Setting Goals for You and Your Team

When it comes to managing a team, you have to concentrate on several things. You’re discovering the job of management. While you’re concerned with their daily activities, your real concern is setting goals and keeping your team focused on achieving them. As you work to set your team’s objectives and develop strategies for meeting them, try these following tactics:

1. Prioritize your goals. First make a list of everything you’d like to see happen. Get input from your team and top management. Put those thoughts into four categories – urgent, very important, important and unneeded. Ask for input if you’re not sure how important something is.

2. Set your goals. Set clear and specific goals for each area. In addition, each goal should have distinct, measurable objectives. For example, say, “Productivity will increase by 10 percent by the end of the year with no additional expenses.”

3. Use intermediate goals as markers. Using the same example, setting a 2 percent increase by the end of the first quarter can help you stay on target and determine which tactics are working and which aren’t. This will help you hit a ten percent productivity increase for the end of the year.

4. Share the specific goals with your team. Make sure everyone understands the importance of the goals as well as the time-lines to reach them. Be sure to get as much input as possible from your team.

5. Reward success. Setting goals is one of the easier parts of your job. You now must keep your team and yourself motivated to achieve them in spite of constant change in the workplace. I find the strongest motivator is to give a reward each time a goal is met. It can be as small as a box of doughnuts or even a congratulatory memo. Just make sure that everyone knows you value his or her effort and time.

Tip #2 Goals & Priorities

Goals flow from the personal vision. Goals are signposts on the way to excellence. They are destinations we reach and pass as we move toward our mission. They must be carefully thought out. As you clarify your personal vision, it is critical to break it down into various areas you can focus on. Typically, goals fall into the following categories:

• Family
• Social
• Financial
• Career
• Health
• Spiritual
• Mental State
• Community

In setting goals, it is critical for you to establish the type of person you need to become to navigate the road to your personal vision. Often, in setting goals, we concentrate too much on what we want and neglect who we are becoming. Pay particular attention to setting specific self-improvement goals that will allow you to accomplish your goals more quickly and effortlessly.

Goals need to be long-term and short-term. Start with the long-term goals first. Look at your personal vision. Imagine yourself already there. What are the significant accomplishments you have made to get there? Consider all of the goal areas. What needs to be accomplished to get you to this exciting future? Answer these questions carefully, and you will have a solid set of long-term goals.

Tip #3 Setting Professional Goals

Using the SMART formula, determine the goals that will help you reach your objectives.

S - Specific - The specific improvement I will make.
M - Measurable - Ways to measure results and maintain accountability.
A - Attainable - Situation in which I will apply this principle
R - Relevant - How results of this commitment relate to my overall goals.
T - Time Phased - The first action I will take and when I will take it.

Tip #4 Tips on Goal Setting

Here are some tips when setting goals. Be sure to set goals that have distinct and measurable results. This will ensure that they are being met in a complete and timely manner. Also, chart the results of your goals over time.

Prioritize your goals. The first step is to brainstorm in order to generate a list of all you hope to accomplish. This can be done as a group with your team and those people that give you the projects. After generating this list, place all the ideas into categories – urgent, important, and unnecessary. Now you can develop a numbered list of specific goals for all that needs to get done.

Establish a production schedule with intermediate goals. Now that you have a list of what need to be done, make an actual schedule so you can put dates to all the ideas. Urgent goals need to be dealt with soon, so setting time frames for these tasks is important. In addition, by setting intermediate steps to your larger goals, you can be certain that the process is progressing smoothly and/or how production might need to be altered to meet deadlines. These intermediate goals also enable you to evaluate your team’s performance and determine which tactics are effective in completing your goals.

Communicate the goal system and objectives to your team. Be certain that each member of your team understands the importance of the goals and the timelines for achieving them. Obtain input from the team members about how to best meet these goals. Finally, assign your team members to work on specific aspects of the larger goals, letting them know what they are personally responsible for producing.