Making Issues Your Own Workspaces

Introduction
Video
Suggested Details
Making the Overview Your Own
Making Issues Your Own Workspaces 1-Pager

Introduction - Video

Think of an Issue page as a blank canvas, ready for you to flesh out with details of your own. When creating an Issue from scratch, FiscalNote helps guide you to add information with suggested fields such as Lead and Impact. Customize the overview with resources and additional information to make them your own.

Note: Platform interface may differ from your actual screen. This video is just to show you an overview of the topic.

Suggested Details

Most of the suggested fields in an Issue are optional. Some of you may be operating as individuals, so Issue 'Lead', for example, may not be necessary to document. However, we recommend adding as much relevant detail as possible, regardless of whether you're a team lead or a single-person shop. Customizing an Issue provides benefits beyond documentation, such as the ability to download an Issue brief for presentation purposes:

The following are pre-set fields provided by FiscalNote, with sample uses for each:

Name: Give your Issue a name, such as 'Airbags'.

Image: Use a banner image to give colleagues an understanding of the Issue, at-a-glance. This image is also used as a header for downloaded Issue Briefs (shown above). Try to use an image close to the suggested size (1360x250 pixels) for optimal resolution.

Lead: Team colleague who is in charge of monitoring the Issue. If you're a single user, Lead can be used to document other items, such as your top stakeholder.

Priority: High, Medium, Low, or None. We recommend always documenting a priority level when possible. Priority can be used to filter Issues by priority level on the Issues listing page, and will be indicated by a color code when visible throughout FiscalNote (Red=High, Yellow=Medium, Green=Low):

Impact: Level of net impact on your or your client's organization. Whether PR or financial in nature, we recommend using a shared system to document the level. For example, if documenting financial impact, a system may use dollar signs to denote level of impact: high, medium, low:

$$$ = High financial impact
$$ = Medium financial impact
$ = Low financial impact

Labels: One of the most common approaches to classifying Issues by Label is to use Department names. For example: at a Vehicle Safety organization, 'Coronavirus' may impact numerous Departments such as HR, C-Suite, and Finance, while the 'Airbags' Issue may only impact the Government Affairs team.

Making the Overview Your Own

The Issue Overview is where you "paint the canvas" and make it your own. Add as many sections as necessary, use the text editor to share links for easy access to online resources, and share all information that's critical to your team's success:

Recommended Sections to Add:

When customizing an Issue, keep in mind how it will be used. Will Issue briefs be downloaded for presentation purposes? Or will it be used purely as a workspace within FiscalNote? Knowing your strategy will shape what kind of information gets added to each Issue. Start by clicking 'Edit Issue', then + Add section to make it your own:

Summary: A brief description of the Issue, sub-topics being monitored, your organization's general position, and a reason for why it's being monitored.

Talking Points: Readily available statements for handling questions regarding your organization's political stances or perspectives.

Holding Statements: Readily available statements for handling crises when questioned by media.

Tracking Strategies: A brief description of the type of policy documents being monitored, who is responsible for tracking which legislature(s), and keywords used to identify critical bills or regulations.

Resources: A description of organizational initiatives and internal or external links to relevant information are often shared to empower all team members with instant access the resources necessary to do their jobs.