My Communities

@akatukwasabenson said in Module 3 Discussion: Unrealistic Targets:

I was asked to achieve 85% hand washing with clean water and soap in the second implementation year of a five year WASH Project in a rural community that suffered water stress through out the year. I responded by requesting the project manager that we start with a lower target and progressively revise it especially given the fact that the first half of the project was to focus on WASH infrastructure. High targets on the behavioural indicators were to be considered in the second half of the project since it focused more on behavioural change and adaptability.

@akatukwasabenson woww that was a good one
WOWW That was very strategic, learning to understamd the nature of the terrain you are operating on is generally very advisable and this is best done by starting small and growing on, while improving based on past experience
NICE ONE thanks for sharing with us
So was your proposition retained and impelemented???
If yes are you done with the project or is it still on the run?
If so please feel free to tell us how effective your method is proving to be
...............................................................................................................................................................................................Happy learning

@apostledavid58 said in Module 3 Discussion: Unrealistic Targets:

We used to file monthly report for certain organization that I once worked with and at the beginning of every month the National level would set targets for each province and being at the local level the set target would seem unrealistic due to either the target exceeding the resources at hand or the target not being applicable to the situation at hand..e.g: the target would request that only high school student be included in program by reason of age while we have student of the same age whilst in prima

“Thanks for posting your ideas @apostledavid58 , I can see you’re really thinking about the course content in your explanation. Have you ever said yes to an unrealistic target and realized later that it actually hurt the team’s progress?”.

@Latoh said in Module 3 Discussion: Unrealistic Targets:

At Water Collective Cameroon, every 22nd of march we celebrate the world's water in on of one of our project locations.
Last year with had a target to sensitise 500 Community members through the distribution of T-Shirts carrying the years theme, Nature for Water.
On the proper day of the project we discovered that 750 people came out.
Due to that we were force to give t shirts only to 500.

@Latoh That was truly an unforeseen scenario that could lead to a chaotic situation on the proper day and if not well handled that could lead to an unrealistic target but it was gladden from your post that the team was able to give the T-shirts to 500 participants on the long-run......

I was a time ago faced with situation of an unrealistic target. It was project targeted at under 5 malaria eradication We were told to attend to 50 thousand children in ten days across the senatorial district and the skilled manpower trained by the organization were just 25, although other resources needed were available. We responded by requesting for target adjustment based on data from previous project, in previous projects even with optimal logistics,the maximum number of children attended to per day is usually in the range of 3000 on the average. As a result the target was reluctantly adjusted.

@PiliraniTembo said in Module 3 Discussion: Unrealistic Targets:

In our project we had goals which were not realistic based on the reality of the country, and as the organization didnt want to comittee itself to a goal that could not be reached, we then adjusted the goals and communicate with the donor.

@PiliraniTembo, you know, once you understand the reasons for any unrealistic targets, you can correct them by relying on available data,..

@akatukwasabenson said in Module 3 Discussion: Unrealistic Targets:

I was asked to achieve 85% hand washing with clean water and soap in the second implementation year of a five year WASH Project in a rural community that suffered water stress through out the year. I responded by requesting the project manager that we start with a lower target and progressively revise it especially given the fact that the first half of the project was to focus on WASH infrastructure. High targets on the behavioural indicators were to be considered in the second half of the project since it focused more on behavioural change and adaptability.

Okay @akatukwasabenson, it's very important to work on the baseline dada in advance and on how it relates to your target to overcome the set of unrealistic target.

@Course_Operations said in Module 3 Discussion: Unrealistic Targets:

Respond to this prompt after completing the content in Module 3.

Setting ambitious yet achievable targets can be difficult. Have you ever been asked to reach a target that was either too high or too low? How did you respond to the situation? What advice would you offer other learners who may be asked to work towards unrealistic targets?

Sample Post: One time that I was asked to reach an unrealistic target was ______ . I responded by ______ .

I worked with an NGO as a data entry clerk and I was asked to enter 15 hospital folders into the system every day. At first, it was as if the target was unrealistic but as time goes on, I was able to do more than that per day.

@Course_Operations said in Module 3 Discussion: Unrealistic Targets:

One time that I was asked to reach an unrealistic target was an organisation i was working for set a target based on the achievement researched online by some other organisation. this was a short term funding/project and we had some other organisations implementing in same locations and on same activity to same donor . To avoid duplication of activities and double counting I had to request the project manager write to the donor we wouldn't be able to achieve the stated ambiguous targets within the time frame stating this reasons.

The time when the management was unrealistic- it was when asking where our client come from , which jobs and company are working for , salary and budget per monthly.their personality and so forth. it was unrealistic to know how much they earn and or their personality , especially type of people , race and where they stay. i have no clue .it was difficult to know.

I was on a Gender Based Violence project that entails reporting of rape and sexual assault cases. To begin the project, we focused on Traditional Birth Attendants as gate keepers. at a point we realised that we could not been our target. We then decided to look at engaging the Police. The engagement of the Police ensured that we met our target within the stipulated time. We receive referrals from both the Police and Community TBAs

Whatever we do or leave undone today, becomes history tomorrow. We are quietly forging ahead towards completing our Module 3 studies. Discussions are robust, but let us remember to also attend to our quizzes and assignments. Don't forget to also respond to your peers' discussion posts. Have a great time with your studies, everybody.

@darcygray said in Module 3 Discussion: Unrealistic Targets:

Our project had unrealistic targets about beekeepers' income increases, but did not have appropriate MEL to actually collect data on income. Ultimately, we had to use honey yield increases and honey price increases to demonstrate project success instead.

@darcygray , meaning you were given an unrealistic targets but was able to achieved it? If yes, please share with us how did your team go about it?

@keme said in Module 3 Discussion: Unrealistic Targets:

assess the surrounding conditions, review grey literature and take expert opinion" make

Ok, simply we do not have to set the target beyond our capacity and velocity. At the early stage we have to just focus on how much we achieve. After early stage you can be further ambitious by your experience and hope. To set the realistic targets you can assess the surrounding condition and review the grey literature if all the people are below poverty line in some areas (that can be found by grey literature and surrounding assessment) you can not set the target within a year you will put them all on the first wealth quintile.

My suggestion was to set the realistic targets. The formative research before the project start will show the direction and current situation. On the basis of the findings of the preliminary study we can set the realistic targets. I hope you will get it.

@Course_Operations said in Module 3 Discussion: Unrealistic Targets:

Respond to this prompt after completing the content in Module 3.

Setting ambitious yet achievable targets can be difficult. Have you ever been asked to reach a target that was either too high or too low? How did you respond to the situation? What advice would you offer other learners who may be asked to work towards unrealistic targets?

**Sample Post: One time that I was asked to reach an unrealistic target was ______ . I responded by _____

I work in a production area where the goals are intentionally set too high. (One supervisor once said, "They're going to go up on the goal because too many people are meeting it.") Employees who are deemed troublesome (or perhaps too expensive) are placed on Performance Improvement Plans (PIPs) and ushered out the door a few months later.

My own production goal is going up to 150 percent of the current goal, without any known data that would justify the increase. No one else doing the same work is reaching nearly that high a number.
Two questions: 1) Is this kind of environment legal? 2) How does an employee best defend against being unfairly placed on a PIP?

To answer the first question, yes, it's legal. And thank heavens that it is. Think about your encounters with the Department of Motor Vehicles. Do you really want a government bureaucrat determining workplace goals for everyone else? Or worse, what if Congress took it up on themselves to decide what is reasonable? Would there by anything more frightening than the thought of Nancy Pelosi and John Boehner sitting down together and writing your goals for the year? Or determining who should be on a PIP? (Other than them, of course.)
No, good management is not required by law. But business owners generally do try to do what they think is best for the business. That is, they aren't generally mean and nasty to their employees just because they like to be mean and nasty. There must be some thought process that is telling them this is a good way to manage.

Yes there was a time I was tasked in reaching unrealistic target. I was given a team of expert to lead and review curriculum for 5 modules in 10 days. I kept feeling that the target was too high to be achieved in 10 days. The work began and I kept monitoring the progress daily. By day 10 sure we had not achieved the set the target. I had to work on my report and recommend for adjustment of both funds allocated for this activity as well as extension of the number of days required to finish the activity The development partner approved both my requests for additional budget and extension of time.

One time i was asked to reach an unrealistic goal was when i told to organize for a three day training motivational talk with university students.At first our orgaization was there convincing every student the purpose of attending the training,but all was in vain since majority wanted atlst sitting allowance,which was somehow a draw back to us.

We had a very high targets of people to reach in a given project. However, because of the limited resources available, we had to choose between more resources or fewer people to be reached. We settled on fewer people to be reached as a more realistic action for the project.

One time that I was asked to reach an unrealistic target was when I was working on a project where I had to deliver too many surveys in the last three month of the project live. I had not enough human resources to do this. To conduct the end line survey, annual survey and direct beneficiaries survey in a short period of time, it is unrealistic. So, me and Project manager revised the budget and decided to hire some professionals to do this, also we have involved some of our projects partners and also volunteer students in the data collection process. In this way, we have had reached our target.

Working on different projects can be a learning experience and venture where you have a multiple of tasks. Well all this is achievable with proper project design. One projected had many unrealistic targets that we could not met. This was a Food For Asset project that was output based at every end of the month for beneficiaries to get their rations and pay through cash transfers. Beneficiaries at the end of the month could not complete even 80% of their tasks due to;
1 Lack of man power due to poor targeting from the chiefs.
2 General food distribution to all the vulnerable community members that absorbed FFA beneficiaries.
3 Prolonged rain that hindered cultivation daily.
Another one was a survey on Food security and Nutrition Monitoring system (FSNMS) where per day a team would complete 4 questionnaires and at least one GEO-TRACE but still this failed due to a number of reasons;
1 The fact that it was cultivation season respondents were not always at home.
2 Other beneficiaries never wanted their kids under 59 months to be measured that it is not to their culture requirements.
3 Others wanted to be paid first.

One project that was donor funded had a predetermined target of recruiting and registering 2000 farmers by the end of year 3 in green insects for food and feed.We did'nt foresee that dealing with attitude change would take a huge toll on the project because the assumption is that western communities eat white ants so crickets WHY NOT...
The housing of crickets took a heavy chunk of the budget and hence they shifted from grants to business and it was in form of soft loan advanced to farmers for housing crickets..needing 30 plastic crates that will be paid back in cricket sales.
Only to realize the crickets had varied growth rate depending on feed quality and temperatures so most farms were not achieving the desired weight by 3 months let alone the electioneering process that took a toll on the county and its infrastructure barring movement,,extension was basically brought to its knees
donors and project team held an annual review meeting and targets revised downwards,if we could have airtime allocated to mentor farmers to be the eye on the ground,we had an entrepreneur formulate the right cricket feed which was bought by project to distribute to the farmers.

@OHMS said in Module 3 Discussion: Unrealistic Targets:

Working on different projects can be a learning experience and venture where you have a multiple of tasks. Well all this is achievable with proper project design. One projected had many unrealistic targets that we could not met. This was a Food For Asset project that was output based at every end of the month for beneficiaries to get their rations and pay through cash transfers. Beneficiaries at the end of the month could not complete even 80% of their tasks due to;
1 Lack of man power due to poor targeting from the chiefs.
2 General food distribution to all the vulnerable community members that absorbed FFA beneficiaries.
3 Prolonged rain that hindered cultivation daily.
Another one was a survey on Food security and Nutrition Monitoring system (FSNMS) where per day a team would complete 4 questionnaires and at least one GEO-TRACE but still this failed due to a number of reasons;
1 The fact that it was cultivation season respondents were not always at home.
2 Other beneficiaries never wanted their kids under 59 months to be measured that it is not to their culture requirements.
3 Others wanted to be paid first.

This must have been an overwhelming scenario i agree..What about conducting a needs assessment and stakeholder mapping and assigning roles..then do a seasonality calendar with the community to seen when do they do what and with whom so as to plan effectively and efficiently from the office' end before commencing on the project.??

@Umar007 said in Module 3 Discussion: Unrealistic Targets:

One time that i was asked to reached unrealistic target was not long ago regarding maternal mortality. The inputs from the donors were grossly inadequate to realize such outcome and impact within the stipulated time. So we outlined all these challenges and forwarded to them, to make necessary adjustments where need be.

brilliant thought as sometimes the projects are top down which causes messes on the ground but it planning is a bottom up approach the better.

@Bilha-Joy said in Module 3 Discussion: Unrealistic Targets:

One time i was asked to reach an unrealistic goal was when i told to organize for a three day training motivational talk with university students.At first our orgaization was there convincing every student the purpose of attending the training,but all was in vain since majority wanted atlst sitting allowance,which was somehow a draw back to us.

Yes sometimes the audience can shift focus to how to deliver content. It can be frustrating i agree but a Pre-test knowledge questionnaire could help before implementation also only if they agree to take it.

@All Learners, Do we think/believe that there are some goals we seem to see unrealistic can be realistic if we change our mind set and work harder...Agreed or Disagreed???

@Arithi said in Module 3 Discussion: Unrealistic Targets:

@Course_Operations said in Module 3 Discussion: Unrealistic Targets:

One time that I was asked to reach an unrealistic target whereby i was required to vaccinate 4,000 heads of cattle per day with a team of three vaccinators and two animal handlers. This was not possible because cattle requires a lot of manpower to restrain for proper vaccination. The realistic target would be 1,500 cattle per day. I responded by showing my supervisor the average numbers vaccinated by similar teams from previous projects. Data available from vaccination reports showed that the highest similar teams vaccinated between 1,000-15,00 cattle per day. we therefore agreed that my team would set a target of 1,500 cattle per day.

Arithi 4000 cattle per day that was so much unrealistic. Anyway, which region were you carrying out the vaccination process?

For myself, i once worked as an enumerator in one of the esteemed research firms in kenya, where we were doing data collection in almost all counties in kenya on a project called Feed the Future (FTF). The data collection tool(questionnaire) was so long that you could barely spend almost 3hours with the respondents but the firm had set for us a target of 5 questionnaires per day. this target was so unrealistic such that after the first and second day of the survey they had to revise their target to 3 questionnaires per day. This was important since it ensured that we collected quality data.

my immediate boss told me he was given unrealistic targets to meet after mid term evaluation of the project they had to review and reduce the targets to realistic ones

A unrealistic target was set for me to commissions 3 analytical studies in one month. We could not commission the 3 studies due to lack of financial resources. In the end, we only managed to commission one study.

@Course_Operations said in Module 3 Discussion: Unrealistic Targets:

Respond to this prompt after completing the content in Module 3.

Setting ambitious yet achievable targets can be difficult. Have you ever been asked to reach a target that was either too high or too low? How did you respond to the situation? What advice would you offer other learners who may be asked to work towards unrealistic targets?

**Sample Post: I haven't been asked to reach an unrealistic target that is too low or high but i get the idea. Should it happen, i would responded by explaining the fiscal constraints if its money matters to the project coordinator so as to make it known and dealt with accordingly. I would know the target is too high or low by looking at the baseline for the target and the resources required to meet that target..

We had just finished a project in one community and the plan was to replicate the same project in another community, because of the limited resources at the initial stage of planning we did not do a baseline survey and relied on the baseline survey of the previous project to project our target. In the previous project field staff were able to reach 10 household per day per staff. So we set the target based on that. When we went to that community we found out the settlement were scattered and achieving 10 household per day was beyond reach. At the end of the project we were not able to reach the target though we had a justifiable reason to give to that effect.

@NJERI_KARIUKI said in Module 3 Discussion: Unrealistic Targets:

For myself, i once worked as an enumerator in one of the esteemed research firms in kenya, where we were doing data collection in almost all counties in kenya on a project called Feed the Future (FTF). The data collection tool(questionnaire) was so long that you could barely spend almost 3hours with the respondents but the firm had set for us a target of 5 questionnaires per day. this target was so unrealistic such that after the first and second day of the survey they had to revise their target to 3 questionnaires per day. This was important since it ensured that we collected quality data.

Would you have considered revising of the questionnaire? 3 hours would also be too long to interview someone hence compromise on the data quality

@NJERI_KARIUKI said in Module 3 Discussion: Unrealistic Targets:

@Arithi said in Module 3 Discussion: Unrealistic Targets:

@Course_Operations said in Module 3 Discussion: Unrealistic Targets:

One time that I was asked to reach an unrealistic target whereby i was required to vaccinate 4,000 heads of cattle per day with a team of three vaccinators and two animal handlers. This was not possible because cattle requires a lot of manpower to restrain for proper vaccination. The realistic target would be 1,500 cattle per day. I responded by showing my supervisor the average numbers vaccinated by similar teams from previous projects. Data available from vaccination reports showed that the highest similar teams vaccinated between 1,000-15,00 cattle per day. we therefore agreed that my team would set a target of 1,500 cattle per day.

Arithi 4000 cattle per day that was so much unrealistic. Anyway, which region were you carrying out the vaccination process?

In Wajir County. When non technical people make the decision making teams, this is what happened. We had received a new Chief Executive Member ( Minister) who has never worked with livestock .

@vadhiambo said in Module 3 Discussion: Unrealistic Targets:

Yes, there was this time we promised to reach 100,000 farmers in 3years when we had just concluded a program where we reached only 1,500 in the same duration.

We over-promised the donor and were not able to meet the target. we therefore reviewed the targets with the donor and had to bring in additional interventions to meet the target. Towards the end of the project, we looked for additional funding to meet the target we had set.

Wow,thats so nice@vadhiambo

@philistine ,Yah,that was one major lesson learnt.Before implementing anything,we need to get on the same page with the audience.

One time I was asked to come up with a proposal for funding within three days. I responded by consulting other researchers for advice if it was feasible. I prepared a draft requested for an urgent meeting before deadline . I presented the draft proposal, together with my arguments why the target was not feasible for me. I was granted more time.

No I have never been asked before. My advice is if one is asked to achieve an unrealistic target,one should politely decline and provide advice for a better d smarter more realistic alternative

Hi!,
In my organization we normally target higher to achieve our goals as we deal with decrease of HIV new transmission by collecting various data from every client visiting our regional referral hospital in every ward and out patients we normally also conduct seminars and workshops and screening of patients visiting our hospital at opd. moreover we tress the new positive clients with their sexual partners and children to know their HIV status. up to the end of the year we normally sometimes reach our targets though in many cases we fail due to financial scarce.

Some years back I was working on a project to training a huge number of youths on agribusiness, that target was set by the donor and my organization jumped at it. during one of the mid term review my organisation and donor realised that the target was too ambiguous and it was reviewed.

@sayunijohn55 said in Module 3 Discussion: Unrealistic Targets:

Hi!,
In my organization we normally target higher to achieve our goals as we deal with decrease of HIV new transmission by collecting various data from every client visiting our regional referral hospital in every ward and out patients we normally also conduct seminars and workshops and screening of patients visiting our hospital at opd. moreover we tress the new positive clients with their sexual partners and children to know their HIV status. up to the end of the year we normally sometimes reach our targets though in many cases we fail due to financial scarce.

But I don't think that is too good for an organization to be known not to be meeting up with target all in the name of fund.

@KOPJ said in Module 3 Discussion: Unrealistic Targets:

@Skaliyetu said in Module 3 Discussion: Unrealistic Targets:

One time that I was asked to reach an unrealistic target was which was cleaning an area in my local government of attachment, the target was too ambitious and unrealistic. I responded by by telling my project coordinator that I will need more hand on deck to clear the potion of field.

@Skaliyetu thanks for sharing with us
So did you receive the extra hands needed?
and if Yes how good was final output of the project please do share with us
......................................................................................................................................................................................Happy learning

Yes more personal we directed toward my section and we were able to finish up before the allocated time.

@Course_Operations said in Module 3 Discussion: Unrealistic Targets:

Sample Post: One time that I was asked to reach an unrealistic target was while working in a HIV/AIDS program. I was asked to trace a percentage of clients who had defaulted cure . I responded by first having a discussion with the the project team to identify from the records where these clients resided from. Having identified the clients contacts and area of residence, we devised a plan of contacting them.We begun by calling them to find out if they were accessing care somewhere else.The ones we couldn't reach via phone, we asked the peer educators to trace them and finally held outreach services in areas where we could target the highest number of defaulters. It took a while to get these lost to follow up clients but we did get quite a number restored to care

We are gradually moving towards completing Module 3 officially.. Let us put in more efforts and complete our studies, assignments and quizzes.

I encountered an unrealistic goal when I was working on a project to find out the effects of microbs on food items. I was asked by the project coordinator to get the microbial counts and to analyze the data every week, which end up to be impossible. We later resolve to just the counting of the microbs after which the analysis of the data will follow after.
My advice for goal setters. Make the goals and any target sets realistic and do not be strick about each goals, it should be flexible.

During a livelihood project, we seemed to have run out of time yet the set target was not yet achieved. I was then tasked to achieve a tAreeta of mobilising and training 500 farmers as out growers in 2 weeks. Now this was a very high target considering that other activities needed to be implemented as well. So, I decided to combine 2 trainings to ensure meet the set deadline. Secondly, we had the set targets reviewed and adjusted to achievable levels within the remaining time left. My advise is that situations and work environment should be analysed before targets are set. Then ensure set targets are achievable in that current situation

@Course_Operations said in Module 3 Discussion: Unrealistic Targets:

Respond to this prompt after completing the content in Module 3.

Setting ambitious yet achievable targets can be difficult. Have you ever been asked to reach a target that was either too high or too low? How did you respond to the situation? What advice would you offer other learners who may be asked to work towards unrealistic targets?

Sample Post: One time that I was asked to reach an unrealistic target was ______ . I responded by ______ .

One time I was working on a project where the target rate for women completing a training course was 100% employment. Given high levels of unemployment in the country and some cultural stigma towards women in certain work spaces, this was very unrealistic.

@Umar007 said in Module 3 Discussion: Unrealistic Targets:

One time that i was asked to reached unrealistic target was not long ago regarding maternal mortality. The inputs from the donors were grossly inadequate to realize such outcome and impact within the stipulated time. So we outlined all these challenges and forwarded to them, to make necessary adjustments where need be.

@Umar007 Yes in order to resolve unrealistic targets... we may need to readjust the project parameters as relates to the expected impact to be made and set indicators to be measured....

@AllysonCross said in Module 3 Discussion: Unrealistic Targets:

@Course_Operations said in Module 3 Discussion: Unrealistic Targets:

Respond to this prompt after completing the content in Module 3.

Setting ambitious yet achievable targets can be difficult. Have you ever been asked to reach a target that was either too high or too low? How did you respond to the situation? What advice would you offer other learners who may be asked to work towards unrealistic targets?

Sample Post: One time that I was asked to reach an unrealistic target was ______ . I responded by ______ .

One time I was working on a project where the target rate for women completing a training course was 100% employment. Given high levels of unemployment in the country and some cultural stigma towards women in certain work spaces, this was very unrealistic.

@AllysonCross Truly over-ambitious targets and cultural inhibitions not envisaged or otherwise can be the bane of unrealistic targets but re-strategization amid robust deliberations within stakeholders can prove progressive......

@MarionAkol said in Module 3 Discussion: Unrealistic Targets:

During a livelihood project, we seemed to have run out of time yet the set target was not yet achieved. I was then tasked to achieve a tAreeta of mobilising and training 500 farmers as out growers in 2 weeks. Now this was a very high target considering that other activities needed to be implemented as well. So, I decided to combine 2 trainings to ensure meet the set deadline. Secondly, we had the set targets reviewed and adjusted to achievable levels within the remaining time left. My advise is that situations and work environment should be analysed before targets are set. Then ensure set targets are achievable in that current situation

@MarionAkol A thoughtful post of an unrealistic target with practical solution approach embedded for other learners consideration.....Thanks for sharing!

@jacklineburudi said in Module 3 Discussion: Unrealistic Targets:

When piloting IGCSE for refugees the target was to enroll 20 candidates which was too ambitious for me.I suggested to the team that we plan for amaximum of 7 given that in Kenya self learning is uncommon and quite a number might not be confident to sit for the final exams ,we need to have evidence before the mass registration

@jacklineburudi This post affirms that targets must be set with realistic indicators in mind and not on sentimental assertions probably rooted in lack of pedigree, preliminary research and documented evidence....

@Akinyele said in Module 3 Discussion: Unrealistic Targets:

@sayunijohn55 said in Module 3 Discussion: Unrealistic Targets:

Hi!,
In my organization we normally target higher to achieve our goals as we deal with decrease of HIV new transmission by collecting various data from every client visiting our regional referral hospital in every ward and out patients we normally also conduct seminars and workshops and screening of patients visiting our hospital at opd. moreover we tress the new positive clients with their sexual partners and children to know their HIV status. up to the end of the year we normally sometimes reach our targets though in many cases we fail due to financial scarce.

But I don't think that is too good for an organization to be known not to be meeting up with target all in the name of fund.

@Akinyele Yes i concur, setting targets within the available FUND is the best option of making and measuring impact instead of putting the project execution under unnecessary stress!

@Akinyele said in Module 3 Discussion: Unrealistic Targets:

Some years back I was working on a project to training a huge number of youths on agribusiness, that target was set by the donor and my organization jumped at it. during one of the mid term review my organisation and donor realised that the target was too ambiguous and it was reviewed.

@akinyele Reviewing the prevailing targets amidst new and existing parameters to understand the best way of resolving unrealistic targets is highly recommended.....Kudos and happy continuous learning!

@Course_Operations said in Module 3 Discussion: Unrealistic Targets:

Respond to this prompt after completing the content in Module 3.

Setting ambitious yet achievable targets can be difficult. Have you ever been asked to reach a target that was either too high or too low? How did you respond to the situation? What advice would you offer other learners who may be asked to work towards unrealistic targets?

Sample Post: One time that I was asked to reach an unrealistic target was ______ . I responded by ______ .

One time I was asked to reach an realistic target was last year when I was tasked ensure all grade 12 students to score above 75% in the maths national examination. I responded by looking at the maths scores for this class in the last 3 years their class average has been 67% with 12 students out of 40 failing completely.

One time l was asked to achieve unrealistic target in a research program that involved performing household surveys. The surveys were to be done in rural communities having different geographical location. We were asked to do 4 household surveys each and it required only 3 hours to get back to the station. Since the community l was to visit was very far, where l could take more than one hour to travel, the target seemed unrealistic to me because l could have used only one hour to do surveys and 2 hours for travelling. With this time and household number of surveys targets, everything was unrealistic. I discussed with the project manager and decided to add me one more hour so that l could complete 4 household surveys.

Setting ambitious yet achievable targets can be difficult. Have you ever been asked to reach a target that was either too high or too low? How did you respond to the situation? What advice would you offer other learners who may be asked to work towards unrealistic targets?

I am presently working on a TB Project of active case and am expected to report at least four case per week, this is sometimes unrealistic because the activities for the month are planned in such a way that at the end of the program I would have worked in all the communities within my local government. In all this I realize that sometimes after having a whole lot of chest camp per week I may not find a case in that community even with the assistant of a community volunteer. So I made a different plan to have another chest camp on Saturdays in the communities where I had gone before and found cases. This has been yielding positively. Infact I recorded another new case from an already visited community last week. In other words, if you are asked to reach a very high target, it is good to restrategize to enable you achieve that goal at least to a minimum.

@Course_Operations said in Module 3 Discussion: Unrealistic Targets:

Respond to this prompt after completing the content in Module 3.

Setting ambitious yet achievable targets can be difficult. Have you ever been asked to reach a target that was either too high or too low? How did you respond to the situation? What advice would you offer other learners who may be asked to work towards unrealistic targets?

Sample Post: One time that I was asked to reach an unrealistic target was ______ . I responded by ______ .

I was a time ago faced with the situation of an unrealistic target. the project to target the polio vaccine of children under 5 years of age. We were told attend to three hundred children in a week across the terrain areas of scattered pollution. The skilled manpower trained were only five. We responded by requesting for target adjustment based on the land topography of the location, luckily the maximum number of children attended to per week was reduced to two hundred children of which we surpass that target by attending to two and fifty children in a week.

Advice; if the target is unrealistic, don't stress yourself,reach out to the supervisor or the organization in charge and share with them your opinion or reasons why you find to unrealistic to reach the said target. its better to set low target and surpass it than too high target and not reaching halfway.

@KennedyAkani said in Module 3 Discussion: Unrealistic Targets:

One time l was asked to achieve unrealistic target in a research program that involved performing household surveys. The surveys were to be done in rural communities having different geographical location. We were asked to do 4 household surveys each and it required only 3 hours to get back to the station. Since the community l was to visit was very far, where l could take more than one hour to travel, the target seemed unrealistic to me because l could have used only one hour to do surveys and 2 hours for travelling. With this time and household number of surveys targets, everything was unrealistic. I discussed with the project manager and decided to add me one more hour so that l could complete 4 household surveys.

that was great by reaching out to the project manager.

One time when I was asked to reach unrealistic targets was when I was a Field officer conducting household surveys. My daily targets were 8 surveys, but I hardly reached there. I always submitted 6/7. Why? because my manager failed to set the targets based on objectivity. He did not consider the number of working hours I had to work per day, the survey length/duration, the walking distance between households and the field arrival time.

Where would he have obtained this data?

1. From the previous researches that had been done by the organization before
2. By closely monitoring the trends -for the 1st ten days for example; what was data telling him with regards to average survey duration, average walking time, average work starting time etc.

I work as an Administrator and My manager has always set high targets for me. so what I do, I use my team effectively by teaming up the high achievers with staff who are falling a bit behind in order to give on-the job training. For those who do not meet targets, I do my best to evaluate them whether it is the skill that is lacking or is it their lack of ambition to attain that target. For lack of skills, training is the best solution and for ambition, I set-up an incentive program whereby they get the feeling that they will receive a reward once they overcome the challenge.

@Course_Operations said in Module 3 Discussion: Unrealistic Targets:

Respond to this prompt after completing the content in Module 3.

Setting ambitious yet achievable targets can be difficult. Have you ever been asked to reach a target that was either too high or too low? How did you respond to the situation? What advice would you offer other learners who may be asked to work towards unrealistic targets?

Sample Post: One time that I was asked to reach an unrealistic target was ______ . I responded by ______ .

One time I was asked to reach an unrealistic target was on a project that required training about 300 participants in one week. We had limited time, human resource and venue constraints and it was obviously unrealistic to achieve that in one week.

I worked with my colleagues to show the director that we could try to achieve this in one week but the quality of the training would be poor and so requested for two additional weeks to carry out the training with the aim of having good quality.

He agreed and we went ahead to do the training in two batches of 150 participants each per week. These participants were split into 3 classes of 50 participants per class and ran the training concurrently. The third was used to select successful participants who were engaged as community volunteers on the project.

When faced with situations like this, I think the right thing to do is to give scenarios of how best to make things work and reach targets. With evidence, you can convince people to reason with you. Also show them what the aftermath would look like if you attempted reaching the unrealistic goal (e.g quality of what will be achieved, how resources would have been wasted etc)

@Unaisi said in Module 3 Discussion: Unrealistic Targets:

One time me and my colleague were given about 16 rural sites to assess the water source within 10 days. During the assessment we realized that we could not finish all the sites because the sites were located very far apart and the weather conditions was not on our side as it was raining most of the time. We ended up finishing only 12 sites. When we came back to the office we discussed this with our supervisor and we adjusted our future site visit plan.

Hi @Unaisi, I like how you respond to this, it's very important to discuss the issues with your supervisor,

@baisha2168 said in Module 3 Discussion: Unrealistic Targets:

I work as an Administrator and My manager has always set high targets for me. so what I do, I use my team effectively by teaming up the high achievers with staff who are falling a bit behind in order to give on-the job training. For those who do not meet targets, I do my best to evaluate them whether it is the skill that is lacking or is it their lack of ambition to attain that target. For lack of skills, training is the best solution and for ambition, I set-up an incentive program whereby they get the feeling that they will receive a reward once they overcome the challenge.

Well done @baisha2168,..

@RCPparticipant said in Module 3 Discussion: Unrealistic Targets:

Respond to this prompt after completing the content in Module 3.

Setting ambitious yet achievable targets can be difficult. Have you ever been asked to reach a target that was either too high or too low? How did you respond to the situation? What advice would you offer other learners who may be asked to work towards unrealistic targets?

Sample Post: One time that I was asked to reach an unrealistic target was when I was requested to plan for too many field missions per month, which would not have allowed staff to have any rest. I responded by stating the reasons for refusal and adjusted the plan accordingly.

That's awesome but since you were asked by an organization and you explained your refusal, were they okay with your adjustment? More so, it would have been appropriate to explain reasons for why you think adjustment will be better instead of using the term "your refusal".

@baisha2168 said in Module 3 Discussion: Unrealistic Targets:

I work as an Administrator and My manager has always set high targets for me. so what I do, I use my team effectively by teaming up the high achievers with staff who are falling a bit behind in order to give on-the job training. For those who do not meet targets, I do my best to evaluate them whether it is the skill that is lacking or is it their lack of ambition to attain that target. For lack of skills, training is the best solution and for ambition, I set-up an incentive program whereby they get the feeling that they will receive a reward once they overcome the challenge.

Your work as an administrator is worthy of commendation and a style worthy to emulate however, it would have been preferable if you had given an example of a particular task that was unachievable because of how unrealistic the target was and how you went about it.

I was taken the junior secondary mathematics in my former school and my boss had said in a meeting that for that term, he wanted us to finish the text book before the end of the term. For me it sounded impossible reason been that I still had about two topics from the previous term I had not covered. So taught of creating an extra class on Saturdays where we just have 2hours of class and call it a day. I took this to the boss and he accepted it and that helped us to meet the target.

@xvi said in Module 3 Discussion: Unrealistic Targets:

Setting ambitious yet achievable targets can be difficult. Have you ever been asked to reach a target that was either too high or too low? How did you respond to the situation? What advice would you offer other learners who may be asked to work towards unrealistic targets?

I am presently working on a TB Project of active case and am expected to report at least four case per week, this is sometimes unrealistic because the activities for the month are planned in such a way that at the end of the program I would have worked in all the communities within my local government. In all this I realize that sometimes after having a whole lot of chest camp per week I may not find a case in that community even with the assistant of a community volunteer. So I made a different plan to have another chest camp on Saturdays in the communities where I had gone before and found cases. This has been yielding positively. Infact I recorded another new case from an already visited community last week. In other words, if you are asked to reach a very high target, it is good to restrategize to enable you achieve that goal at least to a minimum.

Well done.

Not worked on unrealistic target before but if this happen, I would advise them to sit down and review their targets or so they can work under no pressure and will not be surprised with the result if they go down than their unrealistic and ambitious targets.

One time I was asked to reach an unrealistic goal was when I was asked by my organization to get 20 HIV patients in a forest enclave. Firstly, the people in the said enclave hardly come to town for the distance because of inaccessible road, where by foot one can make it to the road in 3 hours. More so the people had not been informed of the malady of HIV hence they were terrified to come out for VCT. I reported however to my organization but my supervisor equally told me he was acting on instruction and that the job needs be done. I re strategised after the testing that the drugs are to be collected in person and at the office, that was how i was able to record 11 patients. I could not get the 20 but i tried the best i could.

Yes, I have been asked to meet an unrealistic target and I felt unhappy although I tried everything i could to meet the target but the account manager who was supposed to make it easier by releasing funds on time proved difficult. that made the project not to be fully achieved.

One time that I was asked to reach an unrealistic target of buying large quantities of stationary and education materials that were above and beyond the budget allocation. I responded by looking for alternative wholesalers who would give discounts and also tapping into a miscellaneous pot that was availed for such short falls.

@Course_Operations said in Module 3 Discussion: Unrealistic Targets:

Respond to this prompt after completing the content in Module 3.

Setting ambitious yet achievable targets can be difficult. Have you ever been asked to reach a target that was either too high or too low? How did you respond to the situation? What advice would you offer other learners who may be asked to work towards unrealistic targets?

Sample Post: One time that I was asked to reach an unrealistic target was ______ . I responded by ______ .

When our organization first started, the target of enrolling 100% of underserved village children in educational programs was, of course, the ideal goal of the organization; however, we ultimately understood that this was an unrealistic goal. In response, we narrowed down our scope to focus on one village and how we could best serve that one community. By narrowing our focus, and setting more realistic goals for within our time frame, we were able to implement our program and accomplish our goals more efficiently than had we stuck with a wider target. That also allowed us to evaluate the planning, implementation, and results so we could apply them as we grew and implemented additional programs in other villages. The process has served us well so far. Being able to identify these targets as specifically as possible is important for the health of the project as a whole.

@Iv200 said in Module 3 Discussion: Unrealistic Targets:

I was taken the junior secondary mathematics in my former school and my boss had said in a meeting that for that term, he wanted us to finish the text book before the end of the term. For me it sounded impossible reason been that I still had about two topics from the previous term I had not covered. So taught of creating an extra class on Saturdays where we just have 2hours of class and call it a day. I took this to the boss and he accepted it and that helped us to meet the target.

@Iv200 I can empathize with that feeling of a target seeming like an overwhelmingly un-achievable goal, but in this case, it seems like your experience was a positive one! Your supervisor's support of your solution to accomplishing what seemed un-achievable looks to have helped in meeting that "unrealistic" target.

Yes we still have and had ever tried to reach unrealistic targets. For our case, the manpower is too low that some activities can not be done at the same time considering the current human resources we have, yet the targets depict as if we are to do everything at the same time which we can't

Yes i have once work towards achieving an unrealistic target. The target was to diagnose 46000 pregnant women of HIV in the fight against transmission from mother to child .It was unrealistic because past data sources shows that not up till 20000 women get pregnant in that community within that specific period and majority of the women do not go for antenatal visit during pregnancy and tracking for HIV diagnoses is usually very challenging.

What we did was that we develop other strategies on how to meet this target ,organize campaigns, mobile hospitals ,community. home visits to track down all possible case of pregnant women. By doing this even if we could not meet this target but exhausted all possible means to reach the maximum number of women that are pregnant in community and to make sure they all know their status.

@Nasibat said in Module 3 Discussion: Unrealistic Targets:

@Course_Operations said in Module 3 Discussion: Unrealistic Targets:

Respond to this prompt after completing the content in Module 3.

Setting ambitious yet achievable targets can be difficult. Have you ever been asked to reach a target that was either too high or too low? How did you respond to the situation? What advice would you offer other learners who may be asked to work towards unrealistic targets?

Sample Post: One time that I was asked to reach an unrealistic target was ______ . I responded by ______ .

I worked with an NGO as a data entry clerk and I was asked to enter 15 hospital folders into the system every day. At first, it was as if the target was unrealistic but as time goes on, I was able to do more than that per day.

@Nasibat, Can you please share with us the strategy use to overcome a target that you once think was unrealistic?

@Davidbet said in Module 3 Discussion: Unrealistic Targets:

Yes i have once work towards achieving an unrealistic target. The target was to diagnose 46000 pregnant women of HIV in the fight against transmission from mother to child .It was unrealistic because past data sources shows that not up till 20000 women get pregnant in that community within that specific period and majority of the women do not go for antenatal visit during pregnancy and tracking for HIV diagnoses is usually very challenging.

What we did was that we develop other strategies on how to meet this target ,organize campaigns, mobile hospitals ,community. home visits to track down all possible case of pregnant women. By doing this even if we could not meet this target but exhausted all possible means to reach the maximum number of women that are pregnant in community and to make sure they all know their status.

@Davidbet , Good team spirit...even though data proved that you can't reach that target but the team took up the challenge to go for it. Where you able to hit the 46000 target?

Respond to this message after completing the content in Module 3.

Setting ambitious but achievable goals can be difficult. Have you ever been asked to reach a goal that is too high or too low? Of course, many times we are interpenetrated with the results and these must be immediate and global to achieve the objectives. Sometimes it is ambitious but in others time will tell whether we achieve it or not because sometimes we tend to repopulate actions that allow us to have a long term to achieve it How did you respond to the situation? Teamwork What advice would you offer to other students who may be asked to work towards unrealistic goals? I think we should be more congruent and real when considering certain objectives

Sample sample: once I was asked to reach an unrealistic goal was to achieve global objectives. I responded by means of established platforms such as the UN

@BMwaura said in Module 3 Discussion: Unrealistic Targets:

One time that I was asked to reach an unrealistic target of buying large quantities of stationary and education materials that were above and beyond the budget allocation. I responded by looking for alternative wholesalers who would give discounts and also tapping into a miscellaneous pot that was availed for such short falls.

Respond to this message after completing the content in Module 3.

Setting ambitious but achievable goals can be difficult. Have you ever been asked to reach a goal that is too high or too low? Of course, many times we are interpenetrated with the results and these must be immediate and global to achieve the objectives. Sometimes it is ambitious but in others time will tell whether we achieve it or not because sometimes we tend to repopulate actions that allow us to have a long term to achieve it How did you respond to the situation? Teamwork What advice would you offer to other students who may be asked to work towards unrealistic goals? I think we should be more congruent and real when considering certain objectives

Sample sample: once I was asked to reach an unrealistic goal was to achieve global objectives. I responded by means of established platforms such as the UN @addf @HO @Ju

@Alim16 said in Module 3 Discussion: Unrealistic Targets:

@Nasibat said in Module 3 Discussion: Unrealistic Targets:

@Course_Operations said in Module 3 Discussion: Unrealistic Targets:

Respond to this prompt after completing the content in Module 3.

Setting ambitious yet achievable targets can be difficult. Have you ever been asked to reach a target that was either too high or too low? How did you respond to the situation? What advice would you offer other learners who may be asked to work towards unrealistic targets?

Sample Post: One time that I was asked to reach an unrealistic target was ______ . I responded by ______ .

I worked with an NGO as a data entry clerk and I was asked to enter 15 hospital folders into the system every day. At first, it was as if the target was unrealistic but as time goes on, I was able to do more than that per day.

@Nasibat, Can you please share with us the strategy use to overcome a target that you once think was unrealistic?

Respond to this message after completing the content in Module 3.

Setting ambitious but achievable goals can be difficult. Have you ever been asked to reach a goal that is too high or too low? Of course, many times we are interpenetrated with the results and these must be immediate and global to achieve the objectives. Sometimes it is ambitious but in others time will tell whether we achieve it or not because sometimes we tend to repopulate actions that allow us to have a long term to achieve it How did you respond to the situation? Teamwork What advice would you offer to other students who may be asked to work towards unrealistic goals? I think we should be more congruent and real when considering certain objectives

Sample sample: once I was asked to reach an unrealistic goal was to achieve global objectives. I responded by means of established platforms such as the UN @Arithi @ju_nava98 @AeBellen18

Module 3 is designed to equip learners to become acquire knowledge in M & E. Don't take the course for granted. Apply yourself to learning everything that is available to be learnt. Prove your learning by attending to your quizzes and assignments. It is well.

T determine for me whether an assignment or project is realistic or not, I put all available data and facts together on the table and assess the practicability or otherwise of the assignment
Once I determine that certain factors are not practical I conclude instantly that it's not realistic since some factors or components are absent.
This is how I measure without wasting much time on preliminaries

One time time that i was asked to realize un-achievable target, one thing i have done is that i faced my supervisor and told him to revise the target because it was too high. Therefore, i advise you to be confident and explain to your supervisors in a respect manner that a such and such target is not easy to be realized.

One time I was asked to reach an unrealistic goal was when I was told to conduct a training program for our journalists wherein I was given a month preparation . I responded by collaborating with my co-advisers in journalism for the planning and preparation. But the target date was impossible to achieve because there was no enough funds to be used. So what we did was we tried to ask financial assistance from our school and from the parents.

When targets are unrealistic, it gives pressure to project team especially those directly involved in the implementation. Therefore, compromising the quality of service delivery to beneficiaries. Quarterly review meetings should help in making proper adjustments if such targets were set

I can remember vividly when my Head Teacher ask me to reach an unrealistic target. He tasked me to create a lesson plan and note each day for nine(9) subjects. Now that target from the outset was unrealistic considering the learners ability. For the pupils to have a grasp of a topic in literacy, that particular topic have to be taught for two(2) days consecutively, then numeracy, basic science, social studies,Health education,cultural and creative arts,religion,computer science. I had to plead morally to the Head Teacher that the target was unrealistic because it is time consuming. So I pleaded that I form lesson plan and note for the two(2) basic subjects ,which is literacy and numeracy.

Glory be to God. We have less than 42 hours to go for our studies in Module 3 to come to an end. Be reminded of the need to apply yourselves to your learning, attend to your quizzes and assignments. Good luck, everybody.

Setting ambitious and realistic targets is a tricky task. unrealistic target will end up disappointed yourself, your team, and your donors. So our targets should be SMART (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant and Time bound). Clear goals are also extremely useful tools in assisting you in motivating and informing other individuals who may help you to achieve your goal. In team or project environments, SMART goals are essential. The clarity of the goal, along with its defined measures and relevance to the project, ensure all members know exactly what is required of them and by when. With team goals it is the combinations of each person's KSAs that ensure that the project goal is accomplished. Unrealistic targets is wastage of time, and loosing the sponsors or Donner confidence. There is a chance of loosing money of Donner also.

One time I was working with a company as Marketing Officer and the targets given to me was an unrealistic target to me.Why? Because the resources and money available was far below the targets set and is not realistic to achieve those targets so i had to suggest to them we had to look at the market system and the resources available.
So we carried out the research through that we identified the right resources in other to set our targets.

@shamsuddeen said in Module 3 Discussion: Unrealistic Targets:

@Course_Operations said in Module 3 Discussion: Unrealistic Targets:

Respond to this prompt after completing the content in Module 3.

Setting ambitious yet achievable targets can be difficult. Have you ever been asked to reach a target that was either too high or too low? How did you respond to the situation? What advice would you offer other learners who may be asked to work towards unrealistic targets?

Sample Post: One time that I was asked to reach an unrealistic target was ______ . I responded by ______ .

One time that I was asked to reach an unrealistic target was when I was requested to teach and cover a non verbal reasoning book 2 to a 6 year old child in three hours which would not be possible for the child. I responded by given the managing trustee reasons why that could not be achieved and suggested 10 hours with 20 minutes break after each hour to enable the child comprehend effectively.
I would advice myself and anybody reading this, that it's inevitable to run away from such kind of unrealistic targets from our managers, supervisors e.t.c but how we respond back to them is very important. We should be calm and clear to the reasons why the targets can not be achieved and give alternatives to achieving such a target. I believe it would go a long way in helping us achieving our targets.

@shamsuddeen said in Module 3 Discussion: Unrealistic Targets:

@Course_Operations said in Module 3 Discussion: Unrealistic Targets:

Respond to this prompt after completing the content in Module 3.

Setting ambitious yet achievable targets can be difficult. Have you ever been asked to reach a target that was either too high or too low? How did you respond to the situation? What advice would you offer other learners who may be asked to work towards unrealistic targets?

Sample Post: One time that I was asked to reach an unrealistic target was ______ . I responded by ______ .

One time that I was asked to reach an unrealistic target was when I was requested to teach and cover a non verbal reasoning book 2 to a 6 year old child in three hours which would not be possible for the child. I responded by given the managing trustee reasons why that could not be achieved and suggested 10 hours with 20 minutes break after each hour to enable the child comprehend effectively.
I would advice myself and anybody reading this, that it's inevitable to run away from such kind of unrealistic targets from our managers, supervisors e.t.c but how we respond back to them is very important. We should be calm and clear to the reasons why the targets can not be achieved and give alternatives to achieving such a target. I believe it would go a long way in helping us achieving our target

@shamsuddeen. Awesome work and recommendation

@S_abdul88 said in Module 3 Discussion: Unrealistic Targets:

I can remember vividly when my Head Teacher ask me to reach an unrealistic target. He tasked me to create a lesson plan and note each day for nine(9) subjects. Now that target from the outset was unrealistic considering the learners ability. For the pupils to have a grasp of a topic in literacy, that particular topic have to be taught for two(2) days consecutively, then numeracy, basic science, social studies,Health education,cultural and creative arts,religion,computer science. I had to plead morally to the Head Teacher that the target was unrealistic because it is time consuming. So I pleaded that I form lesson plan and note for the two(2) basic subjects ,which is literacy and numeracy.

@S_abdul88. You are a very good teacher for thinking about the load the pupils will be battling to assimilate and your plea and suggestion to the head teacher also is in the best interest of the pupils too but it would have been best if you inform us how the head teacher reacted to your recommendation also. Did he accepted it?

@Dayan22 said in Module 3 Discussion: Unrealistic Targets:

One time I was working with a company as Marketing Officer and the targets given to me was an unrealistic target to me.Why? Because the resources and money available was far below the targets set and is not realistic to achieve those targets so i had to suggest to them we had to look at the market system and the resources available.
So we carried out the research through that we identified the right resources in other to set our targets.

@Dayan22. Marketing is very challenging and one can only imagine when targets get unrealistic and tough to attain however on this subject matter i feel if you highlight the unrealistic target and how you went about it we will be better informed on how to go about it if we run into similar scenario. More so the company's posture to your suggestion will be very helpful

@Gbengawumi1 said in Module 3 Discussion: Unrealistic Targets:

Yes, I have been asked to meet an unrealistic target and I felt unhappy although I tried everything i could to meet the target but the account manager who was supposed to make it easier by releasing funds on time proved difficult. that made the project not to be fully achieved.

@Gbengawumi1. And what did you do?

When we were designing a project to increase dairy processing among rural communities, we were asked to indicate a large target number of farmers who would process dairy products by the end of the project period.
I responded by asking our team to assess and predetermine the number of farmers who kept dairy animals; people lifestyles and social activities for the target group first and their interest in processing dairy products. In addition I advised for us to take a smaller target number.

Unrealistic Targets are a prelude to project failures, and leads to adverse disappointment and feeling of low self esteem at the end of the project, usually I respond to such directive by politely pointing out to my superiors the dangers involved in putting up unrealistic Targets based on assumptions.

One time I was engaged in a data collection exercise for an electrification project for a certain village in a rural setup.
We were given loads of forms (over 300, each 8 paged) that we were supposed to get to the villagers , share with them about the project & capture the information of those who wanted to be connected to the grid through the project.
We were two (me & a colleague), we went to the field & started the process but realized within minutes the exercise was quite a task that we couldn't achieve in a day, even a week.
I responded by requesting the project leads to mobilize the villagers, so that we could share the information with them as a group & easily get their details from the gathering. Thats what we did, there was a baraza & we eventually collected the info of approximately 100 villagers for the project but it was still an hectic task!
My advice from this experience is it is very effective to always begin with the end in mind, set realistic goals that will be practical to achieve without much strain.

In an anti-trafficking project we intended to track the trafficking cases through the indicator "number of cases of trafficking registered in the police station" and target set was to reduce the number of cases by 30%. But while doing the baseline we found the registered cases in police station was only 3 while in the community the number of cases was found to be very high but they were not reported. So, it has been observed that the target which was set based on the said indicator was unrealistic. So, I replaced the indicator with "number of unregistered cases of trafficking" reported through household survey.

While working on my undergraduate research project,we were instructed by the research committee to hand in our reports a week after our final semester papers.with all the fatigue, exhaustion and unavoidable challenges ranging from financial incapacitation to unavailability of supervises, we did our best and still the day came and none of the groups had hit the target despite all efforts. eventually the date was pushed by 2 more weeks and everyone succeeded.
During that do or die week, we as students got so frustrated, worried, desperate, wrangles among ourselves, stressed and made more errors that set us even far back, all in the name of beating an impossible deadline.
well, my colleagues and I learnt that setting realistic targets not only calms down people thus enabling them do their best but also promotes better working relations among the project staff.

In this current project, the Director set a target that seemed extremely unrealistic. He wanted us to have migrated 500 health facilities unto the EMR platform within 6 months from the start of the project. I deemed it unrealistic because at the time, the software hadn't been completely built or tested, we didn't have enough personnel who where vast in the use of the software to deploy to that magnitude of facilities, we didn't even have the financing to cater to that scale of deployment, there were other inputs that we had promised to deliver at deployment that we hadn't ironed out and we had not properly evaluated the risks and how they would affect the project. All in all, I thought it was not only aggressive and overly ambitious, I thought it crazy. I expressed my opinion at a meeting of the heads of department in not so aggressive way, trying to make the director see the reasons why we thought them unrealistic; because most of all the other HODs agreed with my point of view. In the end, the Director thought we weren't determined enough and kept it that way. Unfortunately, the target have yet to be reached almost a year after.

@yerika_mata1 said in Module 3 Discussion: Unrealistic Targets:

@apostledavid58 said in Module 3 Discussion: Unrealistic Targets:

We used to file monthly report for certain organization that I once worked with and at the beginning of every month the National level would set targets for each province and being at the local level the set target would seem unrealistic due to either the target exceeding the resources at hand or the target not being applicable to the situation at hand..e.g: the target would request that only high school student be included in program by reason of age while we have student of the same age whilst in primary school.

In AmeriCares foundations, in the framework of our medical attention, we project our objectives according to the technical capacity installed (health staff). In the case of gender violence in migrant women, it is a new issue in Colombia, so we will have to make a baseline, to adjust the objectives to ambitious but real figures

Also it seam setting unrealistic target sometimes make people miss the point as at the end the target may not anyway be realized .it seam it is waste of resources and time.

@Lykagema1 said in Module 3 Discussion: Unrealistic Targets:

@S_abdul88 said in Module 3 Discussion: Unrealistic Targets:

I can remember vividly when my Head Teacher ask me to reach an unrealistic target. He tasked me to create a lesson plan and note each day for nine(9) subjects. Now that target from the outset was unrealistic considering the learners ability. For the pupils to have a grasp of a topic in literacy, that particular topic have to be taught for two(2) days consecutively, then numeracy, basic science, social studies,Health education,cultural and creative arts,religion,computer science. I had to plead morally to the Head Teacher that the target was unrealistic because it is time consuming. So I pleaded that I form lesson plan and note for the two(2) basic subjects ,which is literacy and numeracy.

@S_abdul88. You are a very good teacher for thinking about the load the pupils will be battling to assimilate and your plea and suggestion to the head teacher also is in the best interest of the pupils too but it would have been best if you inform us how the head teacher reacted to your recommendation also. Did he accepted it?

@Lykagema1...at first he did frown at my recommendations but after a moral plea and a little convincing he did accept.

Knowing whether a target is too high or too low actually depends on the level of experience one has in a given field. I remember I was once given a target that was actually for 4 months and my supervisor wanted me to achieve it in a period of 1 month. I didn't notice it, only to be told at the end of the 4th month, that my performance had been good. Deep inside me at some point, I felt like I was one of the worst employees during that time. One thing that remained critical for me was to do my best in my reach, so I remained committed and worked hard daily. However, I recommend setting on targets to be based on realistic baselines developed based on informed data. From personal experience too high targets can drain employees to the extent of others quiting.