Writing Goals and Objectives

Writing Goals and Objectives

Review the article “Developing a Mission, Vision, Goals, and Objectives for the Project. “You are a nurse leader in a large hospital. Due to cutbacks you have been instructed by management to reduce the size of your staff.” Use the QSEN competencies Patient-centered Care; Teamwork and Collaboration; and Quality Improvement to frame the problem statement. Write a minimum 350-word problem statement in your own words. Develop goals and objectives that will satisfy the problem statement.

efore a project team does any work, it should spend time ensuring that it has a shared understanding of where it is going. The terms used to define that destination are mission, vision, goals, and objectives. And it is at this very early stage that projects tend to fail, because everyone takes for granted that “we all know what the mission is.” Defining the Problem Every project solves a problem of some kind, but people are inclined to skip over the definition of the problem. This is a big mistake. The way you define a problem determines how you will solve it, so it is critical that a proper definition be developed. For example, too often a problem is defined in terms of a solution. A person may say, “I have a problem. My car has quit, and I have no way to get to work. How am I going to get my car repaired, because I have no money to do it?” The problem has essentially been defined as “How do I repair 44 Developing a Mission, Vision, Goals, and Objectives for the Project CHAPTER 4 CHAPTER 4 B 16093-FundProjectMgmt3rdEd 8/16/06 2:40 PM Page 44 my car?” The actual problem, however, at its most fundamental level, is that the person has no way to get to work—or so he says. But could he ride the bus, go with a coworker, or ride a bike until he has the money to have the car repaired? It is true that having no money to repair the car is a problem, but it is important to distinguish between the basic or core problem and those at another level. I once heard a sales manager berate a salesman, saying, “The company has spent a lot of money developing this new product, and none of you are selling it. If you don’t get out there and sell this product, I’m going to find myself some salespeople who can sell!” It is clear how he has defined the problem—he has a group of salespeople who can’t sell. However, given that none of them can sell the product, I am sure he is wrong. There is something wrong with the product or market, or the competition is killing them. You are very unlikely to have all bad salespeople! Nevertheless, this manager has defined the problem in terms of people, and that is the way it must be solved. Imagine that he replaces all of the salespeople. He will still have the same problem, because he has not addressed the actual cause. People sometimes define a problem as a goal. A goal in itself is not a problem. It is when there are obstacles that make it difficult to reach the goal that one has a problem. Given this definition of a problem, we can say that problem solving involves finding ways to deal with obstacles: They must be overcome, bypassed, or removed. Confusion of Terms Suppose a person tells you that she is taking a new job in a distant city, and she plans to move there. She immediately realizes that Developing a Mission, Vision, Goals, and Objectives 45 A problem is a gap between where you are and where you want to be, with obstacles existing that prevent easy movement to close the gap. 16093-FundProjectMgmt3rdEd 8/16/06 2:40 PM Page 45 she must find a place to live. So she says, “I have a problem. I have to find a place to live.” You ask her what her mission is. “To find a place to live,” she says. And how about her vision? “To have a place to live,” she answers, a little confused. No wonder she is confused. All three statements sound alike! She needs to understand the difference between them if she is to solve this problem. Remember, a problem is a gap. Suppose we were to ask her to tell us where she wants to be when her problem is solved. She would say, “I would have a place to live in the new city.” “And where are you now?” you ask. “I have no place to live,” she says. Then the gap is between having a place and not having one. This can be stated simply as “I have no place to live.” And, indeed, this is the problem she is trying to solve. But—would just any place be okay? Of course not. She doesn’t want to live under a bridge, although homeless people sometimes do. So if you ask her, “What kind of place are you looking for?” she can tell you. “It needs to have three bedrooms, the house must be of a certain size, and I prefer a certain style,” she says. This is her vision for the kind of place she wants to live in. That vision literally paints a picture in her mind, and, when she finds a place that comes close to that picture, she will have “arrived” at her destination. This is the function of vision—it defines “done.” Her mission, then, is to find a place that conforms to her vision. Another way to say this is that the mission of a project is always to achieve the vision. In doing so, it solves the stated problem. So you may want to diagram it as shown in Figure 4-1. Note that the vision has been spelled out as a list of things she must have, along with some that she wants to have and a few that would be nice to have if she could get them. 46 Fundamentals of Project Management 16093-FundProjectMgmt3rdEd 8/16/06 2:40 PM Page 46 The Real World Okay, now we know the difference between the mission, vision, and problem, but in the “real world” you never get them in this order. Your boss or project sponsor will say, “Here is your mission,” without any mention of a problem statement. It is possible that some discussion of the sponsor’s vision of the end result will take place, but even that may be fairly sketchy. So the first order of business for a project team is to develop these into a form that everyone will accept. The major “political” problem you may encounter is that the sponsor will undoubtedly have given you a mission based on his definition of the problem to be solved. Sometimes his definition will be incorrect, and you will have to confront this. Otherwise, you will spend a lot of the organization’s money, Developing a Mission, Vision, Goals, and Objectives 47 Problem: Mission: I have no place to live. MUSTS WANTS NICE 3 bedrooms 2,500 sq. ft. 2-cargarage 1-acre lot large family room roomfor homeoffice basement fireplace in family room To find a place that meets all musts and as many of the others as possible. Figure 4-1. Chevron showing mission, vision, and problem statement. 16093-FundProjectMgmt3rdEd 8/16/06 2:40 PM Page 47 only to find that you have developed the right solution to the wrong problem. The Real Mission of Every Project I said earlier that the mission is always to achieve the vision. However, I should add that the vision you are trying to achieve is the one the customer holds. Another way to say this is that you are trying to satisfy the customer’s needs. That is the primary objective. Your motive may be to make a profit in the process, but the mission is always to meet the needs of the customer. That means, of course, that you must know what those needs are, and sometimes this isn’t easy, because even the customer isn’t clear about them. So you have to translate or interpret as best you can. Your best safeguard is to keep the customer involved in the project from concept to completion so that there is a constant check on whether what you are doing will achieve the desired result. The mission of the project can be written by answering two questions: 1. What are we going to do? 2. For whom are we going to do it? In the previous edition of this book, I suggested that you also state how you will go about meeting those customer needs, but I have since decided that this should not be part of the mission statement itself. The mission statement defines “what” you are doing; “how” you are going to do it is project strategy and should be dealt with separately. Some Examples When AMACOM called me to update this book, it defined the problem this way: the second edition was considered a bit dated, and it did not contain much information on Project Management Institute and the Project Management Body of Knowledge 48 Fundamentals of Project Management 16093-FundProjectMgmt3rdEd 8/16/06 2:40 PM Page 48 (PMBOK®) (which was presented in chapter 1 of this edition). I also felt, on the basis of the experience I have had since the first edition was released, that some sections of the book could be clarified for the reader. Problem Statement If I were to write a problem statement for this project, then, it would say: The second edition of Fundamentals of Project Management lacks information on the PMBOK and needs to be updated. Vision The vision for the book remains about the same as for the first edition. The original series was designed to provide readers with a quick, easy read on the subject covered. The books are kept to under 200 pages and are written in down-to-earth language. All are published in paperback. I also add to this my own component of the vision: I like my books to be well illustrated, to enhance the reader’s understanding of the material. Mission Statement The mission for this project is to develop a new edition of the book that includes expanded PMBOK material and that adds some new material. The target audience (who it is for) is senior managers and other readers who need a quick overview of project management without going into a great deal of depth. That’s it—this is an example of developing the problem, vision, and mission for this book project. Boeing’s 777 Airplane I said above that we are always trying to meet customer requirements, so we should listen to them. This can be harder to do than it seems. In his book 21st Century Jet, which chronicles development of Boeing’s 777 airplane, Karl Sabbagh (1996) explains that Boeing’s customers started asking for a plane smaller than the 747. Developing a Mission, Vision, Goals, and Objectives 49 16093-FundProjectMgmt3rdEd 8/16/06 2:40 PM Page 49 Boeing had just finished developing the 767, so they suggested that customers buy it. “It’s too small,” said the airlines. Other customers asked for a plane a little larger than the 767. Boeing suggested the 747. “It’s too big,” said the airlines. It took Boeing nearly two years to realize that the airlines wanted a plane intermediate in size between the 747 and the 767. When they finally got the message, they developed the 777, which is the subject of Sabbagh’s book. A problem statement for this project might have said: We have no plane intermediate in size between the 747 and the 767 that can carry passengers over a transpacific route. (Please note that this is my statement. Boeing did not provide it to me, and I don’t know if it would fully agree with it.) Developing Project Objectives Once a mission statement has been developed, you can write your project objectives. Note that objectives are much more specific than the mission statement itself and define results that must be achieved in order for the overall mission to be accomplished. Also, an objective defines the desired end result. I may want to finish this chapter by 10 o’clock this morning. That is my desired outcome or result—my objective. The way in which I achieve that objective is to perform a number of tasks. These might include typing text into my computer, reviewing some other literature on the topic about which I am writing, calling a colleague to ask a question for clarification, and printing out the chapter, proofing it, and entering some revisions into my computer. 50 Fundamentals of Project Management Goal setting has traditionally been based on past performance. This practice has tended to perpetuate the sins of the past. —J. M. Juran 16093-FundProjectMgmt3rdEd 8/16/06 2:40 PM Page 50 The following acronym may help you remember the essential qualities that a statement of objectives must have. We say that an objective must be SMART, each letter standing for a condition as follows: Specific Measurable Attainable Realistic Time-limited Dr. W. Edwards Deming has raised some serious questions about the advisability of trying to quantify goals and objectives. He argued, in Out of the Crisis (1986), that there is no point in setting quotas for a manufacturing process to reach. If the system is stable, he argued, then there is no need to specify a goal, since you will get whatever the system can produce. A goal beyond the capability of the system can’t be achieved. On the other hand, if the system is not stable (in the statistical sense of the word), then again there is no need to specify a quota, since there is no way to know what the capability of the system is (Deming, p. 76). In project work, we may know the capability of a person by looking at his or her past performance, but unless you have a large number of samples, you have no way of knowing exactly what the person can do, since there is always variability in people’s performance. Furthermore, it does no good to base a quota on what someone else has done. The quota must be valid for the person who is going to do the job this time. Developing a Mission, Vision, Goals, and Objectives 51 An objective specifies a desired end result to be achieved. A task is an activity performed to achieve that result. An objective is usually a noun, whereas a task is a verb. 16093-FundProjectMgmt3rdEd 8/16/06 2:40 PM Page 51 We all know that some people are capable of more output than others. So defining the measurement and attainability aspects of goal or objective setting is very difficult. I go into this more in chapter 5 when I discuss time estimating. I have found the following two questions to be useful both in setting objectives and in monitoring progress toward those objectives: ÷ What is our desired outcome? This is called the outcome frame and helps keep you focused on the result you are trying to achieve, rather than on the effort being expended to get there. ÷ How will we know when we achieve it? I call this the evidence question. This question is very useful for establishing exit criteria for objectives that cannot be quantified. Some Examples of Objectives ÷ Our objective is to develop a one-minute commercial to solicit contributions to WXYZ to air on local TV stations by June 5, 2002. ÷ Our objective is to raise $600,000 in funds from local viewers by September 18, 2002. The Nature of Objectives Note that these examples of objectives do not say how they will be achieved. I consider an objective to be a statement that tells me what result is to be achieved. The how is problem solving, and I prefer to keep that open so that solutions can be brain-stormed later. If the approach is written into the objective statement, it may lock a team into a method that is not really best for the project. Assessing Project Risks Once you have established your objectives, you can develop plans for how to achieve them. Unfortunately, the best plans sometimes don’t work. One safeguard in managing projects is to 52 Fundamentals of Project Management 16093-FundProjectMgmt3rdEd 8/16/06 2:40 PM Page 52 think about the risks ahead that could sink the job. This can be done for critical objectives and for other parts of the plan. The simplest way to conduct a risk analysis is to ask, “What could go wrong?” or “What could keep us from achieving our objective?” It is usually best to list the risks first, then think about contingencies for dealing with them. One way to look at risk is to divide a flip chart page in half, have the group brainstorm the risks, which you write down on the left side of the page, and then go back and list the contingencies— things you can do to manage the risks if they do materialize. An example of a risk analysis for a photography project is shown in Figure 4-2. One benefit of doing a risk analysis in this manner is that it may help you avert some risks. When you cannot avert a risk, you will at least have a backup plan. Unexpected risks can throw a project into a tailspin. I mentioned this point previously, but it bears repeating: you are not trying to identify every possible risk, just some of the more likely ones. This point should be made to team members who are highly analytical or who perhaps have a tendency to be negative in general. Also, risk Developing a Mission, Vision, Goals, and Objectives 53 It is helpful to assess risks of failure of the following: ÷ The schedule ÷ The budget ÷ Project quality ÷ Customer satisfaction What could go wrong? Contingency 1. Exposure wrong 2. Shots unacceptable 3. Film lost or damaged 4. Weather delays Bracket the exposure Take extra photos Hand carry to client Allow extra time Figure 4-2. Risk analysis example. Risk analysis should not lead to analysis paralysis! 16093-FundProjectMgmt3rdEd 8/16/06 2:40 PM Page 53 analysis always has a positive thrust—that is, you are asking, “If it happens, what will we do about it?” You don’t want people to play “Ain’t it awful!” Key Points to Remember ÷ The way a problem is defined determines how you will solve it. ÷ A problem is a gap between where you are and where you want to be, with obstacles making it hard to reach the goal. A goal by itself is not a problem. Obstacles must exist for there to be a problem. ÷ Vision is what the final result will “look like.” It defines “done.” ÷ The mission is to achieve the vision. It answers the two questions “What are we going to do?” and “For whom are we going to do it?” ÷ Objectives should be SMART. ÷ You can identify risks by asking, “What could go wrong?” Planning Exercise . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Choose a project that you are going to do or perhaps have just started. Answer the questions that follow to the best of your ability. If you need to confer with others to answer some of them, fine. Remember, the people who have to follow the plan should participate in preparing it. ÷ What are you trying to achieve with the project? What need does it satisfy for your customer? Who exactly is going to actually use the project deliverable(s) when it is finished? (That is, who is your real customer?) What will distinguish your deliverable from those already available to the customer? 54 Fundamentals of Project Management 16093-FundProjectMgmt3rdEd 8/16/06 2:40 PM Page 54 ÷ Write a problem statement on the basis of your answers to the first question. What is the gap between where you are now and where you want to be? What obstacles prevent easy movement to close the gap? ÷ Write a mission statement, answering the two basic questions: What are we going to do? For whom are we going to do it? ÷ Talk to your customer about these issues. Do not present your written statements to her. Instead, see whether you can get confirmation by asking open-ended questions. If you can’t, you may have to revise what you have written. Developing a Mission, Vision, Goals, and Objectives 55 16093-FundProjectMgmt3rdEd 8/16/06 2:40 PM Page 55

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