BETA: Tracking company objectives and initiatives on the Objectives and Initiatives board

This feature is currently available for invited participants in our private beta.

The Objectives and Initiatives Board is ideal for aligning your product organization around your strategy. Define, communicate, and track your objective, initiatives, and Key Results (OKRs). Link your objective and initiatives to Features and visualize them over time on your Roadmaps.

In this article: 

• Getting started with the Objectives and Initiatives Board
• Editing Objective details
• Add and edit Objective Key Results
• Composing a Key Result update
• Limitations

Getting started with the Objectives and Initiatives Board

The Objectives and Initiatives Board in Productboard allows users to place existing objectives and initiatives or create new ones in a hierarchical tree view. You can also add Key Results, update their progress and compose updates for the team.

To get started with the Objectives and Initiatives Board: 

1. Navigate to your Objectives and Initiatives Board.
   
2. Click the left text field at the top to define your company vision.
   
3. Click in the right text field at the top to define the reasoning that links your OKRs to your vision.
   
4. Hover over a level name and click on the edit icon. Type the desired name and hit enter on your keyboard to save the name.

Adding and linking Objectives and Initiatives

To add and link objectives and initiatives:

1. Add an existing or create a new objective by clicking the cell on the grid. Start typing the objective and initiatives name to search existing objectives and initiatives, or create a new objective or initiative by typing the name in the search field at the top and clicking Create to create a new objective or initiative with the specified name.
   
   
   
2. Link objectives and initiatives by clicking the bottom or top handle of an objective and initiative and clicking on the objective/initiative you want to link.
   
   
   

   Note: It is possible to link a Parent objective to a Child objective. 

3. You can remove the objectives and initiatives using the top right menu on the objective/initiative.
   
   
4. You can move objectives and initiatives horizontally on the board.
   

   Note: it is not possible to move them to another level yet.

   
   

Editing objectives and initiatives details

In the objectives and initiatives Details, you can easily update all the attributes on objectives and initiatives.

• Level: View the objectives and initiatives level in the hierarchy.
• Parent and Children: View the parent and child objectives and initiatives that are related to this objective/initiative. It is not possible to edit this in the details view.
• Team: Assign or update the team working on the objective and initiative.
• Timeframe: Define or update the Objectives and Initiatives Timeframe by clicking on the date picker and selecting a start and end date.
• Theme: Define or update what Theme the objectives and initiatives belong to. Themes are unique to objectives and initiatives.

Add and edit Objective Key Results

To add and edit Objective Key Results: 

1. Navigate to the Objective Details and click on the Key Results tab.
   
2. Start entering the name of your first Key Result and hit enter to add the next Key Result.
   
3. Hit the backspace on your keyboard or click outside the field to finish adding Key Results.
   
   
   

   Note: The author of the objective will be assigned as the objective owner.

4. Click Add start and target value and select what Units (numbers or percentages) you want to use for measuring the Objective.
   
5. All your changes will be logged in the history at the bottom.
   

Composing a Key Result update

To compose a Key Result update:

1. Navigate to the objectives and initiatives Details and click on the Key Results tab.
2. Click on the Key Result you want to update.
3. Set a new value (optional).
4. Set a new status (optional).
   
5. Add a comment and click the Submit update button.
6. When you have clicked the Submit Update button, your update will be shown in the Update Activity. As well as your activity in the History Log at the bottom.
   

View objectives and initiatives levels on the roadmap

The objectives and initiatives Levels defined on the objectives and initiatives Board will be shown as a label on the objectives and initiatives in a Roadmap:

Limitations

• The system is not sending email notifications to followers when clicking Submit update.
• It is not possible to edit comments in the Key Result Update
• There is no drag + drop of cards
• It's not possible to use an objectives and initiatives List hierarchy view
• It's not possible to automatically roll up Key Result progress to objectives and initiatives
• It's not possible to get a better overview of Key Results on the objectives and initiatives Board
• It's not possible to Draft Objectives and Key Results or set them to status review/approve
• It's not possible to toggle objectives and initiatives Labels on/off on the Roadmap
• It's not possible to filter objectives and initiatives by teams, status, etc.
• It's not possible to use APIs for i.e. tracking Key Result progress in external systems, and updating Key Result progress in PB, among others.
• It’s not possible to manage permissions, roles, and rights
• It’s not possible to use a boolean (Completed/Not completed) as a unit for tracking Key Results.