Understanding progress against Strategic Intent

Introduction

This is a case study about the development of a goal-based, five year strategic plan for a government owned, commercially operated organisation. In these times of austerity Government spending priorities are constantly under review. Defence has consistently taken cuts in recent years; given that the MOD is this organisation’s primary customer, this is creating an increasingly vulnerable future for it.

This organisation provides a central role in the defence of the UK by delivering a bespoke capability for a high profile UK Defence programme. They also play a critical role in supporting national security, using their know-how and expertise to support the Government in detecting and protecting against potential threats to our country. It is a centre of scientific and technological excellence, home to some of the most advanced research, design and production facilities in the world. Its high level strategic guidance is delivered in the form of “a strategy that takes a long-term view of a future that must balance the protection of core skills against the provision of cost effective approaches that will help minimise the whole-life cost of the product. This is underpinned by short, medium and long term business strategies and plans.

The Problem

Allow accountable and responsible owners of Five Year Strategic Plan goals, supporting objectives and milestones to report against the progress made in the achievement of them;
Allow a variety of stakeholders to navigate through the Five Year Strategic Plan and view the latest progress towards the achievement of its goals, supporting objectives and milestones;
Enable real-time capture of measurements and progress towards the achievement of the Five Year Strategic Plan;
Provide linkages between the strategic goals, supporting objectives and milestones to ensure that all activity can be directly traced to the achievement of the high level business strategy’s four Strategic Goals;
Provide suitable visualisations of the goals, supporting objectives and milestones in a standardised format that fosters coherence throughout the organisation.

The Solution

In addressing this problem Agilient applied the totality of a multi-dimensional, incremental approach to problem solving and solution development. We fully integrated with the customer team, building a hands-on, collaborative relationship that enabled us to elicit the requirements and facilitate understanding of the problem space. We also facilitated the development of their strategic goals and supporting objectives, drawing on knowledge from people and documentation throughout the business. Alongside this activity we iteratively developed and deployed our BEACON solution to capture and exploit this knowledge and information in an assured, robust and scalable way. We delivered this solution using our Agile methodology-based implementation techniques.

What was learned

Some of the major benefits that are being delivered by BEACON are:

More timely access to information: through being able to see the latest reporting as it occurs;
Increased confidence: evidence-based decision-making;
Improved shared situational awareness: a consolidated picture of where the business is at any given time in terms of its progress toward achieving its strategic intent, as articulated through its Five Year Plan goals, supporting objectives and milestones;
Increased authority and assurance: a single consolidated view linking all the strategic governance artefacts dynamically;
Improved communication: web-based access to the plan brings it to life and embeds it within the organisation;
More responsive and effective action: improved and timelier assessment of gaps, risks and options for mitigation.