Webster’s Dictionary says that success is “a favorable or desired outcome.” This means that to develop your definition of success, you will need to first identify the measurable outcomes you are hoping to achieve with your endeavor – allowing you to recognize the milestones of your success as they are reached.

As a Success Coordinator, I work with hundreds of clients a year to ensure a successful implementation of construction project management software at their company. When beginning to develop a Success Plan for the client, one of my first questions will be “How do you define success at your company?” Most clients initially respond with some variation of the same general statements:

• “We want to get the company more organized.”
• “We need to streamline operations.”
• "I’m looking to enhance communication companywide.”
• “There just has to be a better way to run a business.”

And while organization, operation, and communication are all admirable starting points when beginning to conceptualize improvement within your company, the development of business outcomes should be discussed in a much more specific and measurable manner. Let’s talk about some real-life examples of conceptual goals that became measurable outcomes:

Conceptual Goal: Get More Organized

Measurable Outcome(s): Develop standard file structure to apply across all company projects, assemble initial documents to be completed by each new client, implement checklist for project managers to complete at start of new job

Your Success Plan might then direct you to Create a Project Template in the system, which would allow you to build in standard folders, files, and to dos that could be included with each new project created moving forward – consistency, efficiency, and organization. Check, check, check – success!

Conceptual Goal: Streamline Operations

Measurable Outcome(s): Access companywide calendar in a general location, automate daily task reminders

Your Success Plan might then direct you to configure your construction calendar to display all project schedules & events, taking advantage of color coding options to differentiate between projects. Automation of daily task reminders could be handled by an in-app assistant, like GamePlan in ConstructionOnline, which gathers data per assigned resource and disseminates via email or mobile application. Check, check!

In both of the above examples, the specific nature of the desired outcomes allows us to identify measurable steps we can take to address these goals. Once addressed, new goals will come into play and your focus will shift because true success is an ever-evolving journey.

Interested in more insights about Project Management? Take a look at:

• 3 Easy Steps to Successfully Start with Construction Management Software
• 4 Things GamePlan Remembers (So You Don't Have To)
• How Do you Define Success?
• 5 Tips to Schedule like a Pro