How to Set Goals and Achieve Them

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How to Set Goals and Achieve Them

As a Project Manager, you have too much work to do and not enough time to do it in. With so much going on, you need to be really focused if you want to achieve success. The best way to get focused is to set 3 Project Goals and then work hard to achieve them. Here's how to do it...

Step 1: Identify what's important

In projects, everything is priority . So you need to take time to sit down with your Project Sponsor and identify what it is that is really important to achieve. Ask them this question: "If there were 3 critical things that the project had to deliver, then what would they be?"

The 3 things might be "delivering on time, under budget and to specification". Or it might be producing 3 key deliverables. Or they might be 3 major business benefits.

Step 2: Set them as goals

Then take these 3 important "things" and turn them into project goals. Remember to make your goals SMART - Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic and Timely.

So why only have 3 goals? It's simple. With everything that goes on in your project, you will only ever remember 3 things long term. That's also why you need to keep them short and simple. If you set 5 or more goals, then you'll probably forget them within a week, making them harder to achieve.

Step 3: Communicate them

Print out your new goals and put them on your wall behind by your desk. Then take your team out for lunch and tell them what the 3 goals are and why they are important to achieve.

Then tell your other stakeholders about them, including any contractors, suppliers and business representatives that may be involved with the project. Make sure everyone in the project knows what has to be done and by when. Then you're all "on the same page" and working towards the same goal posts.

Step 4: Set an Action Plan

Having the goals in front of you every day will help, but you need to get serious and create an action plan to achieve them. Revisit your Project Plan and identify all of the tasks that will specifically help you achieve your 3 goals. These tasks are now the "high priority" tasks for the project and together, they form your "Action Plan".

Assign your best resource to these high priority tasks and make sure they have everything they need to achieve them.

Step 5: Keep an Eye on Progress

As a Project Manager, you can't watch everything. So just focus on the high priority tasks in your plan. Track their progress daily. Resolve any issues that arise with them, as quickly as possible. Personally oversee them if you need to. If they slip, then take quick action to bring them back on track. Do everything in your power, to make sure that these high priority tasks are completed on time, so that you can achieve your 3 goals and lead your project to success.

- Uday Mahajan

When Your Project "Goes Wrong"

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When Your Project "Goes Wrong"

It was all going swimmingly well and then suddenly out of the blue you've found yourself behind time, over budget with no clear end in site. To get back on track, you need to take these 8 steps...

1. 
   
   
   
   
   Stocktake: The first thing you need to do is to work out how far off-track you are. Exactly how many days are you behind schedule and what is that, as a % of the project timeline? Also, how much over budget are you and what is that as a % of the overall budget?
2. 
   
   
   
   
   Re-plan: Then review your Project Plan to see if you can make the time back, by changing your task allocations. First, see if you can reassign people to tasks in a smarter way that saves time. Then check out your task dependencies and see if there is a more logical sequence that completes the overall deadline earlier. Make sure you identify the critical path through the plan so that you know which tasks must be completed and which are a nice to have. Then assign your best people to the critical tasks and try and get those done earlier. Any time you can save through re-planning is precious.
3. 
   
   
   
   
   BrainStorm: Sit down with your team and go through your revised plan and see if they can come up with new ideas for delivering the project earlier or save on budget. You might be surprised with what they come up with.
4. 
   
   
   
   
   De-scope: The easiest way to get back on track by far is to de-scope your project. This means delivering less than you originally intended. List your project deliverables, prioritize them against the project objectives and see if there are any deliverables that you can ask your Project Sponsor to remove from the scope of the project, to help you get back on track. It doesn't mean that these deliverables will never be produced. It's just that they can be done as a separate activity once the project is complete.
5. 
   
   
   
   
   Get Support: If your Sponsor won't change the project scope, then ask them for a deadline extension or for more budget so you can assign more resources to finish it on time. Get their buy-in and support by telling them why you're late. Be honest and upfront. Show them that you're willing to do whatever it takes to deliver on time, but you need their support to do it. With their support, anything is possible.
6. 
   
   
   
   
   Control Change: You then need to tightly control change so that new features or deliverables aren't added without your approval. Change is common on most projects, so you need to control it to have the best chance of success.
7. 
   
   
   
   
   Rally: Then meet with your team and explain why the project is late and how important it is to the business. Get their buy-in to working harder and longer hours to deliver the project on time. Remember that you need everyones understanding, buy-in and hard to work to deliver your project on schedule and under budget.
8. 
   
   
   
   
   Communicate: Keep everyone regularly informed of progress . This will keep them focused and motivated to achieve the targets set.

 Uday Mahajan.