• Define and create measurable project goals and deliverables.

• Define project scope and differentiate among tasks that are in-scope and out-of-scope.

• Explain how to manage scope creep to avoid impacting project goals.

• Define and measure a project’s success criteria.

Identify Project Goals

Defining Project Goals, Scope, and Success Criteria

• Project goals are the overall aims of your project. They should be clear, concise, and measurable.

• Project scope is the specific work that will be done to achieve the project goals.

• Success criteria are the set of criteria that will be used to measure the success of the project.

Question to Ask?

Project Goals

• 1. What do you want to achieve? This is the overall aim of your project. It should be clear, concise, and measurable.

  2. Why is this a goal? What is the purpose or benefit of achieving this goal?

  3. Who is involved? Who will be affected by this goal?

  4. Where should the goal be delivered? What are the specific requirements and constraints?

  5. To what degree? How will you know when the goal has been achieved?

Project Scope

• 6. What is included in the project? This is the specific work that will be done to achieve the project goals.

  7. What is not included in the project? This is the work that will not be done as part of the project.

  8. What are the boundaries of the project? This defines the limits of the project, both in terms of what will be done and what will not be done.

Success Criteria

• 9. How will you know if the project is successful? This is a set of criteria that will be used to measure the success of the project.

  10. What are the key deliverables? These are the specific outputs that will be produced by the project.

  11. What are the key milestones? These are the important events that will occur during the project.

  12. What are the key performance indicators (KPIs)? These are the metrics that will be used to track the progress of the project.

SMART Goals

1. Specific: They are clear and concise, and they leave no room for interpretation.

   • What do I want to accomplish?

   • Why is this a goal?

   • Who is involved?

   • Where should the goal be delivered?

   • To what degree?

2. Measurable: They can be quantified, so you can track your progress and know when you have achieved them.

   • How much?

   • How many?

   • Metrics? What you use to measure something.

   • Benchmarks? Points of reference.

3. Attainable: They are challenging but achievable, so you are motivated to work towards them.

   • Can it reasonably be reached?

4. Relevant: They are aligned with your overall project goals and objectives.

   • Does the goal make sense?

   • Is the goal worthwhile?

   • Is this the right time?

5. Time-bound: They have a specific deadline, so you know when you need to achieve them.

   • Has a deadline.

Example of SMART

Scenario

1. • Office Green, LLC, is a commercial landscaping company that specializes in plant decor for offices and other businesses. The company is getting ready to introduce its new Plant Pals service, which will provide high-volume customers with small, low-maintenance plants for their desks. You are the project manager assigned to manage the Plant Pals launch.

   • Office Green’s main goal for this project is: “Increase revenue by 5% by the end of the year by rolling out a new service that provides office plants to high-volume clients.”

   • You recently met with the project sponsor (the Director of Product) to discuss two additional goals for the Plant Pals project:

     1. Boost Office Green’s brand awareness.

     2. Raise Office Green’s customer retention rate.

Notes from your meeting with the Director of Product

1. • Office Green’s customer retention rate was 80% last year, but the CEO wants that number to increase by at least 10% this year.

   • Last year, 70% of customers who left Office Green for competitors said they did so because they wanted more extensive services. When surveyed, 85% of existing customers expressed an interest in Plant Pals.

   • The Vice President of Customer Success expects Office Green to achieve a customer satisfaction rating of over 90% this year—a slight increase over last year. The rating has stayed between 85%-90% for the last five years.

   • The company plans to create an Operations and Training plan for Plant Pals to improve on existing customer service standards and boost efficiency.

   • Office Green will promote the new service with a new marketing and sales strategy, a redesigned website with a new Plant Pals landing page, and a print catalog. 

   • With the publicity around the launch, Office Green projects that their customer base will grow by at least 15%.

   • Website traffic has dipped slightly over the past three years, from 15K to 13K visits each month. The Marketing Manager wants unique page visits to increase by at least 2K each month by the end of the year, which is in line with the results of prior marketing campaigns.

   • The project is scheduled to launch by the end of the third quarter. The project team will continue to collect data on the project’s progress through the rest of the year and assess how well it has met its goals at the end of the fourth quarter. (It is currently the start of Q1.)

SMART Goal One

1. • The original goal indicates that Office Green will boost its overall brand awareness through Plant Pals, but it doesn’t indicate how they will do it, whether it's possible, why it’s important, or when they will get it done. The SMART goal addresses all these questions, which increases Office Green’s chances of reaching their aim:

   • “Office Green will boost brand awareness with a new marketing and sales strategy and website update that will increase page views by 2K per month by the end of the year.”

     1. Specific: Office Green will update their website and launch a new marketing and sales strategy to boost awareness of their brand.

     2. Measurable: The goal includes a metric of 2K new page views per month.

     3. Attainable: They have a year to reach this goal and the target of 2K new page views per month is in line with prior marketing campaigns.

     4. Relevant: Greater brand awareness can mean new customers, which supports the overall project goal of a 5% revenue increase.

     5. Time-bound: The deadline is at the end of the year.

SMART goal Two

1. • The original goal indicates that Office Green will raise their customer retention rate, but it doesn’t indicate how they will do it, whether it's possible, why it’s important, or when they will get it done. The SMART goal addresses all these questions, which increases Office Green’s chances of reaching their aim:

   • “Office Green will raise their overall customer retention rate by 10% by the end of the year by implementing a new Operations & Training plan for the Plant Pals service.”

     1. Specific: Office Green will implement an Operations & Training plan that will improve on existing customer service standards and boost efficiency. 

     2. Measurable: The goal includes a metric of a 10% increase in retention. 

     3. Attainable: They have a year to reach this goal and many former and existing customers are interested in the new service. It has the potential to help them keep customers who may be thinking about leaving for a landscaper with more services.

     4. Relevant: Increasing customer retention can lead to more sales, which supports the overall project goal of a 5% revenue increase.

     5. Time-bound: The deadline is at the end of the year.

OKRs = Objectives + Key Results

• A framework used by individuals, teams, and organizations to define and track goals.

• Combine a Goal and a Metric to determine a measurable outcome.

• Objectives:

  1. Define what needs to be achieved.

  2. Describes a desired outcome.

• Key Results:

  1. The measurable outcomes that define when the objective has been met.

• Examples:

  1. Objective: improve customer retention.

  2. Key Result: achieve a 90% customer satisfaction rating by the end of the first quarter.

OKRs Levels

• Company-level OKRs are shared across an organization so that everyone can align and focus their efforts to help the company reach its goals.

• Project-level OKRs help define measurable project goals. They need to align with and support both company and department-levels OKRs.

Example of OKRs

Scenario

• Wonder City is a mid-sized city where increasing growth and traffic are impacting quality of life. According to a recent market assessment, the region’s population is expected to double in the next five years. Job growth is also expected to increase by 48%. This growth will impact street networks, parking and mobility.

• Wonder City has several city-wide objectives related to reducing traffic congestion and improving the city’s infrastructure. In order to support these city-wide objectives, the Wonder City Transportation Authority (WCTA) will be launching five new bus lines. 

• This initiative has been nicknamed Project Move It.

• You have been hired as the project manager for this initiative. As the project manager, you will set OKRs to help clarify the project goals and define what needs to be done in order to deliver a successful project.

Additional Information

• The project needs to be completed within two years.

• Community member buy-in and support for the locations of the new bus lines will be required.

• The project must adhere to all government regulations.

• Stops along the new bus lines must connect neighboring suburbs to downtown and public resource facilities.

• Bus lines must service at least 50% of the most densely-populated areas of Wonder City.

• The project is intended to help improve wait times and increase ridership.

• The plan includes a marketing campaign to promote the new lines.

Potential objectives for Project Move It:

• Actively and meaningfully engage the public to generate buy-in and project support.

• Make it easy to get around the greater Wonder City area via public transportation.

• Promote public transportation as a convenient alternative to driving.

• Provide a reliable and consistent public transportation service.

Defining Project Scope

Example of OKRs

Scenario

• Wonder City is a mid-sized city where increasing growth and traffic are impacting quality of life. According to a recent market assessment, the region’s population is expected to double in the next five years. Job growth is also expected to increase by 48%. This growth will impact street networks, parking and mobility.

• Wonder City has several city-wide objectives related to reducing traffic congestion and improving the city’s infrastructure. In order to support these city-wide objectives, the Wonder City Transportation Authority (WCTA) will be launching five new bus lines. 

• This initiative has been nicknamed Project Move It.

• You have been hired as the project manager for this initiative. As the project manager, you will set OKRs to help clarify the project goals and define what needs to be done in order to deliver a successful project.

Additional Information

• The project needs to be completed within two years.

• Community member buy-in and support for the locations of the new bus lines will be required.

• The project must adhere to all government regulations.

• Stops along the new bus lines must connect neighboring suburbs to downtown and public resource facilities.

• Bus lines must service at least 50% of the most densely-populated areas of Wonder City.

• The project is intended to help improve wait times and increase ridership.

• The plan includes a marketing campaign to promote the new lines.

Potential objectives for Project Move It:

• Actively and meaningfully engage the public to generate buy-in and project support.

• Make it easy to get around the greater Wonder City area via public transportation.

• Promote public transportation as a convenient alternative to driving.

• Provide a reliable and consistent public transportation service.

Measuring a Project's Success