Running operations and initiatives
Work does not only arise from initiatives. That is why a demand has two kinds — and they differ in exactly one point: how the quantity is stated.
The two kinds
Section titled “The two kinds”| Initiative (Change) | Running operations (Run) | |
|---|---|---|
| Typically from | OKR, project | Value stream, target staffing of a role |
| Quantity | Total hours over the period | Hours per period |
| End date | Required | Optional — ongoing demand does not end |
| Example | 320 h between 1 October and 31 December | 60 h per month, from 1 January |
Everything else is identical: same profile, same assignment, same coverage, same reports. Two separate objects would be duplication — and the question “how much running, how much change?” could then precisely not be answered in a single report.
How the quantity spreads across periods
Section titled “How the quantity spreads across periods”Initiative: the total is distributed across the periods. The sum equals the total exactly — even when nothing divides evenly. The distribution setting controls whether more effort sits at the front or the back.
Running operations: every period carries the same quantity. Nothing is distributed — the figure is meant per period.
In both cases partial edge periods are counted pro rata. An ongoing demand starting on the 20th of a month does not need the full monthly quantity in that month; ignoring this systematically overfills the first month.
The planning horizon
Section titled “The planning horizon”An ongoing demand without an end date would compute into infinity. Instead its grid ends at the planning horizon — twelve periods by default.
Two consequences worth knowing:
- “Covered” here means: covered for the foreseeable period. An ongoing demand is never “ticked off”.
- Beyond the horizon there is no figure. That is deliberate: a coverage statement for “in three years” would be invented.
A demand whose start lies in the past still begins there. Dropping past periods would make an under-coverage disappear retroactively.
When you switch the kind
Section titled “When you switch the kind”The quantity fields depend on the kind: an initiative uses the total demand, running operations use the demand per period. If you switch the kind, the old value stays in the record but is no longer read — the demand counts as not quantifiable until the matching field is filled. This is deliberate: reusing the old number under the new meaning would be a silent reinterpretation.
Related
Section titled “Related”- Demand & Resource Planning — Overview of demand, plan and coverage
- The demand profile — three axes — The three axes of the demand profile
- Demand — All fields in detail