write business objectives

Contact sales
Start free trial

How to Write Business Objectives in a Project

At some level, every business has goals and business objectives; even if they haven’t been spelled out, they are somewhere in the back of someone’s mind. Successful organizations often have clearly defined and consistent goal-and-objective setting processes that are a regular part of their operations.

Business skills are important for project managers. Organizations that don’t have an established goal-setting process often find themselves lurching from project to project with no clear direction, taking what the market offers and always facing a certain frustration that their business isn’t moving in a way that they want it to.

This difference has always existed. But our business metabolism is more rapid, causing change to come more rapidly. And the competition for attention and sales is more difficult. This makes setting better goals and objectives an imperative.

These goals and objectives can’t be pie-in-the-sky wishful thinking either. To be successful, our objectives have to be tied to our long-term strategy with an emphasis on short-term results. Most importantly these objectives are built around creating real value for our customers.

For a lot of us that have struggled with goals and objectives, we know it is something we are supposed to do. But the path forward can often feel a little confusing. By asking the right questions and emphasizing the right things, you and your organization can create a goal setting environment that pushes you towards your goals.

Objectives Start with Value

Management consultant Peter Drucker said, “The only goal of a business is to create a customer.” You do that by creating value that your prospects are willing to pay for. For many organizations in the modern economy, defining their value has become incredibly difficult as new business models attack our business models, pressuring our pricing, and challenging us to figure out what we do well. This ends up causing us to leave our businesses open to the whims and fancy of a market that is fickle and wants everything for free or less.

Everything starts with value.

Here’s a question to ask to help figure out what value means to you: “How do we change the organizations we work with?” This question is simple and can be powerful. It also tends to create a lot of angst. Because dealing with value directly has become uncomfortable for many. Simply, the question forces a choice about the direction of your enterprise.

In a nutshell, that’s the question at the center of setting goals and objectives. What is the value we want to deliver? How do we want our business to grow? This simple but complex question has many layers because we don’t exist in a one-dimensional world, there are layers that we need to think about when we think about value. As you think about the value you are trying to build upon and deliver, and how to state it in a way that allows you to organize your thinking, you want to consider how this value impacts the human, the economic and the society or community that you exist in.

You need to think about value not only as something to be delivered to your customers but as a holistic part of your business and make decisions about how you will deliver upon each of these in your own way. To clarify what this will look like, think about a startup: they are going to have goals that are likely to include speed to market, and those kinds of goals will mean that some of the human aspects of your projects will impact certain potential team members differently than others. This means that if you are a startup with a lot of people with families, you are likely to have to scale back on something or build a different team.

The same situation applies if you happen to be involved with a large-scale government project. In this situation, the economic issues are likely to be much different because you are going to be dealing with a lot of money and, more importantly, a lot of taxpayer money. These situations will make your economic and societal concerns more pressing because the watchdogs and reporting requirements are l different than in the startup.

In both circumstances, you start with value. But the path that you take to get there is going to change depending on the nature of the project. This is all about making decisions and choices. Because there aren’t any one-size-fits-all projects that exist in today’s business environment. How do you begin to uncover value? By asking the questions. They will differ depending on your organization, but here are a few to get you started:

Understanding value is the basis and the jumping-off point for better business objectives. Next comes goals that are built off of this value.

Without Goals, You Can’t Set Objectives

You need to learn about business strategies . Value is the foundation of your business. You have to know where you are going in order to take the proper steps to get there. After value, you need good goals. Goals are simply a desired result that you want to achieve. In the context of setting better objectives, they are essential because without clear goals you will be unable to set better objectives.

I’ll explain it like this. Goals tell the story of where you are going. Objectives are steps you take to get there. So you need to make your goals clear, measurable, and relevant. There are many ways to set goals. We’ve probably all heard about SMART goals , which are specific, measurable, achievable, results-focused, and time bound. You could do worse than that to set your goals. The model I often us goes by the acronym ACES. As it applies to you, ACES will look like this:

The big key here is to make sure that you take your value and create goals that are in line with that value. Maybe you want to grow your business in a specific vertical. Knowing this, you can set specific goals about where you want to see the business in a quarter or a year. It is these specific goals that a tool like ACES allows you to set that enable objectives to be a weapon to drive your business forward.

Objectives Are The Actions

If you’ve followed along so far, you realize that we are trying to get you to a point where you are setting better business objectives. Not just so you are more efficient at setting goals and objectives or aligning your project to business strategy , but so you are in a position to take better action and be more effective as an organization.

Another way of putting it, we don’t want to just do stuff, we want to do the right stuff.

Think of this as training for a marathon. Value is the idea that you want to run the thing. Goals are the race you want to run. Objectives are the plan you put in place to make sure you get to your goal, like a training plan for your business.

To set the best objectives possible, you need to take these steps:

Setting business objectives is about setting the stage for taking more effective action. This is a process that should be at the top of your mind for you at every step of the process because many businesses take action, but the real winners take the right actions.

A project is about fulfilling business objectives. It’s about action. But without a tool to control that action, it can get out of hand quickly. ProjectManager is a cloud-based software that has all the features you need to plan, monitor and report on your project in real-time. See how it can help you meet those business objectives by taking this free 30-day trial.

Click here to browse ProjectManager's free templates

Deliver your projects on time and under budget

Start planning your projects.

How Consultants Write Business Objectives

How to Remove Backup Software From an External Drive

What is a business plan template, how to connect my android tablet to a homegroup.

Consultants help business owners and entrepreneurs develop the business objectives necessary to achieve the organization's service, social, profit and growth goals by interviewing the principal leaders. Talking through the vision for an organization helps the leaders vocalize where they want the organization to go. A business objective provides a specific, measurable, realistic, action-oriented and time sensitive statement that, once achieved, propels the organization closer toward meeting one of its goals. The business' goals and objectives form the foundation of its business plan. Business owners can follow the same process on their own to develop workable goals, objectives and actions to help their business succeed.

Short-Term Objectives

List the short-term objectives for each of your business goals. These are the major milestones you'll need to achieve to reach the goal. Short-term refers to one-year goals and objectives. For instance, if the goal is to open a real estate business, some short-term objectives include obtaining a realtor's license, renting office space and purchasing a computer and MLS subscription.

Long-term Objectives

List the objectives for the business' long-term goals. Long-term refers to three to five year goals and objectives. Following the real estate start-up example, these may include sales goals and objectives in terms of number of properties sold or dollars, and opening a second office location. One objective for meeting a sales goal of 24 homes in the second year of business would be advertising to reach a larger clientele.

Action Plans

Develop the action plan for each objective. An action plan breaks the objective down into small, manageable tasks you can accomplish in a few days to a week. For instance, one task in obtaining a realtor's license is to research training programs and another is apply for the programs.

Implementation

Act on the plan. Consultants may assist with implementation, such as helping the client company set up its virtual office or computer network but, the majority of implementation falls to the business owner and employees. Start with the first action to meet the first objective of the one-year goal and work your way down the list, in order.

Tutor2U: Strategy: Objectives

Carlie Lawson is a hazards consultant, writer, and model living in Oklahoma. Her articles have appeared in "Keysian," "Movitly," "Weather and Society Watch," "Journal of Regional Studies," "Oklahoma College Press," and "JollyJo.tv." She holds Bachelor of Arts degrees in journalism and mass communications, and in film and video studies, and a Master of Regional and City Planning from the University of Oklahoma.

How to remove unwanted pre-installed programs on a sony vaio, how to fix the startup of an acer aspire one, how to reinstall thunderbird, how to stop internet explorer from starting automatically with a dial up connection, how to remove registry entries for msconfig start up programs, how to run startup scripts in xp, how to set up a bluetooth device on an acer notebook, how to run powershell script on startup in windows 7, how to change the password to a westell router, most popular.

Business First Family Business, Accounting, Finance, Investing, Marketing And Management

How to write business objectives that yield better results.

Updated by: Business First Family July 6, 2017 in Management

Business objectives are specific results that an individual or organization strive for within a given time-frame. With proper planning, objectives can help business owners develop strategies to achieve these goals. If you are a business owner, it is important to take time to outline specific objectives for your company. To learn more about how you can optimize your business objectives, keep reading below.

Quantitative Vs. Qualitative

The first thing that you should decide when writing business objectives is whether your goals are quantitative or qualitative. Quantitative goals are driven by numbers, while qualitative results may be less tangible. Regardless, your objective should lead to an observable end. Whether you want to increase productivity, which can be reviewed by numbers, or improve the office environment for your employees, there must be a way to understand if you were successful. For example, a courier service might track the delivery times of packages. Knowing whether your goal will be quantitative or qualitative ahead of time will help you establish a plan.

Popular Types Of Objectives

The next thing that you should consider is what category your objective falls under. There are many different types of business objectives. Primarily, you should try to choose between economic, social, global, national or personal goals. This will help you establish what your area of focus will be. For example, an economic objective suggested by Proliant will be centered upon your business finances and profits. With that in mind, you can consider what specific departments will play a large part in the process. Then, you can set up your strategies for working with them to achieve these objectives.

Following The SMART Plan

If you want to make your business objectives as successful as possible, it is important to follow the SMART plan. Many business owners may be familiar with this tactic. SMART stands for specific, measurable, attainable, relevant and timely. By adhering your objectives to this list, you can make them much more meaningful. If you want to ensure that your business goals are met, it is important to take on a SMART plan.

Consult With Employees

Finally, another great way to help ensure that your business objectives are successful is to consult with employees. Your employees can add a lot of value to your process. If you are struggling to decide what objectives your business needs, you should ask for their opinion. Additionally, they can help you build a strategy around any goals that you have in mind. It can also help team members decide what to go to college for to improve the company. Working collaboratively with your employees is a great way to achieve.

By following these four tips, you can create attainable objectives that will improve your business. Choosing between quantitative and qualitative goals is an essential way to prepare for the process. Additionally, it is important to follow the SMART plan in order to create realistic goals. If you have trouble coming up with your objectives, picking a category or working with your employees is a great start. With careful consideration, you can create achievable business objectives that will improve your organization.

Image from http://www.ecbcouncil.com/index.php/about-ecbc/objectives

How to Write a Business Plan Using SMART Objectives

Writing a business plan with SMART objectives helps to keep the business plan short, to the point, and focused on real business objectives.

What Are SMART Objectives?

Using SMART business objectives to put together a business plan can make it very specific to what you are trying to achieve. Although the resulting plan might lack some of the verbal niceties usually associated with a regular business plan, this might not be a bad thing!

Using SMART objectives in writing a business plan enables you to come up with a business plan that can fit onto one page. Now that is focused and to the point! It should also enable you to relate your business planning directly to your marketing.

This style of business plan need only have five sections:

The idea is to concentrate your business planning to around ten key objectives.

Your Vision is statement of two or three sentences that encapsulates how you see your business developing in the next three to five years.

For example, let’s assume you are just starting up a cabinet making business.

Your Vision could read: Within the next five years, grow Cabs-R-Us into a successful local limited company with annual revenue of £2m, providing top quality bespoke kitchens, bedrooms and furniture.

Your Mission could be: The best in bespoke kitchens and bedrooms.

The key to this style of business plan, though, is the relationship of the aims to the strategies and the objectives.

Let’s dream up three sample Aims for our Cabs-R-Us business.

Although these may be admirable aims, they are actually not very useful. How will you know when you’ve achieved them? How will you make them happen?

To deal with the second question first, the next section of your business plan is Strategies . The idea is to build strategies from your aims. There may not be a complete one-to-one match; there may be some overlap; but you will be able to build your strategy from the aims. For example:

It can be seen how these three strategies could help to improve the three aims, but these are not yet SMART. By using SMART Objectives we can get to a point where we know what we’re doing and have a very clear idea of whether we have achieved our aims.

Although I may not be an expert in cabinet making you can see how these objectives are SMART. They are all specific, with a singular purpose; they are all measurable, by having solid numbers in place; they are (hopefully) achievable, given the work need to make them happen; they are (again, hopefully) realistic (it might not, for example, be realistic to say “double turnover in six months – much though we might like to!); and finally, they all have a time scale against which they should be measured.

Writing your strategy into SMART business objectives in your business plan is a good way of giving yourself well-defined and focused targets towards which you can target your marketing, which should help to propel your business forward.

IMAGES

Business objectives stock illustration. Illustration of anytime
6 Objectives
Business Objectives
objectives of business
Business Objectives Matrix
PPT

COMMENTS

How to Write Business Objectives in a Project
Successful organizations often have clearly defined and consistent goal-and-objective setting processes that are a regular part of their operations. To be successful, our objectives have to be tied to our
How To Write Business Objectives (With Examples)
Writing business objectives can help you not only articulate the ultimate objectives for an organization but also create a strategy for reaching them. They often indicate a specific period of time and a way of
How Consultants Write Business Objectives
Consultants help business owners and entrepreneurs develop the business objectives necessary to achieve the organization's service, social, profit and growth goals by interviewing the principal leaders
How To Write Objectives For Your Business Plan
As a small business owner, setting objectives is a key part of your company's success—both now and in the future. Business objectives not only help you envision the results you hope your company will achieve
How To Write Business Objectives That Yield Better Results
Business objectives are specific results that an individual or organization strive for within a given time-frame. If you are a business owner, it is important to take time to outline specific objectives for your company
A SMART Way Write Better Professional Objectives
What is a professional objective? Professional objectives appear on professional documents, such as résumés, or they may be used to direct a personal career plan
How to Write a Business Plan Using SMART Objectives
Writing a business plan with SMART objectives helps to keep the business plan short, to the point, and focused on real business objectives. Using SMART objectives in writing a business plan enables you to come