Intro to Project Management: Project Selection and Initiation - Strategic Alignment, Mission Vision Strategy Goals

What This Is

Strategic Alignment is the process of ensuring that a project is aligned with the organization's overall mission, vision, and strategy. This involves setting goals that support the organization's objectives and ensuring that the project's scope, timeline, and budget are consistent with those goals. For example, a company that aims to increase its market share by 20% within the next two years may launch a new product that requires a project to develop a new software platform. The project manager must ensure that the project's goals, scope, and timeline align with the company's overall strategy to achieve this objective.

Key Terms & Formulas

• Mission Statement: A statement that defines the organization's purpose and goals.
• Vision Statement: A statement that describes the organization's desired future state.
• Strategy: A plan of action to achieve the organization's goals and objectives.
• Goals: Specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound objectives that support the organization's strategy.
• Objectives: Specific, measurable outcomes that support the project's goals.
• Triple Constraint: Scope, Time, Cost – changes to one affect the others.
• EV = % complete × BAC (Earned Value = percent complete times Budget at Completion).
• CPI = EV ÷ AC (Cost Performance Index = Earned Value divided by Actual Cost).
• SPI = EV ÷ PV (Schedule Performance Index = Earned Value divided by Planned Value).
• BAC =? (PV × % complete) (Budget at Completion = sum of Planned Value times percent complete).
• Scope Statement: A document that describes the project's scope, including the work to be performed and the deliverables.

Step-by-Step / Process Flow

1. Identify the Organization's Mission, Vision, and Strategy: Review the organization's mission, vision, and strategy statements to understand the overall goals and objectives.
2. Develop Project Goals and Objectives: Based on the organization's strategy, develop specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound goals and objectives for the project.
3. Create a Scope Statement: Develop a scope statement that describes the project's scope, including the work to be performed and the deliverables.
4. Estimate Costs and Schedule: Estimate the project's costs and schedule based on the scope statement and project goals.
5. Monitor and Control: Continuously monitor and control the project's progress to ensure that it remains aligned with the organization's strategy and project goals.

Common Mistakes

• Mistake: Not aligning the project's goals and objectives with the organization's strategy. Correction: Review the organization's mission, vision, and strategy statements to ensure that the project's goals and objectives support the overall objectives.
• Mistake: Not including all stakeholders in the goal-setting process. Correction: Involve all stakeholders in the goal-setting process to ensure that their needs and expectations are met.
• Mistake: Not regularly reviewing and updating the project's scope statement. Correction: Regularly review and update the project's scope statement to ensure that it remains aligned with the project's goals and objectives.

Exam Tips

• Tip: Be able to explain the difference between a mission statement and a vision statement.
• Tip: Understand the concept of the triple constraint and how changes to one aspect of the project can affect the others.
• Tip: Be able to calculate the Earned Value, Cost Performance Index, and Schedule Performance Index.

Quick Practice Questions

1. If the CPI is 0.8, is the project under or over budget? Answer: Under budget. Explanation: A CPI of 0.8 indicates that the project is earning 80% of its budgeted value, which means it is under budget.
2. If the SPI is 1.2, is the project ahead or behind schedule? Answer: Ahead of schedule. Explanation: An SPI of 1.2 indicates that the project is earning 120% of its planned value, which means it is ahead of schedule.
3. If the BAC is $100,000 and the EV is $80,000, what is the percent complete? Answer: 80%. Explanation: The percent complete can be calculated by dividing the EV by the BAC: 80,000 ÷ 100,000 = 0.8 or 80%.

Last-Minute Cram Sheet

• Mission Statement: Defines the organization's purpose and goals.
• Vision Statement: Describes the organization's desired future state.
• Strategy: A plan of action to achieve the organization's goals and objectives.
• Goals: Specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound objectives that support the organization's strategy.
• Objectives: Specific, measurable outcomes that support the project's goals.
• Triple Constraint: Scope, Time, Cost – changes to one affect the others.
• EV = % complete × BAC (Earned Value = percent complete times Budget at Completion).
• CPI = EV ÷ AC (Cost Performance Index = Earned Value divided by Actual Cost).
• SPI = EV ÷ PV (Schedule Performance Index = Earned Value divided by Planned Value).
• BAC =? (PV × % complete) (Budget at Completion = sum of Planned Value times percent complete).
• Scope Statement: A document that describes the project's scope, including the work to be performed and the deliverables.
• "Decomposition" breaks down work, not activities – it creates the WBS, not the activity list.
• "Scope creep" occurs when the project scope is expanded without a corresponding increase in resources or budget.
• "Scope statement" is a document that describes the project's scope, including the work to be performed and the deliverables.