Achievements vs. Activities Achievements vs. Activities Around the Project Manager's Control Tower, the distinction between activities and achievements is an important one.
Activities are the means to an end, achievements are the desired end result.
PMs who can drive projects from an achievement perspective versus an activity perspective have some notable advantages. Before listing these advantages, let's make sure the differences between assigning activities and achievements are clear. Odds are that the work will not live up to our standards when the child reports the task as finished. It's even possible, though highly unlikely, that the child will do too much work, exceeding our standards. The key flaw in an activity assignment is that we do not create a clear performance expectation.