SMART projects

[ArcCaster]

This morning, I started listening to my first podcast: on weekly reviews. And, in the preliminary backgrounding, it hit me -- projects have more than one action item. Yes -- I know that. Projects only take a few weeks or months. AHHA! That makes me think that projects such as 'mentor Peter' or 'become more fit' are totally inappropriate! When will they end? Maybe never!

So, perhaps I should make projects SMART? Specific, measurable and motivational, achievable, realistic, and timebound? (I am borrowing this concept from a similar task -- setting objectives -- so that leads to a few questions:
how similar are projects and objectives?
are projects a superset or a subset of objectives?
specifically, how do I know when I have defined my projects correctly?)

Thanks,
Rob

 

[mcogilvie]

This morning, I started listening to my first podcast: on weekly reviews. And, in the preliminary backgrounding, it hit me -- projects have more than one action item. Yes -- I know that. Projects only take a few weeks or months. AHHA! That makes me think that projects such as 'mentor Peter' or 'become more fit' are totally inappropriate! When will they end? Maybe never!

So, perhaps I should make projects SMART? Specific, measurable and motivational, achievable, realistic, and timebound? (I am borrowing this concept from a similar task -- setting objectives -- so that leads to a few questions:
how similar are projects and objectives?
are projects a superset or a subset of objectives?
specifically, how do I know when I have defined my projects correctly?)

Thanks,
Rob

I think you will find that a focus on the desired outcome for projects plus distinguishing projects and roles is sufficient.