You’re a project manager with a big decision to make. How do you balance short-term and long-term goals?

1 Define your goals

The first step is to clearly define your short-term and long-term goals for the project. What are the specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound (SMART) objectives that you want to accomplish in the near and distant future? How do they align with the project vision, scope, and deliverables? How do they support the strategic goals of your organization and the expectations of your customers? Write down your goals and prioritize them according to their importance and urgency.

2 Assess the trade-offs

The next step is to assess the trade-offs between your short-term and long-term goals. Trade-offs are the sacrifices or compromises that you have to make to achieve one goal over another. For example, you may have to trade off quality for speed, or cost for scope, or customer satisfaction for stakeholder satisfaction. To assess the trade-offs, you need to consider the costs and benefits of each option, the risks and opportunities involved, and the impact on the project performance and value. You can use tools such as decision matrices, SWOT analysis, or cost-benefit analysis to help you evaluate the trade-offs.

3 Involve the stakeholders

The third step is to involve the stakeholders in the decision-making process. Stakeholders are the people or groups who have an interest or influence in the project, such as sponsors, team members, customers, suppliers, or regulators. They may have different perspectives, preferences, and expectations for the project, and they may be affected by the outcomes of your decisions. To balance short-term and long-term goals, you need to communicate with the stakeholders, understand their needs and concerns, solicit their feedback and input, and manage their expectations. You can use techniques such as stakeholder analysis, stakeholder mapping, or stakeholder engagement to help you involve the stakeholders.

4 Choose the best option

The fourth step is to choose the best option that balances short-term and long-term goals. The best option is the one that maximizes the benefits and minimizes the costs, risks, and negative impacts for the project and the stakeholders. It is also the one that aligns with the project vision, scope, and deliverables, and supports the strategic goals of the organization and the customer. To choose the best option, you need to weigh the pros and cons of each option, compare them against your criteria and priorities, and use your judgment and intuition. You can use tools such as decision trees, scoring models, or multi-criteria analysis to help you choose the best option.

7 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?