Making decisions is a big part of being a manager. But good decisions don’t happen by luck—they’re built on clear thinking and a solid structure. That’s where defining objectives, scope, and success criteria comes in. These three elements act like a roadmap, helping you and your team make better choices, stay focused, and know when you’ve hit the mark.

Let’s start with objectives. These are simply what you’re trying to achieve. Without a clear objective, you’re guessing in the dark. Imagine you’re deciding whether to invest in a new software tool for your team. Before jumping in, ask yourself: What’s the goal? It might be to speed up admin tasks or improve team collaboration. Knowing this gives your decision direction. You’re not just picking the newest tool—you’re picking the one that helps you reach your goal.

Next is the scope. This means what’s included in the decision—and just as importantly, what isn’t. A clear scope helps avoid misunderstandings and keeps things realistic. Let’s say you’re planning a team event. Is the scope just booking the venue and food, or does it include transport, entertainment, and follow-up feedback too? Being clear on this stops things from growing out of control and ensures everyone knows what’s expected.

Finally, there’s success criteria—how you’ll know the decision worked. This step often gets skipped, but it’s vital. Otherwise, how do you measure if the choice was the right one? Going back to the software example, your success criteria might be “admin time reduced by 30% within three months” or “positive feedback from at least 80% of the team.” These markers help you check progress and spot if you need to adjust course.

Putting all three together makes decisions not only clearer, but more confident and consistent. It also helps your team trust the process. They know there’s a reason behind what’s being done, and that the results will be measured fairly.

Here’s a quick example:
You’re deciding whether to let the team work from home two days a week.

• Your objective is to boost productivity and work-life balance.
• The scope includes trialling the idea for three months and tracking impact, but doesn’t include buying new tech or changing contracts just yet.
• Your success criteria are improved team morale (measured through a short survey) and no drop in deadlines being met.

Now you’re making a decision that’s clear, purposeful, and has a way to track success.

In short: setting clear objectives, defining scope, and agreeing on success measures help managers make smarter decisions that benefit everyone. It turns guesswork into strategy—and that’s where great management begins.

This post assists completion of the following criteria:

302 ML15 1.1 Explain the importance of defining the objectives, scope and success criteria of the decisions to be taken