In a recent internal discussion with one of my senior colleagues, Per Svanberg, we had a discussion of what kind of objectives you may set before you start a project. The content of this discussion could be summarized as follows:
“Running a project without clear objectives is like driving your car to a meeting blindfold. You might get there by luck but it will be painful and there will be casualties.” Richard Jones, Project Management Survival.
Running a Sourcing project is no different from any other project in this respect. You need clear and complete objectives to do it successfully. There area a number of ways of developing project objectives to try to ensure they are as complete as necessary.
One common way of doing it is to do as Rudyard Kipling once wrote; “I keep six honest serving men; they taught me all I knew. Their names are “What”, “Why”, “When”, “How”, “Where” and “Who”. Those six words are a complete way to consider an objectives statement. Apply the following questions to your objectives and you will have come a long way if you can answer them all.
- Why are we doing this project?
- What will we do during the project?
- How will we do it?
- Who will do it?
- Where should we do it?
- When will it be done?
In order to make it even cleverer, you may add the “S.M.A.R.T-test” to ensure your objectives are:
- Specific
- Measurable
- Accountable/Attainable/Achievable
- Realistic and
- Timed
Simply recognizing S.M.A.R.T and you are most likely off to a great start with your Sourcing project!
