■ Performance will be up to standard if proposals for new
product development are fully supported by data provided
from properly conducted product research, market research
and product testing programmes, and are justified by
meeting return on investment criteria policies.
Define projects
Projects may already have been defined as part of a team, depart-
mental or functional plan, and when setting individual object-
ives it is simply necessary to agree on the part that the individual
will play and the contribution he or she is expected to make.
Alternatively, projects may be linked to one or more specific
accountabilities or they may be related generally to the overall
purpose of the job.
Objective setting for projects will specify the required outcome
of the project (results to be achieved), its budget and its
timescale.
When a number of projects have to be undertaken by the
jobholder, agreement should be reached on priorities.
Project or task achievement objectives may be expressed in
terms such as:
■ Introduce new stock control system by 30 November.
■ All employees to have received training on the implementa-
tion of equal opportunities policies by 1 June.
■ New distribution centre to be operational by 1 March.
■ Reorganization of finance department to be completed by 1
October.
For each project or task it would also be necessary to set out the
success criteria, for example:
Introduce a new stock control system by 30 November to provide
more accurate, comprehensive and immediate information on stock
and thus enable inventory targets to be achieved without prejudicing
production flows or customer service levels.252 How to be an Even Better Manager