Project objectives are extremely important for impact-oriented management. They will help you...
- Orient yourself: If the objectives are formulated so that everyone knows what they have to do, it’s easier to keep the project on track.
- Plan the impact analysis: Without project objectives, there can be no effective MonitoringThe systematic and continuous collection of data during the course of the project. Its aim is to obtain up-to-date information in order to be able to steer and control the project. monitoring or evaluation processes. Or, to put it in positive terms, the more concrete the project objectives, the easier will be the processes of monitoring, evaluation and Social impact analysisUsed in a narrow sense, this term covers the analysis of data specifically relating to a project’s intended outcomes and impact. It thus challenges the hypotheses on which your project is based. However, a more expansive view of social impact analysis is useful in the context of impact-oriented project management. Here, it is important to ask not only whether a project has obtained results, but also to determine which specific factors have been crucial in producing these results. Social impact analysis used in this broader sense includes an analysis of the project’s outcomes and impacts and of the project’s outputs and their quality, as well as an examination of the project’s underlying assumptions and the services provided. impact analysis.
- Motivate your staff: Staff members who identify with the project objectives because they helped develop them will find it easier to stay positive if the project goes through a difficult period.
- Demonstrate the quality of your work: All StakeholderOrganizations, groups or individuals with a direct or indirect interest in the project. stakeholders – particularly those providing funding – will want to know what’s happening in the project, and how the money is being used.
- Raise funds: Precisely formulated project objectives that generate enthusiasm can facilitate conversations with potential funders or staff members.
In short, the project objectives constitute the foundation for impact-oriented project work. They alone determine what efforts are necessary, and at what points resources will be effectively deployed.
In many cases, the project’s objectives seem to be so obvious that a further goal-setting process appears unnecessary. Generally this is a fallacy, because the objectives aren’t as clear as hoped.
This becomes increasingly problematic as the project advances. In some cases, you’ll even have to come back to the beginning. Every minute you invest in the development of project objectives will thus pay off later!
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Defining objectives is an ongoing process
Addressing project objectives is not simply a one-time task limited to the planning phase. Rather, this task should be regularly revisited. After all, the needs of the target group or the project context may change over time...