RAID — Risks, Assumptions, Issues, and Dependencies — is the general discipline these items support: tracking the factors that can affect an initiative's success. Amplify implements this through three underlying Item Types, which behave differently from each other:
- Risk — a potential event or condition that could affect an initiative's objectives. Risk, Assumption, and Issue classifications all typically use this item type. Risks are always rated, and can be assigned to an initiative or a benefit — see Assigning a risk.
- Dependency — a relationship between tasks or initiatives, where one can't proceed until another is complete. Adds Predecessor and Successor fields. A Dependency RAID item isn't the same as a dependency between tasks on a schedule — see Schedules.
- Other — a RAID item that doesn't need a rating matrix or dependency links, such as a decision or a change request. Other is the only item type that can have an approval workflow of its own — see Approval workflows for Other items.
An administrator creates a named classification for each item you need — such as Risk, Assumption, Issue, or Dependency — and sets which of these three item types it uses. The item type can't be changed once the classification is created. Rating can be configured for any item type. Risk and Other classifications can also have action items configured (below); Dependency classifications can't. See Configuring RAID Item Classifications (Advanced Model) or Configuring RAID Item Classifications (Simple Model), and Configuring Ratings.
Depending on your instance, RAID items may be called Items. There's no functional difference.
Creating a RAID item
Navigate to the initiative where you want to create the item, click the Create menu, and select RAID Item.
The form groups its fields into sections. Which sections appear depends on the item type:
- Risk — Details, Assign [classification], Rating, and Monitoring and Response.
- Dependency — Details, Dependency, Rating where rating is turned on for the classification, and Monitoring and Response.
- Other — Details, Rating where rating is turned on for the classification, and Monitoring and Response.
Custom fields mapped to the classification appear under More Properties, for every item type.
Details
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Select a Classification for the item — this sets its item type.
Selecting a classification from the drop-down. - Enter a Name for the item.
- For a Risk, enter a Description. This field supports markdown formatting. Dependency and Other items don't have a description.
- Select an Owner to manage the item.
Assigning a risk
A risk can be assigned to one of two things, which decides what kind of risk it is:
- Delivery — assigned to an initiative. Something that could delay the initiative or stop it being delivered, such as a stage gate approval taking longer than planned.
- Realisation — assigned to a benefit. Something that could stop the benefit being delivered in full, such as a key contract ending early.
To assign a risk, expand the Assign [classification] section, such as Assign Risk.
- Choose Initiative or Benefit from Assign to Type. The names follow the instance's own Benefit/Impact terminology.
- Choose the initiative or benefit to assign it to.
- For an initiative, choose a task from Assign to Task within the Initiative, or leave it as No task in particular.
Only Risk items can be assigned. Dependency items are linked to tasks instead, and Other items aren't assigned.
Dependency: linking tasks
Where the item is a Dependency, expand the Dependency section.
- Select a Predecessor Initiative and Predecessor Task that must be completed first.
- Select the Successor Task that can't be completed until the predecessor task is complete. The Successor Initiative is always the initiative the item is created on, and can't be changed.
Rating
Expand the Rating section. What's shown here depends on which rating system the item's classification uses — see Configuring Ratings.
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Where the classification uses a Simple rating, select an option directly from the Rating dropdown.
The Simple rating dropdown, showing named options such as Low, Medium, High, and Extreme. -
Where it uses a Calculated rating, there are two ways to set it: select an option directly from the matrix shown in the Rating dropdown,
Selecting a rating directly from the calculated matrix dropdown. or set Likelihood and Impact separately and let the rating be calculated for you.
Setting Likelihood and Impact to calculate a rating.
Monitoring and Response
The fields here vary by item type:
- Risk — Mitigation/Action Plan, Review Date, Financial Impact, and Status.
- Dependency — Action Plan, Review Date, and Status.
- Other — Status.
Status is Open or Closed. Once it isn't Open, a Closing Comments field appears, for recording how the item was resolved. Where action items are turned on for the classification, the Review Date is replaced by a Start Date and End Date, and Other items gain these two dates too.
Once you've entered all the details, click Create.
Adding action items
Where a Risk or Other classification has Allow RAID Tasks and Milestones turned on, a RAID item of that classification has its own Action Items section, once it's been created, listing each item's ID, Name, Status, Start Date, End Date, and Owner. Dependency items don't have this section.
Click New Task to add a task, or use the dropdown arrow next to it to add a New Milestone instead.
Action items behave like regular tasks — they can have their own subtasks, the same as a task elsewhere in the initiative. Each one also carries an Open or Closed status.
Where the initiative's Schedule is configured to show RAID items under its Type column, action items also appear there alongside the initiative's other tasks and milestones.
Approval workflows for Other items
An Other classification can have an approval workflow, so each item of that classification is approved before it goes ahead — for example, a change request to an initiative's scope, or a decision that needs sign-off. The workflow is chosen by an administrator, on the classification — see Configuring RAID Item Classifications (Advanced Model) or Configuring RAID Item Classifications (Simple Model).
When an item is sent for approval
When you create an item of that classification, it's sent for approval straight away, to the approvers of the workflow's first step, who are notified. It's sent for approval again if the item is moved to another initiative, or given a different classification.
Where the first step has no approvers to send it to, the item shows No Approvers Assigned. Open the item, expand its Request Status section, add approvers to the first step, and click Request Approval.
Approvers are notified by email, where the workflow sends notifications, and can also respond in the mobile app — see Mobile Companion App.
Following an item's approval
Open the item, and expand its Request Status section. Its heading shows where the approval is up to — the status labels are set by the workflow. Below it:
- Each step of the workflow is listed, with its status. Click a step to see its approvers, and how each has responded.
- The approval's history lists each response, with its comments.
Approving or rejecting an item
To respond to an item waiting on your approval:
- Open the item, and expand its Request Status section.
- Add a comment, if you like.
- Click Approve or Reject.
Each step moves on according to its voting rule — for example, as soon as any approver approves, or once every approver has. When the last step is approved, the item is approved.
Rejecting an item sets its status to rejected. The item isn't sent back to its owner to rework. To send it for approval again, open its Request Status section, and click Request Re-approval.
Each step of an item's approval is recorded on its Timeline. For how approval steps and voting rules work, see Approval Workflows.
Approvals for Dependency items
Where the Dependency Workflow is turned on, Dependency items are approved too, with a few differences from Other items:
- An item is sent for approval when it's created, and again when it's moved, or its predecessor initiative or tasks change.
- Its approvers come from the workflow, and can't be changed on the item.
- Its progress is shown in its Dependency Status section. After a rejection, Request Re-approval sends it to the workflow's approvers again.
Managing RAID items
To view, update, or edit your RAID items, navigate to the RAID Register of the level above your initiative.
Click a RAID item to open its own dashboard, where you can edit and update its properties.
Changing a RAID item's classification can delete any custom field values that aren't mapped to the new classification. This can't be undone.
A Dependency or Other item's classification can't be changed once it's created, and an item can't be moved to a Dependency classification.
The RAID item's Timeline
Click the Timeline (clock) icon, at the top right of the RAID item's page, to see its history — approvals, changes to its details, ownership changes, moves, and archiving. RAID item Timelines don't have comments. For filtering and searching the Timeline, see Activity Timelines.
Archiving a RAID item
Use the menu button to access the Archive option.
Where else RAID items appear
On the Performance Dashboard, an Overview shows the initiative's RAID items, along with a list of any that have become a Delivery Threat.
RAID items are also visible on the initiative's schedule, on their review date. The schedule chart displays any impact these RAID items have, including on dependent tasks.
Realisation risks — risks assigned to a benefit — are listed in the RAID Items panel on the benefit's Dashboard tab. See Managing Benefits.