Projects need a guiding light. The project's goal statement is that light. A concise goal is the benchmark for project progress and ultimate project success. A usable project goal statement is guided by the characteristics of a SMART goal:

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: Strong goals are measurable goals. The ultimate measurement is the completion and delivery of the specified project output. Good goals also include incremental measures that are used to determine progress toward the over completion of the project. Watch out for ambiguous words or words that are subject to multiple interpretations. "User friendly" is one of the most common. What does that actually mean? The way most people explain it is to say something like, "So easy a child could do it." What child? How old? Is it something a child needs to be able to do? The ultimate problem, however, is that the project must be completed before you can determine whether a child can do it. Try to define the deliverable characteristics or features that would make the deliverable "user friendly."

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: This is not a synonym for "easy." Realistic, in this case, means "do-able." It means that the learning curve is not a vertical slope; that the skills needed to do the work are available; that the project fits with the overall strategy and goals of the organization. A realistic project may push the skills and knowledge of the people working on it but it shouldn't break them.

Time-framed: Any project can be estimated accurately - once it's completed. But, regardless of that, there will be a deadline for delivery. Making the deadline part of the project goal statement guarantees that the team knows the target date and that others in the organization know when the project output should be delivered.

As mentioned above, good project goals are short - usually less than 50 words. You should be able to tell someone your project goal in an elevator ride going less than three floors.

Article Source: http://www.thewahmshack.com/articledirectory/

About The Author:  For more of He Crow's tips on project management, check . He wrote and produces training programs on project and process management worldwide.

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