5️⃣ The ITONICS Workflow Templates for Ideas and Projects

The ITONICS Workflow helps you to progress with your ideas and projects in a transparent and standardized way. It ensures that never an idea or project goes sideways.

Workflow enables you to manage the development and progress of ideas and projects in a standardized, repeatable, and transparent manner. The workflow feature automates the controlling of task completion and ensures that an idea or project meets the standard requirements before they move into the next phase. It is a feature available for the ITONICS blueprint element types campaign/idea and project.

1. What is ITONICS Workflow?
2. How to use ITONICS Workflow for project management?
3. How to use ITONICS Workflow for ideation?

What is ITONICS Workflow?

The concept of the ITONICS Workflow mirrors the process of how portfolios of ideas and projects are developed with the right resource allocation, speed, and accuracy. It follows the general stage-gate concept. Before a project or an idea can move into the next phase, it needs to meet certain threshold requirements. 

By ITONICS Workflow, it is ensured that the necessary to-dos per phase are completed. It is ensured that no idea or project moves on without the necessary control checks. It also enables idea/project submitters, teams, and managers to know precisely what they need to work on.

Practically speaking, a pearl chain indicates the stages that an idea or project needs to follow [1]. In the workflow tab, the necessary to-dos per stage are listed [2]. Only if the to-dos are checked by a user with edit rights (i.e., workspace admin or moderator, find the details in this article), the idea/project is allowed to be moved to the next phase.

This also means that the check of to-dos from the other phases are locked (i.e., greyed out) until the idea/project is in the respective phase.

How to use ITONICS Workflow for project management?

When you as an Application Administrator activate the ITONICS blueprint element type for innovation projects, and it is also activated in a workspace, you will find a specific group within the respective element type configuration.

This specific group is called "Workflow". You have the option to hide it if you do not want to use it. Otherwise, when activated, this will force any user adding a project and project information to process their project along a workflow consisting of the stages: Kick-Off, Specification, Implementation, and Run. 

Now, every time a user hits the create button and selects the element type project, they will further see the "project management" template. By clicking on the workflow template, they will see more information about the template: available phases, the element type, and what will be collected: projects. When they select "Use template", the regular content intake form opens and they can start by adding the title and the summary.

After the creation, they can add further information, and users with edit rights (i.e., workspace admin or moderator, find the details in this article) can move the project into the next phases once all boxes have been checked and marked as completed. You can, of course, also uncheck it if needed.

The checks are done in the workflow tab of the respective project (see the first picture of this article). If there is an open to-do, a red dot will appear next to the workflow tab, indicating that there are still tasks that need to be completed. To maintain to-do’s, the users must have permission to edit elements.

How to use ITONICS Workflow for ideation?

When you as an Application Administrator activate the ITONICS blueprint element types for campaign and ideas, and they are also activated in a workspace, you will find a specific group within the respective configuration pages of the two element types.

For campaign, you will find a workflow group in the top right corner:

For idea, you will find a workflow group in the bottom left corner: 

You have the option to hide it if you do not want to use it. Otherwise, when activated, this will force any user adding a campaign and an idea to a campaign to process their idea along a workflow. Currently, there are two campaign templates available, each having its own workflow.

For creating a campaign and using the "Design Thinking" Template, the stages are: Nominate, Empathize, Define & Ideate, Prototype & Test, and Implement

For creating a campaign and using the "Idea Funnel" template, the stages are: Submission, Concept Development, Implementation, and Run

By clicking on one of the workflow templates, they will see more information about the template: available phases, the element type, and what will be collected: ideas. When they select "Use template", the regular content intake form opens and they can start by adding the title and the summary.

After the creation, they can add further information, and they will see along the workflow phases a number. The number indicates how many ideas are currently within a phase. Plus, to the right sidebar, they will also see the workflow of the campaign. When clicking "Submissions", they will land on a board view from which ideas can be moved via drag and drop into the next phase. However, this requires that the necessary to-dos are checked on the idea level. A number on the card of an idea shows the completion status, i.e., 0/2 which means that no check out of 2 checks to be made has been made yet.

For marking the completion of to-dos on an idea, users with edit rights (i.e., workspace admin or moderator, find the details in this article) need to open the idea and find the workflow tab.

If there is an open to-do, a red dot will appear next to the workflow tab, indicating that there are still tasks that need to be completed. Once all boxes have been checked and marked as completed, an idea can be moved into the next stage (either within the workflow tab of the idea or in the submission tab of the related campaign). Of course, boxes can also be unchecked if needed.