Backlog Goals or Objectives
A backlog goal or objective is a system asset that contains groups of stories or backlog items that drive the direction of the project team. It's a measurable target that specifies a business reason for doing development and drives the direction and priorities of the project team. They have a many-to-many relationship with work items, to allow free association between stories, defects, or even portfolio items to these assets.
Access Backlog Goals
The Backlog Goals or Objectives feature must first be enabled in order for it to display in the Product Planning menu.
To access Backlog Goals or Objectives, click the hamburger icon 
> Product > Backlog Goals (or Objectives).
Top-Down vs. Bottom-Up Approaches
Top-Down Approach
Traditional management approaches use a top-down approach to derive lower-level project backlog from goals defined at the higher level. When using a top-down approach, you may specify projects that target each high-level backlog goal, which enables you to track progress of related work items for a project and its sub-projects.
Bottom-Up Approach (SAFe)
The SAFe approach, which uses the term objectives, calls for objectives to first be defined at the team level within a program increment (PI) and then rolled up across teams to specify PI-level objectives. This approach uses objectives as a method to confirm common business understanding of the reasoning for developing a specific set of features and also assigns business value to each team-level objective to help track the individual and collective team performance over time using the Program Predictability Report.
Terminology is automatically switched to 'objectives' for those who specify a SAFe setup during the startup wizard. System Administrators can always update terminology in an existing system as well.
Configure Backlog Goal Relationships
System Administrators have the ability to switch the relationship back to the legacy backlog goal:backlog group instead of backlog goal:portfolio items that now defaults. To switch back, click the hamburger icon > Administration > Configuration > System page and look for the option under the Backlog Goal asset option.
Troubleshooting
Why don't I see the Backlog Goals or Objectives option in the Product menu?
The Backlog Goals feature must be enabled by a System Administrator. Navigate to Administration > Configuration > System and verify that the Backlog Goal asset option is enabled. If you don't have admin access, contact your system administrator.
Why does my system show 'Backlog Goals' instead of 'Objectives' (or vice versa)?
Terminology is determined by your system configuration. SAFe-configured systems use 'Objectives' by default. System Administrators can update terminology in Administration > Configuration > System under the Backlog Goal asset option.
Why can't I assign projects to my backlog goal using the top-down approach?
Verify that the backlog goal relationship is configured correctly. System Administrators can check Administration > Configuration > System to ensure the relationship is set to backlog goal:portfolio items (not the legacy backlog goal:backlog group relationship).
Why aren't my team-level objectives rolling up to PI-level objectives in my SAFe implementation?
Ensure you're using the bottom-up approach correctly. Team-level objectives must be created within a program increment (PI) context and assigned appropriate business values. Verify that your SAFe terminology is enabled and that objectives are properly associated with teams and PIs.