Top Cross-Functional Initiatives are Working Groups that are key to GitLab's success in the fiscal year and beyond. While there are other important business initiatives and priorities that exist within functions or require engagement across the business, we elevate these initiatives to address cross-functional dependencies, align on goals, and ensure ongoing reporting and monitoring.
These projects are the most important ones that require cross-functional work, not necessarily the most important projects and initiatives or of greatest cross-functional interest. Other projects may be of great importance throughout the business, for example meeting recruiting targets or category leadership, but these are workstreams led by individual functions and central to their key business responsibilities. When alignment or ongoing reporting is required for an initiative clearly owned by a single function, the responsible E-Group lead should ensure that Key Reviews, E-Group Weeklies, Group Conversations and other existing forums are used for updates.
Please note that a limited set of team members currently have access to the linked Epics. We are exploring ways to make more information available to all team members and the wider-community while keeping sensitive information contained to a smaller group.
As Top Cross-Functional Initiatives are Working Groups, the same process should be followed to ensure they have goals and exit criteria.
We assess progress against each initiative in related Key Reviews and Group Conversations. We also have a dedicated quarterly meeting in which initiative DRIs, sponsors, E-Group, and other key participants review initiative health, risks, and blockers.
Top Cross-Functional Initiatives are not intended to last forever. Initiatives can be retired for a few reasons, including:
Top Cross-Functional Initiatives are discussed in the annual planning process. In the Q3 E-Group Offsite, E-Group will review the list of current Top Cross-Functional Initiatives. It will also discuss priorities for the coming year. In Q4 of the fiscal year, E-Group will designate some initiatives for retirement. While some initiatives may remain on the list, their scope may be revisited as part of this process.
Any addition or retirement of Top Cross-Functional Initiatives should be shared with E-Group in advance of retirement. It is important that there is room for alignment and discussion in advance of removal. This can happen in a designated forum as part of the annual planning process or through a discussion topic in an E-Group Weekly. After the E-Group Sponsor and CEO have agreed to retire the initiative, and E-Group has had a forum for any feedback; the E-Group Sponsor is responsible for ensuring that the initiative is appropriately closed out and any internal and/or external communication is thoughtfully managed.
When an initiative is retired, it should be moved from the current initiative list to the retired initiative list.
Each of our top cross-functional initiatives has an Executive Sponsor and a directly responsible individual (DRI). DRIs are the folks ultimately held accountable for the success (or failure) of the project. They are the linchpins as these initiatives require deep cross-functional alignment and coordination. DRIs are also responsible for performance tracking and reporting. This includes providing updates in advance of relevant Key Reviews. Updates should map to the Executive Sponsor who is aligned with the initiative. For example, category leadership maps to Sales and Marketing as the Exec Sponsor is the CMO. The DRI is responsible for the following deliverables in advance of Key Reviews:
We are tracking in epics and issues in a separate namespace to comply with SAFE guidelines. If team members want access to a specific initiative, they should reach out to the appropriate DRI. Links to each initiative and other details are captured in the section below.
This is the list of our active Top Cross-Functional Initiatives.
This is a a list of top cross-functional initiatives that have been retired.