Blog & Advice

5 Steps to Company Goal Setting

It’s The Most Wonderful Time of the Year- How is Your Goal Setting Coming Along?

Are you making your list?  Checking it twice?  No, not THAT list!  Right now is the perfect time to sit down with your team and develop your plan for 2016.  The people with whom you work are the key to your success – setting your company’s goals without their input is like Santa trying to deliver all those toys without his reindeer.  It HAS to be a team effort in order to work. [Tweet "What gets measured gets attended to – what gets attended to gets done. #GoalSetting"] Call a meeting, clear the schedule, grab a white board, and invest this time into your company’s bright future.  Once you have your team assembled:

• Collaborate
  • Identify business strategy and goals as a team
  • Everyone has a voice – feedback and constructive debate is a necessary part of the process (no reindeer games or calling names)
  • Distill your initial goal brainstorming down into clear, concise, realistic goals

• Set SMART Goals 
  • Specific – Clearly defined outcomes
  • Measurable – Able to be objectively assessed through applicable performance indicators
  • Attainable – Required resources, time, and access are available in order to succeed
  • Relevant – Addresses work and results clearly aligned with business success measures
  • Timely – Specific delivery and/or completion dates

• Plan
  • Translate your company’s goals into deliverables as a team
  • Develop individual goals that directly correlate to the company’s operational goals

• Communicate
  • Put operational goals in writing and ensure all team members have a copy
  • Provide each team member a copy of their individual goals, as well as the operational goals they feed

• Revisit, Revise, Reiterate
  • Hold quarterly meetings to review and revise goals as business needs change
  • Update all related documents and redistribute to ensure all team members are aware of changes to operational goals as well as their own

“What gets measured gets attended to – what gets attended to gets done.”  As you and your team achieve and exceed your milestones in 2016, CELEBRATE!   Not necessarily eleven pipers piping or seven swans a-swimming, but something to acknowledge a job well done – Starbucks one morning for the team, a team lunch, or even a handwritten note praising a team member for their efforts.  A little encouragement goes a long way!    Wishing you a safe and happy holiday season, and to a 2016 filled with accomplished goals!