Project Management Guidelines: Start With The End In Mind

What is the first, and most important, of any project management guidelines? Always start with the end in mind. How do you do that? Ask the right questions to ensure the project is properly defined. Before you start work!

The project may be something you’ve been given to manage, with little say in its definition. Or it may be something you've generated yourself. Either way, spend time identifying expected outcomes before you do anything else. This is the key to successful project management, and to being a happy project manager.

Defining The Project: Aims, Objectives And Outcomes

There is a truism which should be reflected in any project management guidelines - that there is a tendency to action before the desired outcomes are clearly and explicitly stated.

This is the road to failure.

The UK’s Industrial Society suggests that one of the main reasons for project failure is inadequate detailed definition of the project.

This detail must include a statement of the project's

1. Aims - broad scope of the project



2. Objectives - specific elements to be addressed



3. Outcomes - what will happen if successful

Below are definitions of aims, objectives and outcomes with critical questions relating to each. Seek answers to all of these before starting work, if you want to get your project off to a flying start.






(The definitions above have been adapted from "Management Consulting" by Philip Wickham. There is a very good section in this book on developing project management skills).

Good Grief Charlie Brown.....

Charlie Brown, of Peanuts fame, was shooting arrows into the wall of a garage. After each shot, he took a marker pen and carefully drew a circle around the arrow so that the arrow was exactly in the centre.

Lucy watched with interest. Finally she interrupted, “that’s not the way it’s done. You’re supposed to draw the circle first and then see if you can shoot the arrow into the centre.” Charlie immediately responded, “No thanks. In my system I never miss!”

A failed project can be either a waste of precious resources, a threat to an organisation's image, or both. Of course we could expend even more time and effort justifying what went wrong. Or we could make up objectives to fit outcomes, then pretend that’s what was intended all along!

Too many projects are managed by Charlie Browns, firing first then drawing the target around the arrow. It is far better to do the drawing, a clear target and proper plans, before the project rather than after.

The UK government has a very useful project management on-line resource. For more tips and “how to” guidance, look at click here

Resources and Links

Don't forget to visit the Happy Manager bookshop for our recommended project management books.




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