23.05.2023

Unlocking enterprise success with Viva Goals and modern Project Portfolio Management

OKRs with Viva Goals and beyond: connection between the strategic level and Project Portfolio Management.

As companies of all sizes face increasing pressure to innovate, cut costs, and deliver value at scale, project portfolio management has become an essential capability for driving strategic initiatives forward. However, as project teams grow and the complexity of initiatives increases, companies need to leverage innovative tools that can help them to plan, execute, and monitor their projects effectively and strategically.

One such tool that has gained significant attention recently is Viva Goals, a comprehensive enterprise goal management solution from Microsoft that allows companies to define, plan, track, and achieve business goals more effectively. But what makes Viva Goals truly innovative is its seamless integration with project or work management tools like Planner and Azure DevOps.

Planner is a lightweight project management tool that allows teams to organize tasks, track progress, and collaborate in real-time. Azure DevOps, on the other hand, is a more robust project management solution that offers a full range of features for e. g., managing software development projects. When combined with Viva Goals, and integrated into a holistic project management environment, these tools contribute to large-scale business success. 

Viva Goals: The foundation for strategic alignment

Viva Goals is designed to help enterprises align their objectives with broader strategic initiatives. By using Viva Goals, enterprises can define company-wide goals and key performance indicators (KPIs), as well as goals at the department, team, and individual level. Viva Goals generally provides a clear framework for goal setting and tracking, which can help ensure that everyone in the organization is working towards the same objectives.

However, Viva Goals is more than just a tool for setting goals. It is also a powerful tool for monitoring progress and providing feedback. With Viva Goals, employees can track their progress towards their goals in real-time, and receive transparent feedback on their performance. This makes it easier for employees to see how their work contributes to the broader goals of the organization, and to identify areas where they can improve.

Combining Viva Goals with project management tools

While Viva Goals is a powerful tool on its own, it can be even more effective when combined with project management tools like Planner and Azure DevOps. These tools provide a centralized platform for collaboration, task management, and reporting, which can help enterprises execute their strategic initiatives more effectively. 

Based on our experience and expertise at Campana & Schott, we define some of these key benefits of using Viva Goals in conjunction with project management tools like Planner and Azure DevOps:

 

• Improved collaboration

By integrating Viva Goals with Planner and Azure DevOps, project teams can collaborate more effectively, share information in real-time, and ensure everyone is working towards the same goals.

• Enhanced goal setting

Viva Goals allows companies to set goals at the enterprise, departmental, team, and individual levels, which can help improve goal alignment and ensure everyone is working towards the same objectives.

• Better project planning

By combining Viva Goals with Planner and Azure DevOps, project teams can plan and track tasks, allocate resources, and manage timelines more effectively, which can help ensure projects are delivered on time and within budget.

• Realtime monitoring

With Viva Goals plus integrated Project Management tools, project teams can monitor progress in real-time, identify potential roadblocks, and take corrective action as needed, which can help ensure projects stay on track and deliver the desired outcomes.

Holistic benefits of Viva Goals for enterprises

But the benefits of Viva Goals go beyond project management. By using this solution, enterprises can enjoy a range of holistic benefits that can help them achieve their strategic objectives more effectively. For example, Viva Goals can help companies:

Improve employee engagement: By setting clear goals and providing real-time feedback, Viva Goals can help improve employee engagement, job satisfaction, and overall productivity.

Drive business alignment: By aligning individual goals with enterprise objectives, Viva Goals can help drive business alignment and ensure everyone is working towards the same strategic priorities.

Foster a culture of continuous improvement: By encouraging employees to set and achieve goals on an ongoing basis, Viva Goals can help foster a culture of continuous improvement and innovation.

Conclusion and Outlook

By using Viva Goals in conjunction with project management tools and a holistic approach, enterprises can unlock their success to make the most of their resources and achieve their objectives more efficiently. Artificial Intelligence such as ChatGPT or  Microsoft 365 Copilot, will also have a significant impact on modern project management. Data & AI experts from Campana & Schott have set up an example for integration to fully automate repetitive tasks such as risk generation, while including their impact analysis and risk mitigation (demo video available here).

Authors

Furat Abdulle

Consultant

Sven Hausen

Associate Partner | Transformation of Work