Manager Guide

As a Manager, you own and execute strategic initiatives. You manage your team of ICs, track their contributions, and award points as work progresses.

Your Key Responsibilities

1. Own Initiatives

When an Admin assigns you as Owner of an initiative, you become responsible for its execution. This means:

Understanding the initiative's goals and success criteria
Breaking the work down among your contributors
Tracking progress and communicating with your team
Dispensing points at checkpoints and at completion

2. Add Contributors

For each initiative you own, you'll add contributors and set their allocation percentages. Contributors can be ICs or other Managers (but not yourself as the Owner). Allocations determine what share of the total points each contributor is eligible for.

Example: A 100-point initiative with three contributors at 50%, 30%, and 20% allocation means they're eligible for up to 50, 30, and 20 points respectively. Allocations must total exactly 100%.

You can manage contributors throughout the initiative lifecycle:

Add contributors — assign new team members to the initiative
Remove contributors — remove a contributor (with optional reason)
Reallocate percentages — adjust allocations as the team changes

3. Participate in Calibration

When your Admin creates a calibration session, you'll be asked to vote on point values for initiatives. Here's what to know:

You'll see a voting range for each initiative — this is the Admin's recommended range based on their anchor estimate
You submit a positive integer point estimate for each initiative
If you're the initiative's Owner, your vote carries 3x weight in the calculation
Voting outside the range is allowed, but you'll see a warning and your vote will be flagged for Admin review
Add an optional rationale to your vote (especially helpful if voting outside the range)
After all votes are in, the Admin reviews any flagged votes and finalizes the calibrated point value

Check your dashboard for a "Calibration Sessions Awaiting Your Vote" prompt when sessions are open.

4. Dispense Points at Checkpoints

Instead of waiting until an initiative is fully complete, you can award partial points at checkpoints as work progresses.

Meet with your ICs — review progress in standups, 1:1s, or team meetings (this happens outside G4mify).
Open the initiative detail page — find it in your initiatives list.
Click "Dispense Points" — enter the amount to award based on progress.
Optionally skip contributors — toggle off any contributors who did not contribute during this checkpoint period. Their share is redistributed proportionally among the remaining contributors.
Track the point pool — the progress bar shows total, awarded, and remaining points.

Important: Point dispensing is cumulative. Each checkpoint adds to the contributor's total, not replaces it. Points are distributed proportionally based on allocation percentages. Skipping a contributor at one checkpoint does not affect their allocation for future checkpoints.

Note: Point dispensing is only available when the initiative is in Assigned or Blocked status. Dispensing is frozen while an initiative is in Pending Completion.

5. Request Completion

When an initiative is done, you submit a completion request for Admin review:

Click "Request Completion" — opens the completion request form.
Fill in the request:
- Summary — describe what was accomplished
- Criteria assessment — evaluate which success criteria were met
- Remaining points recommendation — suggest whether to distribute or forfeit remaining base points
- Bonus recommendation — suggest an IC bonus amount for exceptional work (up to the configured cap)
- Supporting evidence — links, documents, or notes supporting the request
Submit — the initiative enters Pending Completion status. Point dispensing and scope adjustments are frozen.
Wait for Admin review — the Admin will either assign a completion tier (Full, Partial, or Incomplete) or reject the request with feedback.

If the Admin rejects your request, the initiative returns to Assigned status with feedback notes. You can address the feedback and submit a new request.

Note: Admins can also complete initiatives directly without a Manager request. In that case, you'll see the initiative move to Completed with the Admin's tier assignment.

6. Request Scope Adjustments

If an initiative's scope changes after calibration (e.g., a contributor departs, requirements shift, or priorities change), you can request a scope adjustment:

Click "Request Scope Adjustment" on the initiative detail page.
Select a reason — contributor departure, priority shift, requirement change, or other.
Propose new point value — enter the adjusted calibrated points.
Add justification — explain why the adjustment is needed.
Submit — the Admin will approve, modify, or deny the request.

Scope adjustments are available for initiatives in Assigned or Blocked status. They are frozen during Pending Completion. An Admin can also initiate scope adjustments directly.

Note: If a scope reduction brings the calibrated points below what has already been dispensed, no clawback occurs. The efficiency ratio caps at 1.0, and no further dispensing is possible until the pool is positive again.

7. Manage Contributors

You can adjust contributors throughout the initiative:

Remove a contributor — provide a reason (e.g., departed, reassigned). Points already earned are kept.
Add a new contributor — assign a replacement IC to the initiative.
Reallocate percentages — adjust allocation percentages (must total 100%). If no scope change is needed, reallocation does not require Admin approval.
Reallocation + scope adjustment — if you also need to change the calibrated points, submit a scope adjustment request alongside the reallocation (requires Admin approval).

8. Manager Score

As a Manager, you earn a Manager Score for each initiative you own. It has two components:

Dispensing Score — rewards efficient point dispensing. Calculated as: points dispensed × (points dispensed / calibrated points). The efficiency ratio (dispensed/calibrated) caps at 1.0.
Completion Bonus — awarded when Admin assigns a completion tier. Calculated as: calibrated points × tier multiplier. Default multipliers: Full = 3.0×, Partial = 1.5×, Incomplete = 0.5× (configurable by Admin).

Your total Manager Score across all initiatives is displayed on the Manager Leaderboard. IC bonus points are excluded from the Manager Score calculation.

Contributor Score: If you contribute to another manager's initiative, you earn a Contributor Score just like an IC. This is shown separately from your Manager Score on the Manager Leaderboard.

Navigation

Your manager navigation includes:

Dashboard — your initiatives, Manager Score, action items, upcoming checkpoints
My Initiatives — initiatives you own, with search and filtering
Calibration — vote on point values in open sessions
Team — your team members and their contributions
Leaderboard — IC and Manager rankings
Reporting — analytics on your team's contributions

Tips for Success

Dispense points regularly at checkpoints rather than saving everything for the end
Use the point pool progress bar to track how much of the initiative's value has been awarded
Communicate with your ICs about progress outside G4mify — the platform tracks outcomes, not daily activity
Vote thoughtfully in calibration — your Owner vote carries extra weight for initiatives you own