Article

The seven dimensions of successful program design and execution

Aug. 8, 2022 · Authored by Todd D. Wilkerson

Every business thinks that their situation is unique – and they’re right. Each business finds itself in a different place with specialized goals and challenges that they need to address. With each challenge often requiring multiple related initiatives. For this customized approach, there are few built-in answers and automatic solutions.

While building a custom designed program is essential for each business, there are seven key foundational dimensions that can lead to a successful program transformation that is both unique to your needs and responsive to your objectives.

Leadership and governance

True transformations do not happen without the aligned support and guidance of senior leadership, from the executive suite to key operations leaders across the impacted functions of the organization.

This dimension focuses on alignment of program strategic objectives/outcomes across the company’s group of knowledgeable, vested and empowered leaders. A well-designed program will encompass the support, guidance and collaboration processes for review/management by this set of leaders.

Portfolio assessment and program design

Good program design is focused on clear understanding of the strategic goals and objectives for the business and the vision for what investment/work is necessary to achieve those goals and objectives. This is typically embodied in a strategic road map, with an associated business case. The goal of a strategic road map is not to represent the specific delivery plan for the work, but rather the nature of the work, what/who it impacts, the high-level scope and the relative priority/order of work.

This dimension of our framework focuses on the confirmation of existing strategic planning/road map work, before translating that valuable work into an actionable plan for delivery that recognizes the appropriate delivery methods (agile, product owner, etc.) for each work component (or groups thereof according to shared scope).

Operating model alignment

Programs that do not integrate an understanding of the current and future operating models of functions that are a part of the transformation fail as a result of poor alignment.

This dimension ensures that the program is always aligned with organizational strategies and is agile enough to cope with unexpected changes, taking necessary actions to deliver anticipated business value.