Drive strategic alignment

When strategic themes are defined at the portfolio level and aligned with portfolio contents, portfolio managers can track and drive the strategic alignment in the portfolio hierarchy.

View strategic alignment

You can track portfolio's strategic alignment from the Backlog tab and the strategic theme details page.

From Backlog tab

The Aligned Strategic Theme column (the column name may very between versions) in the Backlog tab displays the strategic themes with which each of the portfolio contents is aligned. It indicates whether your portfolio items are aligned with a higher-level or global strategy.

To display the Aligned Strategic Theme column, in the portfolio's Backlog tab, click the Choose columns button and select the Aligned Strategic Theme check box.

From strategic theme details page

The Aligned Portfolio Contents section (the section name may vary between versions) in a strategic theme details page lists the initiatives that are directly aligned with the selected strategic theme, as well as the initiatives that align with the selected strategic theme's associated strategic theme. Clicking the initiative name link opens its details page.

Drive strategic alignment

When portfolio initiatives are aligned with strategic themes, their forecast costs and resource demands are grouped by strategic themes accordingly.

The Projected Forecast costs and Projected Resources demand charts provide insights into cost and resource distribution by strategic theme. Regularly review these charts during portfolio planning and monitoring to help ensure your portfolio supports the right initiatives.

To view the Projected Forecast costs and Projected Resources demand charts:

Open the portfolio Strategy tab and then click Strategic Themes & Business Goals.
Select a strategic theme from the list to open the details page and then go to the Cost and Resource Distribution section (the section name may vary between versions).

Note: When an entity in a program aligns with a different strategic theme than the program, the costs and resources of the entity and the program are reflected in their respective strategic themes.

You can focus on distribution within the current portfolio or include sub-portfolios of all levels by using the drop-down button above the charts.

These charts help you assess how well your budget and resources align with strategic themes. Ideally, the distribution should match your strategic priorities. For example, if a large portion of resources is allocated to a low-priority strategic theme, consider reallocating resources from low-priority strategic themes to high-priority ones.