Purpose And Scope


For each purpose there are goals for you as the project leader and for the international project overall.

Technical Purpose

For the project, the technical goal is get high-quality work produced with a minimum of problems and issues. Doing the work on time and within budget is a business purpose. Another related technical objective is to ensure that the project state is known at all time.

Your own technical objective is to improve your project management skills so that you can be more efficient and effective later in the project and in future projects. Keep this in mind always and you will spend less time in administrative overhead work. Let’s get something out on the table about administrative work. It is essential, but it is overhead and takes time away from other things.

Remember that one of your biggest enemies is time. In general,

In international projects time is more important than money.

You can always find money if the project is making progress and the need is clear. No one has yet figured out how to change time.

Business Purpose

For the project, the business purpose is to accomplish the goals of the project within the constraints of money and time. Beyond this, the overall goal is that the results of the project yield the benefits that were expected. After all, it doesn’t do much good if the project is a roaring success and the results of the project are either a stinking failure or are not used. Another business goal is the milestones and work be measurable so that the information about the project is accurate.

Your business goal as a project leader is to get issues understood, analyzed, and resolved. You do not want unpleasant surprises toward the end of the project. Another business goal is that the project team work well together in their work.

Political Purpose

The project goal is to build a culture of collaboration during the international project that will last after the project is completed. At the local level you want to build greater cooperation and understand with other locations and with headquarters. For headquarters you will want the headquarters managers and others involved in the project to be more sensitive to the activities and needs of the in-country operations. Aren’t these goals too ambitious? Probably, but that is what goals are for.

How would you measure whether you are making progress toward these objectives? Take notice of people’s attitudes at the start of the project. Do headquarters people make derisive statements about one or more in-country locations? Do the local operations managers and staff complain a great deal about headquarters not making decisions, interfering in their work, and imposing unrealistic activities on them? Then notice if there is an attitude change as the work progresses. If there is a change, then you are on the road to a success.

What is your political goal? You want to build relationships with as many people as you can for the project duration and for your future. While being a project leader is very stressful and demanding, it can also be a key to moving ahead in the organization or in advancing in another company.




International Project Management
International Project Management: Leadership in Complex Environments
ISBN: 0470578823
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 2003
Pages: 154

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