Define the Objectives of Your Project

Objectives are concrete statements that describe what your project is trying to achieve. They are included in your Project Charter. An objective should be written in a way that it can be evaluated at the conclusion of a project to see whether it was achieved. A well-worded objective will be Specific, Measurable, Attainable / Achievable, Realistic and Time-bound (SMART). (SMART is a technique for wording the objective. An objective does not absolutely have to be SMART to be valid.)

An example of an objective statement might be to "upgrade the customer service telephone system by December 31 to achieve average client wait times of no more than two minutes".

• Note that the objective is specific.

• The objective is measurable in terms of the average client wait times the new phone system is trying to achieve.

• You can assume that the objective is achievable and realistic.

• The objective is time-bound, and should be completed by December 31.

Objectives are completed through the creation of project deliverables. In the prior example, the objective refers to the upgrade of the telephone system. If you cannot determine the deliverables that are created to achieve the objective, the objective may be written at too high a level. On the other hand, if an objective describes the characteristics of the deliverables (such as speed or ability to handle a specific number of users), it is written at too low a level. Characteristics tend to be more requirements statements - not objectives. 

If the project is a part of a larger program, the objectives of all the underlying projects should be in alignment with the program objectives.

Objectives show an agreement between the project manager and the project sponsor on the main purpose of the project. For example, the specific deliverables of an IT project may or may not make sense to the project sponsor. However, the objectives should be written in a way that they are understandable by all of the project stakeholders.

Objectives are also valuable since they provide alignment to organization goals and strategies. Your organization should not authorize projects that do not tie to goals and strategies.

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