Strategies, tactics, and measurement are often poorly defined and disconnected from each other. The document provides definitions to clarify them: a strategy establishes goals and evaluates tactics to improve operations; tactics use best practices and strategic direction to improve operations; measurement involves both project and strategic metrics. Good strategies, tactics, and measurement are well-defined, connected to each other, and help evaluate progress towards goals. The document stresses that strategies should guide tactics and measurement, and tactical execution and goals should align with measurement.

1. Understanding Strategies, Tactics and Measurement

2. Agenda Problems with strategies, tactics, and measurement Definitions Evaluating strategies, tactics, and measurement

3. Problems with Strategies, tactics, and Measurement

4. Problems Recognition Evaluation Relation

5. Strategic Gap

6. Definitions

7. Projects vs. operations Projects are not ongoing Projects improve operations Operations has metrics, not projects.

8. Projects improve operations 8% Operations Project 4% Operations Strategy + Tactics

9. Project components Strategy Tactics Measurement

10. Strategy A strategy is a framework to establish and evaluate tactics with regard to a goal of improving operations.

11. Strategic Goals

12. Tactics Tactics use best practices and strategic direction to improve operations.

13. Measurement Project metrics vs. strategic metrics Qualitative vs. quantitative

14. Projects vs. strategy, tactics, and measurement Strategy Metrics Tactics

15. Projects vs. strategy, tactics, and measurement Project Project Project Strategy Metrics Tactics

16. Projects vs. strategy, tactics, and measurement Project Strategy Metrics Tactics

17. Projects vs. strategy, tactics, and measurement Project Project Project

18. Projects vs. strategy, tactics, and measurement

19. Evaluating Strategy, Tactics, and Measurement

20. Evaluation—Good Strategy Statement of the problem Support material Statement of the solution Tactical project list

21. Evaluation—Good Tactics Agnostic with respect to goals Methodology Integration into operations Realistic

22. Evaluation—Good Measurement Quantified Simple Tied to larger goals Trackable in near real-time Automatable

23. Evaluation—Connectedness Overarching goals  strategy Strategic tactics list  tactics Strategic goals  measurement Tactical execution  measurement Overarching metrics  measurement

24. Conclusion

25. Questions If strategies guide tactics, does this mean that a strategy never (or shouldn’t change) during the tactical phase? Is a robust project management process, tools, etc. required to even begin strategy or tactics? What if we’re already in the middle of all this? Is there a way to get “back on track” without starting over? Do we need to staff a strategist on tactical projects? Were you serious about that project manager remark? Strategies influence tactics. But, is there any way that tactics “influence” strategies? I already did, or paid for, a strategy that now I realize isn’t helping me. I can’t go back and redo it, so what should I do? What if I have a strategic question during tactics that isn’t answered by the strategy? Can you really convert any qualitative goal into a quantitative goal?