4 Project Goals, Scope, and CharterChaosDigital VisionGe.docx

4 Project Goals, Scope, and Charter
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Learning Objectives
By the end of this chapter, you will be able to:
• Define important project management terms, including project
goals, objectives, deliverables, and outcomes,
and understand how they fit into the project planning
framework.
• Explain the purpose of strategic planning in linking
organizational goals to programs and projects.
• Create project goals, objectives, and metrics.
• Write a project charter and scope of work.
• Discuss constraints and their role in project management.
• Identify aspects of project planning that can affect the success
of a project.
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Introduction
Pretest
1. The goal of a project is to produce satisfactory deliverables
on time and within budget.
a. True
b. False
2. Organizations do not always view projects that exceed their
budgets as failures.
a. True
b. False
3. Organizations that avoid committing to long-term goals are

more agile and therefore
more effective.
a. True
b. False
4. A statement of project goals describes top management’s
expectations for a project.
a. True
b. False
5. Satisfying customers means meeting their service or product
requirements.
a. True
b. False
6. The end users who purchase a product from a retail outlet are
stakeholders in the
project process.
a. True
b. False
Answers can be found at the end of the chapter.
Introduction
You have probably been part of an organization or team activity
that did not appear to have
direction, purpose, or goals. This kind of experience sometimes
produces frustration, espe-
cially in organizations that are supposed to have a purpose,
simply because people want to
know that they are part of something larger than themselves and
that they can make a dif-
ference. Sometimes organizations have goals, but it seems like
only top management knows
what they are. This chapter will explore the value of having
organizational and project goals

and sharing them with the people charged with realizing them.
This chapter follows up on earlier chapters that dealt with the
field of project management,
project phases in the cycle, and organizational design. The
chapter will address how projects
are started, how they are aligned with the organization’s goals,
and how individual project
goals and objectives are set to serve customers.
Once a project is selected and initiated in phase 1, phase 2
involves defining the project in a
project plan and preparing the project framework for execution.
The next five chapters will
address the highlights and critical activities and tools used in
this phase. This chapter discusses
important front-end planning activities such as setting project
goals and objectives, linking the
H1
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Section 4.1 Project Goals and Objectives
project to strategic planning, defining project work scope,
preparing the project charter, and
positioning the project team to deliver on the promise of the
project while balancing the factors
that hinder success, including the triple constraints of cost,
schedule, and quality.

4.1 Project Goals and Objectives
Since there are many different models, concepts, and terms used
in the project management
literature, it is important to establish how these terms are used
in this book.
Definitions
Project managers must understand how organizations tie their
projects to their strategic
plans and business goals. The first step is the definition of
project goals that link to broad
outcomes that are critical to the whole enterprise. The goal
states the long-range outcome of
the project or a set of related projects. Goals are short
statements of the project’s purpose, not
how or when it will be done. We begin with the concept of
project goal because it suggests a
broader, big picture look at the project, especially in terms of
its strategic intent to make a real
difference; in other words, to produce intended outcomes.
The second step is the definition of project objectives, or
measurable indicators of goal achieve-
ment. In this process, the enterprise connects a project to
broader purposes and outcomes,
then defines the way it will measure the achievement of goals
beyond cost, schedule, and qual-
ity. Sometimes the terms goals and objectives are used
interchangeably, such as by the PMBOK.
This is because the terms do not have universal definitions; the
term goal is used to cover both
general goals, or longer term outputs or outcomes such as
product quality and profitability, and
objectives, or measurable milestones to achieve those goals,
including testing and cost control.

A deliverable is an output or product of a project that meets
customer requirements and can
be “delivered” to the customer for acceptance. Deliverables
must align with the goals of the
enterprise and the goals and objectives of the project. For
instance, if the organization’s strat-
egy is to become the industry leader in software development
for health care applications but
the project is heavily oriented toward developing platform and
infrastructure systems, the
gap suggests that the project must be reoriented or the business
plan changed.
In the same sense a deliverable that does not link to the project
goal is even more vulnerable.
If a project goal is to provide a wide array of optional financial
investments to a customer
based on targeted research but the deliverable is defined in the
actual work as including only
real estate investments, the customer will not be satisfied even
if the deliverable is completed
within budget and schedule.
These cases may sound unrealistic, but can occur. Projects often
take on a life of their own
during execution because of the unconscious biases of the
project team or the culture of the
enterprise itself. Things can go off track in a project before
many of the team members recog-
nize it, despite their competencies and hard work. Sometimes
called scope creep, the process
often changes direction in a subtle way because of the learning
and creative juices of the team
during project execution. Sometimes the project team decides
what is best for the customer

without asking the customer.
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Project outcomes are different from deliverables. Outcomes are
the streams of benefits of
the project deliverables for the enterprise and its customer or
client. A nonprofit organiza-
tion’s primary project goal may be to reduce the dropout rate
for a local high school, while its
actual product deliverables might include tutoring and
counseling programs and associated
training materials. The outputs are planned as deliverables, but
the project is not considered
successful just because the outputs are produced on time and
within budget and met require-
ments. Projects are only fully successful based on the outcome;
in this case if they help reduce
the dropout rate.
It is difficult to form project goals because outcomes may
include benefits from other similar
projects in a program aimed at a specific outcome. This is why
project evaluation is so impor-
tant; project managers want to see if they met the triple
constraints of schedule, budget, and
quality, as well as the longer term outcomes of the project in
terms of adding value to the
customer and contributing to the organization’s success.
Project goals are outcomes and benefits of project deliverables
and the processes that pro-

duced them. It is easy to think a project’s goals are its
deliverables, but they are not.
Table 4.1 shows a framework for project planning activities.
These examples help demon-
strate the differences between goals, objectives, deliverables,
and outcomes.
Table 4.1: Sample project planning framework
Sample project Goal Objective Deliverable Outcome
Cell phone devel-
opment: design
and develop a
mobile cell phone
device
To secure a posi-
tion in the market
and identify brand
Increase market
share by 10% in
5 years
Cell phone pro-
totype and final
product device
The deliverable
creates successful
market and profit-
able brand.
Construction: con-

struct a high-tech
building
To provide a
building environ-
ment that encour-
ages high-level
research
Zero-defect facil-
ity after client
inspection
The completed
building
The building
becomes a
functioning work
environment and
marketable model
for research and
development
facilities.
Public health care
website: design
and develop a soft-
ware system for
universal health
care exchange
To provide a
responsive web-
site that enables
customers to

sign up for health
insurance
Up-and-running
software that
meets require-
ments for pre-
dicted demand
A set of website
and interactive
programs that
accommodate
health care insur-
ance sign-up
The software
successfully per-
forms, customers
use it to sign up
for health insur-
ance, and most
states endorse
and use it.
Since this book focuses on project management systems, we will
concentrate on the project
itself and how to link it to the other planning activities and
objectives presented. Aligning the
project with the organization’s overall intent and direction is
important because the purpose
bar81677_04_c04_115-148.indd 118 9/9/14 10:46 AM

of a project is not only to produce deliverables and services but
to contribute to (a) in the case
of a business, profitability and growth; and (b) in the case of a
public or nonprofit agency,
intended outcomes in the public and community interest. In
either case, however, it does little
good to manage a project well if its success is not tied to some
greater good.
A main reason for project failure is the lack of alignment
between the project and the enter-
prise’s business goals and values. This is not always because
the project never initially aligned
with business goals. More frequently it is because business
plans and projects change, some-
times unexpectedly. This demonstrates the need to continually
monitor current projects to
check alignment with business plans and strategies.
The Project Planning Framework
To assure consistency in the terms used in this book, this
chapter presents a model, or tax-
onomy, of the project planning process. This model shows how
broad enterprise strategies
and goals cascade down to specific projects. It assumes that
project managers and project
teams do not operate in a vacuum. Their work is not simply to
produce deliverables and step
away. Rather, they should see their efforts as part of a larger
purpose and understand that
their project deliverables and outputs are linked to broader
organization plans and to wider
market and customer interests.

This model is provided as a frame of reference for the balance
of the book as it details how
project goals and objectives are set; how work is defined,
scheduled, and budgeted; and how
the project cycle is actually managed.
As you think about how projects are planned and linked to
strategies—where the parent orga-
nization is going in the long run—think of the familiar military
saying that “you might win the
battle, but lose the war.” The war is the overreaching, long-term
strategy of the organization
to grow and be profitable in the case of a business, or to meet
social and legislative missions
in the case of government and nonprofits. The battle is the
project itself, the short-term tactic
that, taken in combination with other projects and initiatives of
the enterprise, positions the
organization to realize its long-range objectives—winning the
war.
Goals link projects to these broader interests. We are going
beyond the PMBOK in considering
project goals as a critical bridge between broad strategies and
short-term tactical projects.
Project goals tie its deliverables to long-range strategies; not
only assuring that the project is
relevant, but also that its team members and stakeholders can
directly associate project suc-
cess with organizational success. Employees should have a line
of sight from their project to
the organization’s success. There is little room in this
framework for outliers or projects that
are promoted to meet personal agendas within the enterprise.

Table 4.2 presents a model, or a way to think about project
planning, and defines each key
planning activity and how (a) businesses and (b) public
(government and nonprofit) organi-
zations carry them out. Note in the model that there are some
fundamental differences in how
the two types of organizations address each activity. For
instance, in the project goals activity,
businesses typically address financial and bottom-line goals,
whereas public organizations
create goals from their legislation or nonprofit purpose
statement.
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Table 4.2: The project planning framework model
Planning activity Business Public, nonprofit
1. Strategic plan,
environmental scanning
Business plan Strategic plan
2. Organizational goals Profitability, market share Social or
economic benefits to
meet national, state, or local
goals
3. Strategic objective Measurable success factors: the
business case

Measurable success factors: the
mission case, value proposition
4. Portfolio All funded investments in com-
pany plan
All funded programs in agency
budget
5. Program Set of related projects Set of related projects
6. Project Short-term initiative to produce
deliverables
Short-term initiative to produce
deliverables
7. Project goal Broad statement of project
intent and its contribution to the
company, its bottom line, and its
growth
Broad statement of project intent
from legislation or nonprofit
purpose; project goals probably
more important in public sector
that lacks surrogate for bottom
line; defines success
8. Project objective Measurable indicators to moni-
tor goal achievement
Measurable indicators to moni-
tor goal achievement
9. Scope Statement of work to be done

and boundaries
Statement of work to be done
and boundaries
10. Charter Documented top management
commission of the project—giving
the project legitimacy
Documented top management
commission of the project—giving
the project legitimacy
11. Project plan Project management plan incor-
porates all planning documents
Project management plan incor-
porates all planning documents
12. Schedule Timeline for the work Timeline for the work
13. Cost estimate Roll-up of actual costs of sched-
uled tasks
Roll-up of actual costs of sched-
uled tasks
14. Budget Fund allocation to the project by
company
Fund allocation to the project by
legislature
15. Value proposition Statement of the value of the
project to customers and the
company

Statement of the value of the
project to clients and the public
interest
This chapter will concentrate on activity 1, strategic planning,
and activities 7 to 10, project
goals, objectives, scope, and charter.
Table 4.3 shows the linkage of front-end organization goals to
strategic plans, portfolios
and programs, and then specific projects. A portfolio is a
collection of investments or proj-
ects that represent a company’s approved and funded initiatives
to meet its goals in a given
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period. This particular table applies to a manufacturing firm
that has the capacity to produce
new product concepts and ideas through a formal ideation
process.
Though the table shows the planning process from left to right,
it is executed from right to
left. Basically a work breakdown structure, it starts in the
planning process with overall
organizational goals on the left, then moves to a strategic plan
to accomplish the goals,
then to creating a series of broad program portfolios to
accomplish the plan, then finally
to a set of projects to achieve the programs. Organizational

goals are the goals its owners
and leaders set to grow and prosper by increasing its
profitability and market share and
to serve a community or special interest by contributing
resources. Goals, strategic plans,
portfolios, and projects are produced top down in the planning
phase, then executed from
the bottom up in the execution phase beginning with the
individual projects.
Table 4.3: How goals, strategic plan, portfolios of projects, and
project are related
Organizational goals Strategic plan
Portfolios of
programs Project goals
Grow company capabil-
ity to produce new
products to improve
market position and
profitability.
Create new product
division and produce
5 new products in first
5 years.
1. Hire and develop
new product team.
1a. Define profile of
team.
1b. Hire and train
team.

2. Generate new
product ideas.
2a. Conduct idea-gen-
eration process.
2b. Select best
products for
development.
3. Invest in
new product
development
equipment and
systems.
3a. Buy new test equip-
ment and systems.
3b. Train team on new
systems.
4. Produce new
products.
4a. Design product
concepts.
4b. Test prototype
products.
5. Test markets. 5a. Identify markets.
5b. Test in markets.
Although the process of setting organizational goals and

strategic objectives and putting
together the programs and projects to implement them can be
described clearly, in the real
world the process is messy. In other words, these activities tend
to be accomplished while an
organization is doing business, and they are not accomplished
as one systematic effort, but
rather as a series of sometimes disjointed planning initiatives.
And whereas private sector
organizations have difficulty preparing “foolproof ” plans,
public agencies have an even more
difficult time doing so in their political environment. The next
case illustrates some of the
issues involved in planning for a government agency.
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State Department of Health and Human Services Public
Sector Case Study
When we left the state health leaders in Chapter 3, the key
decision makers were discuss-
ing the process of defining a national project that involved a
wide variety of partners in
the development of a national health information system.
Now the secretary, Robert Mikawa, and the assistant secretary
for programs, Rebecca
Dawson, have been joined by the assistant secretary for human
resources, Duncan George,
and the newly appointed project manager, Chloe Williams, to
discuss programs and proj-

ects in their new project management system.
Mikawa begins the meeting by stating that they need to move
quickly to design and
produce the digital health information system, but must position
network partners and
jurisdictions to make it work. He asks the group members how
they should proceed.
Since they decided to move forward with the program and
project management system,
Dawson’s idea is to break the process into three separate
projects with three distinct outputs
and short-term victories, so they would have a program of
projects. She suggests appointing a
program manager for the whole effort and three project
managers for each project. She envi-
sions the projects to be (a) design concept, (b) prototype, and
(c) test and install.
Duncan makes it clear that the program manager and project
managers should avoid
delegating too many of the tasks to contractors and would like
to create a performance
agreement with them to ensure that this is the case.
Finally, Williams jumps in. She knows that before they can
begin tasks to create a health
information system, they must first develop a team profile with
the competencies needed
for the overall program. This will be their first step toward the
overall strategic goal of
creating a nationwide health information system. She looks at
this as its own project and
would like to begin with the following goal, objectives, charter,
and scope of work.

Project Goal
To define the optimal team composition to carry out project 1, a
team profile will be
developed. The deliverable will be a list of competencies
required to explore past proj-
ects of this magnitude and significance. The project will involve
research into past public
programs and how various team and network arrangements have
worked in a multijuris-
dictional, complex system of design and delivery.
Project Objective
The objective of the project will be to recommend a team
structure and composition.
Measures of success will include a measure of team
performance and capacity to move
the project through each phase and to produce the overall
project deliverable on time and
within budget.
Project Charter
The charter will focus on the importance of the team’s work in
discussing the type of proj-
ect team and team networking system to be used, including
virtual teams, to accomplish
the challenging goal of designing and delivering a national
digital health records system.
(continued)
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Section 4.2 Strategic Planning
Project Scope of Work
The project scope will include the activities necessary to
accomplish the project goal,
creating a profile that can be used to guide recruitment and
hiring of the project team and
network system to deliver a national digital health records
system.
Questions for Discussion
1. What are the key issues being discussed, and how do you
think they differ from
issues that would be addressed in a private sector organization?
2. Why is the development of a program of projects raised, and
what significance
would you attach to the term program?
4.2 Strategic Planning
One of the products of the strategic planning process that
typically leads to a strategic plan is
a set of external success factors. Once the overall goal of the
enterprise is determined, a stra-
tegic plan explores the outside world and environment to
identify markets and targets for
products and services. The plan also reviews company or agency
strengths, weaknesses,
opportunities, and risks. In this activity, enterprises identify
external forces and market
trends that can help them design the right programs and
projects. Program and project goals

will link to those success factors in aligning to the
organization’s intended direction.
For instance, a health care insurance
firm might scan the environment to
identify critical trends that are relevant
to its intended business. These would
include technology developments, eco-
nomic and social trends, and global
market dynamics. This firm might
attempt to understand the dimensions
of the uninsured customer population,
specifically those individuals who do
not want to purchase health insurance.
This universe of customers may have
certain demographics, such as age,
race, and income. Typically, a project
goal in pursuit of this market would
be to serve this uninsured population
with low-cost, long-term insurance and
Caiaimage/Paul Bradbury/Getty Images
A strategic plan links an organization’s goals with its
activities. It serves as a sort of blueprint for future
success in the face of an ever-changing environment.
State Department of Health and Human Services Public
Sector Case Study (continued)
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Section 4.2 Strategic Planning

create a market opportunity, thus guiding the development of
specific programs and projects to
produce products that serve them.
Strategic planning is important because it links the
organizational goals to specific programs
and projects. Such planning is important in developing new
projects because a strategy helps
define the future initiatives an organization must take to meet
its goals. Strategic planning
helps define future factors and dynamics in the social and
economic environment that will
shape the organization’s success. Since these factors typically
change, strategic planning
helps determine what changes will impact organizational and
project success.
Strategic planning results help define projects that must be
undertaken to succeed. Some
organizations document strategic plans, whereas others develop
strategies but never put
them in writing. But most organizations have some sort of
approach to the future. If they do
not have any strategies and simply deal with the present
situation they face, they will likely
be unprepared when the status quo changes.
Portfolios of programs are collections of investments the
company or agency has confirmed
but not necessarily funded. A portfolio of investments is
intended to realize the company’s or
agency’s strategic plans. Portfolios of investments typically
suggest future projects by iden-
tifying where the company plans to invest its profits to further
growth. Programs are sets of
projects in a similar area, such as marketing or new product

development, that categorize
projects in terms of one or more of the company’s strategic
objectives.
The project goal can help guide the management of constraints
such as cost, schedule, and
quality. For instance, if the broad project goal is to establish a
market opportunity, then the
enterprise may be willing to focus project effort on quality and
schedule, rather than cost. A
cost overrun might be seen as an investment of sorts. This kind
of broad purpose on a specific
project helps the project manager make trade-offs between cost,
schedule, and quality. This is
why it is important for project managers to see their projects in
the context of their broader
strategic plans and the organizational goals.
Developing Strategic Plans
Strategic plans are developed once an organization sets its
overall goals. Strategic plans
explore ways to achieve organizational goals. Since many of the
factors in reaching goals
relate to the outside world, such as the market and the whole
global economic and social sys-
tem, strategic planning is focused both on internal capacity and
outside forces.
Internal capacity is analyzed in terms of strengths, weaknesses,
opportunities, and risks.
A strength might be the capacity to produce high volumes of
product. A weakness may be
longer-than-average production cycles. An opportunity might be
a developing market for
a product the company already produces. A risk might be that

the company cannot turn
around product in high enough volumes quickly enough to beat
the competition. Before a
company invests in a program of projects, it tries to ensure that
the investment will produce
a return.
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Section 4.3 Setting Project Goals, Objectives, and Metrics
Strategic Objectives
Strategic objectives are measurable milestones in achieving the
strategic plan. They are useful
in defining programs and projects. For instance, an organization
that prepares a strategic plan
that calls for development of an in-house capacity to produce
high volumes of laptops might
have five strategic objectives to help define specific programs
and projects:
1. Review current production capacity and issue report.
2. Identify benefits and risks in improving product capacity.
3. Make investment decision: go or no go.
4. Develop idea of production system requirements.
5. Estimate costs and potential profit margins at given rates of
sales.
In the end, strategic planning is a way for an organization to
stay in touch with its markets,
developments in its industry, and its outside networks to make
the necessary adjustments
in its internal operations to keep up with change. While it looks

outside for key indicators of
change, it must also develop goals and objectives to guide its
internal operations, as the next
section explains.
4.3 Setting Project Goals, Objectives, and Metrics
Project goals are linked to the organization’s strategies through
the project sponsor and the
sponsor’s relationship with the project manager. The project
sponsor is typically a represen-
tative of top management—a key internal stakeholder—who
takes special responsibility for
overseeing and guiding the project. The sponsor assures that the
project’s goals are linked
to the organization’s intentions; thus, the sponsor has a special
stake in project success. The
sponsor and the project manager typically collaborate to make
sure the project receives expo-
sure in the budget process and to set project goals and measures
of project performance.
Reports on these metrics enable top management to keep tabs on
a project and help manag-
ers contribute to the project phase-gate reviews. Remember that
project goals are tied to stra-
tegic outcomes and benefits of project deliverables, so it may
not be immediately apparent
whether the goals were met, even though products were
delivered on time and within budget.
Achievement of project goal outcomes can be discovered in
project evaluations and continued
feedback from the customer after the project is closed out.
Setting Project Goals
Now that the chapter has explored the relationship between

organizational goals, strategic
planning, and programs and projects, this section will now
discuss the process of setting spe-
cific project goals that link the project to the existing
framework of plans.
When Are Project Goals Set?
Project goals are set during initiation and early planning, before
the project is kicked off.
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What Is to Be Produced?
A documented statement specifying what is to be produced is
created and distributed to
all project stakeholders and team members, in hard-copy form
and online. This allows for
feedback and interaction within the distribution list.
Additionally, presentation material and
media are produced for online and onsite presentations.
How Are Project Goals Created?
Project goals are drawn from the statement of products to be
produced, along with other
documentation and planning papers, as well as the project
background. The project manager
also interviews the sponsor and top management to get their
personal views. Based on this
input, a one-page draft is prepared and distributed to top
management, the project team, the
sponsor, and functional managers.

Why Are Project Goals Needed?
Project goals ensure that project team members are committed
and that partnerships are
established. They serve as a reference point for the project
scope and resolve any remaining
issues on the project’s purpose.
Whose Participation Is Required in the Creation of Project
Goals?
The project manager or a team member prepares the project
goals statement. The process
itself involves all stakeholders, including the sponsor and
customer, if appropriate.
Criteria for Project Goals
There are a number of helpful criteria to keep in mind when
creating project goals. They
should be:
• simple, short, and sweet;
• clear—avoid ambiguity in goal statements;
• measurable—project metrics should be developed for project
performance against
broad strategic goals as well as project-specific milestones
objectives;
• achievable; and
• timely.
Goals are the glue that keeps the project on course, but it is
important to align the project
team performance review, recognition, and award system with
project goals. This assures
that the employees carrying out the work have a direct line of
sight to the project direction
and purpose and are recognized when they integrate their

individual work with completing
the project.
This alignment helps avoid personal agendas, or work that is not
directly associated with
project deliverables, and preserves the sense of equity and
balance in how the team is man-
aged and rewarded. Since team members are aware of who is
rewarded and recognized for
bar81677_04_c04_115-148.indd 126 9/9/14 10:46 AM
what kinds of performance, they are the best judges of whether
there is integrity in the reward
system and those who advocate linking project goals with
individual performance.
Examples of Project Goals
Now that you have had a chance to see how project goals are
created, we can take a look at
some examples from a variety of fields.
Goal #1: Secure a position in the market.
This goal will link to the strategic plan to improve market
share. The goal is intended to
improve the competitiveness of the company through delivery of
a successful new brand.
The goal thus links to the enterprise itself and connects its
strategy to the project deliverable.
However, establishing a market position will not be fully
attributable to the project because

there are other functions—including marketing, sales, and
distribution—that will also con-
tribute to the market position goal. Thus, the project is a
contributor to a broader company
goal, linking it with other enterprise functions and departments.
This helps the project team
feel like it is part of the organization and where it is going.
Goal #2: Provide a built environment that encourages high-level
research.
Goals can broaden the work of the team and make it more
interesting. This goal, for instance,
is intended to implement the strategic plan to improve the
capacity of the organization to do
basic research in its field. It is one of several projects to define
an outcome for the customer
that goes beyond “bricks and mortar.” Thus, the project team
sees the importance in produc-
ing a building deliverable to ensure that the space it designs
encourages good research. This
requires that the team understands which kinds of spatial
arrangements are more effective in
stimulating collaboration in the research and development
process.
Goal #3: Provide a responsive website.
Here the goal is linked to a strategic plan to improve electronic
connections to customers.
The project goal is to establish a responsive, interactive
website, requiring the project team to
stretch its thinking and design concepts to anticipate what kinds
of interaction and respon-
siveness are necessary. In the context of this goal, the team
must imagine how the website will

enable interaction and then test it under many different
conditions to assure success.
Goal #4: Provide useful tutoring to high school students.
This goal is tied to a strategic plan to help the school district
improve high school graduation
rates. The project provides for the reachable goal of providing
tutoring, but its language also
suggests that the tutoring be useful. This requires the team to
define useful in the context of
a student’s performance in both an education and work
environment. The usefulness of the
tutoring service brings a new level of outcome to a process that
can often fail to produce mea-
surable results.
It is important to note that this more-or-less formal structure of
goal setting and planning
may not be readily apparent in many organizations. This is
because many enterprises in the
bar81677_04_c04_115-148.indd 127 9/9/14 10:46 AM
private and public sectors do not document their planning
processes. However, in most cases
these organizations establish direction and purpose in other
ways. Rather than publishing a
strategic plan, they may communicate their long-term intentions
through informal activities
such as meetings and retreats.

What happens to projects in an organization that has no
strategic direction or long-term
goals? This kind of organization simply reacts to opportunities
that present themselves. In
this case the project manager is left to deliver project
deliverables on time, within budget, and
in line with customer requirements. The focus is simply to
produce products and services that
meet customer requirements without much attention to broader
goals.
Setting Project Objectives
Project objectives are set by addressing each project goal. This
is done by identifying near-term
steps and milestones that are necessary to reach each goal. Then
short-term objectives are
defined around these steps. For instance, if the milestone is to
produce a test product, then the
objective might be to produce a quality test product that meets
all internal requirements by
June 1, 2018.
Objectives can be measured and scheduled; thus, setting project
objectives helps get closer to
the actual tasks that will be assigned to project staff. An
objective gives substance and reality
to a goal.
Setting Project Metrics
Project metrics are measures or indicators of progress toward
goals. They are set by the
project manager in consultation with top management and the
customer during the develop-
ment of the project management plan. Inputs are schedules,

milestones, customer require-
ments, and the project charter. The purpose of metrics is to help
measure project progress in
the monitoring process.
In the modern systems world, the way project managers present
metrics is through a proj-
ect dashboard, or a suite of measures linked to quality data
sources and integrated into a
computer-based project information system. The dashboard
should be reviewed regularly
to assess project status and performance, and is used in
conducting phase-gate reviews. It is
important to arrive at a set of project metrics—whether or not a
dashboard is used—early in
the project planning phase so that the monitoring phase can be
set up to gather the right data
to measure performance.
Metrics are typically designed to measure two basic goals in
project management:
• Progress in meeting enterprise-wide, company, or agency
strategic goals
• Progress in meeting project-specific milestones such as cost,
schedule, earned value,
quality, customer satisfaction, and team performance
Senior management is typically more interested in progress
toward meeting company
or agency-wide goals because it sees projects as specific
investments in implementing
bar81677_04_c04_115-148.indd 128 9/9/14 10:46 AM

strategic goals (Love & Brant-Love, 2000). These indicators are
useful in phase-gate reviews
that enable management to measure project progress toward
company goals. The project
manager and team are more interested in project-specific goals
because they are of more
relevance to customer satisfaction as well as to company-wide
or agency-wide interests
(Kerzner, 2013c).
Table 4.4 shows examples of each kind of metric.
Table 4.4: Examples of metrics
Strategic objectives embedded
in strategic plan Metric Source
Increase market share % increase in market share
partially or fully attributable to
project
Third-party source, e.g., U.S. or
state Department of Commerce
Increase profitability % increase in margins attribut-
able to project
Financial officer or comptroller
Return on investment (ROI) % increase in ROI attributable to
project

Market opportunity Number of market and sales
opportunities generated by
project
Marketing department
Company growth % increase in business value
attributable to project
Legislative mission goals Achievement of legislated mis-
sion and agency and program
goals and/or outcomes
Local, state, or federal legislative
body authorizing the program
and projects
Public interest and benefits Quantified indicator of ben-
efits, such as cost benefits, and
socioeconomic indicators, such
as average income, median
family income, and economic
development
Academic or research sources
Project specific goals
Goals or milestones Metric Project team
Scope Achievement of work in scope Project team

Schedule Schedule performance index =
earned value + planned value
Project team
Cost/budget Cost performance index = earned
value + actual cost
Project team, sponsor
Quality Number of defects in project out-
puts, products, and services
Customer, internal quality-control
staff
Team performance Morale and growth of team
members
Team survey and lessons learned
meetings
bar81677_04_c04_115-148.indd 129 9/9/14 10:46 AM
Section 4.4 The Project Charter and Scope
Milestones are points in the project that represent definable
completion of specific tasks or
deliverables. A milestone is keyed to a calendar date so that the
due date is clear, as well as
the deliverable. Milestones are also linked to measurable
objectives. For instance, an objective
of a human resources IT project might be to create a skills
inventory for the company so that

management can access personnel profiles.
Project reviews should be scheduled at key milestones, such as
a date projected for comple-
tion of personnel profile documentation to use in the new
system, to allow a review of deliv-
erables due at that milestone. Milestones are set by identifying
key intermediate tasks along
the way to the final deliverable and then placing them into a
schedule with specific dates by
which they must be completed.
Setting project goals and objectives and identifying milestones
and metrics is an ongoing
process. Several iterations and versions of project plans will
typically be developed as goals
and objectives become clearer in the initiation and planning
phases. Even into execution, as
project staff members begin their work and plan for their task
coordination, there will be
changes and additions to these items when new information is
uncovered. If changes are
minor, they may be altered without any project interruption. But
if fundamental changes are
made in project goals and objectives by the project team, top
management, the customer, or
key stakeholders, then a formal change order is issued and a
new project baseline planned
and documented.
4.4 The Project Charter and Scope
This section addresses the project charter and scope of work.
The charter is important
because it captures all of the relevant information about the
project, including goals, plans,
schedules, budgets, and risks, and then “charters” the project

team to produce the deliverable
on time and within budget. The charter is an internal document
that sets out the top manage-
ment’s expectations for the project. The scope of work defines
what is to be done to complete
the project and sets boundaries on what is and is not included in
the work. The boundary
helps avoid doing more work than is called for by the customer
and more than the project
budget can afford.
Writing the Project Charter
The project charter establishes the project as an official
initiative and investment of the
enterprise. It confirms the enterprise’s commitment to
supporting the project and the project
team. It also expresses the expectations of the enterprise
leadership for the project and its
contribution to the bottom line and agency mission. The project
sponsor typically arranges
for the charter to be written and signed off by top management.
The charter includes the project management plan, schedule,
and budget. The process of
writing a charter should reflect personal views gained in
interviews with the project sponsor,
top management, the firm comptroller, and the customer.
bar81677_04_c04_115-148.indd 130 9/9/14 10:46 AM
Also included in the charter are several important elements:

• Commitment to excellence in project management
• Commitment of top management and sponsor to support the
project team
• Reiteration of the business case for the project, based on
company plans
• Expression of company expectations for project
• Reiteration of key project deliverables
• Definition of the project process to be used
• Definition of project boundaries; setting limits
• Presentation of project budget and guidance on cost control
• Presentation of project quality standards
• Identification of the project manager and team
• Presentation of project schedule and key milestones
• Commitment of top management to participate in phase-gate
reviews
The charter is typically written by the project manager and
presented to top management for
approval and signature. In writing the charter, the project
manager will draw on the history
of the project, how it was initiated and funded, and what special
conditions were placed on it.
Sometimes, top management will add items to the charter that
are of special interest.
The following is an example of a charter for an aircraft
instrumentation project:
The company confirms in this charter that the project manager
and project
team have its full support and sponsorship. The project will
design and develop
a prototype altitude instrument for a pilotless aircraft. The
product will be a
tested instrument that meets requirements of the Federal

Aviation Administra-
tion and U.S. Department of Defense, with the capability to
control and report
on aircraft altitude in a variety of formats and languages. The
project is funded
at $10 million, based on the final cost estimate and budget
availability, and is
due to produce the project deliverable in 6 months after project
kickoff.
Writing the Project Scope
The project scope of work is a statement of the work required to
complete the project. It
defines the work to be done as well as its boundaries;
specifically, what is authorized and what
is not. Boundaries are important because project work can lead
to work that goes beyond the
original scope, or scope creep. This can be due to the
momentum generated by the project
and the fact that project staff members can lose sight of the line
between what the project
requires and their own interests in producing total quality.
Scope creep has implications for
cost overruns and even quality, since customer dissatisfaction
occurs when the team goes
beyond customer requirements.
The scope of work is written from project requirements and
shapes the work to be done to
complete those requirements. Requirements define what the
customer needs, and the scope
of work defines how to produce what the customer needs. The
project manager and team
determine the scope as they define work processes that must be
completed in order to pro-

duce the final deliverable. Work processes defined in the scope
typically include professional
and technical procedures associated with the deliverable,
including definitions of tasks and
techniques proved over time to result in the appropriate quality
products and services.
bar81677_04_c04_115-148.indd 131 9/9/14 10:46 AM
An example of a scope of work for a human resources project to
produce a personnel skills
inventory might read something like:
The scope of work for this project is to describe the personnel
profiles of all
current full-time employees, addressing background,
experience, certifica-
tions, training, and performance history. This documentation is
to be located
in a database to be secured and available to selected top
management and
human resource staff. The system shall enable updating by
individuals and by
human resource staff, as authorized by the individual employee.
The system
is budgeted at $1 million, to be produced by June 30, 2015,
completed by a
team of in-house and contract personnel, and progress reported
to the project
sponsor, the director of human resources, monthly.
Putting It All Together

Now that you have had a chance to see how each is written, the
following are examples of proj-
ect goals, objectives, and scope of work. Note that different
types of projects require slightly
different approaches to this process. For instance, when the
deliverable is known, the goals
and objectives can be set firmly at the outset. If the project
entails designing and developing
a new product, however, then front-end goals and objectives are
less detailed because no one
knows exactly what will be produced.
All of these examples of project goals assume that they are
linked to the organization’s goals
and strategic plans and are part of programs in place to achieve
them.
New Product Development Project
A new product development project involves the design,
development, and production of a new
product; thus, the project management process is less certain
than typical projects in which the
deliverables are well known. New product development involves
design, testing, prototyping,
and experimenting processes that are not always predictable.
Thus, the goal-setting process for
such a project is somewhat open ended.
Goal
A typical project goal statement might read:
This project is intended to produce a mobile phone prototype
with the capac-
ity to be worn and used by the customer as a wristband. The

project’s goal
is to develop a market demand for this instrument, define a new
brand to
be associated with the company, and gain a substantial market
share for the
company. Prototyping will include consumer testing, feedback,
and market
research into the risks associated with this project to reduce the
probabili-
ties of failure to meet goals. The project is directly linked with
the company’s
strategic objective #3: To scan global markets for a wristband
mobile phone
device and to produce a prototype that the company can use to
establish its
brand and marketing and sale capacity worldwide.
bar81677_04_c04_115-148.indd 132 9/9/14 10:46 AM
The company will conduct a scan of the market environment, or
a SWOT (strengths, weaknesses,
opportunities, threats) analysis to confirm its capacity to
produce such an instrument, identify
potential competitors, and calculate the potential profitability of
the instrument in full marketing
mode. Feedback and data from this study will be made available
to the project manager and team
to assure that they have a line of sight from their project work
to the success of the company in
this new field. Team members are perceptive about the project’s
priority in the company and its
importance in getting them exposure in doing good work for a

worthwhile project.
Scope
The goal statement is intended to assist in drafting the project
scope of work by defining the
actual work involved in producing the prototype. The scope
identifies product requirements,
deliverables, schedule, key milestones, and cost information,
and in general terms describes
the work processes and development involved.
The scope also defines a project’s boundaries. For example:
This development project will
go through a robust phase-gate review at every phase, beginning
with phase 1, initiation, to
assure that the potential for success is clear and that the cost–
benefit ratios—the comparison
of the project’s costs to its value—are potentially positive as
the project transitions from one
phase to another.
Objectives
Project objectives are measurable milestones and indicators of
project success. These objec-
tives link the project with its broad goals and provide a
consistent transition to specific deliv-
erables, budgets, timelines, and quality goals.
Examples of project objectives include:
• Produce customer requirements by May 2015.
• Unveil design concept by June 2016.
• Generate prototype by May 2017.
• Complete testing by May 2018.

• Deliver final phone system for marketing by May 2019.
Health Care Information System Project
This health care project involves the design and development of
a nationwide health care
information system that provides participants in the health care
delivery system and the
patient population with accurate patient information at every
point in the health care trans-
action process.
Goal
Project goals take on a special significance for public sector
agencies and nonprofits because,
unlike the private sector, the core linkage to the company’s
bottom line and growth does not
apply directly in the public sector. That is why many private
sector companies do not take
the time to articulate program and project goals; they focus on
the goal of contributing to the
company’s financial growth.
bar81677_04_c04_115-148.indd 133 9/9/14 10:46 AM
In the public sector, however, it is
more important to pin down project
goals so that project success can be
measured and assessed, both quali-
tatively and quantitatively. A qualita-
tive goal states an outcome such as
“reducing the dropout rate,” or “the

productivity” (for example, improving
people throughput on a major high-
way). These goals can be measured
but do not contribute to the public
agency’s growth, just its effectiveness.
A quantitative goal might be to assure
a cost–benefit ratio of at least 1, rec-
ognizing the difficulty in capturing all
costs and benefits of a public works
investment.
A project goal statement for this proj-
ect might be something like:
This project is intended to create a national, Internet-based
framework for
public and private health information that will provide patients
and health
providers with accurate patient history, including treatments
and other health
records. The goal is to establish a consistent framework that
enables consid-
erable flexibility in implementation but adheres to a central,
core concept.
Scope
The scope of work might read:
This information system will be designed and developed using
the iterative
software development process. This process is intended to
shorten project
life cycles by enabling work to proceed in parallel instead of the
traditional
linear, sequential path. This means that customer requirements,

design con-
cepts, development of prototypes, and testing will all occur
simultaneously as
much as possible.
The scope of work will include a full definition of requirements,
both hard-
ware and software; the development of design concepts,
prototypes, and test-
ing procedures; and final delivery after customer acceptance.
Work will be
defined to begin with initial requirements, with subsequent
tasks scheduled
concurrently as feasible; thus, final due date is not determined.
Objectives
The project objective might read:
• Define customer requirements by November 2014, get
customer sign-off.
• Produce design concept by January 2015.
Daniel Berehulak/Getty Images News
A potential goal of the health care information proj-
ect is to create an information website for those
delivering care, as well as for their patients.
bar81677_04_c04_115-148.indd 134 9/9/14 10:46 AM
Section 4.5 Constraints
• Identify platform and software requirements by January 2016.

• Produce working prototype by May 2016.
• Complete testing by May 2017.
• Deliver final information system, with software and hardware,
and customer accep-
tance by May 2018.
• Gather feedback on system performance by June 2019.
In sum, the process of setting project goals and objectives and
defining the charter and scope
is key in assuring a firm direction and purpose for the project.
Without this process, projects
will lack a measure to help define success, may not meet
customer requirements, and could
go far beyond budget and timeline constraints. In addition,
projects that do not line up with
the organization’s goals and plans may well succeed in a narrow
sense but will not contribute
to the growth and profitability of the enterprise despite its
“success.”
4.5 Constraints
Constraints are factors that can interfere with complete success
when setting project goals
and implementing a project. These factors are not simple risks,
but include all the critical
factors in success that, if neglected, can negatively impact the
project. Constraints include
the triple constraints of cost, schedule, and quality, as well as
other factors such as feasibility,
technology, team performance, and customer dynamics.
Early focus on constraints helps formulate reasonable and
achievable goals, and therefore
expectations. These constraints are sometimes termed “threats”
in the strategic planning pro-

cess and “risks” in the project risk management process.
Although constraints are addressed
more fully in the next chapter, it is important to discuss how
constraints are integrated into
the project goal-setting process.
Constraints Embedded in Project Goals
A project goal is not an open-ended “wish list,” but rather a
carefully crafted statement of
intended project outcomes, given constraints. Constraints need
to be embedded in project
goals and stated up front. For instance, a project intended to
create a complicated new tablet
device to serve millions of customers must address possible
technical problems associated
with uncontrolled demand scenarios in setting project goals.
This risk of not being able to
meet demand must be made explicit in the goals statement. The
outcome goal of such a proj-
ect would not be “meeting any potential demand,” but rather
meeting its expected demand,
given its proven capacity to perform in design and testing.
Further, the goal would include a
satisfactory contingency, or a plan B.
Is it not always the goal of a project to satisfy the customer
within budget and on schedule?
There is some truth to this statement because if the customer is
satisfied and the project is
delivered within budget and on schedule, what else is there?
The answer using the triple con-
straints is that the project is clearly successful and met its
goals. But what about the longer
term? What happens after the project in terms of relationships,
follow-on projects, and profit-

ability? Building a longer term relationship with the customer
may be important to increase
the company’s understanding of customer issues and
opportunities, as well as its investment
in marketing and sales.
bar81677_04_c04_115-148.indd 135 9/9/14 10:46 AM
Generating more work with a cus-
tomer from a successful project, either
a new project or follow-on work, is an
important aspect of the longer term
project outcome. If the project is deliv-
ering to an outside customer, then the
project team is looking to do more
work for that customer. If the project
is focused on an inside customer—for
example, a process-improvement proj-
ect to help manufacturing improve
its efficiency—then the project team
would typically like to continue work-
ing on improving the process, now that
it understands it. So simply because
the project finishes within budget and
schedule constraints does not auto-
matically mean it contributes to the
company bottom line.
We are addressing here the trade-off between short-term project
success and goal achieve-
ment and longer-term business development. It may be that the
company is willing to “eat”

project costs in order to create new opportunities, so
profitability is not the paramount goal.
Or it may be that the company’s strategy to balance short-term
and long-term goals is already
embedded in the project goal statement and thus is useful to the
project manager in running
the project and making day-to-day decisions.
It may also be the case that satisfying the customer does not
always coincide with meeting prod-
uct or service requirements. Sometimes customers set project
requirements before they truly
understand the target system, process, or facility and, like the
project team, learn things about
the project during its execution that change requirements.
Sometimes those requirements are
changed through a formal or informal change order process, but
most of the time they are not.
So looking back at original requirements may not be as
important as reading the customer at
the end of the project to assess satisfaction and acceptance of
the project deliverable.
As we have indicated before, project management is a people
process first, and people change
their minds. They learn and grow in project work and often
make judgments based on emo-
tional and relational issues rather than strictly rational and
quantifiable indicators. If custom-
ers have good feelings about the project team and their
dedication to doing the best job they
are capable of doing, they make amends for weaknesses in the
process.
Project Goals and the Triple Constraints

In studying project management systems, there are three basic
questions:
1. What is being produced?
2. Why is it being produced?
3. How is it being produced?
Troels Graugaard/Vetta/Getty Images
Why is it important to meet client needs? What are
the long-term effects?
bar81677_04_c04_115-148.indd 136 9/9/14 10:46 AM
Project goals address the “why” and the “what,” and the triple
constraints (cost, schedule, and
quality) address the “how.” In developing project goal
statements and project management
plans it is important that the project team understands the
differences and common points
in each.
A project manager works to find the correct balance between
quality, cost, and schedule in
developing the project management plan. That is why the
PMBOK guidelines and project
manager certification exist; to help project managers arrive at
the optimal balance of con-
straints for any project. The process of balancing the triple
constraints is part of every project,
regardless of its goals and objectives. A professional approach
to the project requires every

project team to address quality, cost, and schedule.
Quality involves identifying the requirements in the project and
its deliverables. The proj-
ect is typically not chartered to develop the best product on the
market, but rather the
product the customer wants. The customer requirement helps
define the quality aspect of
the project, and a focus on process helps avoid defects and
wasted effort that add cost and
endanger the schedule.
Cost means calculating and estimating all expenditures and
resources involved in the project
based on the work to be done and resources required. Cost
control is part of every project, a
given in the attempt to avoid waste and make every dollar count
in adding value.
Schedule involves preparing and controlling the timeline, since
timing is related directly to
cost and to satisfying the customer’s window for the
deliverable. When schedules slip, cost
increases and quality is jeopardized.
Since there are many constraints and conditions on most
projects, they need to be figured into
any assessment of project success. This is because project
success can be defined in terms of
the ability of the project team to overcome constraints. Section
4.6 discusses what makes
projects successful: often the ability to produce goods and
services the customer cannot.
The Links Corporation Private Sector Case Study

When we last left the Links Corporation, top management was
working on a strategy and
promotional plan to transform the company into a more
projectized model. The concept was
to present the business case for necessary changes to
organization structure, process, and
project management environment. That business case was to be
grounded in the need for the
company to diversify its products and services, move into new
global markets, and perform
in a more agile and flexible style, requiring some substantial
cultural and structural change.
The company was committed to changing from a production
model to a broader, full-service
firm incorporating a new project management system.
Now the firm is moving toward defining a change project that
will help broaden the organiza-
tion’s culture. The project must be set up, and objectives, scope
of work, and other project docu-
ments must be defined in the development of the new project
management system.
(continued)
bar81677_04_c04_115-148.indd 137 9/9/14 10:46 AM
The CEO, Phillip Johnson, meets with the HR VP, Sheila Chen,
and the vice president for
manufacturing, Stewart Levi.
Johnson tells Chen and Levi that they need to create a short-

term victory for a new prod-
uct project team to show everyone that projects will work at
Links, and he asks them how
to proceed.
Levi thinks that they should create a project team to design and
develop a new product, then
work with manufacturing and production control to implement
it. They need to show that a
new product requires new technologies and knowledge and that
the manufacturing team will
like the change once they learn new ways of assembly using
robotic tools and computer-driven
controls.
He lists the project goals, objectives, charter, and scope of work
as the following.
Project Goal
The project goal for this team should be to produce a new
consumer product prototype and
run it through manufacturing as a test case. The goal of the team
will include new tools, both
robotic and hand assembly, and will be ready in 6 months for a
test run.
Project Objective
The objective should be a product that can be manufactured in
one day once all the systems,
equipment, and robotic techniques are installed and learned.
The basic measure of success
is the measurable increase in feedback from manufacturing
about the use of project manage-
ment systems and project teams to make their lives more

interesting and productive.
Project Charter
The charter should emphasize quality and manufacturability—a
built-in capacity to manu-
facture the product using the new associated systems. The
company should worry only about
the 6-month timeline, but the project should go through all five
phases: initiation, planning,
execution, monitoring, and closeout. Manufacturing personnel
should be included in the
project team to build in the feasibility aspect of the product.
Project Scope of Work
The scope should be limited to producing a design and a
prototype but should not include
testing, since the company wants to test the product with
another team after the prototype
is manufactured.
Questions for Discussion
1. What are the key issues that top management is discussing,
and how do they tie
together?
2. What do you think is the underlying concern of top
management about setting
project goals and objectives, especially regarding how they
would impact production
and manufacturing?
The Links Corporation Private Sector Case Study (continued)

bar81677_04_c04_115-148.indd 138 9/9/14 10:46 AM
Section 4.6 What Makes Successful Projects
4.6 What Makes Successful Projects
Now we will identify key aspects of the project planning
process that help ensure project
success. However, keep in mind that in the real world of project
management, you sometimes
have to depart from the ideal to complete a project.
Defining the Customer and Stakeholders
In developing project goals, scope of work, and charter, it is
important for the project manager
to clearly identify and reiterate who the project customer is and
who the project stakeholders
are. This is because final customer and stakeholder acceptance
of the project deliverables are
key success factors that can get lost in the process once the
team is fully immersed. Thus, the
determination of customer and stakeholders should be specific
regarding who they are and
what they represent.
Although your project may be working with a given
customer contact, that contact person may not be
the real customer. In other words, this customer
contact may represent the organization but may not
make final decisions with respect to project accep-
tance. So it is important for the actual customer to
be identified. For instance, even though the cus-
tomer representative assigned to oversee a project
is quite familiar with the project and its team, it is

quite possible that a vice president for engineering
and development will make the final determination
of customer acceptance.
Stakeholders are people and institutions that have
a stake in the success of the project. They include
the project sponsor, the internal enterprise “pro-
tector” of the project, as well as company own-
ers, investors and stockholders, and partners.
Stakeholders also include suppliers and contrac-
tors involved in producing the project deliverable.
They are invested in the project because they seek
to be associated with success and see the market
for their supplies and equipment expanding as the
project succeeds.
The project team and functional managers are also
stakeholders in the sense that they have a direct
stake in project success from a personal standpoint.
Functional managers who support the project but who do not
serve directly on the team
include administrative and human resource staffs, procurement,
finance, quality control, and
marketing.
Stakeholders also include the variety of end-point users of the
project deliverables. For
instance, if the project goal is to produce a health insurance
plan for a customer, it is
Michael Blann/Digital Vision/Thinkstock
Stakeholders include contractors who
provide supplies or services to the
project team. Maintaining relationships
with these stakeholders is important to

meeting project goals.
bar81677_04_c04_115-148.indd 139 9/9/14 10:46 AM
ultimately the customer who will be directly involved in
approving and using the product.
The purpose of viewing the user as a stakeholder is to keep the
user in view during project
planning, design, and production, especially if there is some
question of whether the cus-
tomer requirements are aligned with user issues and needs.
The Importance of Documentation
The documentation of project background—including goals,
objectives, charter, scope of
work, schedule, budget, and other project management
information—is important but often
neglected in the heat of project initiation and delivery. There
have been many attempts to
simplify the project and product documentation process to
enable busy project task leaders
to complete it with minimal effort (Ruping, 2003). However,
documentation is essential in
order to make baseline project plans and monitoring information
accessible to the project
manager and to confirm how and why decisions were made, and
their impacts. Documenta-
tion also is useful for developing lessons learned.
Contract managers use documentation to establish contract
terms and conditions and change

orders should contractors fail to perform or question
requirements. As you will see in Chap-
ter 7, current project management software and network systems
provide an effective way to
document project information.
A project management information system (PMIS) is a
necessary ingredient in a well-doc-
umented project system. A PMIS defines and provides required
information to support proj-
ect management and monitoring, as well as specifies a protocol
for data collection and access
and an Internet- or intranet-based platform for both project team
and stakeholder users. A
PMIS is typically provided by a project management software
system such as Microsoft Proj-
ect® or Smartsheet, combined with other supporting programs
such as financial, accounting,
configuration management, and procurement systems.
Engaging the Team
The project team relies on good project planning and clear goals
and objectives, project char-
ter, and scope documents, particularly if they are not involved
in their development. Project
team members are more likely to engage and commit to the
project when its goals, direction,
and expectations are made clear early on (Pande, Neuman, &
Cavanaugh, 2002). If the team
has issues regarding where the project is going, documentation
helps resolve original expec-
tations so that objections or alternatives can be explored. A
team that proceeds without a
uniform understanding of the project’s goals and objectives is
apt to define and redefine the

project during its execution because there is no baseline.
It is important to involve the project manager and team in the
development of the project goals
and charter document. Their participation helps foster
ownership of the project and under-
stand its basic contribution beyond the deliverables and
associated schedule and budget tar-
gets. Goal statements build a sense of purpose and meaning for
the project, especially if they
are crafted to link project outputs with broad company and
customer values and performance.
bar81677_04_c04_115-148.indd 140 9/9/14 10:46 AM
Clear project goals and related performance standards are an
important input to evaluation
of team member performance. It is difficult to assess
performance and reward excellence if
the goals and objectives of the project are not clear. Team
members seek clarity in goals and
objectives because they typically want to see and feel successful
achievement of project goals
as well as production of required deliverables. They want to be
recognized and rewarded for
completing the project and meeting its goals (Levi, 2011).
Developing Agility Versus Consistency in the Project
While documentation is important, early documents should be
considered a starting point.
Things change in a project, sometimes drastically. The company

conducting the project can
change direction midstream, or a customer can change
requirements, or a competitor can
enter the project picture unexpectedly, all of which require
agility and responsiveness. Proj-
ects need to have a change order process built into the project
process that allows for the
alteration of project goals, objectives, and other baseline
documents. But the customer, the
sponsor, and top management must approve these changes, and
they must be communicated
clearly to all project players and stakeholders.
Different kinds of projects suggest different approaches to
defining project goals, objectives, and
scope of work. For instance, a research and development project
cannot always define its deliv-
erables, but can define its goal. Its goal might be to design and
develop a new state-of-the-art
product. Thus, in this case, the deliverable is defined at the end
of a project, not at the beginning.
The project itself is intended to define the deliverable, its
requirements, and performance char-
acteristics. Its goal cannot address the deliverable because
requirements are not yet specified. In
this situation the project manager looks for creativity and
innovation in the team. The outcome is
not defined up front, but rather the deliverable—a new
product—evolves out of the project itself.
However, if the project is intended to build a defined facility or
system that has clear require-
ments, the approach is different. In this case the project goal
can address the deliverable, and
the project must be driven by specific criteria and standards.
The project manager would then

not necessarily look for innovation and creativity, but rather
consistency and stability.
A Postscript on Reality Versus Academics
Project management is a practical and action-filled field, and
many of its practitioners are
skeptical of academic and theoretical models. While theory is
important in framing the think-
ing and action in this field, too much dependence on academic
constructs and theory can
undermine the project team. This is especially true if the project
involves action-oriented
professionals and technicians in the engineering, construction,
and systems fields who often
do not take theory seriously (Curlee & Gordon, 2011).
As you gain more experience in project planning and
implementation in the real world, you
will see that projects can be successful using many different
processes and structures. There
is no right way; there is only the way that works in your
organization, in your culture, using
your talent base. There is a tendency in the project management
field, and in related fields of
business and public management, to see theory and academic
standards such as the PMBOK
as the ideal—and the only—framework for interpreting real
experiences. The maturity model
bar81677_04_c04_115-148.indd 141 9/9/14 10:46 AM
Summary and Resources

is a good example of this thinking that establishes a hierarchy
of advancements to a theoreti-
cal pinnacle of performance. The assumption tends to build a
focus on process and activity
rather than results.
Good project results can be achieved in many ways, depending
on the culture of the company,
agency, or organizational unit. Success may depend less on
mirroring an outside view of the
ideal and more on the capacity of the organization and project
team to establish ways of suc-
ceeding that are consistent with its culture.
It is dangerous to measure project success and performance
simply on process alone. Some-
times project teams are capable of delighting customers and
making profits without meeting
company or agency process guidelines and methodology.
Sometimes it is more important
to have a strong leader at the project helm than a project
manager who simply “goes by the
book” and cannot inspire and motivate the team.
Chapter Summary
• Setting project goals involves linking the project to broader
enterprise goals and
stating the kinds of deliverables and outcomes the project is
intended to produce.
• Strategic planning involves looking systematically outside the
organization for
changing markets and new developments in the industry.

• Strategic planning gives the organization a way to decide what
investments in pro-
grams and projects are appropriate to achieve its goals.
• The project charter ensures the support of top management and
the project sponsor.
• The scope of work is a customer-driven document that
addresses project deliver-
ables and the work necessary to complete the project.
• Project metrics are measures of project progress and success
and are set early in the
project to allow monitoring and corrective action.
• Project constraints are critical factors—such as time, budget,
technology, personnel
performance, and changing customer needs—that can inhibit a
project team from
accomplishing project goals and objectives.
Posttest
1. A project team is working to design a running shoe that will
reduce the risk of foot
injury. The company states that it expects to see a 20%
reduction in foot injuries
over 5 years among surveyed users of the new shoe. This
statement is an example of
a project __________.
a. goal
b. objective
c. deliverable
d. outcome

bar81677_04_c04_115-148.indd 142 9/9/14 10:46 AM
2. Projects that fail due to lack of alignment with the
organization’s business goals and
values MOST often do so because __________.
a. the project was never aligned with the overall enterprise
b. the project or the business goals changed at some point
during the process
c. the enterprise’s values and goals were never clearly stated
d. the project was linked to profitability goals but not to a
greater good
3. Which of the following does a company undertake when
developing a strategic plan?
a. identifying relevant market trends and external forces that
will affect the
business
b. compiling the ad hoc personal projects of various top
managers into portfolios
c. confirming and funding the investments in the company’s
portfolios
d. producing statements of work to be done, along with the
boundaries of such
work
4. Project goals are essential for project managers’ day-to-day
work because they
__________.

a. dictate the specific tasks of team members, providing a basis
for accountability
b. outline the measurable achievements expected at each stage
of the project life
cycle
c. document the legitimacy granted to the project by top
management
d. guide managers in making trade-offs between constraints
when necessary
5. Which of the following is NOT a common benefit of drafting
project goals and shar-
ing them with stakeholders?
a. The draft offers a reference point for clarifying the project’s
purpose.
b. The goals provide a starting point for defining the project’s
scope.
c. The goals inform stakeholders of the project manager’s
independent decisions.
d. The document garners commitments from team members and
partners.
6. Project metrics measure progress toward which two basic
goals?
a. cost and schedule requirements
b. organizational strategic goals and project-specific milestones
c. project objectives and final deliverables
d. return on investment (ROI) and market opportunity
7. “The corporation hereby confirms that the project team and
project manager have
its full sponsorship and support.” This wording indicates that
the document that fol-
lows will be a __________.

a. scope of work
b. project vision
c. project goal or project objective
d. project charter
8. A nonprofit agency is working on a project to develop a new
model of service pro-
vision for clients. Which of the following documents describes
the processes the
project team will use?
a. the project charter
b. the project scope of work
c. the project objectives
d. the strategic plan
bar81677_04_c04_115-148.indd 143 9/9/14 10:46 AM
9. In customers’ eyes, what may go furthest to make up for
weaknesses in the project
process?
a. apologies and concessions from top management
b. confidence that they are getting a good deal on the product
or service
c. a feeling that the project team is dedicated and giving its
best to the effort
d. a documented action plan for remediating problems
10. A major purpose of the PMI’s guidelines and certification
program is to __________.

a. demonstrate which of the triple constraints should be
included in a particular
project
b. address the “why” and the “what” of a project plan
c. establish the ideal framework that should be used by project
managers for every
project
d. help project managers find the correct balance between cost,
schedule, and qual-
ity for any project
11. To engage the project team and encourage its commitment
to the project, the team
manager should __________.
a. make sure the project’s goals, expectations, and directions
are clear early on
b. reward team members who seem to work the hardest on the
project
c. allow team members to have ownership of parts of the
project, such as balancing
the constraints
d. inspire team members by letting them represent the project
with top management
12. Which of the following is recommended as a true measure of
a project’s success?
a. The project achieves the ideal set forth in standards such as
the Project Manage-
ment Institute’s.
b. The project succeeds in a way that is consistent with the

organization’s culture.
c. The deliverable is not static but evolves out of the project
process.
d. The project team has successfully followed all guidelines
and required processes.
Review Questions
1. How do you define the project goals when they must satisfy
the customer as well as
top management and the parent organization’s strategic goals?
2. What is involved in preparing the project objectives? Are
they milestones as well?
3. Since the charter is an internal document, an agreement
between top management
and the project team on support for the project, how does the
project manager pre-
pare the charter? Who is involved?
4. How does the project scope of work differ from a statement
of work for a contractor,
and how are they linked?
Think About It! Reflective Exercises to Enhance Your Learning
1. Choose a project and prepare a one-page goal statement.
2. Using the project from exercise 1, prepare a one-page listing
of project objectives,
with quantitative and qualitative measures.
3. Prepare a project charter for this project that is focused on
commissioning the work
and that serves as the internal commitment to project support.
bar81677_04_c04_115-148.indd 144 9/9/14 10:46 AM

Additional Resources
Barkley, B. (2006). Integrated project management. New York:
McGraw-Hill.
Berman, J. (2007). Maximizing project value. New York:
AMACOM.
Cooper, R. (2001). Winning at new products. Jackson, TN:
Basic Books.
David, S., Clutterbuck, D., & Megginson, D. (2014). Advances
in project management:
Insights from beyond goals. PM World Journal, 3(3). Retrieved
from http://pmworldjournal
.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/pmwj20-mar2014-david-
clutterbuck-megginson
-AdvancesSeriesArticle.pdf
Graham, R., & Englund, R. (1997). Creating an environment for
successful projects. Hoboken,
NJ: Jossey-Bass.
Kendall, G., & Rollins, S. (2003). Advanced project portfolio
management and the PMO. Planta-
tion, FL: Ross.
Myer, C. (1993). Fast cycle time: How to align purpose,
strategy, and structure for speed.
Tampa, FL: Free Press.
Versuh, E. (2013). Fast forward MBA in project management: A

practical handbook and refer-
ence (4th ed.). Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.
Answers and Rejoinders to Chapter Pretest
1. False. While deliverables are often thought of as the goals of
a project, the actual
goals are the outcomes the deliverables provide. These include
contributing to the
success of the organization and adding value for the customer.
2. True. The relative weight given to each of the three
constraints (quality, schedule,
and cost) can depend on the specific project goals. For example,
if a project goal
requires a focus on quality, a cost overrun can actually be seen
as an investment.
3. False. Strategic planning and long-term goal setting allow
organizations to change in
productive directions, rather than simply reacting to
opportunities as they arise.
4. False. While project goals should be linked to the
organization’s overall strategies, it
is in the project charter that management’s expectations are
directly set forth.
5. False. Customers sometimes learn new things about the target
deliverable during
the process, necessitating changes in their requirements. These
changes are not
always documented, so the customer’s satisfaction with the
deliverable is often more
important than whether it officially meets the stated
requirements.

6. True. Because end-user clients or customers are directly
involved with the product
or service, they should be considered stakeholders and kept in
mind during planning
and production.
bar81677_04_c04_115-148.indd 145 9/9/14 10:46 AM
http://pmworldjournal.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/pmwj20-
mar2014-david-clutterbuck-megginson-
AdvancesSeriesArticle.pdf
Answers and Rejoinders to Chapter Posttest
1. b. Objectives are measureable indicators of goal
achievement. In this statement, the
shoe company sets out the indicators it will use to determine
whether the project
has been successful.
2. b. When projects fail because of lack of alignment, it is
often because the business
plan or the project changed. This points to the need for
continual monitoring of
projects to check alignment.

3. a. In strategic planning, companies scan the environment for
critical trends and
factors relevant to their intended business, including social and
economic trends,
global market dynamics, and technology developments.
4. d. Project managers must regularly decide between focusing
most on quality, sched-
ule, or cost, and project goals provide a basis for those
decisions.
5. c. Draft project goals resolve remaining project purpose
issues, serve as reference
points for project scope, and encourage team members and
partners to com-
mit. Goals are not created by the project manager alone but
instead involve all
stakeholders.
6. b. Metrics are usually designed to measure both progress in
meeting enterprise or
agency strategic goals and project-specific milestones such as
cost and customer
satisfaction.
7. d. Project charters confirm the enterprise’s support of the
project and the project
team, and they often begin with such wording.
8. b. The project scope of work defines the work required to
complete the project as
well as the technical and professional processes that will be
used.
9. c. Customers often make decisions based on emotions or
relationships rather than

strictly rational factors. Having a good feeling about the team
and the team’s dedi-
cation to the project can help them also feel good about the
overall process.
10. d. The PMI PMBOK guidelines and project manager
certification exist to help project
managers balance the constraints for any project, the “how” of
the project plan.
Balancing these three constraints is a part of every project.
11. a. Team members are more likely to engage and commit
when project goals and
expectations are clarified early on. Rewards should be linked to
specific measur-
able project goals, to avoid the appearance of unfairness. While
all team members
have a role in balancing constraints, ownership of this process
and of working
with top management belong with the project manager.
12. b. Success is not always dependent on closely following a
theoretical ideal framework
or specific guidelines or processes. The ability of the
organization and team to define
success in ways that fit with the organizational culture can be
more important.
Key Terms
constraints The barriers that challenge
a project team in being successful, such as
costs, limited expertise and experience, and
technology designs.
deliverable The actual, tangible product or

service that is produced for the customer.
organizational goal The broad goal of an
organization, such as increasing its market
share in a given market or field.
portfolio A collection of programs and
projects that must be approved and funded
to achieve the company or agency goals and
strategic plans.
bar81677_04_c04_115-148.indd 146 9/9/14 10:46 AM
project management information system
(PMIS) The whole collection of computer
systems and data that are used in managing
a project.
project metrics Measures of project prog-
ress, such as milestones and product perfor-
mance, that indicate advancement toward
achieving project goals.
project outcome The long-term benefits
and costs associated with a project deliver-
able, as opposed to the deliverable itself.
strategic plan Broad, long-term plans that
address how the organization intends to
meet its goals.
bar81677_04_c04_115-148.indd 147 9/9/14 10:46 AM

bar81677_04_c04_115-148.indd 148 9/9/14 10:46 AM
10 Ethics, Values, and Project Management
Marekuliasz/iStock/Thinkstock
Learning Objectives
By the end of this chapter, you will be able to:
• Differentiate between ethical and unethical behavior.
• Describe the Project Management Institute code of ethics and
professional conduct.
• Identify ways to promote ethical conduct.
• Discuss how to address ethical violations.
• Analyze common ethical issues in project management.
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bar81677_10_c10_297-326.indd 297 9/11/14 10:38 AM
Introduction
Pretest
1. Unethical behavior violates laws about how business should
be conducted.
a. True
b. False
2. Project managers who behave ethically will only accept
assignments they are qualified
enough and experienced enough to take on.
a. True
b. False
3. When employees receive training in ethics, organizations
rarely need to institute rules

and regulations about ethical behavior.
a. True
b. False
4. Project team members should avoid personal contacts with
members from a competing
organization.
a. True
b. False
5. Embezzlement of funds is the most common unethical
behavior found in project
management.
a. True
b. False
Answers can be found at the end of the chapter.
Introduction
Once in a while we read about a case of bad or illegal behavior
in business or government.
These are usually situations in which people take advantage of
their position and authority to
steal resources and lie about it or take advantage of privileged
information to advance their
own fortunes. These kinds of scandals seem to abound in
government agencies and lately in
financial institutions on Wall Street. What is common in all
these cases is behavior that almost
anyone would term unethical and sometimes illegal as well. But
not all cases are clear-cut. For
instance, if you have experienced a firm “bending” the truth
slightly in its favor to make the
news more acceptable to its stockholders, is this unethical or
just “business as usual”?

What is ethics, and why is it important in project management?
Ethics is the study and prac-
tice of “right” and “wrong” behavior. Ethical behavior in the
business and public sector man-
agement world has to do with standards of conduct that
demonstrate integrity, responsibility,
morality, honesty, and reliability. Conduct that does not meet
standards, such as lying to a
customer, withholding information, or embezzling company
resources, is termed unethical
and can be illegal or simply unfair.
Many organizations publish codes of conduct to promote
integrity in the workplace and to
offset the tendencies of employees who might pursue their own
personal or financial inter-
ests rather than organization or customer interests. A code of
conduct sets ethical and
H1
sec_n sec_t
bar81677_10_c10_297-326.indd 298 9/11/14 10:38 AM
Section 10.1 Differentiating Between Ethical and Unethical
Behavior
performance standards for how employees are to behave in an
organization and how they are
to relate to each other and the customer. Further complicating
the issue of ethics in project
management is the fact that ethical standards are constantly
changing with demographics

and societal change.
This chapter addresses the increasingly important topic of ethics
and values in project man-
agement. In recent years this subject has become more relevant
and even urgent, due to
unethical practices in managing financial products, which have
led to fraud and abuse in the
financial and security industry in the United States. These
issues have led to increased gov-
ernment regulations and standards and brought more attention to
the integrity of business
transactions, including project management systems and
decisions.
The challenge in this area is that most ethical issues occur on
the periphery; that is, these
behaviors can be considered unethical by some but are seen as
clever business actions by oth-
ers. Thus, the issue becomes how to judge bad behavior but also
how to develop professionals
in the field who are accountable for their actions and govern
their own behavior.
It is important to think critically about ethics because, although
it may be easy to determine
whether a given action is unethical based on personal views,
there are multiple viewpoints
involved in most cases. Statements of ethical standards can be
personal, professional, corpo-
rate, or industry-wide and may not be consistent with each
other. This is why it is important
that the employing organization and professional associations
like the Project Management
Institute set the standard for ethics through a code of conduct,
rather than leaving it to indi-

vidual discretion. The more rules there are in this field, the
more likely it is that behavior in
project management and the business as a whole will comply.
10.1 Differentiating Between Ethical and Unethical Behavior
You might think that it is easy to see the difference between
ethical and unethical behavior,
but sometimes there is a fine line between the two. This is
because, unlike the decision on
whether an action is legal—with the courts available to resolve
differences—the decision on
ethics is largely subjective and personal. This is because ethics
is a moral question, not a legal
one. You can behave in an unethical way but not violate the
law, and you can violate the law
without being unethical.
Ethical Behavior
Ethical behavior meets values, or standards, regarding the way
employees work together and
with stakeholders in the project management system. Ethics is a
behavioral standard that
states, “We have integrity and this is the way we do business
around here.”
Ethics refers to a societal or cultural standard of behavior that
goes beyond the law. Ethical
behavior is consistent with the prevailing culture and values.
These values can be articulated
in professional standards as well as in organizational standards.
They typically promote con-
duct in the workplace that demonstrates civility, honesty,
respect, trust, and, in general, doing
the “right” thing. In project management, ethics refers to
behavior that meets professional

bar81677_10_c10_297-326.indd 299 9/11/14 10:38 AM
Section 10.1 Differentiating Between Ethical and Unethical
Behavior
project management standards as well as organizational
standards in planning and imple-
menting projects.
While ethics can be promoted at the organizational level as one
standard, each individual on
a project team will have personal views of ethical behavior that
may or may not be consistent
with organizational or professional standards. For instance, to
one person, misrepresenting
the status of a project task to avoid the appearance of personal
failure is an unethical action.
For another, this activity would be considered routine evidence
of human nature.
Unethical Behavior
Unethical behavior in a project team or a stakeholder
community does not often violate any
laws but can have major implications for the success of a
project. This is because if there is no
trust and reliability in the project team and people working
together cannot be counted on to
be honest, the project will suffer.
There is an important difference between illegal and unethical
behavior. Behaviors that vio-
late laws are considered illegal acts and therefore can be

prosecuted by law enforcement.
For instance, an employee who is guilty of theft, corruption,
fraud, or embezzlement violates
the law and can go to jail for this behavior. All illegal behavior
in the workplace is essentially
unethical behavior because laws set ethical standards for
society, but not all unethical behav-
ior is illegal. The concept of illegality is objective and
measurable according to the law, but
the concept of ethics is often subjective because laws do not
always apply, and judgments are
made on a case-by-case basis.
There are many opportunities and temptations in conducting a
business or agency project to
do what most people would judge to be the wrong thing instead
of the right thing. The wrong
thing can border on an ethical violation, whereas the right thing
is more likely to reflect values
based on honesty, responsibility, fairness, and trust.
The subject is particularly important in the project management
field since planning and
implementing a project involves the stewardship of people and
resources, and making diffi-
cult decisions, sometimes under pressure, that can have major
impacts not only on the project
but on personal careers. If there is not a trusting relationship
between the project team, its
customers, and stakeholders, there may be subtle ethical issues
at work as well. Projects open
up a wide variety of opportunities to violate ethical standards,
from basic abuse of resources
to intentionally misrepresenting the status of a project or failing
to report problems.

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