SYNCHRONIZING STRATEGY AND EXECUTION: PI PLANNING AND DEPENDENCY MANAGEMENT IN SAFE AND PMI FRAMEWORKS BY SERHII CHEKHLА

Abstract

The article examines contemporary approaches to aligning strategic and operational management in scaled Agile environments through the use of Program Increment (PI) Planning. The role of PI Planning is substantiated as a key mechanism for coordinating business objectives, resources, and cross-team dependencies within the Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe) and the standards of the Project Management Institute (PMI). It is demonstrated that effective implementation of PI Planning enhances transparency, alignment across teams, and overall control of program execution. The study analyzes the value cascading model “Objectives → Features → Backlog”, which ensures traceability from strategic goals to team-level execution. Particular attention is given to dependency management between teams as a critical success factor in PI Planning. In addition, key performance metrics are identified, including Throughput, Predictability Index, Flow Efficiency, Dependency Lead Time, and Return on Investment (ROI). The paper also explores the role of digital tools in supporting planning, execution, and performance monitoring processes. Specifically, the capabilities of the Microsoft ecosystem (LEO PPM, Azure DevOps, Planner, Power BI, Power Automate) are considered in the context of digitalizing PI Planning activities. It is shown that the integration of analytics and automation tools enables the creation of a closed-loop management cycle “Plan – Execute – Measure”, which supports informed decision-making, organizational adaptability, and increased business value. The practical significance of the research lies in its applicability for improving portfolio management maturity, enhancing cross-team collaboration, and implementing benefits management approaches in organizations adopting scaled Agile practices.