Capture strategic alignment information

Portfolio managers define strategic themes at the portfolio level, and managers or submitters of portfolio initiatives align them with strategic themes.

Define strategic themes

Strategic themes are the pillars that support the portfolio strategy. They are the main, high-level strategic focus areas of your organization. Strategic themes connect the evolving enterprise business strategy to the portfolio vision which is then inherited by the portfolio contents.

Note: The term "Strategic Themes" may have a different name in your organization, for example "Business Outcomes". This occurs if the PPM admin renames “Strategic Themes” by updating the validation "PFM - Strategic Themes Labels". Changes will take effect on every PPM menu and label.

Add strategic themes

You can add strategic themes to your portfolio by adding a global or parent portfolio's strategic theme, or by creating a new strategic theme in your portfolio.

To add strategic themes to a portfolio:

  1. Prerequisite: your administrator has not disabled using strategic themes by setting the parameter ENABLE_STRATEGIC_THEMES to false (it is enabled by default).
  2. Open the portfolio Strategy tab.

  3. In the Strategic Themes section, use the following options to add strategic themes to your portfolio.

    For PPM 10.0.2 and later versions, if the portfolio has inherited strategic themes from its portfolio type, these strategic themes are listed in the Strategic Themes section. For details, see Set strategic themes and business goals for portfolio types.

    Option Description
    Add a global strategic theme

    This option allows you to add the strategic themes that can be used by all the portfolios in the system.

    To add a global strategic theme to your portfolio:

    1. For 10.0.3 and later versions, click Add From > Global Strategic Themes.

      For 10.0.2 and earlier versions, click Copy From > Global Strategic Themes.

    2. All the active global strategic themes are listed for selection.

      Use the Search box at the upper-right corner if you know the name of the strategic theme or you want to search for one or more strategic themes that have a particular phrase or fragment of text in its name.

    3. Select the target strategic themes and click Copy.

    1. Prerequisite: You should have the Edit All Portfolios access grant.

    2. From the main menu, select Open > Administration > Portfolio Management > Manage Global Strategic Themes.
    3. Click Add.
    4. Provide name, status, owner, and description for the global strategic theme.

    5. Select a color for the strategic theme.

      You can use the color to quickly distinguish between strategic themes.

    6. Click Add.
    7. To adjust the default ranking of a theme, drag and drop it to the desired row.
    Add a parent portfolio's strategic theme

    Only available when your portfolio has a parent portfolio.

    To add a parent portfolio's strategic theme to your portfolio:

    1. For 10.0.3 and later versions, click Add From > Parent Portfolio's Strategic Themes.

      For 10.0.2 and earlier versions, click Copy From > Parent Portfolio's Strategic Themes.

    2. All the active strategic themes that are currently used by the parent portfolio are listed for selection.

      Use the search box at the upper-right corner if you know the name of the strategic theme or you want to search for one or more strategic themes that have a particular phrase or fragment of text in its name.

    3. Select the target strategic themes and click Copy.

    Add a new strategic theme in your portfolio

    This option allows you to create a new strategic theme in your portfolio.

    To create a new strategic theme:

    1. For 10.0.3 and later versions, click Add.

      For 10.0.2 and earlier versions, click Create.

    2. Provide the name, status, owner, and description for the strategic theme.

    3. Select a color for the theme.

      You can use the color to quickly distinguish between strategic themes.

    4. For 10.0.3 and later versions, click Add to add the strategic theme, or Add & Another to continue adding another strategic theme.

      For 10.0.2 and earlier versions, click Create to create the strategic theme.

    5. To adjust the default ranking of a theme, click and drag it to the desired place.

View strategic theme information

You can view strategic theme information in the strategic themes list.

Tip: By default, only active strategic themes are listed. If you want to list the closed strategic themes:

  • For 10.0.3 and later versions, click the Show closed check box.
  • For 10.0.2 and earlier versions, click the Show closed Strategic Themes check box.
Column Description
Name The name of the strategic theme. You can click the name link to go to the strategic theme details page.
Status

The status of the strategic theme.

Source

The source of the strategic theme.

  • Global Strategic Theme: the strategic theme is copied from a global strategic theme.
  • Parent Portfolio: the strategic theme is copied from the parent portfolio's strategic theme.
  • This Portfolio: the strategic theme is created in this portfolio.
 
In Sync with Source

Whether the strategic theme in this portfolio is in sync with the source.

  • : The strategic theme is in sync with the source.

  • : The strategic theme is out of sync with the source. Hover over the icon to learn which attributes are out of sync.

    You can either keep the differences or update the values to be in sync with the source. To sync from the source, see Edit strategic themes .

  • : The strategic theme is deleted from the source or the current portfolio is no longer the subportfolio of the source.

    You can either keep as it is or update the source to "This portfolio". For details, see Edit strategic themes .

Owner Users that are responsible for the strategic theme.
Rank

When you add a strategic theme, it is by default given the lowest rank (with the biggest rank value).

To adjust the rank of a theme, drag and drop it to the desired row.
Description More detailed information about the strategic theme.

Edit strategic themes

You can edit the strategic themes in your portfolio, making them better serve your portfolio vision.

To edit a strategic theme:

  1. In the strategic themes list, click the strategic theme link.
  2. In the portfolio strategic theme details page, make the changes as desired.

  3. (Optional) Sync strategic theme from its source. When the strategic theme is out of sync with the source, the Sync from Source option becomes enabled.

    When you click Sync from Source, the following will happen:

    • The current strategic theme will be synchronized from the source.
    • For the portfolio contents aligned with this strategic theme, the strategic theme will be synchronized in the content details page.

  4. (Optional) If you find the following message, it means the strategic theme is deleted from the source or the current portfolio is no longer the subportfolio of the source. You can click the link in the message to update the source of the strategic theme to "This portfolio".

  5. Click Save.

Remove strategic themes

To remove a strategic theme from a portfolio:

  1. In the strategic themes list, select the desired item.
  2. Click the Remove button , and then click Yes in the confirmation dialog box.

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Align initiatives with strategic themes

Once strategic themes are defined in the portfolio level, the Strategic Theme field is available in the request details page > Strategy section of the portfolio initiatives.

To align an initiative with one strategic theme, the initiative owner fill the field with the strategic theme.

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See also: