Objective trees

Objectives are targets, something we want to achieve, or a 'point' we want to reach.

This could, for example, 'I want to increase the number of young people in my scout group', or 'I want to have my home fully decorated in two years’ time'. Below is one way of setting out your objectives for the future and implementing them.

It's important when setting objectives to make sure they're in line with the overall goals you work to.

The MAIN OBJECTIVE is the change that you want to bring about, and the reasoning behind it. For example : 'I want to increase numbers in our Scout Group, because more young people will then benefit from what Scouting has to offer.'

Other objectives are the small goals that you need to reach in order to achieve the main objective; these could be : a 'Bring your best friend' night, greater press coverage, a more exciting & varied programme, local advertising, school assemblies etc.

It's important to have a clear idea of all these objectives, which are more important, which need to be achieved first and the relationship between them all. The objective tree will help you to see all this laid out clearly.

The other important thing is to identify any constraints that might make achieving your objectives more difficult, or even in some cases, impossible. There are likely to be some circumstances within your situation that cannot be changed and have to be worked with. For example, school holidays restrict when you can do assemblies; or the Scout Hut may be difficult to find, but its location cannot be altered.

An objective tree starts with the over-arching objective. The branches coming from this are those things you wish to achieve that will lead to the main objective. This process is continued until you have a 'tree' that covers all your separate objectives.

The illustration below shows just the beginnings of an objective tree to help you understand how it is constructed. However, in reality this tree would have many more branches and levels of objectives detailing all the possible ideas and ways of reaching your goals.

Once you have completed the tree, you should have a comprehensive record of all your options and those things you need to achieve that will go towards accomplishing the main objective.

Now, you will be able to choose between the possible options and make a plan as to how to achieve them.