Lots of organizations utilize strategic themes in their strategy map. These themes could help organize those groups of related strategic goals, which work altogether to present a valuable and specific business result.
Let’s Take a Thorough Look of What Strategic Theme Really Is
Strategic themes are itemized, specific objectives, which link a SAFe Portfolio to the changing business strategy of an enterprise. It offer business context mainly for decision making in the portfolio at the same time affect investments in the Value Streams and be able to offer inputs to the following decisions:
– Program Backlog
– Solution
– Portfolio
– Budgets
– Economic Framework
These themes don’t need to restate the evident, as majority of elements of the vision of portfolio are comprehended through context. In addition, portfolios stakeholders are typically understand well what the portfolio is really for, handle, and create their own visions and goals.
What does it offer?
To a certain extent, strategic theme is capable in providing the enterprise along with the differentiators that is going forward coming from the present state to the unknown state. These aid drive competitive differentiation as well as innovation, which is achievable through efficient portfolio solutions.
In addition to that, strategic themes are crafted as a result of a collaborative and structured planning process – one, which includes the executives and fiduciaries of the enterprise and the key stakeholders coming from every portfolio.
Devising Strategic Themes
Creating strategic themes is one practice in strategy formulation; however, it is not the state of SAFe portfolio context. According to the guidance of a certain enterprise, this theme is an output of a collaborative process, which is a kind of process wherein the enterprise portfolio stakeholders are able to work along with portfolio stakeholders to analyze a collection of inputs prior to getting at conclusions.
Following are some common samples of strategic themes:
(1) Create shingle sign-on in the portfolio applications into the internal enterprise apps
(2) Online retailer or lower warehouse costs
(3) Execute operational and product support for securities in FOREX trading (security company)
(4) Demand to a younger demographic or online retailer
(5) Regulate on three (3) software platforms
How Strategic Themes Affect the Portfolio
Vision
Strategic themes are one of those primary inputs into the portfolio vision at the same time plays as elements of Economic Framework, which affects Agile Release Train budgets, Value Streams, individual ART vision, Portfolio Backlog and Roadmap.
Economic Frameworks – it affects some of the major parameters such as product cost, cycle time or development, risk, product value and development expense
Value Streams – such theme affect value stream budget that present the spending s well as the personnel allocations needed to build the portfolio vision.
Vision & Priorities – here, the Product and Solution Management was able to apply such them to affect the roadmap.
Portfolio Backlog – themes offer decision making filters on the system of Portfolio Kanban thus affecting the portfolio backlog.
Keep in mind that strategic themes are quite essential tool for corresponding strategy to the whole portfolio. It offers a memorable, simple reference frame and at the same time must seep into the thinking of everybody included in Solution delivery.
