Signals

Signals are automatic health observations that StartConsole raises against your portfolio based on what is happening in your initiatives, OKRs, capacity, and budget. They surface conditions that warrant attention — so your leadership team can act on evidence rather than waiting for a status update to arrive.

What a signal is

A signal is a specific, observable condition that StartConsole has detected in your portfolio data. Each signal is associated with a single initiative (or OKR) and is categorised by type. Signals do not replace human judgment — they surface information that a reviewer needs in order to make a decision.

Where signals appear

Signals appear in three places:

1. The Signals page — a dedicated view listing all active signals across your portfolio, accessible from the main navigation
2. The initiative detail page — active signals on a specific initiative appear in the Signals section of that initiative's record
3. The portfolio dashboard — the health gauge and signal count badge on the dashboard reflect the current total of active signals

Signal severity

Each signal carries a severity indicator:

• Red — a condition that poses immediate risk to delivery, financial health, or strategic alignment. Requires action now.
• Amber — a condition that is developing and warrants monitoring or early intervention. Review at your next portfolio meeting.
• Green — an informational observation with no immediate risk. No action required.

Severity badges appear alongside every signal on the Signals page and on the initiative record.

Signal categories

Signals are grouped into five categories:

• Budget — conditions related to financial health, including projected spend relative to the allocated budget
• Delivery — conditions related to timeline and deliverable progress, including overdue deliverables and stalled initiatives
• OKR — conditions related to goal performance, including key results that are tracking behind their target
• Capacity — conditions related to squad allocation, including over-allocation
• Dependency — conditions related to cross-initiative dependencies that may be at risk

Navigating the Signals page

The Signals page displays all active signals in a list. Each row shows:

• The signal type and description
• The severity badge
• The initiative or OKR the signal is associated with
• The date the signal was first raised

You can sort the list by severity (most critical first), by date raised, or by initiative name.

Filtering signals