What is properly determined project objective

Classic and most dangerous mistake in project management is unclear statement of objectives. Unfortunately there are a lot of project managers who cannot precisely describe goals of the projects which they coordinate. Often, in practice, project customer cannot precisely determine and formulate project objectives and project manager may think that it is enough to set only time and budget parameters of project. At the same time important project factors such as quality details or job/services details can remain unspecified and unstipulated precisely enough.

A criterion for these factors is not so easy to define and this can be used by project customer who intends to receive from project executors extra-benefits which are beyond contract obligations. As the project manager does not have exact criteria of achievement of project goals, he/she will aspire, as a rule, to perform project tasks in best possible way, and this can often exceed the specified commitments. So to obtain project outputs of proper quality and required contents, project customers and project executors should elaborate as many process details as possible, and work in close coordination during all project execution. Execution of project requires not only goal-oriented planning, but process-oriented and quality-oriented planning as well. Project objective is properly determined when it is described in respect to required quality, expected ways of objective achievement, services provided by executors and corresponding cost planning.

For effective controlling of tasks allocated within executors, project manager can use special groupware tools. VIP Task Manager is a tool for assigning and controlling tasks within some project.

VIP Task Manager is a time and task planning groupware which allows breaking-down projects into tasks, assigning tasks to executors, placing tasks into task groups, and tracking course of task performance in real-time regime.

VIP Task Manager is easy-to-use task management groupware which allows multiple users access one database via LAN and Internet. It features:

•  Assigning tasks to team members, tracking task performance
•  Setting timelines and priorities for tasks
•  Time, quantity and cost control
•  Management of small projects, daily tasks and business processes
•  Customizable task attributes and workflows
•  Instant e-mail and in-system notifications
•  Task Tree, Task List and Scheduler (Calendar) mode
•  Multiple projects, departments, sub-teams management
•  Access rights management
• Free server part and no recurring fees

Read also a new article about process management - project management client-server software for Windows