Project Management Objectives - 3 To Consider

An overview:

Any definition of project management will tend to describe the objectives. For instance:

'The planning, control and scheduling of activities creating a desired outcome at the right performance, inside agreed cost and time objectives.'

A mention might also be made for the scope of the project and the efficient use of resources.

Objectives must be fixed as soon as possible in the project as part of a predetermined financial plan. When they are set, how do you know when you have attained them? For this you will require suitable criteria by which you can evaluate results.

In the absence of any type of objectives a task will have limited direction.

The project management objectives could be technical, performance related, quality, budgetary or associated with other appropriate aspects of the project.

Basis for specifying objectives:

General

Each project has a fundamental aim; more commonly referred to as a goal. This will be agreed and obtained from the customer and various stakeholders. In order to accomplish this goal, the project will be divided into a work breakdown structure (wbs) and then a schedule with timings. In this, smaller goals will be pinpointed, that is, the objectives. By achieving every one you will move forward in the project.

Determined objectives ought to be unambiguous. Their interpretation ought to be crystal clear and accurate, in order that the project team all know what they are trying to achieve.

Objectives must include, at the very least, a verb (the activity) and a noun (on which you perform the activity). A simple example may be, 'paint the car black'. Note that, while 'car, black' might be perfectly unambiguous to you, it may not be to other people. Hence, it is important to be precise.

This might suggest 'buy a black car' or a further odd interpretation. This type of poor interpretation can result in project hold-ups, additional costs and even the loss of morale as tasks are done unnecessarily. Extra explanation of objectives may incorporate timings.

Give direction

One very good rationale for having objectives is that they offer excellent direction to a project. This in turn strengthens motivation which is an aspect of effective leadership.

The greater part of individuals choose to get on with tasks with minimal intrusion. It is impossible this will take place with no lucid and well recognized objectives.

This is found very succinctly in a passage from Alice in Wonderland (by Lewis Carroll):

Alice: "Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?" Cat: "That depends a good deal on where you want to get to." Alice: "I don't know where." Cat: "Then it doesn't matter which way you go."

Emphasize the results

Getting to an objective usually requires the execution of a collection of activities. Realizing whether you have finished the project management objectives is dependent upon setting good qualifying criteria, which should only originate from well determined objectives to begin with.


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