Prioritisation User Guide
How to use Prioritisation
Once the Prioritisation elements have been set up in Settings, Altus users (initiative owners) can begin evaluating their initiatives that will then be used to rank initiatives against each other.
For an introduction to Prioritisation please view the Prioritisation Overview page.
Evaluating Initiatives
Active Evaluation Criteria and their Categories are displayed within the Initiative's Evaluation tab.
Each of the evaluation criteria has a drop-down list associated with it.
Initiative owners should select the relevant values for each Evaluation Criteria from the drop-down list, and save their changes.
The values selected for this initiative have Evaluation Impact Points assigned to them, which were determined when the Evaluation Criteria were created in the Prioritisation Settings.
Creating/Editing a Prioritisation
Prioritisation can be found in Altus Strategy under the Prioritisations item.
The Prioritisations page lists all the prioritisations created for your organisation.
This page contains the standard Dynamics features that allow you to modify the view:
- The view drop-down, allows you to switch between views easily. The All Prioritisations view is the default view.
- The Edit columns function, allows you to modify the columns within the view.
- The Edit filters function, allows you to modify the hard-coded filters set within this view. There are none set by default.
- The Filter by keywords search function, allows you to search for matches within the Name column.
This view contains the following columns by default:
- Name: The name of this plan
- Created By: Who created the prioritisation
- Created On: When the prioritisation was created
- Status: The status of this prioritisation (Active / Inactive).
How to Create a Prioritisation
Click the New button within the menu bar.
This will open the New Prioritisation page.
The New Prioritisation page Details tab contains the following fields:
- Name: The name you give the plan prioritisation should be short and specific.
- Description: This is where you can expand on the plan prioritisation and provide more details.
- Status: Only Active plans can be created; this can be edited later if the plan prioritisation becomes Inactive.
Once you have entered the above values, click Save and move to the Prioritisation tab.
The Prioritisation tab is where you start to add Initiatives and select a Prioritisation Model so that you can see how these Initiatives score against each other.
This screen also has a Search function, you can find a specific Initiative by searching by its name or type.
You can add the Initiatives in any order at any time.
Selecting a Prioritisation Model
- From within the Prioritisation Model drop-down list, select a Prioritisation Model. Note: Only Active Prioritisation Models are shown in the drop-down.
When you have selected a Prioritisation Model from the list, the right-hand side of the grid will display the Evaluation Criteria included in the model and the order in which they are set.
See below an example of how the order is followed:
Selecting Initiatives to add to the Prioritisation
Click the Select Initiatives button.
This will open the Select Initiatives form.
The columns visible for each of these initiative types are managed by a view set by the system administrator. More information on how the view can be updated here.
Note: The default view for initiatives shows only Active Initiatives.
This page has the following items:
- Initiatives tabs, this is the first way that you can filter down the Initiative information. These tabs are broken down into the Initiative Type:
- Projects
- Proposals
- Ideas
Initiatives types are configured by the administrator. More information on how initiatives type can be updated here.
- Search field, you can search for the name of a specific Initiative.
- Group By drop-down field, so that you can group the initiatives and make it easier to select groups of initiatives at once. For example, you could group all Proposals by Department and select all the IT Proposals in one click. Your grouping selection will be remembered even if you close the form.
To add Initiatives to your prioritisation, select them within this form, then click Apply Initiatives.
Once you have selected a Prioritisation Model and Initiatives, you can start analysing the priorities.
Note: You can use the Select Initiatives function more than once to add or remove Initiatives from the prioritisation.
The Evaluation Criteria in your model and the values showing how each of these Evaluation Criteria has been scored within the Initiative, give you the Initiative's Score, and therefore Rank.
The Initiatives are sorted in the view from the highest score to the lowest score.
If an Initiative is missing a value for one of these Evaluation Criteria it will not have a Score and will show at the top of the view, so that you can see that data is missing and fill it in.
You can Remove Initiatives or Open Initiatives directly from the table by clicking the ellipsis on an Initiative row.
Editing an Initiative's Evaluation Value
If you think that an evaluation value previously selected for an Initiative is incorrect, you can update it from the prioritisation screen or open the initiative to access the Evaluation tab of the initiative.
The drop-down list displays all the relevant impacts for this evaluation criteria. If you hover over the information icon, you can see the description field for each of these impacts.
If you change one of the evaluations, you will see the Score recalculated immediately. This could also change the Rank of the Initiative, so it may move position within the table automatically.
When you are satisfied, click Save.
Note: When you update an initiative evaluation value from the prioritisation form, the changed value is saved back to the initiative once you Save the prioritisation.
Warning: The autosave feature is deactivated on the Prioritisation so that values are not saved back to the initiative automatically.
Finalising the Prioritisation Plan
Once you have added all your Initiatives and are happy with their Evaluation values, Score and Rank your Prioritisation Planning phase is complete.
Maintaining Prioritisation
Data Update of Initiatives
Changes in initiatives and Prioritisation Models can happen while you are doing your prioritisation exercise.
The following changes can happen between the last time you opened your Prioritisation and reopened it:
Changes that impact the Score
- A user can change an Evaluation Criteria value of the Initiativeuser can change an Evaluation Criteria value of the Initiative (from the Initiative).
- An administrator can update the Prioritisation Model (especially if they decide to re-assess a model).
- An administrator can change the Evaluation Impact Points of an Evaluation Criteria used in your Model.
- An administrator can remove an Evaluation Impact of an Evaluation Criteria used in your Model. If so, the Evaluation of the initiative on this Criteria will reset to unselected and evaluation will need to be completed again for a score to be calculated.
When a change impacts the Score, a banner will show in the Prioritisation notifying the user that the Score values have been updated. To remove the banner, Save the Prioritisation.
If you have your prioritisation opened, edited evaluations, and it just happened that a user changed the same initiative evaluation (from the Initiative) that you have just modified, when saving or refreshing, you may encounter this banner: the version of the data you are updating has changed elsewhere …
Only the changes made from the Initiative Evaluation tab (on the specific initiative) will be taken and restored (they take priority over the ones done from the Prioritisation view).
To remove the banner, click Refresh and Discard changes.
Changes impacting names, labels, descriptions
- An administrator changing names, descriptions, etc. It will update directly without impacting the Score.
- An administrator making an Evaluation Criteria Inactive (used in a Prioritisation Model before deactivation) will not impact the score. Refer to the section below about Active/Inactive behaviour.
Active / Inactive Behaviour
Over time you may find that you don't need some of the previously created prioritisation elements (categories, criteria, models, prioritisation) and still want to keep them in the system to be able to view back prior prioritisation or for any other reasons. If so, you may want to consider deactivating items.
Note: you can delete prioritisation items but if you do so you will lose all the history of that item, so it is better to deactivate it so that it cannot be actively used but can still view how it was used in the past.
Watch this video to see the impact of deactivating Evaluation Criteria or Prioritisation Model:
The global rule applying to Active/Inactive is the following:
| Basic Behaviour | |
|---|---|
| Active | Active items can be accessible (visible) and editable if your user role matches the security access. When creating an item, the state is by default Active. Users with the right permissions will be able to activate an item from either a list or from the item form. |
| Inactive | Inactive elements are always read-only (even if you have access in edition). Often Inactive items are filtered out from views. Users with the right permissions will be able to deactivate an item from either a list or from the item form. An inactive item can usually be turned back to Active. |
In addition to the basic behaviours described above, there are a few implications in deactivating some of the elements for the prioritisation. A summary on what to expect when you deactivate an item is described in the following table and images added below it:
| Active | Inactive | |
|---|---|---|
| Evaluation Criteria Category | In Initiative Evaluation tab: - Visible - All Active Associated Evaluation Criteria are visible |
In Initiative Evaluation tab: - Hidden - All Associated Evaluation Criteria (active or inactive) are hidden |
| Evaluation Criteria | In Initiative Evaluation tab: - Visible if within Active Category. In Prioritisation: - Evaluation is editable. In Model: - Can be added to a Model |
In Initiative Evaluation tab: - Hidden. The user will not be able to evaluate their initiative against the Inactive Evaluation Criteria. In Prioritisation: - Evaluation is visible but not editable. - Evaluation Impacts Points are considered in the Score calculation. In Model: - Cannot be added to a Model. - If it was added to a Model prior to being turned inactive, it will still be associated with the Model and flagged as Inactive with a locked weight. You will still be able to change the order of the criteria or remove it from the Model. |
| Prioritisation Model | In Prioritisation: - Will show in the Prioritisation Model drop-down. Can be selected. |
In Prioritisation: - Hidden in the Prioritisation Model drop-down. - If it was previously selected in a Prioritisation prior to its deactivation, the Model will still be selected and flagged as inactive and the whole Prioritisation will be read-only. The user will be able to switch to an Active Prioritisation Model if desired. |
| Prioritisation | General rule of Active: visible and editable by the user with the right permissions. | General rule of Inactive: read-only. |
Example of an Evaluation tab in an initiative with inactive Category with associated Active Evaluation Criteria
None of the Active Evaluation Criteria (Cost Savings and Revenue Growth Potential) are visible in the Evaluation tab of the Idea as the Financial Impact category is Inactive. The user cannot evaluate any Financial Impact criteria.
Example of an Evaluation tab in an initiative with Active Category with associated Inactive Evaluation Criteria
Revenue Growth Potential criteria is not visible in the Evaluation tab of the Idea as the criteria is Inactive. The user cannot evaluate the Revenue Growth.
Example of a Prioritisation with Inactive Evaluation Criteria
Revenue Growth Potential criteria was already added to a Prioritisation Model prior to being deactivated. When opening the Prioritisation Model, the criteria is marked as Inactive, and the weight cannot be edited.
Example of a Prioritisation with inactive Prioritisation Model
Deletion
Over time you may find that you don't need some of the previously created prioritisation elements (categories, criteria, models, prioritisation) and want to remove them entirely from the system. If so, you may want to consider deleting some prioritisation items.
When deleting an item in Altus, the basic behaviour is that it will delete the record from the system. Therefore, it cannot be used or visible anywhere anymore once deleted.
In addition to losing the record, there are a few cascading implications. A summary of what to expect when you delete an item is described in the following table and images added below it:
| Deletion protections | Delete Implication | |
|---|---|---|
| Evaluation Criteria Category | - Can delete after confirmation to delete a Category when there is no Evaluation Criteria associated. - Cannot delete a Category that has Evaluation Criteria associated with it (Active or Inactive). |
As you cannot delete a Category that has Evaluation Criteria associated, the implication is minimal. You will first need to remove any association and manage the Evaluation Criteria prior to deleting the Category. |
| Evaluation Criteria | - Can delete after confirmation to delete an Evaluation Criteria when there is no Prioritisation Model using it (associated). - Cannot delete a Criteria that is associated with a Prioritisation Model (Active or Inactive). |
As you cannot delete an Evaluation Criteria that is used in a Prioritisation Model (whether the Model is used or not), the implication is minimal. You will first need to remove any association and manage the associated Prioritisation Models prior to deleting the Evaluation Criteria. |
| Prioritisation Model | - Can delete after confirmation to delete a Prioritisation Model when there is no Prioritisation using it (associated). - Cannot delete a Prioritisation Model that is associated with a Prioritisation (Active or Inactive). |
As you cannot delete a Prioritisation Model that is used in a Prioritisation (whether the Prioritisation is Active or Inactive), the implication is minimal. You will first need to remove any association and manage the associated Prioritisations prior to deleting the Prioritisation Model. |
| Prioritisation | You can delete any Prioritisation. You will be prompted to enter the Name of the Prioritisation to confirm its deletion. | Once deleted, your Prioritisation will not exist anymore. You will need to create (or use) another one if you wish to prioritise initiatives. |
Example of Deletion Confirmation:
Example of the Deletion Protection when you are not allowed to delete due to existing association of records:
Example of Prioritisation Deletion Confirmation:
To delete, you can use the Delete button in the command bar once you select an item from a list, or if you navigate into the record, you can remove it from the Delete button in the command bar.
Create Optimisation directly from Prioritisation
You can now initiate an optimisation directly from Prioritisation.
- Click on the + Create Optimisation button.
- Fill in the name, dates for your planning period, and the budget.
- Once you Save and Close, you’ll be brought to scenarios.
Note
Some environments have experienced an issue where an unmanaged solution layer on the Optimisation Plan entity is preventing the quick create form from appearing. The symptom of this problem is that instead of seeing the Optimisation Plan quick create form (in the right pane of screen), users will instead be shown the full screen form (which in this instance will not work as desired).
See here for steps on how to resolve this issue: Unmanaged Solution Layer prevents Quick Create Form from being displayed
For more details, see Create or View a Scenario