An initiative is a feature or theme of work. You shape it with Grove, then break it into projects your team can build. Every new piece of work in Grove starts as an initiative.
Create an initiative
Go to Work and click New work.
Type a short name for the idea.
Describe the idea in the box below the name. See "Write a good description" below.
To add notes, research, or customer feedback, click Add files.
Optional: click the model name, such as Sonnet, to pick the model Grove uses.
Click Create initiative. Or press Cmd+Enter (Ctrl+Enter on Windows).
Grove creates the initiative, opens it, and starts a chat about it.
Write a good description
Grove reads your description first, and plans from it. Write a few sentences that cover:
The problem: what goes wrong today.
Who has it: your customers, your team, or a type of user.
Why it matters now: what changes if you solve it, or what it costs you if you don't.
Describe the problem, not only the solution you have in mind. Grove can then check your idea against other options and against your strategy. Numbers help, such as how often the problem happens.
Name rules
A name can have up to 100 characters and up to 10 words.
Each initiative in a workspace needs its own name. Grove also refuses a name that is too close to an existing one.
If Grove refuses a name, it tells you why under the name. Change the name and try again.
Other ways to start an initiative
From the setup checklist. If you're a workspace admin and your workspace has no initiatives yet, click Plan with Grove in the Plan your first initiative step on the Queue.
From a chat about your whole workspace. Click Ask Grove in the bar at the bottom of the screen, and describe the idea. Grove suggests a name and a description, and creates the initiative when you agree.
From your own AI assistant. See Use Grove from your own AI assistant.
When you start an initiative from a chat, Grove doesn't start planning it right away. Open the initiative, and ask Grove to shape the problem with you.
What Grove does next
Grove reads your description and your strategy, and researches anything it doesn't know.
Grove asks you questions to settle who the user is, what hurts, and the shape of the solution. Expect it to push back when an idea doesn't fit your strategy. See Answer Grove's questions and explore options.
Grove sums up what it understood. When you agree, it writes the first plan document, Opportunity and Solution.
Next, see Shape the problem: Opportunity and Solution.
Related articles
Shape the problem: Opportunity and Solution
Break an initiative into projects