How to Answer: How would you define the relationship between a vision, goals, and strategy?
Advice and answer examples written specifically for a Program Manager job interview.
3. How would you define the relationship between a vision, goals, and strategy?
Why the Interviewer Asks This Question
Program managers are responsible for taking programs through all of the phases of inception and execution. This question is asked to ensure a candidate understands these important conceptual artifacts that help to drive alignment and success within large programs of work.
Written by Karrie Day on June 3rd, 2022
Remember To
Remember to provide easy-to-understand and clear definitions for each area. Program managers often drive the facilitation of the discussion and creation of vision statements, goals, and strategic plans. It is expected that they can quickly and easily describe this work.
Written by Karrie Day on June 3rd, 2022
Answer Example
"Vision, goals, and strategy are high-level features of a program or project that define the target and how it will be met. The vision communicates the 'what' of the initiative. It is a clear and short statement that outlines the purpose and the ultimate goal. It helps to create excitement and alignment within the teams that work toward bringing the vision to life.
Goals define the extent to which the vision will come to life at a given point in time. For example, if the vision of a program at Coinbase is to develop the world's most trusted and used app for crypto trading, a goal for a particular year that aligns with that vision might be to increase usage by 15% within a specific target audience.
Strategic plans define how goals will be met to transform the vision into a reality. If we stick with the example goal of the 15% user increase, a strategy for that goal would include a multi-faceted plan that integrates work between various teams and groups such as product management, marketing, engineering, support, legal, finance, etc."
Written by Karrie Day on June 3rd, 2022