Are you a goal-setting lover or hater?
Many people enjoy setting goals. It’s an opportunity to refocus, think strategically, and be both optimistic and ambitious. The whole year is ahead of you, and, while there may be unknown challenges and setbacks ahead, there is also the potential for enormous success and upside. Goal setting is a chance to dream and commit. For all the dreamers and planners out there, goal setting is a wonderful, blissful time.
On the other hand, especially for the realists, it can feel like a necessary evil: a bureaucratic process that pulls time away from other priorities. HR, Operations, and Finance leaders can feel like they are herding cats or pulling teeth trying to get managers and employees to set and submit their annual goals on time. You want to get through the process as quickly as possible so you can get back to the “real work.”
Whatever positive or negative visceral reaction you have, setting goals can significantly increase the probability that your business and your people will have a successful year ahead. There are many, research-backed reasons and benefits to setting goals. Here are some of the top ones for organizations:
- Aligns and focuses leadership on strategic priorities.
- Provides strategic clarity to the rest of the organization
- Supports employee motivation when goals are relevant and attainable
- Enhances decision-making about resource allocation
- Shares successes (and risk) with the team when goals are tied to recognition or rewards
Even with all these benefits, a goal-setting process that is not clear, efficient, or effective can quickly suck time and energy from the organization and leave people feeling less motivated, especially if the process lacks clear structure, team engagement, and transparency.
If you need to launch or relaunch your organization’s annual goal setting process, here’s a quick checklist to get started.
- Decide the format and structure for your organization’s goals. (Read our blog about common types of goals and take our quiz if you’re not sure what structure is best for your organization)
- Complete organization goals at the organization and leadership level ASAP
- Provide training or guidance to teams on your goal-setting structure and process to support engagement and fairness
- Set and communicate team and individual goal completion date
- Share goals with the organization once complete to aid alignment, collaboration, and peer accountability
Whether you’re a goal-setting lover or hater, commit to the process and get it done. Know that the rest of the year will be much smoother and more productive if you do.
Need help with any part of your goal-setting process? Send us a message. We’re here to help and make it as fun and painless as possible.
Emma J. Browning is the Founder & Managing Director at Paradox Consulting Partners, a management consulting company and Certified B Corporation that aligns talent strategy with business strategy to create high-performing, great places for all to work. She has advised hundreds of organizations over almost 20 years of management consulting including multiple Fortune 100 and 500 companies. She has her BA from Wake Forest University and MBA from Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business. Follow her at linkedin.com/in/emmabrowning
