What are the characteristics of effective project goals?
by Jeff Crow
The project goal statement should be the driving force behind the project. It should be the touchstone against which everything done on the project is measured. A good project goal statement is SMART:
Specific and Succinct
Measurable
Agreed-upon
Realistic
Time-framed
Specific and Succinct: Any goal should describe precisely what the project is to achieve. It should also be short and easy to state. The best goals use verbs and nouns to convey that action is to be taken to develop the deliverables described. For example: "research, design, develop, and build X," or, "procure, install, integrate, and deploy X."
Measurable: If there is no way to measure the achievement of the goal, how will you know when you're done? Many times, the words that are used to make the goal specific are also the key measures for the project. For example, one of my favorite goals is, "I believe this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before the decade is out, of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to the earth." The specifics of this goal area: Man, moon, earth, alive (safely), end of the decade. These are also the measures by which the entire project was evaluated.
Agreed-upon: Particularly on in-house projects (those being conducted by employees who are not actually project managers), agreement on the project goal is critical. Specifically, the people who must supply the resources (people) who will work on the project must agree that the project is desirable and that the involvement of their employees is necessary for success. Not everyone in the organization needs to agree with the project but those who can significantly impact it must.
Realistic: A project needs to be both possible and appropriate. On the possible side, the skills, knowledge and abilities to actually complete the project successfully should be readily available to the project team. On the appropriate side, the project itself should be something that makes sense for the organization to undertake.
Time-framed: The deadline for delivery is usually one of the first things you'll find out about a project. Including this promised delivery date in the goal statement ensures that the team is constantly reminded of it and that the organization has an idea of when the project output will be delivered. Remember Parkinson's Law: "Work expands to utilize all available time."
Most effective project goals are between 25 and 50 words. They can be written on one side of a 3" x 5" card. They can be quoted at the drop of a hat.
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