Management By Objectives

John D’Entremont, PMP, is a program manager with over 15 years experience in training, managing training teams and designing materials to enhance the skills of managers and executives.

  Leadership   ProjectsAtWork  

For organizations that are ready to fully commit to the philosophy, the principles of Management by Objectives can provide a strong catalyst for team engagement in its goals. Here is an overview of the method’s six stages and five-step process for implementing it, along with potential pitfalls.

Management by Objectives (MBO) was brought into the lexicon of project management by Peter Drucker in his book The Practice of Management, which was published in 1954. Despite having been around for more than 50 years now, the principles of MBO can still have a relevant impact to the way that projects are planned and managed.

At its core, MBO can be described as a method of allowing management and employees to concentrate on obtainable objectives, with the purpose of maximizing resources to yield the highest possible results. One of the focuses is on breaking from the traditional planning process. Rather than being done exclusively by designated managers, the process is stretched to include everyone in the organization. By identifying goals on both the individual and team level, and managing towards those goals, project managers can potentially avoid the trap of micromanaging each team member.

Another trap that will need to be accounted for is what Drucker called “the activity trap.” He described it as what happens when managers get so focused on specific …

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