What are Program Objectives?

Program Objectives in Kendis are SMART (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, Time-Bound) statements that define the technical and business goals an Agile Release Train (ART) or Program intends to achieve during a specific Program Increment (PI).

They act as a crucial link between the high-level business strategy and the executable work (Features/Stories) being completed by the development teams.

Watch Step by Step Video Guide

What to Use Them For

Program Objectives are the centerpiece of PI Planning and continuous program execution. You use them for

Usage	Benefits in Kendis
PI Planning Alignment	Provide a common language and clear targets for all teams, ensuring that local team goals directly contribute to the Program’s overall mission.
Business Value Scoring	Facilitate setting a Planned Business Value (BV) and capturing the Actual Business Value (BV Achieved) once the objective is delivered, enabling the calculation of Program Predictability metrics.
Progress Tracking	Objectives can be linked directly to Features or Stories on the Program Board, allowing for automated, real-time progress tracking based on the completion percentage of the linked work items.
Timeline Visualization	Objectives can be visualized on a Timeline View (accessible via the Tracking menu). This enables the ART to see how objectives align with milestones and sprints/increments across the entire PI and beyond, offering powerful foresight.

Detailed Navigation and How-To

This guide covers the systematic creation and management of Program Objectives within your Kendis Program Board environment.

I. Starting Point: Accessing the Objectives View

The starting point is always the current Program Board view.

Navigate to the Program Board: Ensure you are viewing the specific Program Increment (PI) board.
Access the Tracking Menu: Click the More button located at the top right of the Program Board. This opens the menu overlay.
Open Objectives: Click on Objectives within the menu. This action opens the dedicated Objectives management view, where you can view existing groups or create new ones.

II. Creating an Objective Group (The Container)

All Objectives must belong to either a Team Objective Group or a Custom Objective Group. These creation buttons are located at the top of the Objectives panel.

Group Type	Action	Purpose and Result
+ Add Team	Select the target Team from the dropdown list (e.g., Team Venus, Team Mars).	Creates a Team-Level Objective Group, automatically named after the team (e.g., "TV Team Venus"). These are objectives specific to that team's contribution.
+ Add Custom	Enter a Title for your custom group (e.g., "PI 5 Objectives," or "Program-wide Initiative").	Creates a Program-Level Objective Group. This is used for goals that span the entire ART or are not solely owned by one team.

III. Creating the Program Objective

Once the Objective Group is created (e.g., "Q2 Objectives" or "Team Venus"), you can add the specific goals:

Locate the Group: Find the desired Objective Group in the list.
Add Objective: Click the + icon next to the word Objectives within that group's section.
Enter Title and Save: Type a concise title for your objective (e.g., "OBJ-124 Roll out new shopping cart experience"). Then, click the green checkmark icon to save it.
Open Details Modal: Click on the newly created objective's title to open the modal window and configure the objective.

IV. Configuring Objective Details and Tracking

Inside the Objective modal, ensure all fields are detailed, and the objective is linked for automated tracking:

Field	Purpose
Status	Set the objective's state from the Status dropdown (e.g., Not Started, In Progress, On Track, At Risk). This is a customizable workflow that can be reconfigured by your Super Admin in the Global Settings.
Type	Set the Type as Committed or Uncommitted
Objective Groups	The Objective Groups dropdown displays a list of all existing groups (both Team and Custom). You can select multiple groups to place a single objective into several other objective groups. This is useful for objectives that contribute to multiple teams or initiatives.
Business Value (BV)	Set the Planned BV score, which is essential for Program Predictability metrics.
Start and End Date	Dates for the Objectives (optional)
Linked Items (Key to Tracking)	More details in the following sections
Automated Progress	Kendis will automatically calculate the objective’s Completion Percentage based on the completion status of these linked items, removing the need for manual progress updates.
Key Results	Depending on the configuration, you may also see a Key Results section. This is available when the OKR Style has been enabled in the board's settings. You can create Key Results here and link them to work items or other objectives to track progress towards the objective in a more granular way.

Example of an Objective View

Linked Items (Key to Tracking)

Click the Linked Items section.
To make it easier to search for the features or stories, use the Group by dropdown to filter items by criteria like Planned/Unplanned, Status, Jira Project, or other fields. This helps you narrow down the items required to complete the objective. You can also use the search bar to find specific features or stories.
Use the Criteria dropdown to filter for specific item types. The options include:
- All Items: Shows all features and stories.
- Linked to Objectives: Shows only items already linked to an objective.
- Not Linked to Objectives: Shows only items that have not yet been linked to any objective. This is useful for identifying and linking features that are not yet tied to a strategic goal.
Automated Progress: Kendis will automatically calculate the objective’s Completion Percentage based on the completion status of these linked items, removing the need for manual progress updates.
Key Results: Depending on the configuration, you may also see a Key Results section. This is available when the OKR Style has been enabled in the board's settings. You can create Key Results here and link them to work items or other objectives to track progress towards the objective in a more granular way.

V. Other Tabs in the Objective Modal

The Objective modal has several other tabs at the top to provide more functionality and context:

Details: The main tab where you create and edit the core objective information.
Linked Items: Where you link features and stories.
History: Provides a log of all changes made to the objective.
Watchers: Allows you to add other users as watchers. Any user added here will receive email notifications whenever there are updates to the objective.
Associations: A more advanced feature used to link this objective to Global OKRs, which will be covered in the next article.
Progress Flow: A visual representation of the objective's progress over time.

VI. Using the Check-ins Feature

Check-ins are a dedicated way to manually record and monitor the progress of your objectives. This feature provides a narrative-based tracking method to complement the automated progress tracking.

Access the Check-ins Tab: From the main Objectives View, click on the Check-ins tab at the top. This opens a panel with a history of all past check-ins.
Create a New Check-in: Click the + New button at the top of the Check-ins panel. This opens a modal where you can document key updates.
Add Your Update: In the check-in modal, you can add a description, write what was discussed, and view analytics on objective completion. This adds a valuable qualitative layer to your progress tracking.

VII. Advanced Visualization and Settings

Feature	How to Manage	Purpose/Benefit
OKR Style	To enable the more advanced OKR structure (Objectives with explicit Key Results): Access the Settings menu (located on the top right of the Objectives View) and toggle the option to Enable OKR Style.	This allows you to define Key Results (KRs) under your objective, ensuring the How is measurable, which is essential for cascading goals.
Timeline View	Click the Objectives on Timeline button located at the top of the Objectives View.	Visualizes all objectives against the PI's sprints and milestones, helping the ART align objectives with planned delivery dates across the increment.
MInimize View	To prevent objectives from cluttering the main view: Keep the dedicated Objectives View closed/collapsed.	This separation allows stakeholders to use the Timeline view while teams focus on feature delivery on the main Program Board.