The Objectives Dashboard provides a high-level view of how work across your Solution Train (aggregated from multiple Program Boards/ARTs) is progressing towards defined business goals. It enables Solution Train Engineers (STEs) and Program Managers to monitor strategic alignment, track promised Business Value (BV) achievement, and assess overall commitment health.
This dashboard is accessible via the Objectives tab on your Solution Board and is the primary tool for reviewing PI objectives and their progress throughout the execution cycle.
Key Benefits of the Objectives Dashboard (Solution Train Level)
Benefit | Description | Contextual Impact |
Business Value (BV) Tracking | Compares the Planned Business Value (what was promised) against the Actual Business Value achieved. | Provides concrete, data-driven feedback on the effectiveness of PI planning and execution in delivering strategic outcomes. |
Progress Visualization | Measures progress against Objectives using four distinct metrics: BV Achievement, By Status, By Story Points, and By Parent (Feature) Status. | Allows STEs to rapidly identify Objectives that are lagging based on different execution criteria (e.g., status updates vs. estimated effort consumption). |
Roll-up and Drill-Down | Aggregates objective progress from all contributing Program Boards and allows drill-down to see which specific Features/Stories are linked to and driving the Objective's completion. | Clarifies the contribution of each ART/PI to the overall Solution Objectives, ensuring alignment remains visible and traceable. |
Commitment Health | Clearly separates Committed Objectives from Uncommitted Objectives, showing the health of the primary plan versus stretch goals. | Provides a reliable status of the most critical objectives, helping to manage stakeholder expectations effectively. |
Detailed Navigation and Functionality Guide
1. Accessing the Objectives Dashboard
The Objectives feature is one of the three main navigational tabs on the Solution Board's dedicated tracking screen.
Navigation Path:
From your active Solution Board, click the More dropdown button.
In the menu that appears, click the Objectives option, which has an icon showing a target.
Once on the tracking screen, ensure the Objectives tab is selected (located next to Dependency Tracking and Analytics).
2. Collapsible Program Board Filter (High-Level View)
The Objectives dashboard is highly hierarchical, allowing you to focus on the entire Solution Train or an individual contributing ART.
Default View: The dashboard initially displays the aggregated view for the entire Solution Train (e.g., Q2 QBR in dept).
Collapsible Sections: The main view is comprised of collapsible sections. The Solution Train title and the individual Program Boards/ARTs are listed below the main metrics.
Filtering by ART: To view the Objectives metrics for a single contributing Program Board (ART), click the header of that ART (e.g., Web Bookstore - Q4 PI4 or Mobile Bookstore - PI#5) to expand its specific metrics view, which will show the four circular gauges (Section 3) filtered for that ART's performance.
3. Key Progress Indicators (The Four Gauges)
The top section of the Objectives Dashboard provides four distinct circular gauges, measuring the overall progress of all Objectives for the currently selected scope (Solution Train or individual ART).
Gauge Title | Metric Measurement | Key Insight |
Business Value Achievement | The percentage of Actual BV delivered versus Planned BV committed. | The ultimate measure of successful strategic outcome delivery. |
By Story Points | The percentage of completion based on the Story Points of the linked work items that have been marked Done. | Measures progress based on consumed effort, which correlates with velocity. |
By Status | The percentage of completion based on the status count of the linked work items that have been marked Done. | Measures progress based on the completion of linked items (Features/Stories), regardless of their size/effort. |
By Parent | The percentage of completion based on the status of the direct Parent (Feature) items linked to the Objective. | Ideal for quickly understanding Feature-level completion driving the objective. |
4. Business Value Achievement Breakdown (Donut Chart)
The large donut chart provides a visual breakdown of the Business Value status across all objectives.
Chart Breakdown: The chart is divided into sections representing: Planned BV Actual 0%, Planned BV Actual 1-99%, and Planned BV Actual 100%.
Purpose: This chart highlights which objectives have not started achieving value (0%), those that are partially underway (1-99%), and those that are fully complete (100%).
Exporting: This chart is exportable. Click the small burger menu icon (three horizontal lines) in the top-right corner of the chart panel. Standard export formats (PNG, JPEG, PDF, SVG) are available.
5. Objective Progress by Contribution Type
This section displays horizontal progress bars that break down objective completion across different contributing entities and categories.
Progress by Status: Completion percentage based on the status of linked work items, grouped by Program Board/ART or by the Objective Title itself.
Progress by Story Points: Completion percentage based on the Story Points of linked work items, grouped by Program Board/ART or Objective Title.
Progress by Parent (Feature) Status: Completion percentage based on the status of the direct parent Features linked to the objectives, grouped by Program Board/ART or Objective Title.
6. Detailed Objective Tracking (Bottom Table: Amalgamated View)
This is the most detailed table, listing all objectives—Solution Train-level and individual Team-level objectives—for the selected scope. This amalgamated view provides a single-source-of-truth for objective health across the entire structure.
6.1 Customizing the Progress View
The detailed table allows you to change the metric used for measuring Objective completion.
Metric Dropdown: Use the dropdown located above the Objectives list to select a metric.
Available Metrics: You can select from various methods of measuring completion (e.g., Linked Items Status, Children of Linked Items - Estimate, Team Stories - Status), allowing you to align the displayed completion percentage with the way your organization measures value delivery.
6.2 Objective Structure and Metrics
Section | Description | Metrics Tracked |
Committed Objectives | Objectives that the Solution Train is formally committed to delivering in the current PI. | Completion % (based on the metric selected above), BV Achievement %, BV Plan (Planned Business Value), BV Actual (Actual Business Value Achieved). |
Uncommitted Objectives | Stretch goals or objectives that are tracked but not formally committed for the PI. | The same metrics are tracked, but these are excluded from the main BV Achievement calculations. |
6.3 Objective Drill-Down (Linking to Work)
Each Objective can be expanded to view the work items that contribute to its progress.
Expand Objective: Click the dropdown arrow next to the Objective Title.
Linked Items: The list reveals the Features (or other Parent items) and their current status.
Work Item Status: Each linked item displays its Status (e.g., To Do, In Progress, Done) and a series of colored dots indicating the status of its underlying Stories.
Standard Status Color Coding: The status dots are consistently color-coded: Orange (🔴) for To Do, Blue (🔵) for In Progress, and Green (🟢) for Done.
Team Assignment: Displays the team(s) responsible for that Feature (e.g., MARS, VEN, EART).
ALM Deep Link: Clicking the item's ID or key (e.g., FEA-71) will automatically redirect you to the corresponding work item within your connected ALM tool.
7. Exiting the Objectives Dashboard
Once your analysis is complete, you have three options for navigating away from the Objectives screen:
Switch to Dependencies: Click the Dependency Tracking tab at the top left of the screen to move to the dedicated view for managing cross-board dependencies.
Switch to Analytics: Click the Analytics tab at the top to review progress metrics and predictability.
Return to Solution Board: Click the "X" (Close) icon in the top right corner of the screen to return directly to the main Solution Board view.