Pinnacle Strategies

Why Projects Run Late

Where Are You Heading?

Vague project goals cause scope creep and missed dates. The ODSC tool defines Objectives, Deliverables, and Success Criteria stakeholders agree on.

By Christoph Lenhartz

Have you ever worked on a project that didn’t have a clear goal? By “clear goal” I mean one that is fully defined, stable, lacks any ambiguity and is shared among the relevant stakeholders.

Why is this so important? Can’t we just start with, say, “The goal is to deliver machine X”?

Unfortunately, such vaguely defined goals leave a lot of room for interpretation and chances are different people will come up with different interpretations to fill their perceived void. Others get lost and lose their motivation.

In our practice we often find that many problems in project planning and execution have to do with the lack of a clearly defined goal, turning a project into a plaything of change requests, complete “rescoping”, unclear priorities, demand management and similar things. How are you supposed to deliver on time, within budget and scope under such conditions?

To avoid these issues, start with a clear definition of the project’s goal that stakeholders agree on. A simple tool helps: ODSC, for Objectives, Deliverables, and Success Criteria, the three goal dimensions. It is powerful for verbalizing and agreeing on a project’s target.

Who counts as a “stakeholder”? Go wide rather than narrow and involve project leaders, managers, members, senior management, even customers and suppliers.

Objectives

The first dimension states the purpose or objectives of the project. Why is it important to the stakeholders? What problem or demand is to be addressed by the project? Would the objective solve this problem or meet the demand? Always take the throughput (performance) of your organization into account.

A discussion will reveal many different facets. In new product development, these may range from turning a technological breakthrough into a product, to increased profit margins, to opportunities for fostering the corporate image. To ensure a broad perspective and consensus from all stakeholders, you should look for six perspectives: financial, process, employees, customers, corporate culture/philosophy, and corporate social responsibility. So the objectives of our example may be:

  • Make profit
  • Show technical competence to the market
  • Give project members an opportunity to learn
  • Provide the customer with a machine that matches their requirements
  • Improve project management capabilities to always deliver on time
  • Consume little energy in the process

Deliverables

This dimension defines what you need to produce as a project output in order to achieve the objectives. They are the tangible (product) and/or intangible (solution, service, change) outcomes to be created by the project. Consider quantitative, qualitative elements and scope. The deliverables bring the objectives to life; they are the necessary conditions, means or enablers of the objectives. It is important to not confuse objectives with deliverables. Some deliverables for our example:

  • Higher profit
  • Machine X
  • Manuals
  • Shipping material
  • Project members with better understanding of and experience in the technology
  • A project plan that can be reused

Success Criteria

The last dimension defines the relevant and non-trivial, measurable criteria for success. When would the project be considered successful? What must it not violate or affect negatively? Is a time commitment involved (only for the final delivery, challenge any internal milestones)? What evidence-based measurement criteria can be used? Some example success criteria:

  • Machine X is delivered to the customer according to specifications by the agreed date
  • Use no overtime
  • Profit of 40%
  • Machine X produces 50% more than the competitor’s model
  • Submitted five patent applications
  • Produce 10% less CO₂
  • Customer has no change requests
  • CEO says: “I am very proud of this team.”

Put ODSC to Work

ODSC act as your guiding star across the project ocean. They define the end state to be attained. Everything you do (all tasks) support creating this end state. If this is true, then missing, faulty or incomplete ODSC are a cause for rework, scope creep, missed due dates, and budget overruns.

Start using ODSC right away to:

  • Clearly distinguish between means and objectives
  • Clarify success criteria and measure success based on evidence that the objectives have actually been reached
  • Align ODSC elements amongst project stakeholders
  • Increase success, fun, and learning on your projects

Don’t forget to share the ODSC in prominent places in your project environment, maybe on large wall charts and on every project document and plan.