Prioritizing Business Outcomes

Overview

Business Outcomes are the foundation of the Path to Agility approach. Discussion and agreement on what should and what should not be prioritized is fundamental to establishing focus and ultimately achieving results. By prioritizing business outcomes, this informs Navigator, so it can factor those business outcomes into its algorithms. Especially around prioritization which recommends capabilities for each entity to prioritize (focus on) for maximum benefit after performing assessments.

In Navigator, the Business Outcomes can be accessed under an organization by going to Assess > Business Outcomes. The nine business outcomes will be listed. If no business outcomes are prioritized yet, this will be highlighted as shown in the screenshot below. Ones that are prioritized will be highlighted to reflect that. Clicking on a business outcome will display metadata about each one, including what it is, industry data, and even success stories. This is a useful page for users to educate and inform themselves how business outcomes relate to company results.

The main business outcomes page where users can see which are prioritized and learn more about each one.

To set business outcomes, use the Prioritize button and select either Manual or Poll. (Poll is only available when the entity selected from the Org/Sys/Team dropdown is an organization.) Navigator supports two options for prioritizing business outcomes: manually or via a live poll. The manual option is available to quickly identify the prioritized outcomes by setting them independently. The poll option is a live poll with a facilitator and participants where the outcome is 1-3 (recommended) business outcomes prioritized. 

Business Outcomes can be prioritized manually or through a live poll (at the organization level).

When the Poll is selected, a facilitator screen opens as shown below. The information elements can be expanded or collapsed to provide more screen space when they're not in use. The main facilitator screen contains a few key elements highlighted with numbered circles:

1. Clicking the "Share" button will copy the URL to share with participants to the facilitator's clipboard. The url can then be distributed with participants.
2. The "How It Works" section provides guidance on the polling process. This can be collapsed when not in use.
3. The list of participants that have joined the poll can be seen by expanding this section with the total participant count displayed when collapsed.
4. The list of business outcomes. All nine are enabled and included in the poll by default. To limit which outcomes are included, use the toggle to include or exclude from the poll. The number in the bottom right of the screen will update to reflect the total number selected for the poll.
5. The poll controls which are used to start or end the poll. 

The main Business Outcome Poll facilitator screen.

When a facilitator starts the voting (clicking the "Start Voting" button), the poll settings screen appears. The following are highlighted by the numbered circles:

1. The votes per participant provides control over the total votes each person will have. The default is 3.
2. The votes per business outcome controls whether participants can vote multiple times for the same outcome or only one vote per outcome.
3. The time for voting sets the initial time participants have to vote. The facilitator can add time or even close the voting early once polling has begun.
4. The list of business outcomes included in the poll is shown at the bottom.

Once the poll is configured, the facilitator clicks "Launch Voting" to open the voting for participants. Once clicked, the participants' screens will update to allow voting.

Business Outcome Poll configuration settings.

Once the voting begins, the facilitator's screen displays the progress. The numbered circles highlight:

1. The list of business outcomes included in the voting
2. The timing controls which can be used to pause voting, add time in increments of one minute at a time, or reset the timer. Participant data will not be lost if the timer is adjusted.
3. The Participants list with progress indicating how many participants have completed voting and the progress for each participant.

The "Close Voting" button can be used to close voting, especially handy if all participants finish voting early.

Facilitator's screen while voting is in progress.

After a round of voting, the facilitator will see how the votes are distributed as shown in the screenshot below. Only the business outcomes that received votes will be highlighted. The others can be toggled back on if it's desired to include them in another round of voting or for prioritization before ending the poll.

Facilitator view of voting results after a round of voting.

Participants will see a similar view except they will also see which outcomes they voted on.

Participant view of voting results after a round of voting.

Once the group has narrowed down the top 1-3 (recommended no more than 3) business outcomes, the poll can be ended by clicking "End Poll". When ending, the facilitator has the option to end without saving, meaning that nothing from the poll will be saved. Or, they can save the results via "End & Save" where the prioritized outcomes can be cascaded down throughout the organization.

Business outcomes can be prioritized at all three levels (organization, system, and team). Navigator allows selections to be cascaded down from a higher level to a lower level (i.e. system down to teams or organization down to systems and teams). When cascading, there are two options, one to override and align the business outcomes so they're the same, and one that is additive, which only adds prioritized outcomes to lower levels, it doesn't overwrite any that are already set.

Ending a poll allows a facilitator to end without saving or to end and save the results.

Once saved, the Business Outcomes home screen will highlight the prioritized outcomes and they will be visible throughout the organization.