C01 SMART
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The document discusses the SMART framework for setting objectives for feasible projects. SMART stands for objectives that are Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Timely. These five criteria provide basic rules for planning projects in a way that allows for realistic evaluation and effective collaboration. Each element of SMART is then defined in more detail.
C01 SMART
- 1. Tool C1SMART Five basic rules of planning a feasible project SMART stands for objectives to be • Specific • Measurable • Attainable • Relevant • Timely SMART originally is a tool used in a Management by Objectives framework within enterprises. Its intention lies in making sure that people only promise things they can keep. Projects are the pursuit of defined objectives in a defined time span with defined resources. Everything in projects depends on realistic planning of objectives and milestones which allows interpreting SMART as the five basic rules of planning a feasible project. Projects which are not well defined in these terms may easier be turned down in a priori evaluations, e.g. expert panels deciding on grants. In a wider context, SMART can constitute the five basic rules of ef- fective and efficient communication on co-operation, i.e. of plan- ning collaboration in a context marked by a division of labour, some- thing like the five commandments behind Tool A1 (To-do form). SPECIFIC means that the purposes and aims of a project should be well de- fined in their delimitation against what is and what is not to be achieved and done. Specific, as the opposite of general, means pre- cise. A project whose main target cannot be formulated in one brief sentence or question is not well conceived. MEASURABLE means that objectives and milestones on the way to achieving them should be measurable in terms of quantities, distances, frequencies. Only a project providing such data will be well defined in terms of • how to plan actions and procedures, • how to design a sequence of milestones and deliverables leading to the final product/s or result/s, and • how to monitor, measure, and record performance. Cf. Tool A1: To-do form 21.07.2008, 14:05:27
- 2. 2/2 If you cannot provide quantified achievement measures it is highly probable that the project’s objectives are not precise and still too unspecific. ATTAINABLE (sometimes also called <achievable>) means that in view of context conditions, available resources and time given project objectives should be realistic. Ambitious aims are welcome, but unrealistic planning will reduce your and your team’s motivation very soon. Therefore, project aims should be well founded and reasoned and possibly be based on analytical evidence. RELEVANT means that the achievements and problem solutions announced by the project need to be well explained and reasoned regarding their importance and value to defined stakeholders in the project con- text, i.e. at least, in the view of the perceived objectives of those who are expected to provide resources for carrying through the pro- ject, be it management, a programme, a government department or whoever. But also other relevant stakeholders’ views and interests should be observed having in mind that they are not necessarily con- gruent. Cf. Tool D2: The five satisfac- tions (stakeholder analysis) Obviously, also the team or consortium implementing the project is an important stakeholder. A project should consider the specific outcome expectations and input potentials concerning each consor- tium partner or team member. In terms of co-ordination or leader- ship for individual work packages as well as in terms of valorisation of the products and outcomes, the project structure should mirror these strengths and weaknesses. TIMELY means, by definition, that any project is marked by a beginning and an end. The same applies to any sub-process within a project. Any usable and performable objective must have a clear timeframe of when it should start and/or when it should end. Without having a timeframe specified, it is practically impossible to say if the objec- tive/s and milestones are met or not. Hence, scheduling a project in terms of time is the necessary correlate to fixing attainable meas- urements to specific aims.