First 30 Minutes
Audience: End User / Admin
Summary: A step-by-step checklist to set up your workspace and complete the first strategy loop.
Minute 0–2: Login and workspace selection
Step 1: Log in
- Log in to COS (if you received an invite, use the email link)
- You should arrive at the dashboard (role-based welcome screen)
Step 2: Select workspace (if you have more than one)
- In the sidebar header, choose your workspace from the dropdown.
- If it’s your first time, you will usually see only one workspace.
Tip: If you only have one workspace, just continue.
Minute 2–8: Phase 1 — Setup (Organization & Strategic Cycle)
Step 3: Create organization structure
Path: /org
- Sidebar → Context → Organization
- Click “Create Organization ”
- Enter a simple hierarchy (example):
Holding: ACME Corp
└─ Company: ACME Turkey
├─ Department: Sales
│ └─ Team: SMB Sales
├─ Department: Engineering
│ ├─ Team: Backend
│ └─ Team: Frontend
└─ Department: Finance
└─ Team: FP&A
- Assign a leader to each unit (select user)
- Save
Tip: This becomes Version 1. Any later structural change creates a new version.
Step 4: Create a Strategic Cycle
Path: /strategic-cycles
- Sidebar → Context → Strategic Cycles
- Click “+ Create Cycle”
- Fill in:
| Field | Example |
|---|---|
| Cycle name | 2025 Strategic Year |
| Start date | 01 Jan 2025 |
| End date | 31 Dec 2025 |
| Scope | ACME Turkey |
| Description | (optional) |
- Save
Verification: You should see “2025 Strategic Year” in the list.
Step 5: Write Mission & Vision
Path: /mission-vision
- Sidebar → Context → Mission & Vision
- Click “+ Create”
- Fill in:
| Field | Example |
|---|---|
| Cycle | 2025 Strategic Year |
| Scope | ACME Turkey |
| Mission | Provide fast, reliable software solutions |
| Vision | Become market leader in 2025 (20% market share), NPS > 80 |
- Save
Tip: Mission = “why we exist”, Vision = “where we’re going”.
Minute 8–15: Phase 2 — Reality Filter (Resources)
Step 6: Add resources (budget / capacity)
Path: /resources-vrio
- Sidebar → Analysis → VRIO / Resource Analysis
- Click “+ Add Resource”
- Create a few resources (example fields):
| Field | Example |
|---|---|
| Resource name | 2025 Budget – Sales |
| Cycle | 2025 Strategic Year |
| Department | Sales |
| Type | Budget |
| Amount | 2500000 |
| Currency | USD |
| Description | Annual budget for Sales |
- Save
- Repeat for Engineering and Finance
Example totals:
- Sales: 2.5M USD
- Engineering: 5M USD
- Finance: 500K USD
Verification: You should see 3 resources in the list.
Step 7: Resource approval (approver role)
- If you are not the approver, you can stop here and wait for approval.
- If you are the approver (or in a demo workspace), open the resource and click Approve.
Tip: If resources are rejected (insufficient), you return to Phase 1 to revise the plan.
Minute 15–25: Phase 3 — Assessment (Current State, SWOT, BSC)
Step 8: Create Current State analysis
Path: /current-states
- Sidebar → Analysis → Current State Analysis
- Click “+ Create”
- Add baseline metrics (example):
| Field | Example |
|---|---|
| Name | 2025 Current State Assessment |
| Cycle | 2025 Strategic Year |
| Scope | ACME Turkey |
| Baseline metric 1 | Market share: 12% |
| Baseline metric 2 | NPS: 68 (target: 80) |
| Baseline metric 3 | Revenue growth: 8% YoY (target: 15%) |
- Save
Step 9: Create SWOT
Path: /swot
- Sidebar → Synthesis → SWOT
- Click “+ Create SWOT”
- Fill in cycle/scope
- Add entries per quadrant:
Strengths:
- Agile engineering team
- Modern tech stack
- Strong customer relationships
Weaknesses:
- Limited sales capacity
- High acquisition cost
- Limited enterprise experience
Opportunities:
- Enterprise market growth
- AI/ML demand
- Regulatory tailwinds (e.g., compliance needs)
Threats:
- Pricing pressure
- Market consolidation
- Supply chain disruptions
Verification: You see entries in all 4 categories.
Step 10: Create Balanced Scorecard (BSC)
Path: /bsc
- Sidebar → Execution → Balanced Scorecard
- Click “+ Create BSC”
- Fill in the basics (if prompted):
| Field | Example |
|---|---|
| Name | 2025 Balanced Scorecard |
| Cycle | 2025 Strategic Year |
| Scope | ACME Turkey |
- Add at least one KPI per perspective:
- Financial: Revenue $100M → $110M
- Customer: NPS 68 → 80
- Internal Process: Deployment frequency 2/week → 5/week
- Learning & Growth: Certifications 30% → 60%
Tip: You can pick KPIs from the library or create new ones.
Minute 25–30: Phase 4 — Execution Plan (Themes → OKRs)
Step 11: Create Strategic Themes
Path: /strategic-themes
- Sidebar → Synthesis → Strategic Themes
- Click “+ Create Theme”
- Example theme:
| Field | Example |
|---|---|
| Name | Customer Centricity |
| Cycle | 2025 Strategic Year |
| Scope | ACME Turkey |
| Description | Improve CX, raise NPS above 80 |
| Color | Blue |
- Save
Recommended: Create 2 more themes (e.g., “Technology Leadership”, “Market Expansion”).
Step 12: Create an OKR (theme required)
Path: /okr/cycles
- Sidebar → Execution → OKR Cycles
- Click “+ Create OKR”
- Fill in:
| Field | Example |
|---|---|
| Objective | Increase NPS above 75 |
| Theme | Customer Centricity (required) |
| Owner | VP Customer Experience |
| Period | Q1 2025 |
- Add Key Results:
| Key Result | Target |
|---|---|
| Support SLA | 24h → 4h |
| Customer satisfaction (NPS) | 68 → 75 |
| Churn rate | 5% → 2% |
- Save
Verification: The OKR should appear in the list.
Minute 30: Congratulations
✅ Phase 1: Org + Cycle + Mission/Vision
✅ Phase 2: Resources + approval
✅ Phase 3: Current State + SWOT + BSC
✅ Phase 4: Themes + OKR
Next actions:
- Return to the dashboard and start tracking
- Make assignments: link OKRs to owners and contributors
- Create initiatives and link them to OKRs
- Run weekly check-ins (WBR) to keep data fresh
- Plan quarterly reviews (QBR)