---
sourceDocument: Brazil IT Service Management
sourceDocumentLink: https://www.servicenow.com/docs/r/it-service-management

 Release :

    - brazil

ft:locale :

    - en-US

ft:publication_title :

    - Brazil IT Service Management

ft:clusterId :

    - itsm

bundleId :

    - itsm

workflow :

    - Technology


---

# Improvement field descriptions

# Improvement field descriptions {#ariaid-title1}

Release version: Brazil  
Updated September 10, 2026  
![](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/portal-asset/ico-clock) 8 minutes to read
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## Summary of Improvement field descriptions

This documentation details the fields and functionality of the Improvement Initiative form and its related components within ServiceNow's Continual Improvement Management (CIM) module.
It provides ServiceNow customers with an understanding of how to manage improvement initiatives, track progress, associate strategic objectives, and measure outcomes effectively.
Show full answer Show less  

## Improvement Initiative Form

The form captures all essential information about an improvement initiative, including:

* **Number:** Unique identifier for the initiative.
* **Business service, service offering, business process:** Defines the scope of the improvement.
* **CIM Coordinator:** The user responsible for completion, requiring the Improvement Coordinator role.
* **Approver group:** Group authorized to approve the initiative, configurable and empty by default.
* **Strategies:** Strategic objectives aligned with the initiative, supporting multiple selections from CIM or enterprise strategies.
* **State:** Read-only status field reflecting lifecycle stages such as New, Accepted, Approved, On Hold, Closed, etc.
* **Priority and Effort estimate:** Classification of work urgency and effort size.
* **Benefits and Percent complete:** Expected benefits and progress tracking based on CIM phases.
* **Short description and Business justification:** Summary and rationale with metrics or KPIs for success measurement.

## Goals Tab

This tab defines how the success of the initiative is measured, offering various methods:

* **Automated: PA Indicator:** Uses Performance Analytics KPIs and displays scorecards.
* **Reports:** Allows tracking via reports for users without Performance Analytics.
* **Survey and Assessment:** Uses survey metric types for measurement.
* **Manual:** For other measurement types.

Additional fields specify KPI breakdowns, target values, percentage improvements, target review dates, and expected tangible outcomes like updated processes or published documentation.

## Details Tab

This tab includes fields such as:

* **Requested for:** The user for whom the initiative is created.
* **Type:** Improvement area(s) such as People, Process, Technology, automatically setting to Process if a business process is selected.
* **Watch list:** Users notified of updates.
* **Parent initiative and related records:** Links to parent initiatives, source applications, and related records from Coaching, CMDB, Demand, GRC, Incident, Problem, and Survey Management applications.

## Schedule Tab

Captures timeline information:

* **Planned start/end dates:** Expected timeline, defaulting to creation date and the following day.
* **Actual start/end dates:** Real progress tracking dates.

## Notes and Closure Notes Tabs

* **Additional comments:** Optionally visible to customers.
* **Work notes:** Internal notes, required when resubmitting for approval.
* **Closure code and notes:** Records final status (e.g., Successful, Withdrawn, Unsuccessful) and achieved outcome categories such as Cost Reduction or Customer Satisfaction.

## CIM Phases and Tasks

Improvement initiatives are broken down into phases and tasks for detailed progress tracking:

* **CIM Phases:** Group related tasks with planned and actual end dates, percentage completion, and descriptions.
* **CIM Tasks:** Work units assigned to users with priority, state, planned end date, and detailed descriptions. Tasks can be placed on hold with reasons and are linked to phases or directly to initiatives.

## Impacted KPIs

This related list identifies KPIs affected by the initiative beyond the primary improvement KPI, including their breakdowns and scorecards for performance tracking.

## Approvers

The approval process is managed via an approvers list indicating state (Requested, Approved, Rejected, etc.), authorized users from the defined approver group, comments, and timestamps.

## Practical Benefits for ServiceNow Customers

* Enables structured management of improvement initiatives aligned with business services and strategic objectives.
* Facilitates clear assignment of responsibilities through roles and approver groups.
* Supports comprehensive measurement of success using Performance Analytics KPIs, reports, and assessments.
* Tracks detailed progress via phases and tasks with visibility into status, priorities, and scheduling.
* Links initiatives to related records across multiple ServiceNow applications, enabling cross-functional coordination.
* Improves communication with watch lists, customer-visible comments, and closure documentation.  
Improvement Initiative form and related field descriptions.

## Improvement Initiative form {#cim-field-descriptions__section_ybn_qjj_4cb}

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| Field | Description |
|-|-|
| Number | Unique CIM number. |
| Business service | CMDB Business service improved by the improvement initiative. |
| Service offering | Service offering associated with this improvement initiative. |
| Business process | Business process improved by the improvement initiative. When a business process is selected, the improvement area Type field on the Details tab is automatically set to Process. |
| CIM Coordinator | User primarily responsible for ensuring the completion of the improvement initiative. The CIM Coordinator must have the Improvement Coordinator role (sn_cim.improvement_coordinator). |
| Approver group | Group of users that have permission to approve the improvement initiative. CIM Approvers group is added with Continual Improvement Management. Default is empty. |
| Strategies | Strategic objectives impacted by the improvement initiative. Multiple strategic objectives can be selected. Strategic objectives can be added from the lookup list. The lookup list contains both Continual Improvement Management strategic objectives and business [enterprise strategies](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/access?context=create-a-enterprise-strategy&version=brazil&pubname=brazil-it-business-management&ft:locale=en-US) to align with the improvement initiative. An enterprise strategy can be added from the navigation menu Continual ImprovementEnterprise Strategies. Also accessible through Business Planner and Organization navigation menus. Note: If the improvement initiative does not align with a company strategic objective, you can click Reject in the header bar to reject the improvement initiative. |
| State | [State of the improvement initiative](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/YaAjuwacVAWDrRQSaZOlVw "Descriptions of CIM improvement, task, and approver states and process workflow."). This field is read only. * New * Accepted * Assess * Approved * In Progress * On Hold * Monitor/Review * Closed * Canceled {#cim-field-descriptions__ul_mwj_py2_wcb} |
| On hold reason | Reason for putting the improvement initiative on hold. Note: This field is shown only when the state is on hold. When an improvement initiative is placed on hold, all CIM tasks are also placed on hold, but the state can be changed manually. When the improvement initiative is taken off hold, the CIM tasks are returned back to their previous state unless they were changed manually. |
| Priority | Sequence in which an incident or problem is to be worked on, based on impact and urgency. * 1 - Critical * 2 - High * 3 - Moderate * 4 - Low * 5 - Planning {#cim-field-descriptions__ul_p3d_fk5_bdb} |
| Effort estimate | Estimate of effort to complete all required tasks for the improvement initiative. * Small * Medium * Large * Extra Large {#cim-field-descriptions__ul_frp_jk5_bdb} |
| Benefits | Expected level of benefits achieved by completing the improvement initiative. |
| Percent complete | Percentage of work completed. The percentage is based on the completed state of the CIM phases that belong to this improvement initiative. For example, if there are five CIM phases, each contributes to 20% completion. |
| Short description | Brief explanation of the improvement initiative. |
| Business justification | Description about the importance of the improvement and additional details that includes metrics or KPIs used to measure the success. |
[ ]

{#cim-field-descriptions__table_rp2_bjj_4cb}

## Goals tab {#cim-field-descriptions__section_nnp_rjj_4cb}

{#cim-field-descriptions__table_qvh_gkj_4cb__entry__2}

| Field | Description |
|-|-|
| Success measurement method | * Automated: PA Indicator: An improvement KPI. * Reports: Reports to track progress. Users who do not use performance analytics can add reports to track the initiatives. * Survey and Assessment: An Assessment metric type. * Manual: All other types. {#cim-field-descriptions__ul_v3h_vv2_wcb} |
| Improvement KPI | Primary KPI used to measure the improvement of the improvement initiative. The Show Score Card icon launches the Performance Analytics score card for the improvement KPI. Note: This field is shown only when the Success Measurement Method field is set to Automated: PA Indicator. |
| Breakdown | The breakdown of the improvement KPI, if one exists. Note: This field is shown only when an improvement KPI is selected for the Automated: PA Indicator success measurement method. |
| Element | The element of the KPI breakdown. Note: This field is shown only when a breakdown is selected. |
| 2nd Breakdown | The second-level breakdown of the improvement KPI, if one exists. Note: This field is shown only after the first breakdown is selected. |
| 2nd Element | The element of the second-level KPI breakdown. Note: This field is shown only when a second-level breakdown is selected. |
| Time Series | Time series for the improvement KPI. Note: This field is shown only when an improvement KPI is selected. |
| Survey \& Assessment | Assessment metric type associated with the improvement initiative. Note: This field is shown only for the Survey \& Assessment success measurement method. If the improvement initiative was created from within the Survey Management application, this field is not automatically populated. |
| Base value | Base value of the success measurement method when the target is set. |
| Percentage improvement | Percent improvement target. Note: This field is shown only when an improvement KPI is selected. If the KPI is a percent type, then this field is calculated automatically (based on Base value and Target value fields). |
| Target value | Absolute target value. Note: For the Automated: PA Indicator success measurement method, if the KPI is not a percent type, then this field is calculated automatically (based on base value and percentage improvement). If the target value is already set on the indicator, breakdown, element, and aggregation, this field is automatically set. However, you can override this value by specifying a percent in the Percent Improvement field. The target value set in this field is synced with the Performance Analytics indicator target for the KPI (Performance AnalyticsIndicatorTargets). |
| Target review date | Date the goal should be achieved. Note: For the Automated: PA Indicator success measurement method, even if the target date is already set on the indicator, breakdown, element, and aggregation, this field is not automatically set. |
| Expected outcomes | Tangible artifacts and updates expected by the improvement initiative (for example, updated process published in new template, work Instructions, and FAQ published in knowledge base). |
[ ]

{#cim-field-descriptions__table_qvh_gkj_4cb}

## Details tab {#cim-field-descriptions__section_usq_hw2_wcb}

{#cim-field-descriptions__table_ux5_3w2_wcb__entry__2}

| Field | Description |
|-|-|
| Requested for | User for which the improvement initiative was created. |
| Type | Area improved by the improvement initiative. One or many areas may be selected. * People * Process * Technology {#cim-field-descriptions__ul_yqz_3w2_wcb} When a value is selected for the Business Process field, the Type field is automatically set to Process. |
| Watch list | Users notified when updates are made to the improvement initiative. |
| Parent initiative | Parent initiative associated with this child initiative. When a parent initiative is selected, all associated child initiatives display in the Child Initiatives related list. |
| Source/Parent | Source or parent application from which the improvement initiative was created. * Coaching Opportunity (COP) Coaching opportunity record to which the improvement initiative is linked. * CMDBRemediate Duplicate Tasks record to which the improvement initiative is linked. * Demand (DMND)Demand record to which the improvement initiative is linked. * GRC issueIssue record to which the improvement initiative is linked. * Incident (INC)Incident record to which the improvement initiative is linked. * Problem (PRB)Problem record to which the improvement initiative is linked. * (Survey) Assessment Metric TypeAssessment metric type for the survey definition record to which the improvement initiative is linked. {#cim-field-descriptions__ul_mh3_gsy_sfb} Note: This field is shown only when an improvement initiative is created from Coaching, CMDB, Demand Management, GRC, Incident Management, Problem Management, or Survey Management applications. |
[ ]

{#cim-field-descriptions__table_ux5_3w2_wcb}

## Schedule tab {#cim-field-descriptions__section_bmx_vjj_4cb}

{#cim-field-descriptions__table_zyf_hkj_4cb__entry__2}

| Field | Description |
|-|-|
| Planned start date | Expected start date. By default, this field displays the date and time when the CIM initiative was created. |
| Planned end date | Expected end date. By default, this field displays the date and time for the day after the planned start date. |
| Actual start date | The date and time when the progress on a new initiative starts. |
| Actual end date | The date and time when the last task associated with an initiative is completed. |
[ ]

{#cim-field-descriptions__table_zyf_hkj_4cb}

## Notes tab {#cim-field-descriptions__section_jzy_vjj_4cb}

{#cim-field-descriptions__table_smj_hkj_4cb__entry__2}

| Field | Description |
|-|-|
| Additional comments (customer visible) | Check box to show additional comments that are visible to the customer. If checked, the Additional comments (Customer visible) field content is shown. |
| Work notes | Work notes relating to the improvement initiative. Note: Required when submitting the improvement initiative for reapproval. |
[ ]

{#cim-field-descriptions__table_smj_hkj_4cb}

## Closure Notes tab {#cim-field-descriptions__section_ps1_wjj_4cb}

{#cim-field-descriptions__table_d1q_hkj_4cb__entry__2}

| Field | Description |
|-|-|
| Closure code | * Successful: Goals met. * Withdrawn: No longer needed/applicable. * Unsuccessful: Goals not met. {#cim-field-descriptions__ul_bvh_1d5_pcb} |
| Achieved outcome category | * Cost Reduction * Revenue Generation * Time Savings * Customer Satisfaction * Quality Improvement {#cim-field-descriptions__ul_xp4_3y5_ycb} |
| Close notes | Notes regarding the improvement initiative closure. |
[ ]

{#cim-field-descriptions__table_d1q_hkj_4cb}

## CIM Phases related list {#cim-field-descriptions__section_alw_yjj_4cb}

{#cim-field-descriptions__table_b4w_hkj_4cb__entry__2}

| Field | Description |
|-|-|
| Number | Unique CIMT phase number. |
| Parent | Improvement initiative to which the CIM phase belongs. There can be multiple CIM phases per improvement initiative. The CIM phase groups the tasks, sets a planned end date, and shows the percent complete for tracking purposes. |
| Percent complete | Percentage of work completed. Percentage is based on the completed state of the CIM tasks that belong to this CIM phase. For example, if there are five CIM tasks, each contributes to 20% completion. |
| Planned end date | Estimated phase end date. |
| Actual end date | End date of the phase. |
| Short Description | Short description of the phase. |
| Description | (Required) Full description of the phase. |
[ ]

{#cim-field-descriptions__table_b4w_hkj_4cb}

## CIM Tasks related list {#cim-field-descriptions__section_nbn_1kj_4cb}

{#cim-field-descriptions__table_jp1_3kj_4cb__entry__2}

| Field | Description |
|-|-|
| Number | Unique CIMT task number. |
| Parent | If the CIM task is tied to a CIM phase, the improvement phase number to which the CIM task belongs. A CIM task can only be tied to one CIM phase. You can also create a CIM task directly from a CIM initiative. CIM tasks consist of the work required to complete the improvement initiative. |
| Active | Check box that indicates whether the task is active. |
| Assigned to | User primarily responsible for completion of the task. |
| Improvement Initiative | Improvement initiative number to which the CIM task belongs. |
| Priority | Sequence in which an incident or problem is to be worked on, based on impact and urgency. * 1 - Critical * 2 - High * 3 - Moderate * 4 - Low * 5 - Planning {#cim-field-descriptions__ul_i3n_4gc_zcb} |
| State | [State of the task](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/YaAjuwacVAWDrRQSaZOlVw "Descriptions of CIM improvement, task, and approver states and process workflow."). * Pending * Open * Work In Process * Closed Complete * Closed Incomplete * Closed Skipped * On Hold {#cim-field-descriptions__ul_nsg_ngc_zcb} |
| On Hold Reason | Reason for putting the CIM task on hold. Note: This field is shown only when the state is on hold. When an improvement initiative is placed on hold, all CIM tasks are also placed on hold, but the state can be changed manually. When the improvement initiative is taken off hold, the CIM tasks are returned back to their previous state (unless they were changed manually). |
| Planned end date | Estimated end date of the task. |
| Short Description | Short description of the task. |
| Description | Full description of the task. |
| Work notes | Work notes for the task. |
[ ]

{#cim-field-descriptions__table_jp1_3kj_4cb}

## Impacted KPIs related list {#cim-field-descriptions__section_dn4_1kj_4cb}

{#cim-field-descriptions__table_x5d_3kj_4cb__entry__2}

| Field | Description |
|-|-|
| Improvement Initiative | Improvement initiative number to which the impacted KPI belongs. |
| Impacted KPI | Other related KPIs (independent of the Improvement KPI) that are affected by changes made as a result of the improvement initiative. |
| Breakdown | The breakdown of the impacted KPI. Note: This field is shown only when an impacted KPI is selected. |
| Element | The element of the KPI breakdown. Note: This field is shown only when a breakdown is selected. |
| Breakdown Level 2 | The second-level breakdown of the improvement KPI, if one exists. Note: This field is shown only after the first breakdown is selected. |
| Element Level 2 | The element of the second-level KPI breakdown. Note: This field is shown only when a second-level breakdown is selected. |
| View Scorecard | Related link to view the scorecard for the KPI. Note: The View KPI details button displays the details of the improvement KPI. |
[ ]

{#cim-field-descriptions__table_x5d_3kj_4cb}

## Approvers related list {#cim-field-descriptions__section_brp_1kj_4cb}

{#cim-field-descriptions__table_zmg_3kj_4cb__entry__2}

| Field | Description |
|-|-|
| State | [State of the approval](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/YaAjuwacVAWDrRQSaZOlVw "Descriptions of CIM improvement, task, and approver states and process workflow."). * Not Yet Requested * Requested * Approved * Rejected * Canceled * No Longer Required {#cim-field-descriptions__ul_gmt_kz5_ycb} |
| Approver | User authorized to approve the improvement initiative. Approvers are members of the group set in the Approver Group field on the Improvement Initiative form. |
| Comments | Comments for the approval improvement initiative. |
| Created | Date the improvement initiative was created. |
[ ]

{#cim-field-descriptions__table_zmg_3kj_4cb}

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