Goals

IT ALL BEGINS WITH

VISION

Goals are the roadmap to the vision. They lay the path to success. Setting, aligning and implementing strategic planning goals to optimize revenue, eliminate waste to grow business is critical. However, sometimes goals become outdated or influenced by outside factors that challenge original thinking. These unforeseen pitfalls can make the path to success a rocky one. Annually reviewing business goals against updated data and trends can validate established priorities and goals or provide advanced warning strategies may need to shift.

This process is useful to check in with leadership and key employees to ensure they have clarity on the goals and have made a commitment to meeting individual and departmental goals to support the overarching strategy.

IT IS GOOD TO HAVE

GOALS

BUSINESS GOALS

Business goals can be challenging because the sometime the larger strategy is not clear and employees have not fully bought into them. Unfortunately, it’s pretty easy for this to happen because often goals are being set at higher level within the organization and their details and benefits are not being filtered down. Therefore there is a detachment from the strategy and less momentum toward meeting those goals. It’s up to the organization to have a process for setting goals down to the indivudal level to contribute to the larger goals. Companies without a human resources department or seasoned leadership in goal setting can greatly benefit from establishing goals, measuring and reporting on them while recognizing individual and departmental contributions can motivate and increase job satisfaction.

BUSINESS GOALS

Business goals are those big overarching goals that move the business forward. They can include financial performance, sales, audience reach, consumption, expansion into new markets or introduction of new products and services. These goals are usually requiring the cooperation various groups within the organization and possibly outside resources. They are the sum of all the little things going right.

DEPARTMENTAL GOALS

Departmental goals should be in support of the business goals. Isolated departmental wins can create confusion and contempt. It is tempting to pit departments against each other to spur competition but these strategies can undermine momentum toward larger goals. It is better to create cooperation where the best ideas and successes are leveraged to support other areas of th the business.

INDIVIDUAL GOALS

Individual goals should also be attribute to the overarching business goals. However, at work these goals are often assigned to people with little say. These goals are determined by management based upon benchmarks needed to manage the business. However, individuals assigned to meet these goals should understand how their individual contributions are impacting the overall company success.

GOAL SETTING

Successful goal setting can impact the success rate of actually meeting goals. For instance, autonomy in setting goals has been proven to increase the effort put forth in achieving goals. This means an open exchange about individual goals with the people responsible for achieving them can increase the likelihood of meeting big goals. Frontline folks often have valuable information about how things get done. They can offer ideas on how to make improvements or remove roadblocks that are slowing progress. When employees take ownership in the goal setting process, it can increase momentum toward reaching goals and achieving success by increasing job satisfaction. Most people want to feel valued and want to contribute in a positive way. Opening the flow of communication and having a process of establishing goals can bring your company to new levels. We can help your organization establish a goal setting process using a digital collection methods to set goals and track goals.

GOAL PICKING

There are probably dozens of goals you can think of for your business. However, having the right resources available to achieve dozens of goals usually isn’t an option. So businesses need to be smart about picking which goals they will focus on for a given timeframe. Being strategic about which goals will benefit your business most can help you reach those goals.

GOAL PRIORITIES

Prioritizing goals comes down to knowing which goals are critical to the overall success. These goals have a domino effect on other initiatives. Being able to target which goals are the most important to the business allows employees to focus on they tasks that matter most. This helps to clarify how they should be spending their time.

GOAL ENVIRONMENT

Nothing happens in a vacuum. There are always outside factors at play. When setting a goal, all the other factors that can impact that goal should be considered. All the possible steps leading up to reaching the goal identifying critical indicators that validate if things are on track for the target outcome. This will help keep paths to target goals open.

GOAL SETTING

Setting a goal should include a target achievement in a specific timeframe with a specific set of perimeters. It should be set with the input from the people responsible for reaching that goal. It should be realistic, measurable and easily reported upon. We should be setting people up for success.

GOAL ACCOUNTABILITY

Once goals are set there needs to a plan for accountability if goals are not met. Employees should understand repercussions for not meeting the goals both in how it impacts their performance as well as how it impacts the overall organization. Lack of accountability creates a culture of complacency.

GOAL TRACKING

Monitoring and tracking goals can be time consuming. If a goal is determined important enough to track there should be a process in place to gather that information as easily as possible. Transparency on performance towards goals helps to keep them top of mind and can prevent goals from getting off track.

GOAL REPORTING

Reporting on individual and departmental goals can inform on progress toward those larger business goals. A formal goal review process to look at reporting across the business can provide valuable indicators of the potential to meet goals or alert decision makers if things are not as expected. It’s an added layer of protection to ensure successful outcomes – early and often.

GOAL VALIDATION

Using new information as it becomes available to validate the established goals helps to reinforce the vision and keep up the momentum toward reaching those goals. However, it can also alert when goals need to be adjusted. Noticing trends early allows time to evaluate the concerns, consider corrective action or continue to monitor to increase chances for success.

RECOGNIZING GOALS

Recognition for the efforts and achievements toward goals reinforces the behaviors to commit to reaching goals. Working in an environment that reinforces goals with clear communication and incentivizes progress toward goals by celebrating small wins creates an accountability culture that is self-motivating. People enjoy being part of a winning team.

“Accountability breeds response-ability.” – Stephen Covey

A company culture that thrives on setting and reaching goals can be a difficult environment for under-performers to thrive. These folks will resist accountability and will push for resolutions outside their control. Depending on their function in the company these sorts of employees can be toxic and can impede progress. An exercise in establishing goals can help leadership weed out folks who are not fully in support of corporate goals. Having the right people is as critical as the right goals.

Work smarter, not harder •

Give your business an advantage •