This article explains how to use the Hierarchy Builder feature of the OnePlan Areas configuration to combine associated plan types from multiple plan type hierarchies into one portfolio list area.
As an example for this article, I will use the Hierarchy Builder to create an Area that shows a combination of Objectives and Key Results and their associated Projects, all within a single portfolio list Area. A view like this allows you to visualize how Projects are driving your Key Results and helping you reach your main Objectives, all in one streamlined view.
There are endless combinations of Plan Types you can put together using the Hierarchy Builder to support different kinds of planning, like Capability planning, Value Stream management, and so much more. You are not limited to the base Plan Type hierarchy, and have a great deal of flexibility in how you can use OnePlan Areas and Plan Types with the Hierarchy Builder.
Note
Advanced Portfolio Filters need to be enabled in order to use the Hierarchy Builder. See Enable Advanced Portfolio Filtering for instructions.
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Create a new area. See Create and Manage Areas for instructions. In this situation, you do not need to select Plan Types in the Area configuration. We will use the Hierarchy Builder to determine the Plan Types available in this Area. In this example, I will create an Area called "Combined Hierarchy Example."
Note
If you configure a hierarchy using the Hierarchy Builder in an Area with associated Plan Types, the Hierarchy Builder nullifies the Plan Type hierarchy for that Area. On the front end, OnePlan will only display the hierarchy defined in Hierarchy Builder.
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Once the new Area is configured, Click the Edit icon for the new Area, then go to the Hierarchy Builder tab of that Area's settings.
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Now we can build out our combined hierarchy. The hierarchy needs to be built from the top down. So, I will first select the top-level parent Plan Type. Click Add Plan Type, then select the top-level Plan Type, which is Objective in this example.
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Now we add in the second layer of the hierarchy. Click the Add Child icon (+) next to the parent Plan Type (Objective), and select the child Plan Type, which is Key Result in this example. Note that the Parent Relation field auto-populates with "Parent." This is because Objectives and Key Results already have a parent-child relationship defined in the main Plan Type hierarchy configuration.
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Finally, we need to add the last later of the hierarchy. Click the Add Child icon (+) next to the parent Plan Type (Key Result), and select the child Plan Type, which is Project in this example. Note that the Parent Relation field is blank. This is because Key Results and Projects do not have a pre-established hierarchical relationship. We need to define this relationship.
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Click into the Parent Relation field for Project. Select the lookup field you want to use to connect Key Results with Projects. In this example, I will select Associated Key Results because I want to associate Projects in this view with their corresponding Key Results.
Note
In the image above, you see that there are two options in the Parent Relation field for Project. This is because there are two lookup fields available. Lookup fields are a user-friendly method to create relationships between Plan Types in your environment. The Associated Key Results is a lookup field that defines the relationship between Key Results and other Plan Types, and in this example, will link Key Results to Projects in the hierarchy. The Associated Projects lookup field defines the relationship between Projects to other Plan Types, and in this example, would link Projects to other Projects in the hierarchy (which is not the relationship we want to display here).
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Click Save.
When I go to the OnePlan front-end, and navigate to the new Area I configured, I can see the new combined hierarchy in action. I have an Area that displays a combination of Objectives and Key Results and their associated Projects, all within a single portfolio list Area.
There are a couple of caveats to keep in mind as you are creating combined hierarchies with the Hierarchy Builder:
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You can only use a Plan Type once per Area. You will see the following error if you try to add a Plan Type more than once:
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You cannot rearrange the hierarchy once it is built. If you need to rearrange the hierarchy, you need to delete it and start over.
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To delete a Plan Type from the hierarchy, you must delete all children of that Plan Type before you can delete it. If you try to delete a Plan Type that has children, you will see the following error:
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Unrelated Plan Types need to have lookup fields configured to create associations between the Plan Types. Lookup fields are a user-friendly method to create relationships between plan types in your environment. For example, a plan can have a lookup to the program-type plan(s) to which it's associated. Or a feature-type plan can have a lookup to the epic-type plan(s) to which it's associated. See How do I configure lookup fields? for instructions.
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If you configure a hierarchy using the Hierarchy Builder in an Area with associated Plan Types, the Hierarchy Builder nullifies the Plan Type hierarchy for that Area. On the front end, OnePlan will only display the hierarchy defined in Hierarchy Builder.