In the "Strategize" area of Lean PPM™, the participants ensure that the decisions to be made in the other areas can be based on the corporate strategy.

• Lean PPM™ Context and Roles Involved
• Implementation in Meisterplan
• Defining and Weighting Project Criteria
• Defining Project Score Contributions

Lean PPM™ Context and Roles Involved

The Portfolio Coordinator and Strategy Manager are responsible for translating the corporate strategy. They develop criteria for the strategic evaluation of projects in the biannual strategy workshop, and if necessary, adapt them to changes to the corporate strategy. The Portfolio Coordinator also configures Meisterplan when needed.

This evaluation option for projects forms the basis for creating and executing a portfolio in the other Lean PPM™ areas that is as valuable as possible and in line with the corporate strategy.

Implementation in Meisterplan

For defining and weighting the project criteria against each other during the Strategy Workshop, Meisterplan is not necessary. Only the detailed definition of individual project score values is done later in the tool.

Defining and Weighting Project Criteria

Various Possible Approaches to Evaluation
In principle, depending on the strategic orientation, different approaches for evaluating projects make sense. For example, the net value of the projects could simply be used as the sole criterion if the company has no more strategic goals than making profits. For Lean PPM™ with Meisterplan, we recommend classifying projects using a project value that incorporates several strategic criteria.

In the Strategy Workshop, criteria for the strategic evaluation of projects are defined and weighted against each other. To use the strategy manager's time efficiently, this is initially done outside of Meisterplan. Still, the list of criteria should be maintained digitally, so that the current state is visible at the next strategy workshop.

Step 1: Create or update the list of project criteria derived from the company's strategic goals (e.g., "Profit Contribution", "Payback Period", "Benefit for Core Market X", "Benefit for Digital Transformation", "Risk Level").

Try to Have as Few Criteria as Possible
If you have more than 5 project criteria, it makes sense to combine related criteria. The simplicity of the process is one of the success factors for the introduction of Lean PPM™.

Step 2: Define the (updated) relative weighting of these project criteria (e.g., 3x, 3x, 1x).

The result of the strategy workshop can then look like this, for example:

Table: Project Criteria are defined in the Strategy Workshop.

Defining Project Score Contributions

To evaluate projects, a score is used that reflects how far a single project contributes to the achievement of the strategy. That score is the sum of this project's individual project criteria scores.

In Meisterplan, a project's total score is given as the project score contribution. The individual project criteria are created as project fields.

Step 1: In the left hand side sidebar, click Manage and select Custom Project Fields.

Step 2: Now create a new project field of the Single-select type for each project criterion. The result can be seen in the following figure.

Figure: Project criteria as project fields in Meisterplan.

Step 3: For each gradation of a criterion, create a corresponding Single-Select Option in the respective field. For example, "High", "Medium", and "Low" values for the Profit Contribution field.

Step 4: Define for each gradation of a project criterion how many points should be contributed to the overall score of the project. The easiest way to do this is to first determine the highest score, based on the relative weighting of this criterion. This can then be done, for example, according to the principle shown in Table 5.

Table: The weighting of the criteria determines the highest score.

With the highest score as a landmark, you can now set the score of the other grades. Enter the corresponding number as the project score value of the respective Single-Select Option.

If you've set all the scores for a criterion, the result should look like the following Figure.

Figure: The finished project criterion "Payback Period" in Meisterplan.

Now, you have defined the evaluation model for projects, and you will use this model from now on to measure how well your portfolio conforms to strategy. If adjustments are made in the next strategy workshops, apply these same adjustments in Meisterplan. For example, if the weighting has changed, change the score of the respective gradations. If there are completely new strategic goals, define corresponding project criteria and their weighting in the workshop, and then create these criteria in Meisterplan as a new project field.

Now all activities from the Lean PPM™ area "Strategize" have been implemented with Meisterplan. The strategy is defined and up-to-date and can be used as a basis for further activities in the "Collect", "Decide" and "Execute" areas.

More Information

• Project Score in Meisterplan – Documentation

All 4 Lean PPM™ Areas with Meisterplan

• Translating Your Corporate Strategy (Lean PPM™: Strategize)
• Management of the Project Pipeline (Lean PPM™: Collect)
• Deciding on the Entire Portfolio (Lean PPM™: Decide)
• Execution of the Approved Portfolio (Lean PPM™: Execute)