Strategic Objectives Breakdown Methods
Select appropriate methods and processes to identify the incremental steps and objective progressions or enablers necessary to achieve the organization's strategic objectives.
Improvement Planning
Practices-Outcomes-Metrics (POM)
Representative POMs are described for Strategic Objectives Breakdown Methods at each level of maturity.
- 1Initial
- Practice
- Leverage PPM staff expertise.
- Outcome
- Better methods are suggested and used.
- Metric
- Percentage of strategic objectives addressed in the project portfolio plan.
- Practice
- Emulate others' successes.
- Outcome
- Benchmarking and reusing what is known to work provides workable methods.
- Metric
- Number of imported or reused methods.
- 2Basic
- Practice
- Break down structure and complexity by skills, knowledge, tools, licensing/legal, etc.
- Outcome
- Systematic methods that provide multiple views provide a basis for better analysis.
- Metric
- Number of unplanned resource, skill, tools, licences, and so forth needed to complete project portfolio components.
- Practice
- Identify steps or progressions to simplify the transition of the business from its current mode of operation to the strategically desired mode of operation.
- Outcome
- Methods that identify smaller more manageable projects and interproject dependencies aid analysis and planning.
- Metric
- Percentage of portfolio cost accounted for by portfolio management cost. (If portfolio components are too small (too granular), overhead costs rise, if too large (too course), failures rise as projects may be too complex to deliver).
- 3Intermediate
- Practice
- Complete forward (assembly) pass to identify dependencies between project portfolio components in transitioning the business to its strategic new position. (Looking at the parts and sub assemblies needed to deliver a product or service, consider the order in which they should be created or assembled).
- Outcome
- Methods that support placing project portfolio components in the correct execution sequence improve.
- Metric
- Count of stoppages caused by dependencies not being ready across project portfolio components.
- Practice
- Complete backward (disassembly) pass to identify dependencies. (Consider how products or services can be broken down to their constituent parts to identify inter-dependencies).
- Outcome
- Less obvious interdependencies get identified and project portfolio scheduling risk of error is reduced.
- Metric
- Count of stoppages caused by dependencies not being ready across project portfolio components.
- 4Advanced
- Practice
- Use advanced methods that take into consideration cyclical issues like season, business patterns, operations scheduling and resource availability fluctuations when developing work breakdown structures.
- Outcome
- Costs are reduced as schedules do work best suited to a given season at the correct time.
- Metric
- Count of delays due to resource shortages (e.g. Business pulls back resources assigned to project work to cover business peaks).
- Practice
- Identify or develop methods to sequence and schedule tasks based on dependencies and knowledge acquisition criteria.
- Outcomes
- Knowledge acquisition tasks are given the time necessary for their completion, so reducing risk.
- Planning is improved.
- Metric
- Number of emergency consultants hired to fix capability and knowledge gaps in project delivery.
- 5Optimized
- Practice
- Use the latest evidence-informed methods and techniques that help to identify inter-project dependencies.
- Outcome
- Strategic objective breakdowns are comprehensive and aid analysis and planning.
- Metric
- Number of research-informed process innovations.
- Practice
- Use the latest portfolio management tool sets and their advanced features to optimize project portfolio sequencing.
- Outcome
- Sequencing is based on priorities, is achievable with the available resources, and makes efficient use of the resources assigned to the portfolio.
- Metric
- Number of research-informed tools innovations and tool-enabled innovations.