Create an Initiative

An Initiative is the canvas attached to an OKR

In Goals/OKRs, an Initiative is what ALLO calls the canvas attached to an Objective or Key Result. The Objective says what direction matters. The Key Result says how success is measured. The Initiative is the canvas where the team plans, collects context, assigns work, reviews output, and keeps the work connected to the outcome it is meant to move.

That distinction matters. An Initiative is not a second Key Result, not a hidden status note, and not a separate project board. It is a canvas shown inside the OKR workflow. Use it when the team needs a place to turn strategy into concrete work without disconnecting that work from the Objective or Key Result.

If you are still deciding what should be measured, read Add Key Results. If you need to update progress, use Check in progress.

Availability and permissions

If the create action is missing or the canvas will not open, use Troubleshoot OKR permissions before creating a duplicate.

When to create an Initiative

Create an Initiative when the team needs an OKR-connected canvas. Good Initiative candidates include a launch plan, a customer research canvas, a support-documentation rewrite, an operational cleanup plan, an experiment plan, a workshop space, or a rollout checklist.

Do not create an Initiative for every tiny task. Use the Initiative canvas for the body of work that belongs in review. Inside that canvas, your team can break the work down using the canvas, task, or subtask tools available in your workspace.

Do not create an Initiative just to restate the Key Result. A Key Result such as Reduce invite-related support conversations by 30% measures the outcome. An Initiative such as Publish invite troubleshooting and deactivated-access recovery docs is the work expected to influence that outcome.

Where to create an Initiative

Open Goals/OKRs, open the correct Session, then open the Objective or Key Result that the work should support. Use the Initiative action or Initiative section available in the detail view.

Key Result detail is the most common place to add an Initiative because Key Results are where progress is measured. If the work supports a broader direction rather than one metric, attach it to the Objective instead.

After creating the Initiative, open it to work in the connected canvas. Review the Initiative row for the name, owner, due date, status, and canvas entry point shown in the current view.

Create the Initiative

1. Open the Objective or Key Result that the work should support.
2. Choose Add Initiative or the equivalent Initiative action.
3. Give the Initiative a concrete name.
4. Save it.
5. Open the connected canvas.
6. Add the work plan, notes, files, diagrams, decisions, tasks, subtasks, or review material your team needs.
7. Add an owner, due date, or status where those fields are available.
8. Use Check-ins on the related Key Result to explain whether the Initiative is moving the outcome.

The Initiative canvas is where the work lives. The Key Result is where the measurable progress lives.

Write useful Initiative names

An Initiative name should point to real work that someone can open and review.

The better versions are concrete. They tell a reviewer what work should exist inside the connected canvas.

Use the Initiative canvas well

Use the canvas to hold the work that would otherwise be scattered across chat, files, meeting notes, and task comments. A good Initiative canvas holds:

• the plan and owners
• open questions and decision notes
• supporting files
• sketches and review screenshots
• draft content
• links to related work

If your workspace exposes task-style fields, subtasks, or child work inside the Initiative canvas, use them to break the work into manageable pieces. Treat that work as canvas detail.

Completing a subtask can be important, but it does not automatically prove the Key Result moved. Use a Check-in when the outcome changes or when the team needs progress context.

If the Initiative needs a broader collaboration space, use the canvas like any other ALLO canvas:

• organize the work visually
• keep context near decisions
• share the canvas with the people who need to participate

See Create a canvas for the general canvas workflow, and Share a canvas when reviewers need access.

Initiatives versus Key Results

If the phrase sounds like an outcome, it probably belongs as a Key Result. Look for words like increase, reduce, raise, lower, reach, achieve, shorten, or improve paired with a measurable target.

If the phrase sounds like work, it probably belongs as an Initiative. Look for words like create, launch, rewrite, audit, interview, migrate, publish, test, or roll out.

There are edge cases, but the split is worth protecting. Key Results keep the team honest about outcomes. Initiatives give the team a place to execute.

Example

Objective: Make account and permission problems easier for customers to solve without waiting for support.

Key Result: Reduce access-related support conversations by 30%.

Initiative: Publish workspace roles, sharing, and deactivated-access recovery docs.

Inside the Initiative canvas, the team keeps the article outline, source screenshots, reviewer notes, subtasks for each article, and final publication links. During review, the Key Result owner uses Check-ins to explain whether support conversations are actually dropping.

This works because the direction, measurement, and connected canvas are separate but linked in the OKR workflow.

How Initiatives appear in reviews

Initiatives appear in the OKR views where the connected work is reviewed, including Objective or Key Result detail views, list summaries, and Snapshot review tables. Snapshot exports can include Initiative rows so reviewers can open the canvas connected to a progress point.

Use this visibility to keep review honest. If a Key Result is at risk even though several Initiatives are active, the review conversation should be about outcome risk, not activity volume.

Permission and visibility notes

Initiative editing follows Goals/OKRs permissions. Opening the connected canvas also follows canvas access. A person can see the Initiative row and still need permission to open the canvas.

If the Initiative canvas was shared broadly but the Objective is private, the canvas alone does not give people full Goals/OKRs context. Share the right resource for the job, and use Share a canvas when the missing access is on the connected canvas.

If the Session is archived, use it for historical review, not active execution.

Common mistakes

Do not use Initiatives as progress numbers. Progress belongs on Key Results and Check-ins.

Do not create Initiatives with vague names such as Follow up or Improve process. The canvas may contain detail later, but the row should still be understandable in review.

Do not make one Initiative for unrelated work. Create separate Initiatives when the work has different owners, timelines, or review paths.

Do not assume every person who can view the Objective can open the Initiative canvas. Check canvas access before sharing links in a review.

Recover when an Initiative does not work

If the create action is missing, check your edit permission and the Session state.

If the Initiative appears but the canvas will not open, check canvas permission and workspace membership. The Goals/OKRs row and the canvas can fail for different access reasons.

If the Initiative was attached to the wrong Objective or Key Result, move or recreate it according to your workspace policy, then clean up the duplicate so review stays readable.

If the work is complete but progress looks stale, add a Check-in to the related Key Result. Completing work and changing the measured outcome are connected, but they are not the same event.