How to work with Initiatives

Execution of each objective is planned through one or more initiatives which have a specified time frame. An objective can have any number of initiatives. The time frame during which the initiative is executed can be dynamically adjusted as the team gets along the runway of implementation.

How to add an Initiative

Hovering over an objective will reveal two icons towards the right end. Click on the downward pointing arrow to expand the objective. This will reveal all the initiatives already added placed according to the time frame of execution as shown in Figure 10 in the previous section.

If you hover your mouse over the label Initiative on the top left corner, Prakya will reveal a “+” symbol. Clicking on that will bring up the Add New Initiative dialogue as shown in Figure 12.

Figure 12: Add New Initiative Dialogue

To add initiatives:

1. Give a Title to the initiative using the title text box.
2. Select an Estimated Start Date for the initiative. Clicking on the calendar icon to the right of this field will bring up the date picker which allows you to navigate to the date you want.
3. Select an Estimated End Date for the initiative.
4. Select an Save of the initiative. You can remove the default owner by clicking on the “x” to the left of the name. You can add the owner by typing the name of the user. This will display a list of matching usernames. You can select one of them.
5. You can click on the “+” symbol in the top right, visible next to the Owner label to add more initiatives.
6. Click on Save to add all the initiatives to the objective. Clicking on Cancel will discard all the changes you have made.

How to edit and add more details to an initiative

The add initiatives dialogue gives you a quick interface to add all the initiatives that are required to meet an objective. However, each initiative can have more details like a description of the initiative, the privacy settings for the initiative and the roadmap items that detail how this initiative is tied to the actual work that teams are going to do. These can be added using the Edit Initiative Dialogue.

To edit an initiative:

1. Click on the Settings icon on the right side of the initiative title. It lists four options as show in figure. A brief description of each option is as below:
   1. The Add Roadmap option allows you to quickly add a roadmap item to the initiative. We shall discuss this later under a separate section.
   2. The Maximize option will expand and show only this initiative in full screen mode so that you can edit and add details in a distraction free environment.
   3. The Edit option will open the Edit Initiative dialogue as shown in figure 13 and allow you to add more detailing to the initiative.
   4. The Delete option will allow you to delete the initiative.
   5. You can click on the “+” symbol in the top right, visible next to the Owner label to add more initiatives.
   6. Click on Save to add all the initiatives to the objective. Clicking on Cancel will discard all the changes you have made.
2. Click on the Edit option. Prakya will bring up the Edit Initiative dialogue as shown in figure 14.
3. You can make changes to the Title by editing the text.
4. Next to the title is Pick Color option that can make your strategy board a little colorful. You can color code the initiatives by selecting a color for each initiative. You can choose a coding scheme based on your priorities or team assignments etc.
5. 
6. Add a detailed Description to document the initiative appropriately. As with all description fields in Prakya, this allows you to create a beautifully formatted piece of text that can help users understand the meaning and purpose of this initiative.
7. You can assign this initiative to an Owner. To remove an existing owner, click on the “x” mark on the left of the owner’s name. To add an owner type in his name and a list that matches the name would appear.
8. You can adjust the privacy settings of this initiative to either Public or Private.
   1. If you choose the privacy mode to be Public, then all users will have access to this initiative.
   2. If you choose it to be Private, then you can control which users can see this initiative.
   3. You can make changes to the Estimated Start and End dates in case that is required.
   4. Using the Roadmaps section, you can add, edit or delete roadmap items to this initiative. This will be covered in detail in the next section.

How to delete an Initiative

Deleting an initiative will cascade delete all the roadmap items and will dissociate the features that are linked to each roadmap item. You must be careful before you do this. Here are the steps needed to delete an initiative.

1. Click on the Settings icon to the left of the initiative. Prakya will display the Initiative settings menu as shown in Figure 13.
2. Click on the Delete option. Prakya will bring up the Delete Initiative Confirmation dialogue. Ponder a second if you are doing the right thing.
3. Click on the Yes button to delete the initiative. Click on the No button to keep the Initiative as is.

Working with the initiative using the Full Screen Mode

To enable a distraction free environment to work with initiative, Prakya allows you to maximize the initiative into a full screen mode where you can focus and finish your work. To enter the full screen mode:

1. Click on the Settings icon, to the left of the title of the initiative.
2. Prakya will pop up the settings menu as shown in Figure 13.
3. Click on the Maximize option to switch to full screen mode.