Introduction

Defining clear strategic objectives aligned with the mission of the public organization is essential to ensure the best possible service to citizens, students, or patients. This allows organizations to:

1. Focus efforts: With well-defined objectives, the organization can concentrate its resources and initiatives on what matters most to stakeholders.
2. Prioritize projects: By linking projects to strategic objectives, the organization can more easily identify the most important and beneficial initiatives for the community.
3. Measure performance: Quantifiable objectives allow tracking progress and evaluating the impact of the organization's efforts.
4. Align the organization: When all departments work towards the same strategic objectives, it creates synergy and cohesion within the organization.

Benefits of Aligning Projects with Strategic Objectives for Public Organizations

When projects are clearly linked to the strategic objectives of the public organization, this brings several significant advantages:

💙 Service Improvement: By concentrating resources on initiatives most beneficial to users, the organization optimizes its societal impact. Services are developed and adapted based on the real needs of citizens, whether administrative services, educational programs, or healthcare. This targeted approach allows increased operational efficiency, thus offering more high-quality services with available resources.

💡 Better Decision-Making: Having a clear strategic vision helps establish a criteria-based objective for project prioritization and resource allocation. Decisions become more objective, consistent, and easily justifiable to various stakeholders. The decision-making process becomes more structured and transparent, thus facilitating the overall management of the organization.

👷 Better Execution: When employees clearly understand how their work contributes to the organization's overall objectives, their engagement and motivation naturally increase. This in-depth understanding promotes better coordination between services, reduces potential conflicts, and improves team collaboration. Operational efficiency is strengthened through better task prioritization and reduction of activities not aligned with strategic objectives.

📂 Transparency and Accountability: Clear communication of objectives, regular progress tracking, and measurable performance indicators enhance public action transparency. Accountability improves through precise traceability between actions taken and results obtained, supported by structured accountability mechanisms. Therefore stakeholders benefit from better visibility regarding the use of public resources and can better evaluate the effectiveness of actions undertaken.

These various advantages mutually reinforce each other, creating a virtuous cycle within the organization. Continuous service improvement strengthens user trust while optimizing decision-making allows better resource utilization. Effective project execution accelerates the achievement of objectives, and increased transparency facilitates the adhesion of all stakeholders.

What the PMI (Project Management Institute) Says

According to the Project Management Institute (PMI), managing strategic objectives of project portfolios and their benefits represents a fundamental aspect of portfolio management. This approach is part of a strategic alignment and value creation logic for the organization.

Strategic alignment constitutes the starting point of any effective portfolio management. The PMI emphasizes the importance of a rigorous selection of portfolio components (projects and programs) based on their contribution to the organization's strategic objectives. This selection relies on precise criteria and prioritization reflecting the strategic importance of each initiative. A regular review process allows for maintaining this alignment over time and adjusting the portfolio if necessary.

Benefits management occupies a central place in the approach recommended by the PMI. Benefits must be clearly identified from the selection phase and be the subject of a detailed realization plan. These benefits can take various forms: financial, such as return on investment or net present value, or non-financial, such as process improvement or increased customer satisfaction. The PMI insists on the importance of distinguishing tangible and intangible benefits while maintaining rigorous tracking of their realization throughout the portfolio lifecycle.

Portfolio governance plays a crucial role in this process. It must ensure that decisions effectively serve strategic objectives and that created value is optimized. The PMI recommends using key performance indicators (KPIs) to measure and track strategic alignment and benefit realization. This methodical approach allows continuous portfolio optimization and maximization of value generated for the organization.

Documentation and communication of results are also essential elements of the approach. The PMI emphasizes the importance of maintaining traceability of realized benefits and regularly communicating with stakeholders about progress and results obtained. This transparency helps maintain stakeholder engagement and facilitates decision-making.

The approach recommended by the PMI follows a top-down logic, starting from the organizational strategy to individual projects, and passing through portfolio management. This cascade ensures overall coherence and maximizes value creation for the organization. Regular evaluation of value added and continuous portfolio optimization allows for maintaining this coherence over time and adapting the portfolio to changes in the organizational environment.

➡️ Main References:

• "The Standard for Portfolio Management" (4th edition) - PMI
• "Benefits Realization Management: A Practice Guide" - PMI
• "Governance of Portfolios, Programs, and Projects: A Practice Guide" - PMI

How Project Management Software Helps Public Organizations Track Strategic Objectives

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A modern project management software can greatly facilitate the alignment of projects with the organization's strategic objectives:

1. Definition of Objectives and Benefits: The software allows users to clearly define the organization's strategic objectives and easily communicate them. Expected benefits can also be linked to these objectives, facilitating their tracking.
2. Project Planning: Each project can be linked to relevant benefits and objectives, facilitating prioritization and resource allocation.
3. Scenario Development: This allows different prioritization alternatives and helps evaluate their impact on expected benefits and strategic objectives.
4. Performance Tracking: Dashboards and reports allow measuring project progress and impact and their benefits in relation to set objectives.
5. Visibility and Transparency: All employees have an overview of all projects, which links to objectives, and their status.
6. Continuous Improvement: The collected data allows for analyzing and adjusting objectives and strategies over time.

Defining clear strategic objectives and tracking their achievement using project management software is essential for public organizations to offer the best possible services to the community. This allows focusing on the most beneficial initiatives, improving decision-making and execution while promoting transparency and accountability.

Contact us to learn how Aidi can help you manage your strategic objectives.