VS 03 · Compass Value Stream
Program & Project Management
Does committed work actually finish, in the right order?
One descent from strategy to the daily stand-up, where each altitude owns one decision, one cadence and one artifact the altitude below inherits.
Why it exists
Most organizations do not have a project problem. They have a selection problem: everything is started, nothing is finished, and the best people are spread across nine efforts that each need them fully.
This stream governs committed work. Strategy sets direction, the portfolio decides what will be done and in what order, programs hold work that only pays off together, projects deliver, sprints move, and the daily altitude removes what blocks the day.
Read end to end, the stream turns strategic priorities into governed execution, clear ownership and measurable value realization — strategy, coordinated execution, then value realized.
Work travels both ways. Intent descends through the altitudes; a blocker climbs until it reaches the altitude that owns the decision. Where that path is broken, work stalls at the level with the least authority.
The SIPOC of this stream
Suppliers, inputs, process, outputs, customers.
Suppliers
Who provides what this stream needs
- Owner, board and executive team — objectives and funding
- Portfolio council, including the CFO
- Program and project sponsors
- Delivery teams and functional resource owners
Inputs
What comes in
- Strategic objectives with measures
- Chartered and candidate work, scored on one scale
- Real capacity — people, money and management attention
- Dependencies, risks and benefit assumptions
Process
The work, in sequence
- Set direction — objectives, measures and the concentration they demand
- Select and sequence the portfolio: Now, Next, Later, Declined
- Group work into programs where benefits only arrive together
- Charter and run projects with owners, gates and measures
- Move the work in sprints or short cycles with visible flow
- Run the daily altitude — remove blockers, escalate what the day cannot fix
- Close, transfer ownership and review benefits realized
Outputs
What comes out
- A ranked, sequenced portfolio with recorded declines
- Program and project charters with gates and owners
- Visible flow — boards, cadence and status without theater
- Escalation that reaches the altitude owning the decision
- Benefit-realization reviews and ownership transfer at close
Customers
Who receives it
- Ownership, the board and the portfolio council
- Sponsors, program and project managers
- Delivery teams and the functions receiving the result
- The Change & Transformation stream, which depends on delivery
The logical detail
The altitudes, top to bottom
Six altitudes. Each answers one question, holds one decision right, runs one cadence and produces one artifact the altitude below inherits.
- Stage 01
Enterprise strategy — direction
What must be true about this enterprise three years from now? Owned by ownership, the board and the executive team; reviewed annually, read quarterly.
What it produces
- Objectives with baseline and target measures
- The concentration they demand
- Stage 02
Portfolio — selection
Of everything we could do, what will we do and in what order? Scored on one scale, sequenced against real capacity, with declines recorded and reasoned.
What it produces
- Ranked portfolio: Now, Next, Later, Declined
- Capacity read
- Council decision log
- Stage 03
Program — coordination
Which pieces of work only pay off together? Programs exist to hold shared dependencies, shared benefits and shared risk — not to add a layer of reporting.
What it produces
- Program charter with benefit map
- Dependency and risk register
- Stage 04
Project — delivery
What is being delivered, by whom, by when, and how will we know it worked? Chartered with gates, owners and measures before work begins.
What it produces
- Project charter
- Gate decisions with evidence
- Measured outcome at close
- Stage 05
Sprint — movement
What moves this week or this cycle? Short horizons, visible flow, explicit work-in-progress limits, and duration and dependency management where the schedule is tight.
What it produces
- Committed cycle scope
- Visible board and flow
- Cycle review
- Stage 06
Daily — removal
What is blocking the work today, and who owns the decision? The daily altitude exists to remove obstacles and to escalate anything the day cannot resolve.
What it produces
- Daily priorities
- Blocker log with owners
- Escalation to the right altitude
How a leader knows it is running
- Declines are recorded — the portfolio says no in writing
- Fewer things are running, and they are finishing
- A blocker reaches the altitude that owns the decision within days
- Benefits are reviewed after close, not assumed at approval
Where the detail lives
This page is the summary. The work sits here.
Delivery Architecture
Every altitude in working detail, with gates and instruments
Program & project methods
DMAIC, PMBOK and agile methods, and when each one is the right fit
Portfolio Council desk
Scores intake and sequences Now, Next, Later, Declined
Program board
Holds dependencies, benefits and risk across grouped work
Sprint board
Moves committed work with visible flow and duration management
Not sure where to start?
Three questions, and we point you to the right instrument.
Under a minute. From this page, most leaders begin with The organization.