Monday 24 January 2022

Secrets of project objectives

Introduction


in project management training and workshops, there is always an answer that comes out when saying ,"let's set the purpose of this project". Most cases, such a purpose is not a very appropriate purpose. the purpose of part 1 is to help you understand why these examples are not appropriate.

in addition, the "purpose" of the second lecture, "secrets of the purpose and goal of the project" (3 times in total), is how to think and set "project objectives and goals" to set an appropriate purpose.




What is the purpose?



i think that there are a few people who think how it differs if the word purpose and the target are used separately, but for the time being, this problem is put on the side, and the purpose is thought.

the purpose is, in a word, the significance of the project's existence. the purpose of the question is, "why do you do the project?"

if you define it this way, you may be wondering why (example 1) is inappropriate. certainly, there is no doubt that "creating a ○○ system that meets the needs of customers" is one of the raison d'etres of the project.

then, if you were the president of this it company, you may feel something strange when the project manager says, "this project is implemented with the aim of creating a ○○ system that meets the needs of customers".




of course, as president, it is very important to provide a system that satisfies customers. however, if the company is not able to make a profit no matter how satisfied it is, the company may be stuck in management, and it may not be able to support or expand the operation of the developed system, and conversely, it may cause trouble to customers. it is the responsibility of the president to manage the company soundly. it is also necessary to properly explain to shareholders why the company's funds and human resources will be put into the project. i'm also curious if this system will be useful for the world.


and, it is likely to think variously.


The purpose of the project is not only for the purpose of the team



as you can see from now on, in the case of "project purpose", the significance for the project "team" is not enough. in project management, project managers often think about project involvement in and out of the project team, so the purpose is to think of it as the purpose of the team. however, the purpose of "engaging" in the project is with all stakeholders. that's why we're interested parties. those who have no purpose in the project are not the stakeholders.

first of all, it is necessary to understand this point. the problem here is that the objectives of stakeholders, including project managers and members, are often different. once again, i want you to see the first example. (example 1) is the purpose of the project team. the purpose of this is a manager who is the top manager of the project and has a budget for sales. the two objectives are conflicting in the sense that "increasing the number of functions provided increases costs and reduces revenue."

to set the purpose of a project is to find the significance of the project's existence to overcome this conflict. therefore, it is extremely important for the entire company to work together to advance the project.



How to eliminate conflicts




here, there are two typical methods for resolving conflicts. it is a method of cutting out the common part and the method of making it to the high-level purpose. i will describe the specific method in part 3, so this time i would like you to grasp only the image.


first of all, the first is the cut out of the common part. in the example above, what happens when the common part is cut out? among the few possible objectives, the simplest common part is to increase sales. we will propose the realization of required functions for customers more and more. the purpose is to become a code of conduct to secure that amount as additional sales.


then the top objective. what does it mean to find a higher purpose? for example, in this example, the goal of "paving the way for long-term dealings with customers" seems to be more appropriate.


then, which is better is the following problem. the part which is not clarified as a purpose will be done by each judgment though cutting out a common part has the advantage that the purpose becomes concrete, and it becomes easy to understand. that part needs to be managed well by the upper organization.


for example, in response to the needs of customers who want to leave the completion time as they are because they will put out an additional budget, the implementation often does not work well in a way that "throws a round" on the project, just because they have taken the budget. as constraints are becoming more severe, it is essential for management support to review the system and other management support. after all, in order to achieve the purpose of the upper organization, the top managers themselves have no choice but to adjust more and more.


on the other hand, setting a higher purpose is ideally a desirable method. however, the purpose itself becomes abstract, and it becomes a problem whether the project site can understand the purpose appropriately and put it into action. not to mention whether the project manager can make the purpose a valid plan, but in this case the plan will be darker in the tone of the hypothesis, so the same understanding and planning of action are essential for members. this is quite a hurdle.




after all, there is a short strip in the obi and a long one, but if you think about it in general, in any way of thinking, support of project sponsors for setting and interpreting the purpose ・ understanding and behavior of project managers and members without two objectives, it is not possible to set a purpose and make effective use of it in the project. if you think so, it can be said that it is only going up from a different route to the mountain.

in that sense, what is important is the idea when setting the upper purpose. this will be described in part 2 and 3, and another goal will be explained here.




What are the goals?



usually, the words purpose and goal are used interchangeably casually, but the purpose and goal are different. as mentioned so far, the purpose is the significance of the project,on the other hand, the goal is a guide that can be said that the purpose was realized, and it is desirable to express it with quantitative indicators.


for example, for the purpose,


purpose: to pave the way for long-term dealings with customers



if i set up , what kind of goals should i set? since this purpose is a high-level purpose and, as mentioned above, it is necessary to set hypotheses for "how to realize long-term transactions with customers" when setting goals.


one example is that some companies have set the hypothesis that "if you use up all the implemented functions, the next transaction will be created", create a functional model to quantify needs, set a target score for needs on the model, and target it.


as a result, some projects have realized customer requirements at 70% of the original budget and offered to carry over budgets that are not scoped. this was quite a problem both in the company and the client company, but in the end, with a 20% carry-forward budget, the company cleared the initial profit amount, and the 20% budget was received by voluntary contract for the next phase carried over to the next phase (the figures are rounded).



in this way, it is necessary to recognize that the results of the project themselves may change considerably depending on the quality of the hypothesis when setting goals based on the purpose.




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