Having completed Phase 1, typically it is very clear that that it is not realistic (or wise) to develop a solution quickly that will deliver all work and project management processes simultaneously. The answer is to engage in an iterative development process, breaking the overall solution into individual chunks, to be delivered separately, each of which delivers real and incremental value to your customer.

During Phase 2, Strategy and Planning, you work with your customer to address the question: How can you deliver the architecture you want iteration by iteration? You do this by breaking the work down into manageable deliverables and then you agree with your customer how you sequence the development of the solutions. You identify the order in which the deliverables will be completed and thus engage in an iterative process of solution delivery. It is essential that each deliverable delivers real and incremental value to your customer.  Below are two of the key steps you are likely to take in Phase 2.

Step 1: Select a few critically-interconnected processes to work with.

Identify a subset of the key processes identified in Phase 1 that are critical to your customer, where delivering a solution for one or more of the processes will have a real, measurable and visible impact for your customer.

In Sample 2.1 below, we identify three connected key processes that you might start with. In this sample as part of the first process, Project Initiation, you must define the ways in which a project can be initiated. If you start each project with the right amount of process, then you can manage each project to success. Thereafter you can manage multiple projects across a business program.

Sample 2.1 A selection of interconnected processes

Step 2: Define goals for each iteration

Work out where to start. Working with your customer, decide how many iterations you will deliver and what will be delivered during each iteration. Referring back to the complexity spectrum from Phase 1, agree what parts of the complexity spectrum for which key processes are being addressed in each iteration and agree the scope of the deliverable, for example, how many departments or business functions will be included. Set goals for 1, 3, 6 and 18 months. Sample 2.2 shows a simple example of such a decision.

Sample 2.2: A staging for the “Project Management” key process

Table 2: Phase 2 Strategy and Planning Summary