The most appropriate procedures for achieving the project's objectives are defined in the general planning phase ('see 'Choosing a methodology'). During the detailed planning phase these procedures will be refined and divided into time-slots. The description of all the necessary steps needed to achieve a particular project objective is called a strategy. Once the strategic steps have been decided they can then be put into practice. A measureis a concrete action or activity with a defined timeframe which is under the responsibility of one of the team members. These concrete and detailed implementation measures cannot generally be planned for the whole length of a project. Therefore the detailed planning phase will only fine-tune measures for the first implementation phase. All subsequent steps will be specified at the interface ('milestone') of one project phase with the next (see 'First stage' and 'Milestone meetings').
When defining strategies and measures, care must be taken to make them compatible as well as effect-oriented and goal-oriented.
- You prefer continuous (reactive) planning during execution to strategic planning because you think that this is the only way of working flexibly.
- Your whole project has been planned in relation to a particular method or even a specific measure (e.g. launching conferences) and you are trying to fit your objectives to your pre-determined procedure.
In order to plan, manage and evaluate your project in a goal-oriented way you must clearly distinguish between objectives on the one hand and strategies and measures on the other. In so doing you will not run the risk of lowering your expectations as soon as your strategies and measures do not yield the expected results, but you will adjust the strategies and measures and try to achieve your initially set objectives by some other method. If your objectives, strategies and measures are compatible with each other you will also work more efficiently.
When planning your project make sure you do not mix up objectives (what needs changing?), strategies (how is this change achieved?) and measures (which concrete steps are necessary?). Define your objectives without fixing strategies beforehand. Consider the advantages and disadvantages of different strategies and make a final check if each planned measure serves a certain strategy and if each strategy in turn serves a certain objective.
- Have you defined your objectives first, then your strategies and finally your measures?
- Are objectives, strategies and measures well concerted and compatible?
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