This guide explains how to create and manage Initiatives in Bramble's Impact module, and how to use them to attribute measurable benefit to the improvement work your teams are running.
Important: Attribution in Bramble is correlational, not causal. The benefit shown on an initiative reflects what changed in your workforce data after the initiative started — other factors may also contribute. This note is permanently displayed on every initiative detail view.
An Initiative is a named improvement project — a process redesign, a training rollout, a tooling change — that you link to an existing Impact baseline. Once linked, Bramble calculates how much cash and FTE benefit has accumulated in the scoped teams since the initiative's start date, so you can answer: "What did this project actually move?"
Your workspace must have the Impact module enabled. Contact your Bramble account team if you don't see "Impact" in the top navigation.
To create, edit, or advance an initiative you need a Team Admin role or higher. Team Members can view the portfolio and initiative details but cannot make changes.
At least one baseline should exist before creating an initiative. Initiatives can be saved without a linked baseline, but benefit figures will show "—" until one is linked.
The Impact module lives under the Impact item in the top navigation bar. It has two main sections:
Impact → Baselines — the baselines that define your benefit measurement windows
Impact → Initiatives — the portfolio of improvement initiatives linked to those baselines
If you previously used Reports → Impact, that view still works but now redirects to the new Impact surface when your workspace has the Initiatives feature enabled.
Go to Impact → Initiatives.
Click New Initiative.
Fill in the form fields in the table below.
Click Save to create the initiative. It will appear in the portfolio list immediately.
Field | Required? | Notes |
Name | Yes | What you call this initiative internally |
Description | No | Free-text context for the team |
Status | Yes | Defaults to Backlog. See the lifecycle below. |
Start date | Yes | The date the initiative work began; benefit is calculated from this date |
End date | No | Leave blank for ongoing initiatives |
Lead | No | The person responsible for this initiative |
Scoped teams/groups | No | Which teams' data to include in attribution. If empty, all teams linked to the baseline are included. |
Linked baseline | No | The baseline against which benefit is measured. Can be set later. |
Intervention cost | No | The cost of running the initiative (used to calculate ROI) |
Expected benefit (cash) | No | Your target cash benefit |
Expected benefit (FTE) | No | Your target FTE saving |
Initiatives move through four statuses. Transitions are bidirectional — you can move forward or backward between any adjacent states if plans change.
Backlog ↔ Planned ↔ In Progress ↔ Completed
Cancelled is a separate terminal state. Once an initiative is marked Completed or Cancelled, it becomes read-only — status pills are disabled.
From Impact → Initiatives, find the initiative in the portfolio list.
Click the status pill on the initiative row.
A confirmation dialog will appear — review the transition and confirm.
The confirmation step is required for every transition. This is intentional: status changes affect how benefit is calculated (completed and cancelled initiatives freeze their snapshot to their end/cancelled date rather than reading to today).
Click any initiative name in the portfolio to open its detail view. This page shows:
Metric | What it means |
Actual Benefit (Cash) | Total cash benefit accumulated since start_date across all scoped teams, relative to the baseline |
Avg Weekly Benefit (FTE) | The average FTE saving per week since start_date. This is headcount-comparable — "this initiative is saving ~2.6 FTE per week on average" |
ROI | Displayed as a return multiple, e.g. 1.56x. Calculated as total cash benefit ÷ intervention cost. Only shown when an intervention cost has been set. |
Target achievement | Actual vs. expected benefit, shown as a percentage. Only shown when expected benefit targets have been set. |
Why FTE is an average, not a sum: Summing FTE-weeks across a long initiative produces a number that looks like a headcount figure but isn't. The weekly average is easier to reason about and compare across initiatives of different durations.
Why ROI is a multiple, not a percentage: A multiple (1.56x) is the standard way C-suite and CFO audiences read return on investment. It means "for every £1 spent, £1.56 came back."
The chart shows cumulative benefit for the scoped teams against the linked baseline, with a vertical marker at the initiative's start date. The correlation disclaimer is shown above the chart at all times.
If a scoped team has no data in the baseline period, that team's row in the per-team breakdown shows a "no baseline data" badge. It does not prevent the headline from computing — it just means that team contributes £0 / 0 FTE to the totals.
All headline numbers display "—" and a "link a baseline" prompt appears. The initiative is otherwise fully functional — you can still set targets, manage status, and add teams.
You can link from either side:
From the initiative detail view:
Open the initiative (Impact → Initiatives → click the name).
Click Link baseline in the action area.
Select the baseline from the dropdown and confirm.
From the baseline detail view:
Go to Impact → Baselines and open the relevant baseline.
Scroll to the "Initiatives linked to this baseline" section.
Click Link initiative and select from the list.
To unlink, click the unlink icon next to the initiative name in that section.
Each initiative can be linked to one baseline. A baseline can have multiple initiatives linked to it.
The Impact Report (/reports/impact) now integrates with Initiatives. When a baseline has running initiatives:
Open the Impact Report and select a baseline from the dropdown.
A list of initiatives linked to that baseline appears. Click one to load it.
The report automatically sets the date range to the initiative's start and end dates and pre-selects the initiative's scoped teams.
Vertical markers on the chart show the initiative's start and end dates. Hover over a marker to see:
Start date marker: Initiative name, expected benefit, and intervention cost
End date marker: Initiative name, actual benefit, and ROI
If no initiatives are linked to the selected baseline, the initiatives section shows an empty state with a "Create an initiative" link.
Impact → Initiatives is your portfolio overview. Each row shows:
Initiative name
Status pill (click to transition — admins only)
Start and end dates
Lead
Scoped teams
Linked baseline
The portfolio updates in real time — if a colleague creates or updates an initiative in another browser tab, your view refreshes automatically.
Can I have multiple initiatives running against the same baseline at the same time?
Yes. A baseline can have multiple active initiatives. Each initiative's detail view shows attribution scoped to that initiative's own teams and start date independently.
What happens to the benefit figures when I mark an initiative as Completed or Cancelled?
The benefit snapshot is frozen to the initiative's end date (Completed) or cancellation date (Cancelled). The figures no longer update as new data flows in.
Team Members can see initiatives but the status pill and "New Initiative" button are greyed out — is that correct?
Yes. Creating, editing, and transitioning initiatives requires a Team Admin role or higher. Team Members have read-only access to the portfolio and detail views.
I accidentally advanced the status — can I undo it?
Yes. Status transitions are bidirectional between adjacent states (e.g., In Progress → Planned). Click the status pill and select the previous state. The only exceptions are Completed and Cancelled, which are terminal and lock the initiative.
Why is the correlation disclaimer always visible on the initiative detail view?
This is by design and cannot be hidden. Bramble's attribution model measures correlation between your initiative's start date and changes in the baseline — it does not establish causation. The label ensures this distinction is clear to all viewers, including C-suite stakeholders.
