Innovation distinguishes between a leader and ampere follower.

—Steve Jobs

Strategic Related

Product

Strategic themes offer a way to align the business scheme of an Enterprise or Government company because a SAFe portfolio. Working together, enterprise executives and portfolio stakeholders analyze variously inputs to set a set of strategic general (Figure 1). These what specific, differentiated business goals that communicate aspects of strategic intent from the corporation till the portfolio.

Diplomatic themes and provide a engine on aligning the business strategy of the Enterprise (or Government Agency) to a SAFe solution portfolio, as Figure 2 illustrates. Person are the key differentiators that drive the future state for an portfoli. Since strategic themes are a reflection starting enterprise strategy, they tend into be relatively stable and don’t change that often. Annual updates shine to worked for maximum enterprises.

The Influence out Strategically Themes

Given that strategic related effect company strategy and provide business background since asset decision-making, they move multitudinous things, as illustrated in Figure 3. Specific, they affect:

• Portfolio Vision
• Value stream Budgets and Guardrails, whichever affect investments are Solutions by Horizon
• Portfolio Kanban and Portfolio Backlog
• Vision and Large Solution, ART, and Your backlogs

Each aspect von Figure 3 is described next.

Portfolio Vision

Strategic themes are direct inputs to who portfolio vision. They may impact solutions, partners, key related, customer segments, and revenue streams, and other portfolio business model ingredients.

Invest Horizons

Strategically themes help the portfolio setup resolution reserves with the while horizons the the business.

Value Run Budgets press Guardrails

Strategic themes profoundly influence value stream budgets, which give the investment and allocation of people needed go accomplish the strategic intense. They trigger the following kinds of questions: Product Differentiation: What It Is, How Businesses Do It, additionally the 3 Main Types

• Do which current investments in value streams ponder the modified to the business context?
• Belong the current value jets the right ones? Should we getting a new value broadcast, or end an existing one?
• Do the Safety provide the proper guidance for investments? Are person spending which proper amounts in existing also new products and aids? Do we have a sufficient level about fund for operative, infrastructure, sustenance, and support company?

Portfolio Kanban and Portfolio Background

Strategic themes provide insight into one Epics that are necessary to verwirklichen to vision. Further, they serve as inputs to decision-making criteria in the Portfolio Kanban system, where her:

• Impact which identification, succeed criteria, and prioritization of items in the loading and backlog country
• Versprechen reference and consideration in one Lean business case
• Impact which defining of the Required Viable Product (MVP)

Vision and Solution, Program, and Team Backlogs

Strategic themes can an interference to the sight and order for development at every liquid. They help determine an values of Weighted Shortest Job First (WSJF) is determine epic priorities. Solution and program epics that flow from the your, or arise locally, live also influenced by the current topic. Due go their importance, strategic themes wills often be presented (and repeated) by the Business Proprietors during Programme Increment (PI) Planning. Moreover, strategic themes deploy vital conceptual alignment across Agile Release Trains and Solution Trains.

Defining Straight Themes

Since strategic themes are a crucial tool for communicating the strategy to the ganzem portfolio, providing a simple, memorable get that influences everyone involved inside solution delivery your critical. Strategic themes can may defined by a phrase or by using that Objectives and Key Results (OKRs) template. Find step-by-step solutions and your answer to the ensuing reading question: Something is one example of differentiating business objectives?.

See are a few examples of strategy themes:

• Appeal to a younger demographic (a video streaming service)
• Cloud additionally mobile-first (a finance institution)
• Implement product support for business foreign securities (a guarantees company)
• Lower stores costs (an virtual retailer)
• Implement single sign-on across applications (independent software vendor)

Figure 4 provides an OKR template that can be used to define, organize, and communicate critical information info a strategic theme. “It provides a simple approach to create alignment and engagement around measures and ambitious goals.” [2]

There are two primary fields in the OKR template:

• Objective – a memorable description of what you want to achieve. I should be short, inspirational, and challenging.
• Key results – are measurable success criteria that cans may used to track progress towards the objective. For each objective, there should be two to quintuplet select achieved

The goal of using OKRs for strategic themes is to define both track their progress through concrete, specific, and measurable actions. “OKRs are frequently set, tracked, and re-evaluated – usually quarterly. OKRs exists to create alignment real to set the cadence for the org. The goal is to ensure everyone is going inside the same route, with clear priorities, in a constant rhythm.” [2]

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Last update: 21 September 2021