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Tagerts state the level that your project will meet by a certain date.

Real talk Sir.

As organisations compete for donor funds, programme designers and M&E managers can be tempted to exaggerate their activity targets in order to obtain more funding with due consideration of the capacities to achieve them. This often results in under-spending, poor quality of implementation borne out of a rush to spend before the next evaluation by donors, degraded efficiency, and misappropriation of funds. These issues plague many donor funded projects and programmes in African countries.

Only measuring and reporting the goal and outcome indicators
at the end of the program.
Making someone responsible for measuring the indicator who
has a conflict of interest.
Indicators and definitions that are not directly related to the
log frame
In the end the quality of work is reduced
Overrunning costs

I would like to know more about unrealistic targets and and how to construct a good indicators document

Hoping for my project to be successful without any issues

Setting indicatpor

Setting strong indicator helps to measure the performance in each level input, output, outcome and impact. While setting targets helps to define areas for implementation, required resource to accomplished this task.

how do we find out that our project are unrealstic

In order to avoid creating unrealistic targets, it's very important to create targets while referring to reliable and concrete data- whether the data is collected from an existing reliable data source, the data is newly collected by you, or the data is deduced based on historical trends and predicting patterns.

As human our instructive reaction to anything that threaten our job security or eating potential is to worry about it
Adjust your approach depending on what and how you sell

The idea of including what would happen if we face the risks and assumptions is a good way to balance unrealistic targets.

      Indicators and Targets

Makes job easier in determining success .
Most problem experienced in choosing indicators is the language that we use. We should use an indicator that is more understandable and can be easily interpreted.
In making targets we check previous implementation and achievements,kinds of resources
Incase of setting new targets we check on the risks.

unrealistic targets
Are targets we create not considering the resources we have,thus making them not being achieved at long last

Unrealistic Targets are not feasible to set.

Targets are best set using data not feelings so as to avoid biases influencing how targets are set. Also, targets must be realistic and achievable.

Targets can be unrealistic when the it is something that requires more energy, skills, talents, and time than you have available in order to achieve it. ... Another unrealistic target may be one that is not in alignment with your own greatest gifts and talents.

Targets should be both realistic and ambitious. This means that it should be achievable considering the budget, time and resources provided. At the same time, it should be a somewhat of a challenge, requiring the project team to challenge themselves and put forward their best work.

However, I wonder to what extent realistic targets are biased to the individual. Does the individual's personal behavior, background, and skills determine what is realistic and what is unrealistic in setting project targets?

Targets should be both realistic and ambitious. This means that it should be achievable considering the budget, time and resources provided. (If it doesn't meet this requirement then it is an unrealistic target.) At the same time, it should be a somewhat of a challenge, requiring the project team to challenge themselves and put forward their best work.

However, I wonder to what extent realistic targets are biased to the individual. Does the individual's personal behavior, background, and skills determine what is realistic and what is unrealistic in setting project targets?

Outcomes: The changes measured at the population level in the program’s target population, some or all of which may be the result of a given program or intervention. Outcomes refer to specific knowledge, behaviors, or practices on the part of the intended audience that are clearly related to the program, can reasonably be expected to change over the short-to-intermediate term, and that contribute to a program’s desired long-term goals. Examples would be “the percentage of clients in a stop-smoking program who are nonsmokers six months after the program ends” or “the percentage of married women, ages 15–44, using contraception one year after a family planning intervention.”
Outputs: The results of activities achieved at the program level, in two forms: the number of activities performed (e.g., number of service providers trained) and measures of service utilization (e.g., number of contraceptives distributed).
Problem statement: A statement in an M&E plan that describes the nature and extent of the problem to be addressed by an intervention. It clearly states the specific problem and includes a quantitative element that describes the magnitude of the problem and its impact on society. The statement should also include a description of other efforts that are addressing the problem and definitions of relevant terms. An example of a problem statement is: A recent situation analysis of District A demonstrated limited access to young adult reproductive health services. Young adults (ages 15–24) account for 30% of the population in District A, yet reproductive health service statistics show that only 5% of the people using the services were in this age range. Anecdotal evidence from district health workers suggests a high incidence of unwanted pregnancies and a high prevalence of HIV among young adults. As part of the national commitment to improve the reproductive health of young adults, the Ministry of Health will implement a five-year project aimed at increasing access to youth- friendly health services, by improving the infrastructure necessary to deliver such services, and —in partnership with the Ministry of Education and Youth—by focusing on reproductive health education for young people ages 10–24.

A target refers to setting a goal or objective to be acheived within your project at a certain time or deadline. In order to set tartgets, we use indicators. An indicator measures actual results vs expected results. In order to set tartgets, we set a baseline. A baseline shows where your project is at the start,to include information of an baseline, you may look at previous data and resources, or if any data as already been gathered which is applicable for your mointoring and evluation project. Setting realstic targets is importantas it sees where the project is progressing toward. If there is a need for a change within the project a midline can be set when targets are too high or low.

For Denrocks out patient clinic,my project), it would be unrealistic to set an in patient facility as a target by the end of the year due to the unavalability of space, manpower and funding.
Registration with the local authorities will take quite some time

Unrealistic targets are targets that do not consider the budget, time and resources given to complete a project. Realistic targets, on the other hand, are ambitious in that they challenge individuals and teams to perform their best work, and they are also within reach considering the budget, time and resources available.

Setting unrealistic targets can be detrimental to the project and can demotivate team members. I do understand the need to complete projects successfully and on time to to exceed stakeholders expectations but I still believe targets should be practical to people on the ground.

Anyone that has ever worked in a sales environment will know how much of a misconception this is and will be happy to share just how difficult the sales rep’s role really is. The commonly-used performance-based pay structure (low base pay combined with ‘incentivizing’ commission opportunities) means that reps have little choice but to work hard to meet their targets or face a lean month. But, what happens when targets seem unachievable

Our targets for one project in Ghana were unrealistic in terms of the number of responses that we could collect from young women who could not read before and after the workshop. We were then able to readjust the numbr of question in the survey for future project to enable us to collect responses from all young women. Our target was to collect information about MHM from all girls. We adjusted the data tool so that we are able to collect this data and meet our target.

We use a data collection app that makes it easier for us to understand how to develop our means of verification.

Setting unrealistic targets can be dangerous for the project

Targets need to be realistic in nature so that they can be practical and achievable. Unrealistic targets may lead to inability of obtaining the desired results hence putting the whole project in mess

Unrealistic targets are those targets which are not fulfilled or completed in there expected time period and requirement. These type of problems usually happen when team is not set there target with practical approach, not consult with expert, stakeholders or there funder.

cleaning the city within a year.

A goal is unrealistic when the goal is something that requires more energy, skills, talents, and time than you have available in order to achieve it. For example, if you expect to be liked by everyone in your personal and professional life, then you have set an expectation that neither you nor anyone else could ever achieve. Many mothers labor to fulfill unrealistic expectations, thinking that they must give their children every advantage. But no mother has the time, energy, or skills to run her children to every conceivable brain-building activity while offering perfect doses of discipline balanced with unconditional love. Another unrealistic goal may be one that is not in alignment with your own greatest gifts and talents. A person who wants to be an actor because of the attendant fame and glory but doesn't really have the natural skills or talents necessary for the craft would benefit from redirection away from such an unrealistic pursuit.

In an event that your project is starting at zero, what is the realistic but still ambitious percentage of success to use??

If we are feeling optimistic, we may set targets too high. Likewise, if we are feeling pessimistic, we may set our targets too low. To set targets like an M&E expert, we will need to use data, not feelings, to set targets. This will ensure that we are not letting our biases or assumptions influence our decisions.

Unrealistic targets everyone involved (myself, team and donors) will be disappointed. I have learnt that it is important to set the final target FIRST.

Targets should be ambitious, but attainable. An organization I worked with previously had a certification program for new teachers. The organization set a target for the new teachers (during their first year as lead teachers with their own classrooms in under-resourced environments) to increase their students' test scores by a certain percentage. The target was not met, and we discovered that it was not really a fair target to burden brand new teachers with. Better targets could have included the following: a more realistic percent increase in student test scores; improved teacher observation scores, etc.

From the lesson some unrealistic targets are some that fail to take into account the local context of a problem and usually trying to solve a problem with a top down approach... E.g Technocrats at national level wanting to solve problems at village level without looking at the problem from a village point of view.

Unrealist targets sometimes may considered as bullying or harrasments to the one implementing the projects

Unrealistic Targets should be revisited and look at the data available mine opinion..

Creating realistic targets is a skill that comes from adept project management. Which derives from clear communication, an understanding of the scope of work, and having the experience of what is considered realistic or not for both the client and the team.
Unrealistic targets:
There are a variety of root causes that can lead to leaders to set unrealistic Targets. it may be caused by a perception or project managers are overly conservative in their estimates, since it is easy to underestimate the time and effort needed to complete work when removed from the process.
this could lead to:
Wasted money, Squandered people time, Diminished organizational change efficacy, Damaged credibility,
Damaged reputations, Damaged morale etc.
planning becomes a critical piece in managing expectations, during the project, keep the team focused on reaching those quick wins and intermediate project goals and milestones to demonstrate progress, Finally, at project close, document successes and failures honestly and accurately.

Great experience so far. Some times we get overly ambitious that we think we could change the world in 6 months. It's great to learn that change is a process and not an event. Targets are not static but fluid. Ambitious but realistic- great phrase.

If you say that someone is being unrealistic, you mean that they do not recognize the truth about a situation, especially about the difficulties involved in something they want to achieve.

A goal is said to be unrealistic when the goal is something that requires more energy, skills, talents, and time than you have available in order to achieve it.

Another unrealistic goal may be one that is not in alignment with your own greatest gifts and talents.

yes and we need to employ strong targets and realistic

Setting a goal for a program/project is an important part of programming. A program or a project should not ideally have multiple goals. The goal is what has to be ultimately achieved; the final form or situation that we would like to see. But it is to be clearly distinguished from vision. Goal and vision are two entirely different things. Goal is more about where we want to reach and vision is more about what we want to see. A vision can be more idealistic but a goal has to be more realistic.

Some examples of project goal are:

1.   Increased income of landless farmers in the target area
   

2.   Reduced infant mortality rate (IMR)
   

3.   All children aged 16 years completing high school
   

4.   All youth aged 25 years and above employed
   

While some examples of vision are:

1.   No person in the target population go hungry
   

2.   Children living without fear in their communities
   

3.   No child dies of preventable diseases

Targets can be adjusted.
Strong Indicators should be objective,Practical to measure,Attributable, Used by Management in decision making.
When selecting indicators you should include both Quantitative and Qualitative indicators.
Indicators should not contain specific numbers or percentages.
Usually targets are what your organization aims to achieve by the end of the project.

Setting unrealistic targets may led to disappointments not only to you but also to the entire team and the donors.
As you set your ambitious targets care should be taken to ensure that with the resources available at your disposal the targets can be met.
To avoid choosing unrealistic targets one may want to focus only on the data available and not their own feelings or know hows.

Unrealistic targets are targets set without putting some key components into consideration. Such as Historical trends , existing data and baseline . These components coupled with the amount of funds available for the project makes it easy for a more realistic target to be set.

Setting unrealistic targets or overambitious targets happen when some key components are not put into consideration when planning.
These key components can either be existing data, historical trends and baseline .
A good monitoring and evaluation expert would work these components when planning his targets and avoid unrealistic targets that would put the stakeholders off.

Yes I agree with that . Because once your donors sense unrealistic targets or overambitious targets it is a bad signal.

Example of unrealistic targets:
Let say an organization in Nigeria embarks on project on Malaria, which targets to eradicate malaria within 5 years of implementation. This is unrealistic because no single project can eradicate Malaria in Nigeria or any location, a project or intervention can only contribute to the eradication of Malaria in Nigeria. For example, the target is 20% reduction in malaria prevalence in Nigeria.

An example of an unrealistic target will be when an organization in Nigeria embarks on a Malaria eradication project and targets to completely eradicate Malaria in Nigeria within 5 years of project implementation.
this target is unrealistic because no single project can successfully achieve that but this project can contribute by a percentage to the eradication.
Example of a realistic project will be to reduce Malaria Prevalence in Nigeria by 20%.

I have learnt how to create an indicators document and setting targets that are realistic for the team to reach a high level of success.

A goal becomes unrealistic when the the goal something that require more energy. there are different unrealistic target, another unrealistic goal it does not aligned with your target.

Unrealistic targets will keep the moral of staff low.

Unrealistic targets could be set when an individual is very ambitious. But if going by certain indicators that the target is not achievable, it may be adjusted. This is something that is typical of people that have big dreams but there is absolutely no harm as things can change oncereality dawns and a quick adjustment is absolutely inevitable.

ALL GIRLSBELOW 18 YEARS WILL BE ENROLLED INTO INIVERSITY BY 2030

Sure. All indicator should be SMART. That will make them align with the project objectives

I believe that, it is very important to avoid unrealistic targets considering the available budget, human resources and plan of actions or the life span of the project. Also, it is good to consider the assumptions and risks which are out of the project control. Unrealistic targets will lead to frustration, and project failure, even if there is hard work to achieve the goal/s. Donors may undermine the efforts that the project has been exerting to achieve the goal/s, in turn it will cause losing donors future commitment to fund the same project or different project.

Unrealistic target can be very overwhelming to the staff working on rthe program implementation. For example, setting a target for an educational scholarship at a university, has to count for the available funds. For example, we can't provide a scholarship to 500 individuals if the funds that we have is 4 millions dollars noting that the educational cost per student for 3 years is 30,000 $.

"You may not have access to all of these types of information when you set your targets. However, it is always a good idea to get as much information as you possibly can before you set your targets."
If we might not have access to all the information we can't get our targets.

Some targets may be be too unrealistic in that they may be too expensive to achieve, may take so much time, may need a huge workforce or may take in a lot of resources. The risks that maybe encountered will also determine whether target can be achieved or not. For example, someone may say that they want to enroll 1000 prostitutes in a month to a certain project. First of all this is a sensitive population and even getting few numbers maybe a task.Not many of them would even want to come out.So this is unrealistic

these are targets which are over ambitious and unrealistic.

It is inappropriate to have targets that will require huge capital that exceeds the allotted budget to measure . Such targets can hinder the effectiveness and efficiency of project evaluation

unrealistic target is a target which was selected without having experience, research or studies, experts opinions. in other work it was determined on our desire, imagination, and ambitious. therefor they can't be achieved in which the project team might work hard and not achieving goals which will affect them and make them frustrated. or might be so easy that does not make a change into people's lives.

It is very important for an organisation to set itself realistic targets. Setting unrealistic targets can put a lot of undue stress on project implementors. I have first-hand experience of a situation where the targets are unrealistic yet it was expected that I should meet them. Thid can break workers and cause a lot of problems for organisations

Unrealistic targets.
These are targets that are too ambiguous to achieve. This could be due to:

1. beyond the budget targets.
2. Over excitement. The targets are triggered by emotions ..
3. Lack of information. Without doing some research the targets might be unrealistic.
   4.Time frame. The time scheduled for the project might make the targets unrealistic

very reach information in this topic and difficult bit to understand well .

Setting unrealistic targets can cost an organisation a lot of time, waste scarce precious resources on trying to achieve the impossible

Setting unrealistic targets can lead to failure and disappointment for you, team nembers and your donors. Unrealistic targerts cannot be measured in most cases. It is also very important that your targets go hand in hand with your budget, an example might be you have already set an unrealistic target of 70 000 people to be reach and your budget can only allow you to reach 40 000. Your project might end up failing, because clearly your gials are unrwalustic vs the budget.

Unrealistic Targets are not measurable.

Targets understated or overstated are unrealistic. To limit the likelihood of setting an unrealistic target, it's essential to use data instead of feelings.

Avoiding unrealistic targets is advantageous to having a successful project. To do that, it is important to collect baseline data, research with other similar project, and be ready to make adjustments when necessary.

When does a target become too ambitious or unrealistic?

I have learnt that sometimes opportunistic people might set unrealistic targets although ambitious, but might not be achievable given the level of resource availability. However, targets can be adjusted after an in-depth consultation with the project stakeholders including the donor, project team and beneficiaries.

Unrealistic targets can really affect the lifecycle of a project. It can demoralize the project team, it may lead to inadequate funding or planning, and it can jeopardize the success of the project.

Targets should be evidence based and ambitious, which entails setting meaningful targets to provide to the working team with implementating partners and stakeholders in regards to the project with benchmark to document progress toward achieving results ,hence with unrealistic target this may not be achievable.

To make our targets ambitious yet realistic we looked at our previous
implementation and what we've been able to achieve and set new targets. Again we
looked at the kind of resources that we have available for us. Was it realizable
for us to realize new targets? Then, if so, we set new targets. We also picked two
scenarios where we asked ourselves: if all of the risks happened, what will be the
new target? If they didn't happen, what would be the new target? Then we
set the midline to be our new target. Lastly, we set our project to have
incentives for staff to realize these new targets. Does it mean that
when you set a target you can't go back and adjust your target? No. For our
case we had to go back and adjust our target because that was the most
realistic thing to do. For example, we said that we will begin our projects on
month two and it was almost impossible. We began a project at month seven so we
had to adjust our targets based that we started a bit late.

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Girls might not know how to start or upgrade a business

The unrealistic target is when you set too much higher target than the total number. Example; target 90, number of 50 children.

Comment définir de manière réaliste une cible?

unrealistic targets, turned in to realist ones through viglant preparation and creativity are the ones which make the impossible possible

For every project, it is important to set a clear target at the design stage. The target should be both optimistic and realistic to engender quality output and motivation.
One major challenge to setting realistic targets is poor planning(i.e. inadequate research and use of quality data). This affects the quality of our assumptions and appreciation of risks that may affect the project. Hence, unrealistic targets are targets that are not attainable due poor planning at the project design stage.
Unrealistic targets can be frustrating and demotivating to both staff and donors due to sub-optimal use of resources that often results.

Unrealistic targets. Creating own indicators rather than using a standard indicator when one exists. Making someone responsible for measuring the indicator who has a conflict of interest. Only measuring and reporting the goal and outcome indicators at the end of the program.

unrealistic targets is the unrealistic assumptions about not seeing the resource availability, quality of materials, and work process (just to name a few factors) should be used. This approach yields a credible estimation of what is reasonably achievable. If this estimation does not meet business goals, then a systematic risk-vs.-return process should be pursued until it can be verified whether or not the targets can be met within a given level of elevated risk. That's the process that should be followed.

Unfortunately, we live in a real world. Targets are far too often based on desire or a vague sense of what should be achievable, rather than driven by calculated business needs. In even more unfortunate circumstances, targets are developed before it's even known what the project entails! In either case, the result is that impatience— rather than a rational

My self Taslim Khan. I am living in India. I am working in a non-profit organization. My company name is YUVA "Youth for Unity and Voluntary Action". I have 9 years of experience in this field. My working community is located in Mumbai slum Behrampda Bandra.
We are working with Children, Youth, Women, Community leaders also the system. We create awareness of their rights and make their group work together on their issue.
Our organizational goal is strengthening community structures and civil society participation to promote inclusive, sustainable, child-friendly cities (SDG 11) in the slums.

The target should be ambitious but yet realistic. Failing to set realistic targets will lead to serious problem because it will be so difficult to achieve and will cost additional resources in terms of time and money. This will create a serious issue with the team and the donors. So, it is better to test the target before adopting the targets and sharing it with the stakeholders

unrealistic target means that, the truth about a situation is not recognized, especially about the difficulties involved in something they want to achieve.

unrealistic, you mean that they do not recognize the truth about a situation, especially about the difficulties involved in something they want to achieve.

Unrealistic targets are often a source of frustration for the team. It could be due to a shortage of resources, poor anticipation of risks and over-optimistic assumptions. Immediately, it is clear that the targets are unrealistic, it needs to be adjusted and the entire project redesigned.

Unrealistic target is tsrget that is not supported by a data,prevous research finding or experts expectation.

If you say that someone is being unrealistic, you mean that they do not recognize the truth about a situation, especially about the difficulties involved in something they want to achieve.

If you say that someone is being unrealistic, you mean that they do not recognize the truth about a situation, especially about the difficulties involved in something they want to achieve.

If you say that someone is being unrealistic, you mean that they do not recognize the truth about a situation, especially about the difficulties involved in something they want to achieve. Because can’t be archives up on our feelings but up on the data that we have collected

Targets are flexible and should be reviewed intermittently during the course of the project or if some unforeseen risks were encountered.
Targets should also be SMART(Simple, measurable, achievable/attainable, realistic and time bound), that way we avoid setting unrealistic targets.

If you say that someone is being unrealistic, you mean that they do not recognize the truth about a situation, especially about the difficulties involved in something they want to achieve.
Example:
Setting unrealistic time frame for big project

I think that "Targets" must be as realistic as possible because our results will be a little bit equal or high to our planned target. The more we plan realistic target the more our result will be closer to the target.

we had the same challenge in a project i was in, the projected number of beneficiaries targeted to reach in the district was more than the total population of the district meaning the target was unrealistic and totally impractical to achieve