The Goal/Initiative Matrix

Your strategic initiatives should exist to help you to achieve your strategic goals.

But do they?

There is a many-to-many relationship between strategic goals and strategic initiatives.

• 1 initiative can contribute towards achieving many goals.
• Many initiatives can contribute towards achieving 1 goal.

The Goal/Initiative Matrix list all the strategic goals across the top, and all of the strategic initiatives down the left-hand side.

At the intersection of each, you can indicate the strength with which the initiative contributes towards the goal. Simply click on the inspection and select one of the options ranging from Extremely Positive to Extremely Negative.

Goals for which there are no contributing initiatives will be highlighted with a red alert symbol. Ask yourself what you would need to do to achieve those goals, and add initiatives accordingly.

Similarly, initiatives that don't contribute to any goals will be highlighted with a red alert symbol. Ask yourself if they really do contribute to your strategy, and consider cancelling them if they don't.

Once you've completed the matrix, you can use it to prioritise your strategic initiatives, and/or to select which ones to start next. In general terms and all other things being equal, initiatives that contribute more strongly to a larger number of goals should receive a higher priority.

To reach the Goal/Initiative Matrix, select Planning on the main menu, and then Goal Matrix on the selector.

See also:

• Goals, objectives, KPIs, targets and initiatives