Business objectives are achieved through the performance of the company. For IT the performance is related to the
people, processes, and tools within IT. An operational objective identifies a focus of effort to align IT
performance with the achievement of a business objective. Operational objectives, and their associated measures,
are typically described for concepts such as:
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Productivity
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Time to market
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Quality
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Consistency
For an organization that has defined operational objectives, assess them and evaluate their relevance to the identified
business objectives as well as their relationship to the identified business objectives. Are the operational
objectives:
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Abstract
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Too broad of scope
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Quantifiable
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Actionable
Assessing existing operational objectives may very well show that they need to be reworked. Whether they are usable as
is, need reworked, or are entirely new will bring management focus to bear on the people, processes, and tools to
achieve them and their related business objective. This focus means some amount of change in measuring of individual
and team behavior to understand the effectiveness of operations.
Define a small set of operational objectives that relate to one or more of the business objectives. It is recommended
that fewer operational objectives be identified in order to focus resources and cost on less broad-based initiatives.
Using a more surgical approach provides a better chance for successful change. Operational objectives typically result
in more change of individual and team behavior. It is through the behavioral effectiveness of individuals and teams
that business objectives are met.
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