According to the Webster dictionary an objective is ‘something toward which effort is directed: an aim, goal, or end of action’. The Frame of Reference distinguishes two levels of objectives: the strategic objective and the operational objective.

A strategic objective is a long-term, often vision related, goal that provides a guiding context for the development of more specific plans and projects. An operational objective is a specification of the strategic objective. It specifies what type of action is undertaken to achieve (part of) the strategic objective. A properly formulated operational objective:

• identifies a specific thing that you want to direct effort to,
• identifies a specific target that you are striving for,
• expresses an observable verb that describes the behavior that you are striving for,
• specifies additional criteria to indicate how or when the outcome will be observable.

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