Loughborough

Goal Setting

Is your business suffering from the Columbus effect? When Christopher Columbus set out he didn't know where he was going, when he got there he didn't know where he was and when he returned he had no idea where he had been! And he did it all with borrowed money!

Whenever we set out on a journey, the only way we have of knowing we are on the right road is by tracking our progress on a map. We can only do this if we know the start point, the destination and the route. Business is a journey, as is life. Our goals define the destination. Our plans and daily tasks are all about the journey. If we have not defined a destination, how can we ever know if we are going in the right direction?

Goal setting provides long-term vision and short-term motivation. Here are some broad guidelines to help you to set effective goals.

Positive Statement

Express goals positively: 'Become a more effective people manager' is a better goal than 'do not upset staff'.Be Precise

Set a precise goal, putting in dates, times and amounts so that achievement can be measured, then you will know the exact goal to be achieved, and can take satisfaction from achieving it. If your goal is to grow your business, visualise exactly what that larger business looks like in terms of premises, numbers of customers and employees, key numbers.

Set Priorities

Where you have several goals, give each a priority. This helps you to avoid feeling overwhelmed by too many goals, and helps direct attention to the most important ones. Write goals down to give them more force.

Keep Operational Goals Small

Keep the goals you are working towards immediately small and achievable. Keeping goals small and incremental gives more opportunities for reward. Derive today’s goals from your larger goals.

Think Goals Through

When you are thinking about how to achieve goals, asking these questions can help you focus on the sub-goals that lead to their achievement:

• What skills are needed to achieve this?
• What information and knowledge are needed?
• What help or collaboration are needed?
• What resources are needed?
• What can block progress?
• Am I making any assumptions?
• Is there a better way?

What next? Vision

Develop a vision for what your business (or life) looks like at some future point. Once you have your vision, communicated the relevant parts to your team, you are ready to establish goals as steps in achieving your vision.

Goals

Establish goals, with the participation of your team.
When setting goals, keep these points in mind:

• They should be realistic and attainable.
• They should improve the organisation.
• Involve everybody in the goal-setting process.
• Develop a plan to achieve each goal.

Review

Plan a time regularly to review progress against your goals. Involve your team in the review process so that everyone knows how things are going.

# 2 – 24th August 2007

Paul Fileman MIET CEng MCIM
Chartered Marketer
paul.fileman@talktosps.com
Tel:  01509 854447
Mob: 07969 188 820
www.talktosps.com