Goal Alignment Across Multiple Projects

In my experience as a Product Leader the most crucial part to delivering meaningful outcomes 🙌 is ALIGNING your roadmap with the other teams 🙌 Without alignment, priorities and timelines can clash, leading to missed opportunities and inefficiencies. When goals and key milestones are aligned, every team understands how their efforts contribute to the bigger picture. This creates clarity, reduces friction, and ensures that everyone is moving toward the same outcomes. Here’s how to make it happen: 1️⃣ Define the “non-negotiables” up front Every roadmap should have a few key outcomes that are non-negotiable. Share these with other teams early to align focus. 𝐄𝐱𝐚𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐞: If reducing churn is a priority, customer success can align their training, while marketing focuses on re-engagement campaigns. 2️⃣ Understanding the WHY Roadmaps should always highlight strategic priorities, OKR’s and user pain points you are addressing. This helps other teams connect with the “why” behind priorities. 𝐄𝐱𝐚𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐞: Show how a new feature improves a specific customer pain point and how it connects to revenue growth. 3️⃣ Opportunity cost When aligning priorities, consider what’s at stake if a roadmap item isn’t completed. 𝐄𝐱𝐚𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐞: delaying a key feature might mean losing competitive advantage or missing out on critical user adoption. Highlight these trade-offs to create urgency and focus. 4️⃣ Run “pre-mortems” together. Before committing to a major initiative, bring cross-functional teams together to anticipate risks and potential roadblocks. 𝐄𝐱𝐚𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐞: you might uncover that engineering needs additional resources or marketing has dependencies on sales enablement. 5️⃣ Celebrate cross-team wins. Alignment shouldn’t feel like a chore. Highlight and celebrate when collaboration leads to success, such as a well-executed feature launch or a process improvement that benefits multiple teams. It builds goodwill and reinforces the value of staying aligned. How do you ensure your product roadmap aligns with other teams? Share your thoughts—I’d love to hear them!

This is your friendly planning season reminder that if you are ONLY using some sort of effort/outcome score to prioritize your roadmap, you’re only part way there. Effort/outcome scores are a great way to identify the most efficient things to do – but they don’t account for: ❌ % of goals met ❌ Goal distribution across your portfolio ❌ Key foundational levers ❌ R&D/Innovation ❌ Run the Engine / Care and Feeding ❌ Timing factors ❌ Competitive threats ❌ Changes in the market ❌ Changes in technology Almost invariably (YMMV), your outcomes will suffer BUT it won’t be clear why since you prioritized your roadmap! Better is to: ✅ Create a goal-oriented roadmap so that every effort is aligned with a strategic goal (this is the O from your OKRs, if you use those) ✅ Develop clear success metrics and manage to those metrics, not just perception ✅ Determine what % of your team’s efforts should be applied to each objective across your portfolio, including things like Innovation (fun!) and Care and Feeding (oft forgotten) ✅ Use MOAR - Metrics Over Available Resources - as your scoring tool, as this will help you align efforts with those goals and account for outcomes in addition to monetization (I know, but leading indicators, trust me) ✅  Implement Responsive Product Portfolio Management, where you align, allocate/re-allocate, and adjust in an iterative cycle based on the metrics you’re seeing, and changes in the market/tech/competition. We all end up in annual planning, and the New Year can be a great time to kick off excellent new product habits. See if you can get your team aligned around these and watch the magic happen 🪄 ______ I’m Lisa Schneider. As a fractional CPO, I help founders and CEOs identify the right things to build to align with business goals, provide frameworks for prioritization and cross-functional alignment, build outcome-based roadmaps, and streamline teams and processes to deliver faster. Reach out any time if you’d like to learn more or just brainstorm. 🔔 Follow me and ring the bell on my profile to get notified of new posts. #startup #fractionalcpo #roadmap #productmanagement #strategicplanning

The user journey is weakened with inconsistent and disjointed efforts. In my conversations with leaders, a common question arises: How do we measure the impact of our work on the user experience? For less mature businesses, this question may go unspoken as they struggle with how to collaborate effectively, but they still sense that their efforts should add up to something. The big issues I’ve heard and seen: - no one painting the bigger picture - next month matters more than next year - siloed teams working in their domains - handoffs are not facilitated or driven - no agreement on metrics that matter - the end goal isn’t aligned with a strategy - endless discussions without action In these situations, continuous discovery and goal alignment can spark momentum. Starting from the ground up, teams can build trust and achieve small, incremental progress, fostering greater awareness. The quickest way to create meaningful impact is by aligning two points in the user journey that rely on different teams, goals, and processes. 1. Agree to shared goals ↳ Decide on a clear outcome that connects both points and make sure everyone agrees. 2. Define metrics ↳ Agree to measurements to track progress and keep points aligned with the plan. 3. Create a feedback loop ↳ Create simple ways for teams to share updates, give feedback, and work together. Start here. Build clarity and alignment. Begin with something manageable. Even the smallest improvements can unlock new opportunities. #productdesign #productdiscovery #userresearch #uxresearch

"This isn't just about hitting numbers, it's about creating shared understanding, fostering collaboration across teams, and helping people see how their work connects to the bigger picture." Molly Sands, PhD and I geeked out about culture, processes and systems for company goals. Goal setting and management might seem like a mundane topic, but I think it's the biggest driver of organizational alignment. Three key traits from Atlassian's approach: 1️⃣ Focus: Three to five measurable goals per team, per quarter. Review progress monthly throughout the organization, adjust quarterly. 2️⃣ Simplicity: Tweet-sized updates that reflect not only status but also what you're doing next, and where you need support. 3️⃣ Transparency: Everyone in the organization can see all the organization's goals, and can subscribe to updates from any team. "When people subscribe to goals from other teams and reach out to offer help, that's when you know the system is working. We're seeing cross-functional collaboration that never would have happened otherwise." 👉 Read on: https://lnkd.in/d5xHEGtP #Collaboration #Culture #Goals

When you’re in the weeds. You lose sight of the forest. As a PM or PMO leader, it’s easy to get lost in the weeds of tasks and meetings. Here are 5 ways to maintain your balance: 1. Set Clear, Measurable Goals → Align your daily tasks with strategic outcomes. → E.g. for PMs: Break down large strategic goals into clear, actionable project deliverables that tie back to company growth. → E.g. for PMO Leaders: Set quarterly KPIs that reflect both project performance and alignment with overall business objectives, ensuring every project contributes to the organization’s strategy. 2. Prioritize Based on Impact → Focus on the projects that move the needle. → E.g. for PMs: Use a scoring model to evaluate project value against resources and impact, ensuring priority is given to high-value tasks. → E.g. for PMO Leaders: Evaluate portfolio health regularly to ensure the most strategically important projects are prioritized across all teams and resources are allocated effectively. 3. Communicate the Vision Regularly → Help your team see the bigger picture. → E.g. for PMs: Take time during project kickoffs to connect each task to a larger business goal, helping the team understand the “why” behind their work. → E.g. for PMO Leaders: Hold quarterly strategy sessions to remind teams of the larger vision and how each department's efforts align with the overall business strategy. 4. Make Data-Driven Adjustments → Use metrics to guide both strategy and execution. → E.g. for PMs: Track project performance through regular checkpoints and adjust execution strategies when metrics show a shift in progress. → E.g. for PMO Leaders: Implement dashboards to continuously measure both project outcomes and alignment with strategic goals, adjusting resource allocation as necessary to keep on track. 5. Create Cross-Functional Collaboration → Break silos and encourage communication. → E.g. for PMs: Involve stakeholders from different departments early in the process to ensure project deliverables meet cross-departmental needs and expectations. → E.g. for PMO Leaders: Facilitate regular cross-functional reviews to ensure all teams are aligned with the long-term vision and that execution strategies are adaptable to shifting organizational priorities. Strategic vision without tactical execution is just a plan. Tactical execution without strategic vision is wasted effort. Strike the balance, and you’ll achieve real, impactful success. -- 👍 + ♻️ Like + Repost if this resonates with you. 🔔 Follow me (Hussain Bandukwala) for more content like this.

Portfolio Management and Strategic Alignment (Evaluating organizational strategic goals and objectives) Introduction Portfolio management is a crucial aspect of any organization, ensuring that all projects and initiatives align with the overall strategic goals and objectives. Evaluating Strategic Goals and Objectives To ensure that projects align with strategic goals, organizations must first thoroughly understand these goals. This understanding can be achieved through various information-gathering techniques, such as document reviews and interviews. 1. Document Reviews: This involves examining existing documents, such as strategic plans, annual reports, and business plans. These documents provide valuable insights into the organization's priorities and long-term goals. For instance, a strategic plan might outline the company's goal to expand into new markets, which would guide the selection of projects that support this expansion. 2. Interviews: Conducting interviews with key stakeholders, such as executives, managers, and employees, helps gather firsthand information about the organization's strategic priorities. These interviews can reveal insights that are not documented but are crucial for understanding the organization's direction. For example, an interview with a marketing manager might highlight the importance of digital transformation in achieving the company's strategic goals. Information Gathering Techniques In addition to document reviews and interviews, other information-gathering techniques can be employed to understand strategic priorities: 1. Surveys and Questionnaires: These tools can be used to collect data from a larger group of stakeholders. Surveys can provide quantitative data on stakeholder opinions and priorities, while questionnaires can gather more detailed qualitative information. 2. Workshops and Focus Groups: These interactive sessions allow stakeholders to discuss and prioritize strategic goals collectively. Workshops can facilitate brainstorming and idea generation, while focus groups can provide in-depth insights into specific areas of interest. 3. SWOT Analysis: Conducting a SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) analysis helps identify internal and external factors that can impact the organization's strategic goals. This analysis provides a comprehensive view of the organization's current position and future potential. Strategic alignment in portfolio management is essential for ensuring that all projects and initiatives contribute to the organization's long-term success. By evaluating strategic goals and objectives through document reviews, interviews, and other information-gathering techniques, organizations can prioritize projects that support their strategic priorities. This alignment helps organizations achieve their goals more effectively and efficiently, ultimately leading to sustained growth and success.

Scaling without financial alignment is growth in reverse. Here's how to optimize strategy, accelerate growth, and hit goals. As businesses scale, aligning financial strategy with short-term objectives and long-term vision is critical for sustainable growth. I've worked with many companies that was growing fast but struggling to keep financial goals in sync with their rapid pace. Here's how I’ve helped them recalibrate and accelerate growth:    1. Re-assessing the Budgeting Process: - We dive into their current budget - Identify inefficiencies, misallocated resources, and cash flow bottlenecks. By focusing on forecasting and creating more flexible budgets, we made sure the company could stay agile, even during rapid change.    2. Aligning Department Projects with ROI: Instead of treating each department's initiatives in isolation, we developed a framework that measured and tracked Return on Investment (ROI) for every key project. - Each department was aligned to strategic financial goals. - Projects that didn’t generate strong returns were optimized or postponed. - ROI prioritization became the backbone of decision-making.   3. Setting Clear KPIs and Milestones: - We defined key financial metrics for both short-term and long-term. - This allowed departments to align their actions with tangible outcomes. Knowing exactly how their work contributed to the broader financial goals, employees were on board, engaged, and proactive. Results: Cash Flow Improved by 25% in just 3 months Project ROI Increased by 30%, with higher returns on departmental investments Long-Term Financial Strategy now aligned with short-term operational goals The Takeaway: Financial alignment isn’t just about controlling costs—it’s about ensuring that every department, every project, and every dollar is pushing your business toward your ultimate goal. When you align your budget with ROI-focused projects, you achieve growth faster and smarter. If you need help developing and executing a financial strategy DM me Please share your thoughts in the comments Follow me, Beverly Davis for more finance insights  #FinanceStrategy #BusinessGrowth #ROI #Budgeting #FinancialGoals #StrategicPlanning #Founder #CEO

In almost every health tech company I work with, I see the same pattern: The mission gets everyone inspired. But if you ask five teams how their work ties back to it, you’ll get five different answers. 🗓️ Product is planning quarterly bets. 💸 Sales is promising custom features and services. 📣 Marketing is chasing a new brand partnership. ⚙️ Clinical is trying to make it all work. 🔬 Research is running two quarters (or years) behind. ...And nobody’s quite sure how it all ties together. It’s not always strategy problem. It’s usually an alignment problem. And the fix isn’t another 80-slide strategy deck or an OKR spreadsheet. When I work with health tech leaders on this problem we start with creating simple, visual frameworks to connect the dots. There are a few tools I always come back to: Ravi Mehta’s Strategy Stack is a clear model for aligning mission to each team’s goals. Melissa Perri’s Strategy Canvas is great for surfacing assumptions and gaps. The (infamous) Amazon PRFAQ helps clarify priorities and concerns across teams before we start building anything. Simple strategy tools like like these are especially helpful for clinical and research functions. Instead of staying siloed or getting brought in too late, they help everyone connect their work to company priorities in a way that’s clear and energizing. Without a simple, shared framework, teams run parallel but not together. Each one is optimizing for different goals, timelines, and definitions of success. 📚 In my latest WELL workshop, I walked through how you can use simple tools to put the pieces together and get teams on the same page. 🎥 The replay is up for a limited time: https://lnkd.in/e52SDwXn ❓Health tech folks, what tools are you using to align across teams? Drop a link—I’d love to build a roundup.

🎯 Taking Steps for B2B 2025 Success: Aligning Teams with Long-Term Company Goals In complex B2B marketing, it’s easy to get lost in short-term deliverables and lose efforts alignment with long-term company goals. Many end-up being overloaded, missing deadlines, addressing last-minute requests, and not achieving their full potential. To drive meaningful growth and personal development, teams need more than tasks. They need ownership and alignment with a clear roadmap. When team members have clear objectives tied to the company’s strategic goals, and build plans 6-12 months ahead, they can better manage distractions and focus on what truly matters. This isn’t about limiting agility; it’s about aligning efforts with long-term objectives, and enabling teams to exceed expectations. In my experience, giving marketing teams clarity on strategic objectives and having forward-thinking plans have enabled them to: 1.      Prepare in advance and avoid any delays by anticipating what’s needed 2.      Prioritize effectively what needs to be done, focusing on high-impact activities 3.      Be more innovative for initiatives, and deliver better-quality outcomes 4.      Collaborate and align better with cross-functional stakeholders 5.      Protect bandwidth for meaningful work, while responding appropriately to unexpected requests A well-thought-out marketing plan lies at the heart of this. Start by crafting plans that extend 6-12 months ahead, detailing key activities, resources, and measurable outcomes. These plans act as a compass, helping teams evaluate opportunities, estimate the impact of last-minute requests, and stay focused every day. As a leader, I prioritize regular check-ins to adjust these plans as markets evolve while ensuring that every team member understands how their efforts contribute to overarching goals. With a clear roadmap in place, teams can confidently align with the company’s vision and long-term impact. In addition, I also implement custom real time dashboards for each team member, aggregating data from multiple systems, so each team member can track their contributions and progress 📊. As we plan for 2025, let’s focus on equipping our teams with the tools, trust, and forward-looking abilities to align their daily efforts with long-term goals. The payoff? Sustainable growth, stronger teams, and meaningful impact 🚀. What additional approaches would you implement to balance short-term execution with long-term strategy? #Leadership #B2BMarketing #TeamEmpowerment

Building a security program without being aligned with the business occurs when teams get disconnected and start operating outside the context of the business goals. It’s like a ship navigating without GPS - it might be moving, just not necessarily in the right direction. Understanding where to focus your efforts means understanding what will drive the outcomes that make the most meaningful impact to our business’s goals. 1️⃣ Learn how the business’s goals map to the work of other leaders across the company. Business-wide goals rarely map directly to security efforts. “Prevent hacking” isn’t likely to be a business goal anymore than “Ensure employees get paid” or “Make sure the logout button works”. As a leader, you’re expected to take company-wide goals, your knowledge of the security domain and the context of the business and operations to synthesize them into a strategic plan. 2️⃣ Educate others on the importance of resilience to business goals. A narrow view of “security” doesn’t cut it anymore. We need to ensure resilient systems, able to adapt to failures regardless of whether they’re from security incidents or something else. Kelly Shortridge has done tons of amazing writing on this topic. The shift involves adopting a holistic perspective that encompasses the interactions between the systems that make up the entire organization. 3️⃣ The bread and butter - Risk assessments and threat modeling. Based on what you learn about how the goals relate to the various systems, processes and work, you have a higher fidelity feed for whatever framework you use to assess the risks to those goals, how they might happen and how you can reduce their impact. 4️⃣ Mapping to projects and efforts - You’ve learned the goals, how they map to work and priorities, and you’ve thought through how they could break or fail. Now’s the time to translate it into your strategy and plans. Look for ways to address upstream root causes and don’t fall into the trap of attending to symptoms. What are the leading indicators of success and how will you move them? 🔁 Repeat! Incentivize ongoing communication and circular, free flowing feedback between the security team and other parts of the business as a top priority. Alignment is a continuous process, not an endpoint. Teams need to always be considering what they’re building, how they build it and why in the context of the business at large. An aligned security program is not just a set of generic best practices but a tailored strategy that best supports key business goals. ❓ How do you keep your teams aligned with business goals?