GOAL SETTING (PART 1)

Definition

Goal setting is a formal process during which you define targets that you plan to achieve. When you set goals, you commit to outcomes that will be accomplished personally or through your team.

Purposes and benefits

"The person who makes a success of living is the one who sees his goal steadily and aims for it unswervingly. That is dedication."
—Cecil B. Demille

Goal setting creates a long-term vision for your unit and provides the motivation to get you there. It has the additional benefit of helping you decide how you want to focus your resources and spend your time. By setting goals and measuring their achievement you can:

• Focus on what is most important to accomplish on a daily, weekly, and annual basis.
• Provide a unified direction for your team
• Prioritize your workload to focus on critical tasks
• Motivate your team and boost team members' overall job satisfaction.

Types of goals

"Destiny is no matter of chance. It is a matter of choice: it is not a thing to be waited for, it is a thing to be achieved."
—William Jennings Bryan

• Unit goals: what your group as a whole will try to accomplish. 
• Individual goals: how each employee will contribute to achieving the unit goals. 

Transformational goals

Personal Insight

There are times when it's appropriate to evolve, but there are times when you need to bring about step change. One device you can use for getting there is to redefine the level of ambition so dramatically that people are almost forced to think from a blank sheet of paper rather than the incremental way that most of us have learned to think about performance.

Goal alignment

Unit and individual goals should emerge from the strategy of the company as a whole.
For example, if your organization's strategy is to become the market share leader through rapid product introductions, your unit and individual goals should serve that strategy.

The following figure illustrates the corresponding levels of aligned goals that flow from top to bottom:

The real power of these cascading goals lies in their alignment with the objectives of the organization. Ideally, every employee would understand his or her goal, how it relates to the unit's goals, and how the unit's activities contribute to the strategic objectives of the company.

Time frame and level of importance

Key Idea

Goals differ in terms of time frame and importance. Short-term goals are achievable within one or two months, and long-term goals are achievable over the course of several months or even years. This topic focuses primarily on long-term goals. In terms of importance, goals generally fall into one of the following categories:

• Critical goals are crucial to your operation. They must be accomplished in order for your unit to continue running successfully.
• Enabling goals create a more desirable business condition or take advantage of a business opportunity. They are important, but accomplish a better business environment over the long term rather than keep your business on track and successful.
• Nice-to-have goals make improvements that enhance your business. They usually relate to making activities faster or easier.