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Initiative

The scheduled work we do in our focus periods are described in what we call initiatives.

An initiative makes it clear why this should be done, and how it can solve what for whom.

The process of taking an idea to a proposed initiative, is typically referred to as shaping.

Anatomy

These are the key components of an initiative:

Essence

The essence should describe the core idea and purpose of the initiative. This should be clear and concise, and ensures that you have solid understanding of the problem.

In addition this helps the working group make scoping decisions along the way.

Investment

All iniatives are timeboxed to a certain number of weeks or days. This is the upper limit of how much time we are willing to spend on it, before we do a re-evaluation.

It's important to note that this is not an estimate of how long it will take to complete the initiative, but rather a statement of how much time we feel is reasonable to spend on it given the potential impact.

Non-goals

During the shaping process, you often identify rabbit holes and critial paths that you don't want to go down. These should be listed as non-goals with an explanation.

Possible solution

Make sure that there actually exists a path to success by sketching out how one envisions an actual possible solution.

This exercise ensures that what is proposed is technically feasible. By going through the moving parts involved, you're usually able to detect any obvious show stoppers as well as possible rabbit holes to avoid. These should be listed as non-goals.

Having worked through this, we can see if we are introducing or removing any components, creating any new dependencies or taking on any new responsibilities. Understand the technical and/or human impact is important aspects when evaluating the initiative.

If the solution impacts or involves some parts of NAIS, make sure that the relevant people (e.g. anchors) are involved in the shaping process.

Rough sketches can also be helpful to help the working group understand the rough idea you have in mind.

Depending on how clear your understanding of the problem is, this can be a chaotic process where many ideas are thrown around and you find yourself exploring many alternative solutions, refining the essence, and the investment as you go along. Note that the working group is free to deviate from this as long as the essence is preserved.

Other relevant information

List any other relevant information that might be useful for the working group to know. Links, images, sketches, etc.

Working on initiatives

Getting started

When the focus period has been set, the working group get together and make a plan for the period. It's a good idea to talk through the iniative(s) together, to make sure that everyone is on the same page. If anything is unclear, this is the time to ask questions and involve whomever was involved in the shaping of the initiative. Once this is done, it's a good idea to see if there is any particular order in which the initiatives should be worked on.

Things to consider related to this might be: - Will any key people be unavailable during the focus period? - Are there any other initiatives in the team, that might impact our work - that we should coordinate with?

Working on the initiative

When working on the iniatitive, it's important to keep track of time. Once in a while, it's good practice to check if we're on track to delivering the essence within the alloted time.

You might find yourself in a situation where you've found a solution sooner than the scoped investment. This is normal and great, just move on. In the opposite situation, where more time is needed to finish the solution you've envisioned - see if there is a way to narrow the scope. If there isn't any meaningful way to reduce the scope, we re-evaluate the initiative before moving on.