Create and edit focus areas
Focus areas represent a company’s strategic priorities. During the setup of Focus, a product admin built the focus area hierarchy and determined how many levels of focus areas there would be and what type of focus area sits at each level.
Not all Focus users have the permissions needed to create and edit focus areas. If you have the Viewer role, your experience will look different, and you won’t be able to create or edit anything.
Example hierarchy
Since no two companies run their business the same way, seeing an example might make this more clear.
This example focus area hierarchy has three levels:
The Market Type is at the top.
The Business unit Type is in the middle.
The Group Type is at the bottom.
Types are always displayed in hierarchical order from top and bottom, and each type has its own unique icon.
Focus areas types
When you create a focus area, you start by choosing its type. The type maps to a level in the hierarchy, and the level determines whether the focus area can have a parent focus area or sub-focus areas. These relationships make the connections between areas clear so that data can be rolled up, giving leaders insights into all the dimensions that impact the strategic priorities they care about.
Relationships
A focus area isn’t required to have a parent, but if it does, it can only have one. That area’s type must be above it in the hierarchy, but it doesn't have to be the type immediately above it.
A focus area isn’t required to have a sub-focus area, but if it does, it can have many. The types of those areas must be below it in the hierarchy, but it doesn't have to be the type immediately below it.
Create a focus area
Remember that the number of focus area types and their labels will differ based on the choices made by your product admin during setup.
To create a focus area
Select Create from the left navigation.
Select the focus area type you want to create.
Name - This field is required, but it doesn’t have to be unique.
Parent - When the type being created isn’t at the top, the Parent field is displayed. The list of focus areas available for selection contains those whose Type is above the one currently being created. Using the example hierarchy, you would see focus areas whose Type is Market or Business unit, but you wouldn’t see any focus areas whose Type is Group.
Target date - Not all strategic priorities need a completion date, so this field is not required.
Owner - By default, the person creating the focus area is assigned as the Owner, but this can be changed at any time.
Select Create. The focus area details page appears.
Edit the details of a focus area
There are a few additional details about a focus area that you might want to edit after creating it.
Find the focus area you want to edit by searching for it or by selecting Focus areas from the left navigation and finding it in one of the lists, like All focus areas, Your focus areas, or Following.
Select a value in a field to edit it, such as Name, Status, Target date, Owner, and Type.
Change the value, and the edit is saved immediately.
Name
The name of a focus area is highly dependent on how you describe the specific strategic priority that someone owns and that you assign goals, work, positions, and funds to. These names don’t have to be unique since you may need to have an AI group in every business unit, and that AI group might have different goals, work items, positions, and funds.
Having unique names is advisable, though, as it may get confusing for executives and leaders who are looking at the bigger picture to differentiate between focus areas with the same name.
Status
By default, all focus areas are assigned the Pending status. The statuses available include the following and can be assigned at the editor’s discretion, as the definition of the statuses isn’t strictly enforced, and there aren’t any workflow rules associated with them. The status include the following:
Pending
Off track
At risk
On track
Paused
Completed
Statuses are a helpful way for when summarizing how the sub-focus areas that contribute to it are doing.
Target date
This date represents the day, month, or quarter by which the strategic priority is to be completed. If that concept doesn’t make sense for your organization, don’t set a date.
Owner
When a focus area is created, its Owner defaults to the person who created it. However, the creator isn’t always the person responsible for the focus area, so the Owner can be changed at any time.
Type
As your business and its strategic priorities change, so might the elevation and relationships of focus areas. Changing the Type isn’t just a label change, though. There are rules for the relationships allowed at certain levels, and changing the Type may cause existing relationships to be unlinked.
Going back to the example hierarchy, the current Type is Group, and changing to Type to Market would unlink the Parent focus area if there was one because a Type at the top doesn’t have parents.
Changing a focus area’s Type doesn’t impact the goals, work, or positions connected to it.
Followers
By default, the person who creates the project is set as the Owner and is also added as a Follower. Focus area owners are responsible for adding relevant details about the focus area, adding followers, and writing the status update, ensuring that any progress, blockers, or change of plans are communicated.
When determining who should be a follower, your manager, peers in your organization, and key cross-functional partners are great candidates to start with. These are usually the people who want to know how things are going and can now get your updates automatically.
To add a follower
Find the focus area you want to edit by searching for it or by selecting Focus areas from the left navigation and finding it in one of the lists, like All focus areas, Your focus areas, or Following.
Select the + (Add followers) button.
Search for or select a person's name from the dialog. Only people with access to the Focus app will appear in this list. The dialog disappears, and the name of the person you selected is displayed under the Followers section.
Followers added to a focus area can’t be removed at this time.
Parent focus area
Focus areas can only have one parent. Establishing relationships between focus areas is critical when representing how your organization breaks down its strategic priorities and how the progress of lower-level areas impacts the overall status of a higher-level area.
A parent can be at the level directly above, or you can skip levels if that makes sense.
Using the example hierarchy, this focus area Type is Group, which is at level 3 in the hierarchy. When adding a parent, you can add one at level 2 or level 1.
You can add the parent by selecting the + (Add parent) button in the side panel or by adding one in the breadcrumb above the focus area name.
To add a parent focus area using the breadcrumb
Find the focus area you want to edit by searching for it or by selecting Focus areas from the left navigation and finding it in one of the lists, like All focus areas, Your focus areas, or Following. If the focus area doesn’t have a parent, you’ll see Add parent in the breadcrumb to the left of the focus area’s name.
Select Add parent in the breadcrumb. The Add parent dialog appears.
Select the parent, and select Add. The page name of the new parent focus area appears in the breadcrumb and in the side panel.
To add a parent focus area in the side panel
Find the focus area you want to edit by searching for it or by selecting Focus areas from the left navigation and finding it in one of the lists, like All focus areas, Your focus areas, or Following. If the focus area doesn’t have a parent, you won’t see a focus area name in the Parent focus area section in the side panel.
Select + (Add parent) next to Parent focus area in the side panel.
Search for or select the name of a focus area from the dialog. The dialog disappears and the name of the focus area you selected displays under the Parent focus area section.
Sub-focus areas
Focus areas can have many sub-focus areas. Establishing relationships between focus areas is critical when representing how your organization breaks down its strategic priorities and how the progress of lower-level areas impacts the overall status of a higher-level area.
A sub-focus area can be at the level directly below, or you can skip levels if that makes sense.
Using the example hierarchy, this focus area Type is Market, which is at level 1 in the hierarchy. It has one existing sub-focus area. You can add sub-focus areas at level 2 or level 3 in the hierarchy.
To add sub-focus areas in the side panel
Find the focus area you want to edit by searching for it or by selecting Focus areas from the left navigation and finding it in one of the lists, like All focus areas, Your focus areas, or Following. If the focus area doesn’t have a sub-focus area, you won’t see a focus area name in the Sub-focus area section in the side panel.
Select + (Add sub-focus area) next to Sub-focus areas in the side panel.
Search for or select the name of a focus area from the dialog. The dialog disappears and the name of the focus area you selected displays under the Sub-focus areas section.
To add sub-focus areas from the Sub-focus areas tab
Find the focus area you want to edit by searching for it or by selecting Focus areas from the left navigation and finding it in one of the lists, like All focus areas, Your focus areas, or Following. If the focus area doesn’t have a sub-focus area, you won’t see a focus area name in the Sub-focus area section in the side panel.
Select the Sub-focus areas tab.
Select Add at the top of the table. The Add focus areas panel appears.
Search for or select the names of focus areas.
Select Add. The panel disappears, and the names of the focus areas you selected are displayed in the table.
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