Creating Issues

How to add Issues to your short- and long-term lists.

Written by Tommy Mains

Updated at September 10th, 2024

Issues are the problems, obstacles, ideas, or opportunities teams discuss and solve during meetings. Our Issues tool captures and stores your team's short- and long-term Issues.

Short-term Issues are discussed and solved during weekly team meetings. Long-term Issues are prioritized, discussed, and solved during quarterly and annual team meetings.

 

Video Overview

 

Creating Issues

You can create new Issues from anywhere in Ninety using the Create button on the top right of the page or in the Issues tool.

 

To create a new Issue with the Create button:

  1. Click the Create button on the top right of the page.
  2. Use the dropdown to ensure Issue is selected.
  3. Write a name for the Issue.
  4. Choose a team from the Team dropdown.
  5. Click Create Issue.

While creating Issues, you can also:

  • Switch the person bringing the Issue to the team by clicking the profile image and selecting another user.
  • Make it a long-term Issue by clicking the Interval dropdown and selecting Long-Term.
  • Write a description.
  • Add a user to the Who section — this is the decision maker for the Issue.
  • Give it a priority number from the Priority dropdown.
  • Attach files by clicking the plus button next to Attachments.

You can also create an Issue by clicking + Add Issue at the bottom of the short- or long-term Issues list.

 

Creating Linked Issues

Creating an Issue from an existing item (such as a Rock, To-Do, Issue, or Headline) adds a link to the Issue, which shows the item of origin and automatically populates part of the Issue's description.

Click through the tabs below to learn how.

Rock

To link an existing Rock to a new Issue:

  1. Right-click the Rock's row.
    1. You do this in the Rocks tool or while reviewing Rocks during a meeting.
  2. Click Create Linked Issue from the dropdown.
  3. Edit details as desired from the popup.
    1. The assigned due date will be seven days out.
    2. The title and description start the same as the Rock's.
  4. Click the Create Linked Issue button.
 
 

To-Do

To link an existing To-Do to a new Issue:

  1. Right-click the To-Do's row.
    1. You can do this in the To-Dos tool or while reviewing To-Dos during a meeting.
  2.  Click Create linked Issue from the dropdown.
  3. Edit details as desired from the popup.
    1. The assigned due date will be seven days out.
    2. The title and description start the same as the To-Do's.
  4. Click the Create Linked Issue button.
 
 

Issue

To link an existing Issue to a new Issue:

  1. Right-click the Issue's row.
    1. You do this in the Issues tool or while reviewing Issues during a meeting.
  2. Click Create Linked Issue from the dropdown.
  3. Edit details as desired from the popup.
    1. The assigned due date will be seven days out.
    2. The title and description start the same as the Issue's.
  4. Click the Create Linked Issue button.
 
 

Headline

To link an existing Headline or Cascaded Message to a new Issue:

  1. Right-click the Issue's row.
    1. You do this in the Headlines tool or while reviewing Headlines during a meeting.
  2. Click Create Linked Issue from the dropdown.
  3. Edit details as desired from the popup.
    1. The assigned due date will be seven days out.
    2. The title and description start the same as the Headline's.
  4. Click the Create Linked Issue button.
 
 

To unlink an item from an Issue, the user assigned to the Issue should:

  1. Click Issues from the left navigation.
  2. Click the Issue to open its details card.
  3. Scroll down to the Linked Items section.
  4. Click Edit.
  5. Click Unlink.

Editing Issues

You can edit any Issue on your team's Issues list by opening its details card. To open an Issue's details card, click the Issue's row.

 

Managing Your Issues Lists

Keeping your Issues lists up-to-date and organized helps teams stay productive both in and out of meetings. You can do the following to quickly manage your Issues lists:

  • Toggle between list and column view with the buttons on the top right of the list.
  • Drag and drop Issues into a new order by hovering over the far left of an Issue's row and then clicking and dragging the six-dot icon.
  • Sort all issues alphabetically, numerically (by priority number), chronologically (by created date), or individually (by Issue owner) by clicking any of the following at the top of each column, respectively:
    • Title
    • #
    • Created
    • Owner

 

 

Right-click any Issue on one of your team's lists to open a dropdown of additional ways to manage your Issues, including:

  • Top of List — Move this Issue to the top of the team's list.
  • Bottom of List — Move this Issue to the bottom of the team's list.
  • Create linked Rock — Create a Rock using this Issue's title and description.
  • Create linked To-Do — Create a To-Do using this Issue's title and description.
  • Create linked Issue — Create a new Issue using this Issue's title and description.
  • Create linked Headline — Create a Headline using this Issue's title and description.
  • Send to Another Team — Move this Issue to another team's list.
  • Merge into Another Issue — Transfer all of this Issue's information to another Issue on the list (the user will click the Issue to merge with).
  • Make Long-Term Issue/Make Short-Term Issue — Move this Issue to the same team's opposite list.
  • Archive — Move this Issue to your team's Issue archive.
  • Copy Link — Copy a link directly to this Issue's details card to your clipboard.
  • Delete — Delete this Issue from your list (it will not be archived).