Table of Contents
- Getting Started
- Pipelines
- Creating a Pipeline
- Pipeline Manager (Left Panel)
- Right Slide-Out Menu
- Stages
- Steps and Tool Types
- Additional Important Things to Know
Getting Started
No two innovation processes are the same. The Brightidea's Pipeline Management is designed for massive flexibility and configurability, so whether you are deploying internally or externally, whether time-boxed or continuous, Brightidea can meet the diverse innovation needs of your business. We know it will have a huge impact on your teams' innovation program going forward.
With that said, let's get to some of the key information we need to review with you.
Browser Requirements
Brightidea's Pipeline Management is supported in the browsers listed below. Older browsers can still be used, but our newest and greatest features may not look or work as intended.
- Google Chrome (latest version recommended)
- Mozilla Firefox (latest version recommended)
- Apple Safari (latest version recommended)
- Microsoft Internet Explorer 11
Understanding User Roles
Brightidea's Pipeline Management supports three roles with different privileges:
- System Administrator: All System Administrators have access to all parts of Pipeline Management. If a User is assigned as a System Admin, they do not need to be assigned to any other Role.
- Initiative/Pipeline Admin: This can be any User who is assigned to manage and maintain an Initiative/Pipeline. Once a user is set as this role, they can conduct everything needed for their specific Pipeline(s).
- Subject Matter Expert / Action Item Assignee / Evaluator: An Evaluator is a User who is assigned Action Item from a Pipeline. They have access to review their Action Items within their Action Items list.
Accessing Pipeline Management
The Administrator can navigate to the Pipeline Management area through either Global Navigation, Admin Navigation or Dynamic Navigation.
Using Global Navigation, Admins can select the "Command Center" link from the Global Navigation gear menu drop-down menu. Then, select any Pipeline from the left panel.
Using Admin Navigation, Admins can select the "Steps" or "List" link from the Initiative navigation bar:
Using Dynamic Navigation, Admins can select the "Manage Pipeline" from the Navigation bar:
Pipelines
One of the things Brightidea knows very well, is that innovation is always changing. As a result, Brightidea has built in state of the art functionality to make sure all maintenance and organization of your team's Pipelines (and ideas in those pipelines) have a successful workflow.
A Pipeline is the overall set of tools (including front-end Initiative) that allows innovation managers to control and automate their idea workflow from idea submissions, to evaluations, all the way to project implementation.
The Member Area & Pipeline Manager (left panel) in Brightidea allows the Manager to view, manage and create any Pipelines:
When creating a Pipeline, an Initiative is also created in Brightidea to crowd-source ideas.
Creating a Pipeline
To create a new Pipeline, select the "+" sign from the left Pipeline Manager left side bar:
Administrators can also select the "Products" link from the Global Navigation gear menu
Admins will be presented with a wizard allowing them to choose from one of Brightidea's Applications, create a Custom Pipeline, or Copy an Existing Pipeline
Creating a Custom Pipeline allows the Manager to create their own designated workflow leveraging all tools available.
Copying Existing Pipeline, will copy all stages and steps from a pre-existing Pipeline to a new Pipeline.
Creating a Pipeline through one of the Applications will set up a pre-configured pipeline
First, you will need to choose a Sponsor, a Topic title, and the Challenge Brief.
Select "Continue" to proceed to the next screen. Next, the Manager has the option of using the Default Design or copying from an Existing Initiative.
- Using Default Design provides the out-of-the-box design of the selected App.
- Copying from an Existing Initiative allows the Manager to replicate the design of a previous or current initiative.
Lastly, Admins will need to fill in the fields for Participants and Roles.
- Participants are the User access group that is permitted to view any/all Initiative pages. This is typically your Innovation group. Depending on the App you chose, you may see a field for Early Access Group. This means that you will be using a time-box Initiative
- Roles are the Users that supervise/manage certain aspects of your Pipeline. See a list of our User Roles here.
Once created, the Manager will see the Pipeline in the left hand menu.
If your team needs to map an existing Initiative to a Pipeline, please contact your Brightidea Account Manager!
Pipeline Manager (Left Panel)
The Pipeline Manger (Left Panel) provides a list of all accessible Pipelines. Within the panel, Admins have access to the following information and activity:
- Action Items: View & review their own open and completed action item
- Command Center: Users can navigate to the IPM Command Center
Sort and Filter Pipelines
The Left Panel also allows Admin(s) to Archive, Favorite or Delete Pipelines. The Admin can right-click on any Pipeline to view the following:
- Go to Site: Direct link to Initiative home page
- Add to Archive: Adds Pipeline to 'Archived' section
- Add / Remove from Favorites: Can favorite the Pipeline for easy access.
- Delete: Delete the Pipeline and all its content / components
- Deleting any Pipeline will delete all Site data! Including Ideas, Comments, etc
- Setup: Links the Manager to the Setup page for that specific Initiative.
To search or sort Pipelines, select one of the sort options (All, Recent, Archived, Favorites) or type into the search field to filter.
- All: Sorts all accessible Pipelines to the user / Manager.
- Recent: Displays, and sorts, all accessible Pipelines by creation date.
- Archived: Displays all accessible Pipelines that are marked 'Archived'
- Favorites: Will be marked with a Star icon, lists all Initiatives that have been favorited.
Managers can also organize Pipelines into folders. The Admin can select the folder icon to create a new Pipeline folder. Once a folder is created, Admins can drag and drop Pipeline(s) into that folder.
Pipeline Admin Navigation (Right-panel dropdown)
The Pipeline Admin Navigation dropdown menu, allows all Admins to access several key areas within the specific Pipeline.
The Pipeline Admin Navigation is broken down into several components:
- Site: This link will take you to front-end Homepage for this Initiative
- Site Setup: This is the link to the Initiative's Setup screens. This is where you can make any Initiative configurations.
- Steps: This is the main view for each Pipeline. This view will display the all Stages, Steps and Submissions.
- List: Access the List (Grid) view of the Pipeline to manage ideas.
- Dashboard: Review selected Pipeline & Initiative metrics / statistics.
- Knowledge Base: Takes the users to the Command Center Knowledge Base.
- Pipeline Setup: Allows the Admin(s) to access Pipeline Setup where they can configure Pipeline information, Rules Engine and templates for Scorecards.
- Please Note: Altering any information in Pipeline Setup will also update onto Site. (i.e. if a Manager updates the Pipeline name or description, it will update the Site name on the front end)
Stages
Stages are ways to organize Steps into higher groupings in your work-flow. This workflow can include a process from collecting Submissions from Participants, to triggering Action Items to Subject Matter Experts, and to handing off Submissions to respective business units.
Sometimes, an innovation teams' Stages may include more than just one Action or Evaluation. As a result, Brightidea allows Admins to add as many Steps as needed to fall under one 'Stage' in their innovation process.
When a new Pipeline is created, default Stages from the App will be automatically created. The Manager is able to rename these Stages by selecting the pencil icon in the Stages top bar above the steps.
To learn more about Stages, please see our Support article here.
Steps & Tools
Steps are areas where administrators can manage, evaluate, and advance Submissions through their Pipeline process. Steps are grouped together within Stages to differentiate between different parts of the workflow.
To create a new Step, admins can select the green "plus" button at the bottom right of their Pipeline Steps view. This will display a popup to add basic Step information:
- Step Name: Enter the name for the new Step
- Step Description: Provide a description for the Step; this can help other administrators or moderators of the Pipeline understand the purpose of the Step
- Select Tool Type: Select the tool type for the new step; this can be set to "No Tool Selected" if there is no evaluation or development needed for that Step
- Select Stage: Select the Stage where the new Step will be placed
Complete the process by selecting "Create."
To learn more about Steps, please see our Support article here.
Configuring a Step and Sending Action Items
By default, submissions for an initiative will appear in the first Step in the Pipeline.
Each Step in each Pipeline can be configured to use a specific tool type (or, can be left to use no tool type). Once a tool type is selected and configured, action items will be sent to assignees whenever a submission is added to the Step.
- For this example, we will configure the "Review" Step for the first Step in our Pipeline:
- Navigate to Step Ellipsis Menu > Configure Review, which will display the Review Action Item configuration popup
- Here, the Pipeline Manager searches and selects the user Jane Smith. When new submissions move into this step, she will be assigned action items automatically
- The Pipeline Manager can then configure when the action item is due, permissions for evaluators, settings, email notifications and reminders, and more
- Once the Pipeline Manager finishes set up, selecting the "Activate" will save the settings and activate the Step
- When submissions are added to the Step, assignees will be sent action items, and receive email and in-app notifications to complete their Review action items
The Review action item is just one out of many different tool types available in Brightidea. To learn more about all the different tool types available, and how to configure each to fit your needs, refer to this deep-dive article!
Managing Action Item Assignees
Action Item assignees can also be removed or added from the Step Configuration popup. This while preserving previously Completed Action Item data. When assignees need to be updated, please consider the following:
- Open action items will be canceled
- Completed action items will remain saved and visible in Step Manage pages, evaluation scores, summaries, and exports
- The removed assignee will no longer receive new action items
- Assignees (along with their completed action items) may still be permanently deleted from the Action Items Progress page
- Removed assignees may be re-added to the Step. However, this will not re-assign any previously assigned action items to them
- For Category Assignment, the assignee must be removed from all Categories in order to appear in “removed” state
Action items can also be managed for individual submissions—including removing or adding evaluators for an individual user—using the "Update Assignees" feature. Learn more about updating assignees here.
Managing Steps
When Submissions enter each Step, and Action Items are triggered and completed, Admins will still have access to review their Pipeline's progress. When the Admin selects 'Manage Step', they will be brought to a high-level overview page to review all progress of the Step.
For each Step, and each tool type, Admins can review data points such as:
- Number of Completed vs. Open Action items (associated with that Step)
- Names of Evaluators - and their total completed percentage of their Action Items
- Average number of days Action Items are open (or take to be completed)
The administrator can export data, make decisions on the ideas from moving forward or not (to proceeding steps), send a reminder to all action item assignees of that step, as well as edit the due date.
To learn more about managing Steps, refer to this deep dive, here!
Automating Pipeline Steps with Rules Engine
One of the best features of Brightidea is the incorporation of our Rules Engine. This allows Innovation Program Managers and Admins to automate their Pipeline from start to finish.
- For one example, an Admin can set up a Rule to change a status automatically, when ideas are move into a specific Step:
To learn more details around the Rules Engine with Brightidea, refer to this deeper dive article, here!
Additional Important Things to Know:
- Pipeline Management is not label editable at this time. (no translation support)
- An Initiative is created as part of any new Pipeline, and will always default to the first Step in the Pipeline
- Brightidea recommends no more than 20 Steps max per Pipeline. If your work-flow requires more, please consult with your Customer Success Manager.
- System Administrators have administrative access to all pipelines in the system.
Please see all the additional articles about Pipeline Management below!
Managing Steps
Steps, Tool Types, & Action Items
Leveraging Rules Engine
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