Projects - what to cut
08/08/11 18:15
There are some things that a company does that are not directly linked to its strategy. Planting trees, for example. When trees are planted on campus, one may argue that it does not have a direct effect on the strategy. Well, that statement may or may not be true.
If the company is interested in providing a wonderful work environment for its employees, this in turn will result in higher productivity, which will result in higher customer satisfaction, and therefore higher profitability. So planting trees on campus does make sense, as along as such a thing is done with deliberately thought.
For another company, if the workforce is mostly virtual and the bare buildings serve as a warehouse, then planting trees around it, though commendable may not directly contribute to the company’s strategic goals.
Strategic work often takes the form of projects which have to be aligned. If all projects were aligned with the highest level strategic goals - such as providing great customer service - then it becomes difficult to prune low ROI projects. A hierarchical mapping of projects to their supporting sub-strategies, which in turn map to strategies is one way to rid the organization of low value work.
As an example, in the case of the “planting trees to enhance the working environment,” if the organization decided to offer better support for the families of their employees instead, then planting trees around campus will be considered a low priority. Hence, the strategic direction is one way to determine what projects do or do not go forward.
Establishing connections among the work, and how those lead up to supporting the strategic objectives, is critical to making decisions around what to cut in dire times.
If the company is interested in providing a wonderful work environment for its employees, this in turn will result in higher productivity, which will result in higher customer satisfaction, and therefore higher profitability. So planting trees on campus does make sense, as along as such a thing is done with deliberately thought.
For another company, if the workforce is mostly virtual and the bare buildings serve as a warehouse, then planting trees around it, though commendable may not directly contribute to the company’s strategic goals.
Strategic work often takes the form of projects which have to be aligned. If all projects were aligned with the highest level strategic goals - such as providing great customer service - then it becomes difficult to prune low ROI projects. A hierarchical mapping of projects to their supporting sub-strategies, which in turn map to strategies is one way to rid the organization of low value work.
As an example, in the case of the “planting trees to enhance the working environment,” if the organization decided to offer better support for the families of their employees instead, then planting trees around campus will be considered a low priority. Hence, the strategic direction is one way to determine what projects do or do not go forward.
Establishing connections among the work, and how those lead up to supporting the strategic objectives, is critical to making decisions around what to cut in dire times.