Practical Goal-Setting to Drive Software Projects Efficiency

Cost efficiency Project management

Practical Goal-Setting to Drive Software Projects Efficiency

Cost efficiency Project management

Practical Goal-Setting to Drive Software Projects Efficiency

7 min read

Today, we're exploring what determines the success of achieving project goals, and the secret may surprise you: it lies in detailed planning and a deep understanding of the objectives. Whether you're a project owner or part of a development team, the way goals are defined and pursued will make or break the outcome of your efforts.

Table of Contents

Building Success Begins with Clear Goals
Aligning Monetization Model with Technical Strategy
Why "Making Money" Isn't Enough
The Importance of Secondary Goals
Setting Measurable and Realistic Goals
The Relevance of Conditions
Conclusion

Building Success Begins with Clear Goals

There are two crucial levers to achieving any goal: detailed planning, usually handled by the development team, and the project owner's clear understanding of the goal. It may sound obvious, but many projects fail because owners don't fully comprehend their pro goals.

Take, for example, the typical business objective of "starting to make money." At first glance, it seems like a practical goal, but in reality, it's incomplete.

To guide a project toward success, the goal needs to encompass the entire lifecycle, from conception to completion.

It's not just about short-term benefits but understanding the full scope of the project. The more clearly you define this, the easier it becomes to align your team's efforts with your long-term vision.

Imagine your goal is to "develop an MVP (Minimum Viable Product)." This typically means:

Implementing a minimum set of functionalities,
Prioritizing speed over quality,
Focusing on presentation rather than long-term functionality.

Implementing a minimum set of functionalities,
Prioritizing speed over quality,
Focusing on presentation rather than long-term functionality.

Now compare this with a different goal: "I want to sell this idea to a major player in the market." Suddenly, your approach shifts to:

Supporting corporate concepts aligned with that player's requirements,
Ensuring functionality integrates seamlessly with existing solutions,
Using a compatible or identical technology stack,
Focusing on building a user base rather than a quick monetization model.

Supporting corporate concepts aligned with that player's requirements,
Ensuring functionality integrates seamlessly with existing solutions,
Using a compatible or identical technology stack,
Focusing on building a user base rather than a quick monetization model.

Feel the difference? The way you formulate a goal directly impacts the development path. However, many projects fail because their goals are understated, incomplete, or poorly communicated. In our experience, such misalignments lead to recurring design and management mistakes.

Aligning Monetization Model with Technical Strategy

One common oversight in goal-setting is not thinking through the monetization strategy in detail. While most projects are conceived to make money, owners often forget to work out how this will happen, and even when they do, the initial model rarely survives through the software development process.

Why does this matter? The chosen monetization model affects the entire business structure and, hence, the software architecture.

Any significant change to the monetization plan can profoundly impact technical decisions.

For example, the same two projects we mentioned before:

1. One designed to be sold off (often a hidden goal to avoid demotivating the team).

2. Another aimed at business growth.

These two scenarios require vastly different approaches to design, quality standards, and development priorities. From a business structure standpoint, these distinctions can be significant. But from a technical perspective, they can often be disastrous.

Making high-quality adjustments to the way things connect and interact in a system takes a lot of effort. When it comes to changing the monetization model (and, in fact, business logic), developers usually have two options—neither of which is ideal.

They might slap some quick fixes onto the code, leading to "spaghetti code." This messy code results in constant errors, making updates complicated and ultimately making the project nearly impossible to support in the long run.
Alternatively, the team may try to force the new monetization model to fit within the existing technical framework. Unfortunately, experience shows that this approach almost always results in inefficiencies and drains the project budget.

Why "Making Money" Isn't Enough

It seems obvious that your project goals shape how you achieve them. However, in our experience, we've seen the same design and project management mistakes happen repeatedly, usually due to poorly defined or unclear goals.

You might find this hard to believe, but a surprising number of projects we've come across don't have a clear goal at all. Sometimes, the goal is so complicated that the owner keeps tweaking and redefining it.

As previously mentioned, most projects aim to make money. Still, we've seen other goals, too—like building a brand image, climbing the corporate ladder, gaining a managerial voice, creating a community, or even more personal benefits.

Here's the kicker: Can you guess why simply saying, "make money," isn't a practical goal for a project? The real question is: how will your project achieve that?

The goal of "making money" needs to be linked to a well-defined strategy for how the business will operate, how users will engage, and how the market will respond.

Different goals require different approaches. This difference touches every aspect of development—from project management to budgeting. Ignoring these nuances often leads to failures in large projects, budget overruns in medium-sized ones, and a loss of focus for smaller initiatives.

The Importance of Secondary Goals

What happens if the primary goal becomes unattainable during the development process? This is where secondary goals come into play, but they are too often neglected.

Secondary objectives provide a fallback that allows a project to pivot when necessary without losing momentum.

There are a few key recommendations for setting secondary goals. The first step in defining your primary goal is to be specific about your desired result.

For example, your main goal could be:

Growing the company's sales to $2 million a month,
Getting 10,000 active users in your database,
Securing 5,000 paying users,
Or selling your startup to a major player in the market.

Once you've set your primary goal and outlined the steps to achieve it, it's crucial to consider secondary goals—at least two. These subgoals might not bring the same level of success as the main one, but they will still set you up for future growth.

For instance:

If you can't sell your startup to a big player, aim to get 5,000 paying customers instead,
If unexpected changes in the market make your original goal impossible, white-label the product and sell it in other markets,
If your startup doesn't take off, create a course on "how to fail a startup" and sell it to aspiring entrepreneurs.

Now, you have a clear primary goal and at least two backup goals to ensure you're prepared no matter what happens.

These secondary goals are critical in startup environments, where market conditions change rapidly. Project management literature emphasizes the importance of these supporting objectives, yet they are often ignored, even by experienced project owners.

Setting Measurable and Realistic Goals

To ensure the success of any project, goals must be measurable and realistic. The more specific you are, the easier it becomes to track progress and make adjustments.

1

Start by identifying the criteria that will signal success, such as monthly sales, the number of paying users, etc. For example, instead of saying, "I want to grow the company," a more practical goal might be, "I want to increase sales to $2 million a month."

However, here's the catch:

The more criteria you set, the more paths there are to achieving the goal—and the harder it becomes to manage all those paths.

While it may seem like having multiple ways to achieve a goal is an advantage, in reality, managing the risks of all those options can quickly become overwhelming. That's why it's wiser to focus on a maximum of three criteria or, even better, just one. For example, "I want to achieve a turnover of one million dollars per month," or "I want to hit one million dollars per month and secure 5,000 active users."

2

Next, break down your goal into actionable steps. Let's say your first step is to raise $500,000 in investments for marketing by May. To do this, you may need to show 1,000 active users in your MVP and generate a monthly turnover of $10,000.

This way, you're not only defining the goal but also setting clear expectations for the team and measuring progress with real, actionable steps. It ensures that everyone involved knows what needs to be done and when. With clear, measurable criteria, you can evaluate progress at each stage and adjust if necessary.

The Relevance of Conditions

One critical aspect of goal-setting that often gets overlooked is defining the conditions under which those goals remain relevant.

Let's take the same goal: "to sell a startup to a major market player." That goal remains relevant if certain conditions are met, such as:

1

The potential buyer is still active and not facing bankruptcy,

2

There are still competitors active in the market,

3

The market is valued at over $1 billion per year.

And other similar factors.

Or, if your goal is to "get 5,000 active users," it's only relevant if:

1

You managed to secure $100,000 in seed investment,

2

No competitor entered the market with the same idea,

3

The market hasn't taken a downturn.

And so on.

The key here is to understand that goals can lose relevance if certain conditions aren't met, so you should always keep an eye on the factors that impact your objectives.

It's helpful to list these conditions alongside your goal. If 2/3 of them hold true, you should continue focusing on the primary goal. If only half of the conditions are met, that's a signal to start considering a secondary goal. But if only 1/3 remains valid, it's time to pivot to one of your backup goals.

This simple technique can save you a lot of time and money by helping you decide when to stick with your plan and when to shift focus. Give it a try!

Conclusion

To achieve any project goal, it's crucial to start with a detailed and clear definition of what success looks like and how you'll get there. Define measurable criteria, align your development team with these objectives, and be prepared for changes along the way. Don't forget to set secondary goals, which can provide critical flexibility if your primary objective becomes unattainable.

Success in projects isn't just about effort but clarity and adaptability.

At ITUniversum, we leverage our 15+ years of experience in custom software development to deliver software projects that align with your business goals from the start. Contact us to see how we can turn your vision into a streamlined, efficient solution.

Sergei Isakov | COO, Co-Founder