Missions to Tasks

At my current employer, I’m learning a lot discussing both business strategy and project management with my manager, a VP on the senior management team. We’re contributing to the conversation from opposite directions.

A recent discussion led me to create the following diagram:

• The mission
• defines ↓
• business objectives
• which inform ↓
• programs
• that define ↓
• products
• updated in ↓
• releases
• that are built in ↓
• iterations
• composed of ↓
• features
• divided into ↓
• tasks
• assigned by ↓
• tickets.

Big caveat: This diagram represents an ideal state. We don’t develop products using Agile (yet). Some of the levels are not so smoothly connected. And we don’t even all agree on the language used in the diagram.

The “task to ticket” step might be not be necessary, but in our environment we have people who are focused on the ticket system as the thing needing changing. So we’re doing as the Romans.

All the same, this diagram can help us be more efficient:

The most interesting concept in the diagram is traceability. The traceability is both ways; there should be a second set of arrows pointing up. Because there are established relationships, tasks must meet objectives. If you can’t connect a task to a requirement to a feature to an objective, don’t do it. Less waste, better productivity.