Strategic Goal Setting: Leveraging SMART Criteria for Timely Revenue Objectives

  

Question 1. As a project manager, you’re using the SMART criteria to craft revenue goals for your team. During the process, you determine that your team needs to achieve their goal by the end of the second quarter. In this instance, which SMART criteria are you using?

• Specific
• Measurable
• Attainable
• Relevant
• Time-bound

Explanation: In this particular scenario, the feature of SMART criterion known as "Time-bound" is being used. Adding a time restriction to the revenue objective by stipulating that it must be attained by the end of the second quarter defines a certain time period to which the goal must adhere.

Question 2. As project manager, you approve a team member’s request to change the order of their tasks because they think it will be more efficient. However, this change disrupts another team member’s work process: they need to do two additional tasks not related to the project’s goal. What is happening on this project?

• The project is iterating.
• The project is becoming more efficient.
• The project is going out-of-scope.
• The project is staying in-scope.

Explanation: It would seem that there is a problem with the project's task scheduling or that there is a mismatch between the dependencies being used. Because the change in work order requested by one member of the team to improve efficiency was approved, it had the unintended consequence of affecting another member of the team, who must now complete extra activities that are not directly connected to the project's primary objective. When making alterations to the plan for the project, it is important to take into account any dependencies that may exist as well as any possible implications those dependencies may have. This circumstance shows the interconnectivity of jobs. It's kind of like a jigsaw in that if you move one piece, it changes the overall image.

Question 3. Consider the following scenario:

A new company project isn’t going well. The company hires outside evaluators to review the project. The evaluators tell the company that its plan has too many delays and that the company won’t be able to complete the project on time. They also identify one issue causing a delay is the company and the investors (stakeholders) have different expectations of what the completed project should be.

What step could the company have taken to avoid scope creep?

• Have stakeholder involvement before the project begins
• Hire a different organization to review the project
• Require more detailed bids from the evaluators in writing
• Make the investors adopt the company’s project expectations

Question 4. Fill in the blank: Deliverables help project managers, team members, and stakeholders _____ and realize the impact of the project.

• quantify
• adjust
• rank
• compare
• Correct

Explanation: Deliverables make it easier for project managers, members of the team, and stakeholders to see how far the project has progressed and understand its effect. It's as if you're taking intangible concepts and materializing them into actual outcomes, which helps everyone engaged in the project better comprehend and appreciate its significance.

Question 5. As a project manager for an online retailer, you meet with your company’s head of customer service and are asked to improve the response time to customer email inquiries by 15 percent by the end of the first quarter. Your team creates email templates for responding to typical questions from customers and produces an end-of-quarter report that shows a 17 percent improvement in response time after your templates were implemented. Which of the following best represents the project landing?

• Meeting with your company’s head of customer service
• Improving the response time to customer email inquiries
• Creating email templates for responding to typical questions from customers
• Producing an end-of-quarter report that shows a 17 percent improvement in response time

Explanation: The initiative not only accomplished its aim of a 15 percent reduction in reaction time, but it also beyond it by achieving a 17 percent gain in response time. This result reflects that the project was successfully implemented and that it exceeded the objective that was established. It's the equivalent of nailing the target and adding a little bit more room for error.

Question 6. As a construction project manager, your crew has been hired to build a new warehouse for a corporate customer. After a few weeks working on the project, your customer announces that they will need their warehouse completed several weeks sooner than originally expected, but that they cannot spend more money on the project.

Using the triple constraint model, what trade-off could you use to meet your customer’s new requirements?

• Change the project scope
• Change team roles
• Change the budget
• Change the project goals

Explanation: Time, money, and the scope of the project are the three most important factors to consider while using the triple constraint model of project management. In the event that the client requires the warehouse to be finished several weeks earlier but there is insufficient extra funding, a possible trade-off might entail modifying the scope of the project.

Question 7. Which of the following is the best example of success criteria?

• Create a new product feature that will satisfy customers.
• Achieve an 87% customer satisfaction rate within three months of product launch.
• Offer the best product in our industry.
• Use the triple constraint model to manage changes in project scope.

Question 8. Which of the following is an engagement metric?

• Number of new customer sign-ups for a subscription
• Double the number of initial orders
• A 20% increase of participation time within an app
• A 35% increase of first-time customers9.

Explanation: This statement establishes a definite and quantifiable benchmark for success: the development of a new product feature that satisfies consumers. It describes what success looks like in practical terms, so turning it into a project objective that is explicit and one that can be achieved.

Question 9. Which scenario demonstrates project landing?

• The Director of Product requests to reduce the budget by 25% but the final outcome still needs to look and function as originally agreed.
• The project manager checks back on the project in five years to see if the training program produces a 20% increase in the county’s recycling rate.
• The project manager considers positive feedback from the project sponsor as enough evidence to assume success and reports the project is complete.
• The car company Janco has launched a new car series called the Cruiser ST. The launch is successful, and all the dealerships requested more models.
• Correct

Explanation: The project to develop a new software system has been finished on time, while staying within the budget that was allotted, and it satisfies all of the specifications that were outlined. Training has been provided for system users, and integration of the system into the organization's operational workflow has been accomplished. According to the report that was created at the conclusion of the project, the initiative was successful in achieving its aims.

In this particular case, the project was finished on schedule and within the allotted spending limit without incurring any unexpected expenses. A successful landing for the project is shown by the fact that users have been taught, the system has been integrated, and the end-of-project report confirms that goals have been achieved.

Question 10. As a project manager, you are writing OKRs for your team. How many key results should you try to develop for each of your project objectives?

• At least six
• One
• Two or three
• Four or five

Explanation: When you are defining OKRs (goals and Key outcomes), you should, as a general rule, attempt to generate anywhere between three and five key outcomes for each of your project's goals. This range enables a compromise to be struck between having sufficient quantifiable outcomes to measure progress and maintaining the emphasis on the results that will have the greatest effect and most significance. It is the equivalent of having a few different milestones that, when taken together, contribute to the completion of the overall project goal.