PI Objective, or Project Increment Objective are specific and measurable goals that a business or company set to achieve within a time-frame. This objective is one of the core components of Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe) which aims at helping organizations to achieve their primary goals by applying Lean and Agile principles.
PI objective when implemented, helps companies to achieve their relevant & specific goals within the shortest time-bound. The objective can be set when a team within an organization wants to execute a particular project that aligns with the business goals.
The best time to set PI objectives is usually at the beginning of the program increment, which is usually in accordance with the goals of the organization. Although these objectives may be difficult, with persistence the goals can be achieved.
Overview of PI & its Objectives
A Program Increment (PI) is a time-bound period which can be in weeks, during which an Agile Release Train (ART) carries out a set of features.
PI Objectives are the condensed form of the technical and business goals that ART intends to achieve within a particular PI. In the simplest form, PI objectives can be seen as a link between the calculated goal of the organization and the daily work of the Agile teams.
PI objectives are normally created at the beginning of the program increment planning event which is usually a 2-day joint session where different teams converge to plan their work, align their priorities among other activities aimed at improving the performance of the organization.
How Do Business Owners Quantify The Value Of PI Objectives?
The Measures below will help you to quantify the value of PI objectives in your business. They are:
1. Increase in Productivity
The value of PI objective can be seen in your business if it was set to boost productivity and there is an increase in productivity of your company. As a business owner, if you notice tremendous changes in the productivity of your organization, it is a positive indication that PI objective is working out for your organization. The simple indices you can use to measure increase in productivity are:
- Number of customers served within a time-frame.
- Number of projects executed.
- The duration it takes to complete a particular task in your organization.
2. Enhanced Performance
If there is an overall increase in sales, employee engagement and customer satisfaction, then the PI objectives are achieved for increased business performance. Once there is enhanced performance, it will lead to increase in profit and revenue generation. The enhanced performance of business can be determined using indices such as return on investment (ROI) & revenue growth.
3. Achieving Organization’s Goal
Since the primary aim of PI objective is to set achievable goals, if the organization achieves its goal, it means that the PI is working positively. Once these set goals are achieved, it will definitely lead to the success of the business.
4. Cost Effectiveness
If the PI Objective is set to reduce cost and prioritize operation, then check cost per product and efficiency, if cost reduced & efficiency increased, then you know that PI Objective is working.
5. Check Market Share
If the PI objective is set to release novel products, then check the help that the organization gained from the market share.
Importance Of PI Objectives
From the foregoing, we can see that the importance of PI objectives cannot be overemphasized, some of the importance are outlined below:
- It helps to improve companies’ performance.
- It quickens decision making in business.
- PI objectives help teams to achieve company’s goals with ease.
- It helps teams to work efficiently hence yielding better results.
- PI objectives enable organizations to review and evaluate their progress with ease.
How To Create Measurable & Achievable PI Objectives
Creating PI objectives is not a big task but the problem lies in achieving the objectives, hence we’ve dedicated this section to guide you on how to create achievable PI objectives, let’s go through it together.
1. Keep The Objective Quantifiable Using SMART Method
In order to achieve your PI objectives in your business, it is important to make them concise and quantifiable. You can achieve that with the help of SMART code.
SMART – Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-framed. Whenever you want to draft PI objectives for your business, don’t forget this acronym because they’ll be of utmost help to you.
2. Your PI Objective Should Align With The Organization’s Vision
Even without being told, you know it is important that your objectives should work in accordance with the company’s goals and vision, because if it doesn’t align, invariably it won’t be achieved.
3. The Objective Should Be Customer-Oriented
Since the primary aim of business is to meet the customers needs, your objectives should be geared towards ensuring that customers get maximum satisfaction.
Conclusion
Quantifying the value of PI Objectives in your organization needs proper comprehension of the business, its mode of operation, accurate data and unbiased assumption. Hence it may not be an easy task quantifying the value of PI Objectives in your company. So, if you don’t know how to quantify it, you can employ the services of professionals or analysts to help you out.
