Cascading and Linking Objectives

Achieving more through aligned objectives

What is cascading an objective?

Cascading or linking an objective creates alignment between a higher level objective and dependent objectives that are owned by someone else who will deliver some or all of that higher level objective
Creating a nexus between objectives from individual level, through to team and then business plan, ensures that overall effort is driving towards the achievement of the business plan.
The owner of an objective may wish to allocate some “dependent activities” of that objective to others to help deliver the objective’s outcomes
This is called cascading. A Cascaded Objective links the higher level objective to the cascaded objective
You can create one or many Cascaded Objectives from an objective. The original objective must first be agreed before it can be cascaded
Alternatively, an objective can be linked up to an existing higher level objective to create the alignment to another objective it is contributing to
In both cases, the original objective must first be agreed before it can be cascaded or linked to.
Objectives can only be cascaded from the Plan+Do module

Creating a cascaded objective follows the same basic steps as creating any other objective and the same information will be required. You can complete as much of the objective as you like before sending it to the owner
Cascade an objective with all details completed when you want to set all the dates and milestones yourself
Cascade an incomplete objective when you expect the owner to map out the details themselves
You can cascade:
- A new objective which allows you to create an objective with new details. You would do this when the owner will contribute to only part to the higher level objective.
- The whole objective which copies all the details of the original objective into the cascaded objective. The owner of the cascaded objective will take responsibility for delivering the entire objective. You will still retain ownership of the high level objective.

First create the objective by defining all the different components of the objective as you would when creating any objective. You decide how much of the objective to pre-define prior to sharing with the owner. See Setting SMART objectives guide for further information on how to create an objective

Select who to cascade the objective to (and the relevant team). This will be the objective owner
Other Person
- People managers can assign objectives to their direct reports
- Users with access to create objectives for the Business plan can assign to anyone, including multiple people. If you cascade an objective to someone not in your direct reporting line, you and the owner can reach agreement and their manager will be notified and have visibility of the objective too
- If assigning to multiple people determine who will manage the objective (ie who will complete the manager’s pulse check for that objective)
Other Teams
- Anyone can assign to one or more teams. Select from any team you have visibility of (including teams you are a member of) and then add the person accountable. For teams you’re not a member of, the accountability will automatically reside with the Team Leader of that team.
If you have access to write objectives for the business plan you can select whether the objective is a Business Plan Objective or a Normal Objective

Cascaded objectives are shared as a Draft with the owner to review and add any further details. They will sit in your and the owner’s Pending objectives for the owner to review.

Once the owner is satisfied it is final they will send the objective to you for agreement. It will now sit in your and the owner’s Pending objectives until you review it

If you do not agree to the proposed objective, you can Edit the objective and then add comments to indicate the changes you have made.

You can also create an objective and then link it to another objective it is helping to deliver by using the Linking Up functionality
You can link your objective to one of your manager’s objectives or any other objective that has been made visible to you
Define the contribution it will have. This refers to the level of impact the achievement of your objective will have on the objective it is aligned to. It is a qualitative not numeric assessment
When viewing objectives, any linked objectives will be represented to ensure there’s visibility of how the objectives contribute to each other

For the owner of the higher level objective, cascaded and linked objectives will appear below the higher level objective to show which objectives are contributing to it