Datasheet

The following are some sample goal and scope statements:
Project A:
n
Goal: To locate a facility for our warehouse.
n
Scope: By October 15, to find a modern warehouse facility of approximately 5,200
square feet, with a lease cost of no more than $3,000 per month, in a location that is con-
venient to our main office.
Project B:
n
Goal: To launch a new cleaning product.
n
Scope: Includes test-marketing the product, designing packaging, and creating and
launching an advertising campaign. The launch must be completed before the end of the
third quarter of 2007 and can cost no more than $750,000.
Notice that the second scope statement designates major phases of the project (conducting test
marketing, designing packaging, and creating an ad campaign). This statement provides a starting
point for planning the tasks in the project. In fact, you may eventually decide to break this project
into smaller projects of conducting test marketing, designing packaging, and launching an adver-
tising campaign. Writing the scope of the project may encourage you to redefine both the goal and
the scope to make the project more manageable.
Keep your goal and scope statements brief. If you can’t explain your goal or scope in a
sentence or two, your project may be overly ambitious and complex. Consider breaking
the project into smaller projects.
Writing a simple goal and scope statement ensures that you’ve gathered key data — such as deliver-
ables, timing, and budget — and that you and your team agree on the focus of everyone’s efforts.
These activities are likely to occur before you ever open a Microsoft Project file.
Planning
When you understand the goal and scope of a project, you can begin to work backward to deter-
mine the steps that you need to take to reach the goal. Look for major phases first, and then break
each phase into a logical sequence of steps.
Planning for resources is one aspect of planning the entire project. Resources can include equip-
ment of limited availability, materials, individual workers, and groups of workers. Don’t forget to
take into account various schedules issues, such as overtime, vacations, and resources that are
shared among projects. Time, money, and resources are closely related: You may be able to save
time with more resources, but resources typically cost money. You need to understand the order of
priority among time, quality, and money.
TIP
TIP
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The Nature of Projects
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