Aligning Strategy & Programmes

MSP

In MSP methodology this is considered in the Principle 'Remaining aligned with corporate strategy'

The Portfolio Management infoKit looks at the process of defining organisational strategy and aligning this to a set of programmes designed to bring about organisational change and deliver business benefits.

There may be many individual projects needed to bring about the desired change and in an ideal situation they will be grouped into programmes with each programme aligned to a particular strategic objective in the Corporate Plan.

In the real world senior managers may inherit a situation that is less structured and will need to make judgements about whether all of the projects currently underway are adequately aligned with strategic goals and likely to deliver worthwhile return on investment. Mapping out your activities in this way can be a useful first step in identifying duplication of effort and outliers that do not sit readily within the bigger picture.

This infoKit outlines the process for starting up a programme from scratch but the same principles apply if you are trying to rationalise a pre-existing set of activities into coherent programmes.

When does an opportunity pose a threat?

Very often projects are started either because somebody has had a 'good idea' or because a funding opportunity has presented itself e.g. via a Regional Development Agency, a national body such as JISC or a European initiative such as the European Social Fund.

There is often a temptation to bid for such monies to run projects without considering the broader strategic imperatives. The project call may well be something that a particular unit or department wants to do. However, any project will not only use the resources offered by the external funding body, it will require some resources (either time or money) from your organisation. These resources are then no longer available to the programmes and projects that need to be undertaken to achieve strategic objectives. Put in simple terms, running projects without considering the impact on strategic objectives can lead to wasting money on 'nice to haves' whilst being unable to resource the essentials.

The answer to this is to have any prospective project assessed by senior management at corporate level to see whether it fits into any existing programme, already addressing a strategic objective, or whether there is a business case for creating a new programme or stand-alone project which will then align to a strategic objective.