If you’ve been in management for a while you’ve no doubt come across SMART Objectives. SMART is a fairly ubiquitous acronym within the context of appraisals and people management. However SMART Goals can equally be applied to projects.
PRINCE2 is a comprehensive process based method for managing projects. Learn more in our About PRINCE2 section, or by attending one of our PRINCE2 Training courses, including PRINCE2 Foundation Training and PRINCE Pracititoner Training.
How SMART Goals can be used in Project Management
After the project planning stage, you can start to set your project goals.
Examples of project goals include holding a project meeting every week with key team members, or running continuous testing during the whole project.
So what do SMART Goals mean within the context of a project. Once you’ve set your SMART Goals, make sure that the following apply:
Specific
- Make sure the Goal is well defined
- All Goals should be specific enough to be clear to any person who has a basic knowledge of the project
Measurable
- You should know that the goal is obtainable and be able to assess how far it is from completion.
- You should be able to measure when your Goal has been achieved.
Agreed
- All project stakeholders must agree all goals
Realistic
- You must have the resources, knowledge and time within your project team to attain every Goal you set.
Time Based
- As above, there must be enough time to complete each Goal with the resources you have available.
- However – don’t allow too much time and set deadlines that are too lenient, as this can affect project performance
Alternative uses of SMART in Project Management
If your goals are going to be SMART, traditionally that usually means they must be specific, measurable, agreed, realistic and time-based. However, in Project Management SMART can be adapted – you might want to consider the following alternatives for each part of the acronym:
S – stretching, specific, significant,
M – measurable, motivational, meaningful,
A – agreed, achievable, acceptable, action-oriented
R – relevant, realistic, rewarding, reasonable, results-based
T – time-based, track-able, tangible
Similar posts you may like:
- Getting the Most from Managing Your Team
- Writing a Great Scope Statement
- The Philosophy of Project Management
- The differences between – PRINCE2 & APMP
- Top Tips For Managing A Project Team
Tags
Alternative uses of SMART in Project Management, How SMART Goals can be used in Project Management, PRINCE Pracititoner Training, PRINCE2 Foundation Training, prince2 training, PRINCE2 Training Brighton, PRINCE2 Training Sussex, Project Management Tips, Project Management Tips: Setting SMART Goals, Setting SMART Goals