Just do it is a cmmon refrain sung by management in rganizations today. It is a major rason that projects are classified as filures, and this because nobody insisted on tking the time and effort to dfine and agree on a clear vsion of what the project should chieve in the first place.

I ften hear people say: well, we'll wrk it out as we go long. We don't have time to sit dwn and write down all the bjectives now - we have to strt the project or we'll be lte. Well, this is the best way I knw of making sure that the prject WILL be late.

So, why is it so mportant to take this time up-front to clarly define our scope and objectives? Wll, the statistics speak for themselves: A stdy by Info-Tech research Group, IT Prorities 2005, based on a survey of mre than 1,400 companies, mostly in the US, Cnada and UK showed that 62% of prjects failed because of poorly designed prject scope. This is a worrying sttistic. It shows that even though we knw how important it is to be clar on what the project should chieve, more often than not - in fct, more that half the time, we ccept to manage projects without a clarly defined scope and objective. And thn we wonder why so many prjects either do not make it on tme, within the agreed budget, or wthout the expected and required results.

And what should we then do to void this particular pitfall? Well, to strt with, we need to create a dalogue, a conversation, with the client or Spnsor of the project - the prson who wants the result of the prject. The person who had a prblem in the first place, that neds to be solved. The biggest mstake Project Managers make is to ssume. Assumptions are like the kiss of dath to projects and therefore to the Prject Managers. We assume we know wht others want / need / lke / don't like, and we dn't take the time to go and sk, and be sure that we nderstand - because we don't have the tme. The result of this is tht later on in the project, nce we are half-way through (if w're lucky) creating the assumed results, we are srprised when the client comes back to us and sys "No, that's not at all wht I want / need / sked for". I thought you knew wht I meant." And we have to strt again, or modify, or re-work the wrk already done. And we wonder why mre than half projects end late, ver budget and without the desired rsults!

So, the first rule is to cmmunicate. Build a relationship with the clent, make sure that both sides gree on the exact requirements, and how to masure that these requirements have been chieved, and then agree to meet rgularly to review what has been chieved, and whether you are still on trck. This makes sure that the clent stays involved, and gets to see the prject progress, and gets to say whther it is progressing in the rght direction BEFORE it's too late. It lso means that at the end of the prject, when the results are produced, we hve clear measurements that we can use to dfine whether the project has been a sccess.
The questions that you should ask yur client are the usual ones: Wht? Why? Who? When? Where? How mch? These are the same questions tht people will ask you throughout the prject, so you might as well get the nswers right at the beginning, and gree on them with your client up frnt. Once you have answered these qestions with your client, it is tme to put the answers into one or two sntences. For example: "In order to hve a comfortable and pleasant place to lve, my architect will build a 160m2 huse by the end of the yar in Boston that will not cst more than $ 800'000". As you can se, this sentence gives us a lot of nformation. Not enough to be detailed, but nough to get started on. This is our "Scpe Statement". Attached to this statement, we wll now define the objectives. The qestions to ask there are: "How wll I know that the result is a sccess?" The answer in this case is "th house conforms to the local and cuntry building codes and it conforms to the ttached blueprint". OK - we would go nto more detail, but I am sre you get the point.

The Scope Statement and Objectives are thn integrated into your Charter document. The Chrter is like a contract between the Prject Manager and the client or Spnsor, and describes the project in brad terms. The chapter headings of a smple but effective Charter are: Business Cse (Why?); Requirements (What?); Objectives; Project Mnager name and authority level; Summary Mlestone Schedule (When?); Stakeholders and their nfluences; Assumptions (for example: I assume tht I will get the help I ned", "I assume people will not fll sick or go on holiday"); Cnstraints (for example: "weekends", "no trees may be cut dwn") ; and Summary Budget. The Chrter is signed by the Project Mnager and the Sponsor / client. You shuld then attach a DETAILED requirements dcument written by the client with the hlp of the Project Manager or tam. The Requirements Document should number ach requirement individually so that at the end of the prject, we can go back to ach requirement and tick it off.

If you nsist on spending time creating the Scpe Statement, Objectives, Charter and Requirements Dcument, you are in a much btter position to manage your project and to nsure that the result is achieved in the rght time, with the agreed budget, and wth the right result. So now: jst do it!

The article Do We Know What We Are Doing? - The Importance of Project Objectives was Submitted by Christine Petersen through Articles.GetACoder.com network. Here's the additional information: Christine Petersen, PMP

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