Program & Project Delivery

Delivery Architecture

Strategy does not become results in one step. It descends through six altitudes, and every altitude answers one question, holds one decision right, runs one cadence, and produces one artifact that the altitude below inherits. Work travels back up the same structure: a blocker at the daily altitude escalates until it reaches the altitude that owns the decision.

The architecture

Six altitudes, each with one question it alone can answer

Most delivery failure is an altitude error: a steering group debating a task, a team asked to decide what should be funded, a benefit owned by nobody because it sat between two projects. Naming the altitude fixes most of it.

Altitude 01 · Direction

Enterprise strategy

3–5 years, reviewed annually

“What must be true about this enterprise three years from now?”

Decision right
Owner, board and executive team
Cadence
Annual architecture review, quarterly strategy read
Artifact it produces
Stated objectives with measures, and the concentration they demand
Inherits from above
Nothing above it — this is where intent is set

The gate

Pass criteria — Objectives are measurable, few, and owned by a named executive.

Evidence — Objective set with baseline and target measures; concentration read.

Skip it and — Fifty priorities, none funded — every altitude below inherits the confusion.

Do the work here

Altitude 02 · Selection

Portfolio

12–18 months, re-sequenced quarterly

“Of everything we could do, what will we do — and in what order?”

Decision right
Portfolio council: sponsor group with the CFO in the room
Cadence
Quarterly council, monthly capacity check
Artifact it produces
Ranked and sequenced portfolio: Now, Next, Later, Declined
Inherits from above
The objectives and measures from strategy

The gate

Pass criteria — Every item scored on the same scale, sequenced against real capacity, and declines recorded with a reason.

Evidence — Scored intake register, capacity read, council decision log.

Skip it and — Everything started, nothing finished, and the best people spread across nine efforts.

Do the work here

Altitude 03 · Integration

Program

6–24 months

“Which projects must land together for the benefit to be real?”

Decision right
Program sponsor with the steering group
Cadence
Monthly steering, fortnightly integration review
Artifact it produces
Benefit register, dependency map, integrated milestone set
Inherits from above
The funded items and their sequence from the portfolio

The gate

Pass criteria — Each benefit has a measure, a baseline, an owner and a realisation date; every cross-project dependency has an owner and a date.

Evidence — Benefit register, dependency board, escalation log.

Skip it and — Projects each declared green while the benefit the program promised never arrives.

Do the work here

Altitude 04 · Delivery

Project

6 weeks – 12 months

“What exactly are we delivering, by when, with whom, at what cost?”

Decision right
Project manager under a named sponsor
Cadence
Weekly project meeting, stage gates as chartered
Artifact it produces
Charter, plan, risk and issue register, stage-gate decisions
Inherits from above
The benefit, the dependencies and the milestone dates from the program

The gate

Pass criteria — Chartered scope with success measures, a method chosen, gates carried, and a sponsor decision at each one.

Evidence — Project workspace record: charter, approvals, issues, risks, status reports.

Skip it and — A project with energy and no baseline — success can never be proven.

Do the work here

Altitude 05 · Increment

Sprint / iteration

1–4 weeks

“What will be finished, and demonstrable, by the end of this iteration?”

Decision right
Delivery team, committing to a stated sprint goal
Cadence
Planning, daily stand-up, review, retrospective
Artifact it produces
Sprint goal, committed increment, demonstrated result
Inherits from above
The scope, measures and dates from the project plan

The gate

Pass criteria — One sprint goal, a commitment inside capacity, work in progress held under the limit, and the increment demonstrated.

Evidence — Sprint board with committed and completed points, blocker record, review note.

Skip it and — A sprint that ends with everything eighty percent done and nothing usable.

Do the work here

  • Sprint & Daily BoardNew instrument

    Sprint goal, commitment against capacity, WIP limit, stand-up log and blocker escalation

  • ARC Working Board

    Works problems to root cause inside the iteration

Altitude 06 · Execution

Daily work

Today

“What did I finish, what am I doing next, and what is in my way?”

Decision right
The person doing the work, with their line leader
Cadence
Daily stand-up of fifteen minutes; blockers escalated same day
Artifact it produces
Stand-up record: done, next, blocker — with an owner on every blocker
Inherits from above
The sprint goal, or the project action list where no sprint runs

The gate

Pass criteria — Every task has one owner and one due date; every blocker older than one day has been escalated by name.

Evidence — Stand-up log, task list, escalation trail into the altitude above.

Skip it and — Busy days, no movement — effort spent where it changes no measure.

Do the work here

Down and back up

How one objective becomes today’s task — and how a blocker gets a decision

Cascade down

  1. Strategy → Portfolio

    An objective becomes candidate work, scored against every other candidate.

  2. Portfolio → Program

    A funded group of work becomes a benefit with a measure and a date.

  3. Program → Project

    A benefit becomes chartered scope with a sponsor and gates.

  4. Project → Sprint

    Chartered scope becomes a commitment small enough to finish and show.

  5. Sprint → Daily work

    A commitment becomes today's owned task with a due date.

Escalation up

  1. Daily work → Sprint / iteration

    A blocker the person cannot clear

    Within: Same day

  2. Sprint / iteration → Project

    The sprint goal is at risk, or capacity is gone

    Within: Within the iteration

  3. Project → Program

    A gate cannot be passed, or scope, cost or date must move

    Within: Before the next steering meeting

  4. Program → Portfolio

    A benefit will not be realised, or a dependency has failed

    Within: At the next council

  5. Portfolio → Enterprise strategy

    Capacity cannot carry the sequence, or an objective is no longer worth funding

    Within: At the quarterly strategy read

Not all work deserves the same route

Transformative, incremental, feature, or task — each enters at a different altitude

Governance that fits an ERP programme will suffocate a two-week enhancement. Governance that fits an enhancement will lose an ERP programme. The route is chosen deliberately, and the finish line is stated before the work starts.

WorkWhat it looks likeEnters atMethodGovernanceFinish line
Transformative changeERP, restructuring, an acquisition, a new operating model, a founder exit.PortfolioPredictive plan (PMBOK-style) inside a program, with the seven Compass stagesExecutive sponsor, steering group, formal stage gates, benefit registerAdoption holding and the business measure moving one cycle past handover.
Incremental improvementCycle time, quality escape, cost per unit, a broken hand-off between two functions.ProjectDMAIC, chartered small, one process ownerProcess owner with a sponsor sign-off at Define and ControlControl plan in place and the measure held for three cycles.
Sprint feature or functionalityA new report, a workflow, a portal, an automation, a system enhancement.Sprint / iterationScrum inside a chartered envelope — the envelope is the project, the sprint is the incrementProduct owner decides order; sponsor owns the envelope's scope and moneyIncrement demonstrated, accepted, and in use by a named user group.
Run-the-business taskA fix, a request, a routine action that does not change how the work is done.Daily workNone — it is task management, not project managementLine leader; escalates only if it blocks committed workDone today, with an owner and a date, and never dressed up as a project.

The five tests

Is it a project, or is it a task with ambition?

Test 01

Is there a measurable outcome?

If no measure moves, it is a task or a wish — not a project.

Test 02

Does it change how work is done?

Changing the way the work happens is a project. Doing the work is operations.

Test 03

Does it need more than one function?

Cross-functional effort needs a charter. Single-function work usually needs a due date.

Test 04

Is there a sponsor who can pay for it?

No sponsor, no money, no project — however good the idea.

Test 05

Would you defend it at a portfolio council?

If it cannot survive scoring against everything else, it should not consume capacity.

Where the work is done

The desks that carry each altitude

Portfolio Council Desk

Score every candidate on one scale, sequence Now / Next / Later, test the sequence against real capacity, and record every decline with a reason.

Open the desk →

Program Integration Board

Benefit register with measures and owners, cross-project dependencies with dates, integrated milestones, and escalations to steering.

Open the desk →

Sprint & Daily Board

One sprint goal, a commitment inside capacity, a hard WIP limit, and a stand-up log where blockers escalate by name.

Open the desk →

Project Workspace

The chartered record: stages, ground rules, members, issues, risks, approvals and status reports.

Open the desk →

Project Delivery Methods

Choose DMAIC, a predictive plan, or Scrum — and inherit that method's gates.

Open the desk →

Process Architecture

Map current state, run the Process X-Ray, and rank the improvement opportunities inside scope.

Open the desk →

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