Initiative
Reading time: 6 minutes
Last updated
Reading time: 6 minutes
Last updated
In short: Initiatives in Timebook allow you to manage and track all of your organization’s strategic efforts in one place. By linking Initiatives to Goals and Projects, you can ensure that every effort aligns with the overall vision. This article also details the features of the dedicated module, which enables you to view and manage all Initiatives within your Timebook Workplace.
Timebook Initiatives are strategic efforts that help bridge the gap between and the smaller, more actionable tasks . Initiatives represent key areas of focus or themes that align with your organization’s objectives and are broader in scope than individual projects but narrower than long-term goals.
In Timebook, you can link Goals directly to Projects. However, Initiatives can be useful if you need an additional level of organization to prioritize resources, track progress toward strategic objectives, and ensure everyone understands the context of their project work within the larger picture. Timebook Initiatives have a dedicated module at the , allowing you to view and manage all organizational efforts in one place.
Multiple Projects can be assigned to each Initiative in Timebook.
This allows you to group related efforts under a common objective, providing better visibility into how different Projects contribute to overarching strategy.
The [Initiatives] module, accessible directly from the Navigator, contains a complete list of all Initiatives in your Timebook Workplace. Each Initiative is displayed as a card that highlights key properties, such as the Date range, Risk assessment, and Owner. Click on an Initiative to view its details and the Projects it contains.
As a Head of Department, you can use Initiatives to track all efforts in your domain. You can easily evaluate which supporting Projects are in progress, identify potential roadblocks, and ensure that your department’s work is effectively contributing to organizational priorities.
As a Team Lead, you can easily see which Initiatives are active, understand their context within the broader organizational objectives, and ensure that your team’s efforts are aligned with the company’s priorities.
The [Initiatives] module includes the [Manage view] section that lets you customize how Initiatives are displayed. You can choose , such as List or Timeline, to best suit your needs. Filters are also available to narrow down the Initiatives shown, for example, by date range or status. Additionally, you can save these customized views either as public, for all members to access, or as private, for your personal use.
You can create Initiatives for your entire Timebook Workplace using the dedicated module described above.
To create an Initiative:
Click [Add an Initiative] in the top-right corner of the module.
Give your new Initiative a meaningful name. At this stage, you can also:
Add a short description or define basic properties.
Assign multiple Projects to your Initiative.
Click [Create...] to save your changes.
The new Initiative’s card opens and you can edit its details, add Projects to it, or access other available options.
After you create an Initiative, you can create Projects in it. Open the Initiative’s card, click the [+] button at the top of the list, and start creating Projects. See this article for more information on Project creation.
You can also add existing Projects to an Initiative after the creation process. To do so, open the Initiative’s drawer and use the [Projects] field. See below for more information on features available in the Initiative drawer.
Each Initiative card in Timebook has two areas of focus:
The main area displays the contents of one of the tabs you can select at the top, next to the Initiative’s name. See below for more information on available tabs.
You can also expand the Initiative’s drawer using the dedicated button in the top-right corner. The drawer will occupy the right side of the screen, showing the Initiative’s basic properties, such as Status or Risk assessment, and linked Goals. See below for more information on the drawer’s contents.
In the top-right corner of the card, you have two additional options to keep your Initiative accessible:
[Add to Bookmarks] saves the Initiative for future reference. You can find it by opening the [Bookmarks] module in the Navigator.
[Pin to Navigator] adds the Initiative to the [Pinned items] area of the Navigator. You can quickly jump to the pinned Initiative using the menu on the left, no matter where you are in Timebook.
We have a dedicated article on how to use pins and bookmarks to keep your important objects always within easy reach.
For more information, see Bookmarks & pins
Each Initiative has three tabs located at the top, next to the Initiative’s name:
The tabs presented above are not exclusive to Initiative cards.
Cards of other object types in Timebook, such as Sprints or Projects, have nearly identical designs.
The main area primarily helps you manage Projects within an Initiative, while the drawer allows you to define properties and link the Initiative to other Timebook objects. You can open the drawer using the button in the top-right corner of the Initiative card and collapse it again when you want to focus more on the work itself.
The Initiative drawer consists of the following sections:
As mentioned above, one of the key benefits of using the drawer is the ability to easily link your Initiative to Goals. These links provide clear, structured connections between strategic efforts and the desired outcomes. Additionally, by linking your Initiative to multiple Projects, you gain full visibility into how lower-level tasks align with high-level objectives.
