COEPD – Center of Excellence for Professional Development Happy Learning
Project goal defines what we are going to be achieved over the project period and it should be directly related to problem statement.
There are some following ways to set the project goal
Understand the current state– the project goal starts with the recognizing the current situation of the project problem and try to get the answers for the questions like Why the project is initiated. What are the problem may get solved.
Define the future state of situation– Defining the clear the future state and envisioned “what ought to be” will help to create a viable action plan to reach the goal.
Asses the gap -Once the AS-IS have been determined, the difference between them needs to be clearly identified. It is important to understand not only but also the size of gap, and understand the reason behind why the gap is huge.
Verify the organizational change– once the gap is assessed next step is to verify the changes made or new features that are likely to be added to the current system for reaching the desired state.
Break the identified goals into small parts– project goals are vague in nature and difficult to achieve so it is important to break them into smaller steps which can be easily tracked and understood by every team member.
Put the project goal into SMART criteria– create the goals which are SMART in nature.
Specific- get the clear picture of what will be done and who will be done it
Measurable- goal should be measurable so that we can keep track on the progress whether we are making progress or not.
Achievable- we should make sure that we have the time, manpower, resources to accomplish desired goal.
Relevant-align the goal with the broader business goal so the set goals are within the reach to team member.
Time-bound-Set the deadline of identified goal so that project would be delivered at stipulated time
Setting the SMART goals keeps the project moving forward and lets you know that you are accomplishing what you have set out.
Develop and implement the plan– put the activities in the order they need to be done and who will be involved in the implementation of the plan. Then decide who will be responsible for what phases of the action plan and prepare proper documentation for each activities then set a deadline for each step to track the deadline and worked accordingly.
Conduct evaluation of the goal periodically-review the goal on time to time would help to identify the obstacles face by the team member and determine the progress made so far.
Project goal monitoring
Project goal monitoring are done to track the project progress whether the project met the set targets, the running the schedule, within the planned cost. The main purpose is to ensure achievement of the project plan through control. Project manager are having responsibility for delivering projects on Schedule time .Schedule control is considered as one of their biggest challenges, because schedule problems often cause more conflict than other issues.
During project initiations stage, priorities and procedures which is most important are set accordingly, but as the project went to each stages, especially during the middle and latter stages of the project, schedule issues become the most dominant source of conflicts among team members
Benefits of monitoring
It gives awareness of the parallel activities progress and the problems related with them.
Provide the more realistic planning for the requirements of all groups and individuals working on the project.
Understand the relationships of each individual tasks to one another and to the overall project.
Get early warning signals of potential problems and delays in the project.
Helps in minimizing the confusion associated with change by reducing delays in communicating the change.
Provide faster management action in response to unacceptable or inappropriate work.
Higher visibility to top management, including attention directed to the immediate need of project.
There are some methods and tool for monitoring the project goals
Project reporting, project performance appraisal, issue logs
Project status report
Progress report
Project schedule report
Graphical reports
Gantt chart
