Collecting information

1. Tool C1SMART
Five basic rules of planning a feasible project
SMART stands for objectives to be
• Specific
• Measurable
• Attainable
• Relevant
• Timely
SMART originally is a tool used in a Management by Objectives
framework within enterprises. Its intention lies in making sure that
people only promise things they can keep.
Projects are the pursuit of defined objectives in a defined time span
with defined resources. Everything in projects depends on realistic
planning of objectives and milestones which allows interpreting
SMART as the five basic rules of planning a feasible project. Projects
which are not well defined in these terms may easier be turned
down in a priori evaluations, e.g. expert panels deciding on grants.
In a wider context, SMART can constitute the five basic rules of ef-
fective and efficient communication on co-operation, i.e. of plan-
ning collaboration in a context marked by a division of labour, some-
thing like the five commandments behind Tool A1 (To-do form).
SPECIFIC
means that the purposes and aims of a project should be well de-
fined in their delimitation against what is and what is not to be
achieved and done. Specific, as the opposite of general, means pre-
cise. A project whose main target cannot be formulated in one brief
sentence or question is not well conceived.
MEASURABLE
means that objectives and milestones on the way to achieving them
should be measurable in terms of quantities, distances, frequencies.
Only a project providing such data will be well defined in terms of
• how to plan actions and procedures,
• how to design a sequence of milestones and deliverables leading
to the final product/s or result/s, and
• how to monitor, measure, and record performance.
Cf. Tool A1: To-do
form
21.07.2008, 14:05:27

2. 2/2
If you cannot provide quantified achievement measures it is highly
probable that the project’s objectives are not precise and still too
unspecific.
ATTAINABLE
(sometimes also called <achievable>) means that in view of context
conditions, available resources and time given project objectives
should be realistic. Ambitious aims are welcome, but unrealistic
planning will reduce your and your team’s motivation very soon.
Therefore, project aims should be well founded and reasoned and
possibly be based on analytical evidence.
RELEVANT
means that the achievements and problem solutions announced by
the project need to be well explained and reasoned regarding their
importance and value to defined stakeholders in the project con-
text, i.e. at least, in the view of the perceived objectives of those
who are expected to provide resources for carrying through the pro-
ject, be it management, a programme, a government department or
whoever. But also other relevant stakeholders’ views and interests
should be observed having in mind that they are not necessarily con-
gruent.
Cf. Tool D2:
The five satisfac-
tions (stakeholder
analysis)
Obviously, also the team or consortium implementing the project is
an important stakeholder. A project should consider the specific
outcome expectations and input potentials concerning each consor-
tium partner or team member. In terms of co-ordination or leader-
ship for individual work packages as well as in terms of valorisation
of the products and outcomes, the project structure should mirror
these strengths and weaknesses.
TIMELY
means, by definition, that any project is marked by a beginning and
an end. The same applies to any sub-process within a project.
Any usable and performable objective must have a clear timeframe
of when it should start and/or when it should end. Without having a
timeframe specified, it is practically impossible to say if the objec-
tive/s and milestones are met or not. Hence, scheduling a project in
terms of time is the necessary correlate to fixing attainable meas-
urements to specific aims.