2 Simple Ways to Clarify Purpose for Your Project

The purpose of this blog post is to cover refining a purpose statement to ensure it is neither too narrow nor too broad and is just right for your project’s success.  

Purpose is covered in the LEAD domain under the Motive segment in the MPM model.

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Purpose is in the LEAD domain and in the Motive segment

Refine your Purpose Statement

Your purpose statement provides the stakeholders, yourself, and your team, your starting point for the project.

There are two ways to clarify your purpose, either narrow it or make it broader.

If the purpose statement is narrower

If statement about the reason for doing your project is narrower, then it leaves out decision options that might need to be researched and analyzed early in the project.

A narrower purpose statement by its nature also has a bit of the solution within it.  

Rather than describing a situation and a bigger vision for a solution, a narrower statement states part of the end-state, as if it is a foregone conclusion. Which in some cases may be appropriate. 

A narrower statement may be fine, but then it also defines a set of measurable objectives that directly relate to that specific end-state and this precludes looking at broader options to satisfy a bigger vision.

The advantage of a narrower vision is that the objectives may be easier to define, as they are going to be very specific to the solution.  

If everything works out as planned, the objectives are also going to be easier to measure and the confirmation of project completion will be more straightforward.

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There are advantages and disadvantages to both a narrow and broad purpose, which is a reason or overall direction for the project

The disadvantage of a narrower purpose is if the project outcomes do not work out to the satisfaction of the customer, it could mean restarting the project from the beginning, re-engaging the stakeholders in a new vision, and leading to possible additional costs, time, and effort.

If the purpose statement is broader

If the purpose is broader, painting the picture of a bigger solution vision then it leaves more options on the table for analysis during the early stages of the project.

A broader purpose leads to broader objectives that may be more difficult to define and may be more centered around measuring satisfaction and behaviour rather than specific tangible outcomes.

The advantage of a broader vision, is of course, more options to explore and more possibilities to satisfy the customer.  

The disadvantage of a broader purpose and broader objectives is potential cost overruns with the time taken to explore too many options.  The project may take longer as well.

Purpose for the Vehicle Purchase Project

A narrower purpose statement

For the personal Vehicle Purchase project that we have been covered in some of the blog articles, if your purpose specifically states a car, rather than leaving it open to any vehicle, then the decision about which kind of vehicle has already been made and stakeholders know they should not expect the project to involve a truck versus car debate.  

This saves time analyzing a broader range of vehicles and test driving a broader range prior to beginning to search within a narrower scope.

A broader purpose statement

If the purpose is more open, then they also realize that determining the kind of vehicle is likely one of the first deliverables and it could make their role more complicated in the beginning.

A more open purpose could mean a longer project to find that perfect vehicle too.

Summary

The purpose statement can be narrow, identifying elements of the solution.  It can also be broader, leaving the project to explore a larger set of options early in the project.

The purpose directly affects how narrow or broad the objectives are and the nature of what those objectives measure.

There are advantages and disadvantages to both a narrow and broad purpose, and each affects the project costs, time and effort in a different way, so the purpose and objectives should be chosen carefully.

Action Steps / Apply This Knowledge

  1. Review the project purpose and motive, or reason, and ensure that it is appropriate for your vision.
  2. Review the purpose and reason within the context of available project budget, time, and resources and ensure the purpose statement is appropriately narrow or broad.
  3. Prompt engineering guidance for AI GPTs such as chatGPT: “I’m a business leader launching a project whose expected outcomes are Y. What are some recommendations for a brief two sentence purpose to keep the options open for the project; and conversely, what are some recommendations for a brief two sentence purpose to narrow the options for the project?”

Learn More to Do More

Business evolves through change initiatives otherwise known as projects. The key to managing these change initiatives so you have more time, and less stress is to use simple strategies and tools.

Check out the Learning Hub’s other Articles with Actionable Steps, organized with a busy leader in mind, by topic or main idea, and with some AI GPT (e.g. ChatGPT) prompt engineering suggestions under the Action steps: https://simplepmstrategies.com/learning-hub-index

LEAD – Clarify Purpose 

© Simple PM Strategies 2024

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