- Outcomes progress — displays the status of the Outcome in the worst state, which has a weight of 5% or more. For example, if you have two outcomes, with weights of 94 and 6, where 94 is "On track" and 6 is “At risk,” the outcome progress will be displayed as “At risk.” The same applies if there are multiple “At risk” outcomes and they make up more than 5% of the total weight of the Outcomes.
- Outcomes projection — displays the status of the Outcome projection in the worst state, which has a weight of 5% or more. For example, if you have two outcomes, with weights of 90 and 10, where 90 is "On track" and 10 is “At risk,” the outcome projection will be displayed as “At risk.” The same applies if there are multiple “At risk” outcomes and they make up more than 5% of the total weight of the Outcomes.
- Work progress — displays the percentage completion of the initiative, based on the state of its children at the lowest level.
- Target Date — displays the Initiative's Deadline or Planned End Date. If both are present, the Planned End Date will have a higher priority.
Note: By clicking on the status indicators for the Outcomes Progress and Outcomes Projection, you can open a window with more information about the outcomes and checkpoints of an initiative, so you can get a more detailed analysis of the data. This will help you assess what’s at risk, off track, on track, etc.
Following these default columns, there are additional columns you may have enabled from the Table Columns during configuration. These can be any of the Regular fields or any available (enabled) Custom Fields.
Note: If there are multiple levels of hierarchy to the initiatives in your dataset, there will be a special icon prompting you to see the initiative's hierarchy, starting from its first-level children. Use the breadcrumb that will appear above the results table to navigate to the desired hierarchy level. To return to the original results table, select All from the breadcrumb. Check the short video below to see this in action.
4. How to Use the Results Table to Gain More Insight into Your Objectives?
The results table lets you easily compare outcomes status with actual work progress. The table view displays a work progress indicator for every initiative in your dataset. If you click on any initiative, you can expand its hierarchy and check the work progress of individual child initiatives.
You can expand each indicator to get a more detailed view of your work and the way it is progressing and assess if your work is actually bringing the results you are aiming for.
Note: If you add the Owner field to your dashboard’s configuration settings, the owner info for each initiative will be displayed as an avatar next to the initiative’s name. This makes it easy to see each initiative's owner without scrolling back and forth. If you hover with the mouse over an avatar, you will see the owner's name, email, and time zone details in a pop-up.
The Initiatives and Outcomes management dashboard has 2 different table views and many types of indicators. In the following sub-sections, you can learn about more of them.
4.1. The Overall View
The overall view is the results table view as it loads when you first configure your management dashboard. It has 5 permanent columns: Outcomes Progress, Outcomes Projection, Work Progress, Target Date, and Section.
The indicators that appear in the first three columns and their meaning are outlined below:
4.2. Outcomes Progress
Under the Outcomes progress column, you may see the following statuses and their visual indicators:
- Reached (purple) — a 100% or above completion (regardless of the Target Date of the initiative).
- On track (dark green) — completion is between 90% and less than 100%, OR the difference between the expected progress and the actual outcome progress is 0% or less.
- Trending (light green) — between 70% and 90% completion, OR the difference between the expected and actual progress is between 0% and 15%.
- Off track (orange) — the outcome is less than 70% fulfilled, and the difference between the expected progress and the actual progress of the outcome is between 15% and 30%.
- At risk (red) — the Target Date has been exceeded, and the outcome is less than 50% fulfilled. Alternatively, when the difference between the expected progress and the actual progress of the outcome is higher than 30%.
- N/A (grey) — valid for initiatives that do not have a Target Date but have at least one Outcome, and this Outcome is less than 90% fulfilled.
- N/A (no color) — valid for initiatives that do not have any Outcomes defined.
- Ended — will be displayed when the Target Date has passed. The color may vary depending on the progress:
- Reached (purple) — progress is at 100% or more.
- On track (dark green) — progress is between 90% and less than 100%.
- Trending (light green) — progress is between 70% and 90%.
- Off track (orange) — progress is between 50% and 70%.
- At risk (red) — progress is below 50%.
4.3. Outcomes Projection
Under the Outcomes projection column, you may see the following statuses and their visual indicators:
- Completed (deep green) — a 100% or above projected Outcome progress at the Target Date.
- On track (deep green) — between 90% and 100% projected Outcome progress at the Target Date.
- Trending (light green) — between 70% and 90% projected Outcome progress at the Target Date.
- Off track (orange) — between 50% and 70% completion projected Outcome progress at the Target Date.
- At risk (red) — under 50% completion projected Outcome progress at the Target Date.
- N/A (without color) — Outcome projection is missing (an initiative that does not have a Target Date or the Target Date is in the past or there aren't enough Outcome values for the projection to be calculated)
Important: Along with these, you may have an additional triangle icon next to either indicator which indicates the following:
- A red triangle means that the outcomes progress/projection of an initiative or one of its children is “At risk.”
- An orange triangle means that the outcomes progress/projection of an initiative or one of its children is “At risk.”
4.4. Work Progress
Under the Work Progress column, you will see a progress bar that visualizes the completion rate of the initiative according to the completion of its children:
- 100% (purple) — all child work items (initiatives and/or cards) are completed.
- On track (deep green) — the difference between the expected and the actual work progress is 0% or less.
- Trending (light green) — the difference between the expected and the actual progress is equal to or less than 15%.
- Off track (orange) — the difference between the expected and the actual progress is between 15% and 30%.
- At risk (red) — the difference between the expected and the actual progress is greater than 30%.
- Overdue (red) — the initiative's target date has passed, but it is still in progress (the work progress is less than 100%).
- N/A (without color) — the Initiative is currently in the Backlog or Requested (i.e. hasn't been started yet).
- Unpredictable (blue) — the work progress cannot be determined because there is no target date.
4.5. The Outcomes and Checkpoints Expanded Table View
When you click on any of the visual status indicators next to the initiatives, you will open up a table with all of the Outcomes and Outcome Checkpoints related to the initiative.
Here you will see the following table columns:
- Outcomes & Checkpoints — the titles of the respective outcomes and checkpoints.
- Start, Current, Target, and Weight — these are the values of the respective outcomes or checkpoints.
- Start (for Outcomes) refers to the starting value of the outcome. The start value is manually defined.
Start (for Checkpoints) is either the previous checkpoint’s target value or the current value of the outcome.
Current (for Outcomes) refers to the current value of the outcome. - Current (for Checkpoints) refers to the current value of the outcome. For completed checkpoints, this will display the current value of the outcome at the checkpoint's end date. For future checkpoints, this will show N/A.
- Target (for Outcomes) refers to the target value of the outcome.
- Target (for Checkpoints) refers to the target value of the next checkpoint. If there are no other checkpoints, this would show the target value of the outcome.
- Weight refers to the weight of the outcome in regards to the other outcomes of the initiative (N/A for Checkpoints).
- Progress — the current completion % of the outcome/checkpoint. If a checkpoint has passed, the last % completion is taken, depending on what the current value before its target day approaches is. If a checkpoint is planned for the future, the progress will be 0% until it starts.
- Projection — the projected outcome/checkpoint progress at the Target Date.
- Target Date — displays the outcome/checkpoint's date by which they should be fulfilled.
In this extended menu, the values in the Progress and Projection columns can also be colored differently depending on their status.
To learn more about why a certain progress value is colored in the corresponding color, you can hover over it and read a tooltip* that goes into the reasoning behind it.
* Tooltips are only available on progress values.
The Progress value colors:
- 100% or more (purple) — the outcome/checkpoint target value has been reached.
- On track (deep green) — the actual progress is higher than the expected one.
- Trending (light green) — the difference between expected and actual progress is between 0% and 15%.
- Off track (orange) — the difference between expected and actual progress is between 15% and 30%.
- At risk (red) — the difference between expected and actual progress is greater than 30%.
The Projection value colors:
- Green — between 90% and 100% projected progress at the Target Date.
- Light Green — between 70 and 90% projected progress at the Target Date.
- Orange — between 50% and 70% completion projected progress at the Target Date.
- Red — under 50% completion projected progress at the Target Date.
- N/A — there is no projection because the outcome/checkpoint is complete.
4.5.1. Checkpoints visualization
Each checkpoint has its completion status in parenthesis after its name.
Checkpoints are visualized in three different ways depending on their status:
- If a checkpoint is complete, it is struck out and colored in grey.
- If a checkpoint is currently in progress, it is bolded.
- If a checkpoint is in the future, it has a (not started) tag after it.
Important: If your outcome or checkpoint is not complete, you can hover over its progress value to see how much it deviates from the expected progress value.