I would love to hear what tools and techniques you use for capturing strategic objectives and programs/ projects to effectively communicate with the business and also with the teams Saving Changes...
Online Community Specialist| PMINewtown Square, Pa, United States
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First of all, you should have clear thoughts about the vision and mission of your company. After defining the vision and mission, you can establish strategic objectives that help to comply with these statements. Then, a set of projects can be initiated, related to these strategic objectives. These projects can be reunited in programs when they are related and better managed in a group. Also, projects and programs can be reunited in a portfolio, when they are all related to a strategic objective.
In addition, when managing projects, programs, and portfolios, various software, templates, and technologies can be used as an aid to time, cost, scope, quality, risk, resources, acquisition, communications, and stakeholder management. Saving Changes...
As Verónica already stated, vision and mission are crucial in order to define your strategic objectives and based on that corresponding programs and projects.
In my role as Corp. Strategy Lead we used the following approach for strategy defintion and execution:
1. Define strategy (3 to 5 year view):
- Aspiration: Vision, Mission, Financial Ambitions
- Where to play: What is our competitive field (geos, ICP, industries, etc.)
- How to win: What is our competitive advantage
- Capabilities: How we make our competitive advantage a reality
Review the strategy on an annual basis with all relevant stakeholders for potential updates and changes.
2. Execute strategy (annual/trimester/quarter view):
- Definition of Company OKRs (based on Googles OKR approach) in line with developed strategy: We usually have around 3-5 company OKRs. One OKR will then translate into a program with corresponding projects.
- OKR sets are usually cross-divisional and have a duration of 4-6 months (but this will ofc depend on the organisation, too)
- In addition, to cross-divisional OKRs we also encourage divisions to set their own OKRs in line with the strategy. Company OKRs always have priority in execution.
- All company OKRs are being tracked together with the respective projects and programs in our project management software. We do a lot of communication across the company with regards to the OKRs, incl. update reports, office hours, company-wide meetings, etc.
- From my experience, the chosen OKR approach really depends on the organisation and can be fined tuned over time with experience.
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1 reply by Akvile Sukeviciene
Feb 03, 2026 6:38 AM
Akvile Sukeviciene
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Do you use OKRs with your bonus system as well?
Saving Changes...
Navaid Ur RehmanAdditional Director / Project Management Expert /Writer /Trainer| Confidential (Pakistan)Karachi, Sd, Pakistan
Capturing strategic objectives and effectively communicating them with both the business and teams is crucial for successful project management. Here are some tools and techniques you can use:
1-Analyze your organization's SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats) to determine its current situation and match strategic goals with its resources.
2-To improve clarity and practicality, make sure every strategy target is SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time-Bound).
3-Transform strategy into quantifiable goals from four perspectives: financial, customer, internal processes, and learning/growth. Use the Balanced Scorecard to do this.
4-Make roadmaps to help teams and stakeholders understand the project's course and important checkpoints. Project roadmaps, sometimes known as Gantt charts, aid in visualizing the timetable and milestones.
5-To help team members and company stakeholders grasp strategic objectives more clearly, use mind maps for brainstorming and organizational purposes.
6-Make communication plans that specify who should know what, when, and via which channels.
7-Analyze your stakeholders to learn about their expectations, communication styles, and areas of interest.
8-Incorporate risk management plans to communicate how risks will be identified, assessed, and mitigated.
9-Provide regular updates through reporting mechanisms to keep both business and teams informed about progress, challenges, and achievements. Saving Changes...
As Verónica already stated, vision and mission are crucial in order to define your strategic objectives and based on that corresponding programs and projects.
In my role as Corp. Strategy Lead we used the following approach for strategy defintion and execution:
1. Define strategy (3 to 5 year view):
- Aspiration: Vision, Mission, Financial Ambitions
- Where to play: What is our competitive field (geos, ICP, industries, etc.)
- How to win: What is our competitive advantage
- Capabilities: How we make our competitive advantage a reality
Review the strategy on an annual basis with all relevant stakeholders for potential updates and changes.
2. Execute strategy (annual/trimester/quarter view):
- Definition of Company OKRs (based on Googles OKR approach) in line with developed strategy: We usually have around 3-5 company OKRs. One OKR will then translate into a program with corresponding projects.
- OKR sets are usually cross-divisional and have a duration of 4-6 months (but this will ofc depend on the organisation, too)
- In addition, to cross-divisional OKRs we also encourage divisions to set their own OKRs in line with the strategy. Company OKRs always have priority in execution.
- All company OKRs are being tracked together with the respective projects and programs in our project management software. We do a lot of communication across the company with regards to the OKRs, incl. update reports, office hours, company-wide meetings, etc.
- From my experience, the chosen OKR approach really depends on the organisation and can be fined tuned over time with experience.
Do you use OKRs with your bonus system as well? Saving Changes...
Sergio Luis ConteHelping to create solutions for everyone| Worldwide based OrganizationsBuenos Aires, Argentina
To put this in terms of the PMI the key role for doing that is the Buisness Analyst. You can find lot of information inside the PMI guides for business analysis. With that said I am using OKRs from long time ago for going from strategy to tactic (for example to map OKRs to User Stories when using agile based frameworks or methods). Today in my actual work place we are using Jira Align plus ADO to create information from data. Saving Changes...
Luis BrancoCEO| Business Insight, Consultores de Gestão, LdªCarcavelos, Lisboa, Portugal
Great question. In practice, the challenge is less about tracking projects and more about maintaining a clear line of sight between strategy, decisions, and delivery.
What has worked consistently for me is a small set of integrated practices, supported by lightweight tools, rather than relying on any single framework.
First, I translate strategy into decision criteria. Before defining programs or projects, strategic objectives are made explicit as priorities, trade-offs, and success signals. This prevents strategy from becoming a broad wish list that everything claims to support.
Second, I use a thin strategic layer, not a heavy framework. Simple tools such as strategy maps or OKR-style structures are sufficient, as long as they clearly show how each program contributes to a limited number of strategic outcomes. Fewer objectives create stronger focus.
Third, governance is explicitly linked to strategy, not just compliance. Portfolio and program reviews are structured around strategic contribution, value realization, and learning, rather than only schedule, cost, and scope. Portfolio Kanban boards and regular portfolio reviews help make this alignment visible and discussable.
Fourth, I visualize the chain from intent to impact. Roadmaps, benefit maps, and lightweight dashboards are used to connect strategic objectives to initiatives and expected outcomes. These visuals help teams understand why their work matters and help leaders see where strategy is being realized or diluted.
Finally, alignment is continuously re-validated. Strategy is treated as a living input. Regular check-ins, supported by roadmap reviews and benefit tracking, ensure that projects still make sense as context evolves, and that stopping, reshaping, or re-prioritizing work is seen as a responsible decision.
Tools support the work, but clarity of intent, disciplined prioritization, and decision-centric governance make the real difference. When those are in place, communication with both the business and delivery teams becomes clearer, more honest, and more effective. Saving Changes...
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