What Are Project Objectives? What Every PM Needs to Know

Adriana Girdler

A simple breakdown of project objectives for new project managers Are you new to project management and wondering what project objectives are? This is an …

A simple breakdown of project objectives for new project managers

Are you new to project management and wondering what project objectives are?

This is an important topic for every project manager to understand. If you’re not clear on what project objectives are and how to approach them, this simple breakdown will teach you what you need to know.

Project Objectives Definition

Project objectives are specific and measurable. They must meet the time, budget, and quality requirements of the project.

Your project objective is your scope statement. It’s specific and lays things out in a measurable way.

Don’t confuse a project objective with business objectives. A project objective is specific to the project that you’re going to be delivering, while a business objective is more high-level and describes the overall vision of the organization. Your project objective probably fits into a business objective, so it’s important that your project objective is specific and clear.

Purpose of a Project Objective

The purpose of a project objective is to lay out what you and your team are delivering on.

Your project objective helps you build your project plan, lay expectations, and provide guidance to your Steering Committee and those outside the project team.

It helps you keep the project in check so that you don’t have scope creep (which happens when people keep adding expectations to your project). So, your project objective (or scope statement) is there to lay out the boundaries and guidelines of your project.

Project Objective Example

If you’re new to project management and want to understand project objectives even better, I’ve created a video where I not only explain what project objectives are, but also give an example that will help you understand project objectives so you can apply this to your project.

Want to hear the example? Just follow me over to YouTube and I’ll tell you about it there!

I really hope that you found this helpful – and if you did, it would mean so much to me if you would share it on your social media.

Meanwhile, if you really are committed to mastering your next project, do consider taking my SLAY Project Management online course where I show you step-by-step how to successfully manage a project, plus you get access to every template you will need, along with detailed video instructions on how to fill them out.


I really hope that you found this helpful – and if you did, it would mean so much to me if you would share it on your social media.

Meanwhile, if you really are committed to mastering your next project, do consider taking my SLAY Project Management online course where I show you step-by-step how to successfully manage a project, plus you get access to every template you will need, along with detailed video instructions on how to fill them out.

-Adriana

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Adriana Girdler is a project manager, productivity specialist, entrepreneur, professional speaker, facilitator, visioning wizard, and author. As President of CornerStone Dynamics, Adriana is one of Canada’s prominent business productivity and project management specialists—helping both individuals and businesses do what they do, only better. She is a certified master black belt lean six sigma with over 20 years’ experience improving how companies work.

She also holds both PMP (project management professional) and CET (certified engineering technologist) designations. She’s a Tedx speaker, as well as a HuffPost and Thrive Global contributor. She has been interviewed on Global, CBC, CTV, CHCH, 680News Radio, Newstalk 1010, Sirius XM and published in the Globe and Mail and numerous industry magazines. WANT ADRIANA'S FREE ONLINE TRAINING? In 45 min, learn Adriana's 5 project management secrets she use on EVERY project. Sign up for the Free Webinar here: THE FAB FIVE FUNDAMENTALS OF PROJECT MANAGEMENT

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