Goal Setting – In Theory And In Practice

As part of the overall business planning process, establishing goals is of course fundamental in providing a clear vision of what you would like to achieve.  Setting one or more goals seems to be a straightforward process. You establish a particular goal, one that’s measurable and has a defined timeframe for completion. You implement your plan, measure your progress towards reaching your goal and then evaluate the outcome objectively to refine your process.

On the surface of things, it reads well and sounds simple enough to do. Regrettably, it rarely works out that way for a lot of reasons; mainly because we frequently fail to establish realistic goals. In addition, we frequently nonchalantly set goals with only a blurry view towards how they will actually be achieved. And while we are generally motivated at the beginning of the process, it is not at all strange to lose our motivation someplace along the way.

When preparing your own goals, it is important to first understand that every goal you set must be realistic and readily achievable, given an appropriate amount of time and resources.  For instance, setting a goal to earn $25,000 per month within 3 months, when your present earnings are less than $1,000, is in all likelihood unrealistic. On the other hand, setting an ongoing goal to increase your earnings by 5% or 10% per month is not alone realistic, but more likely to be achievable.

Once you have defined a goal you believe you are able to accomplish, the next step is to break it down into smaller, manageable tasks and scheduling them in sequence (assuming one task depends on the completion of another). Before defining the target date the overall goal must be accomplished, be sure that each task is given a fair amount of time for completion and allow the sum of the tasks to define the completion date, instead of arbitrarily selecting one.

Depending on how far into the future your goals are planned for, it is really helpful to schedule regular progress reviews, even if you are the only one involved. For instance, scheduling time every Friday afternoon to review your progress and make any necessary adjustments will keep your goals current. Do not be surprised if something unexpected interferes with your scheduling now and again. That’s normal and you will merely need to identify some way to compensate for it.

Another artificial barrier to actually meeting your goals is the process itself. Be careful to avoid implementing a goal management process that consumes more time than the goal itself. On a smaller scale, a simple spreadsheet will frequently serve to meet all of your management needs. For larger scale management, a variety of goal management software exists, usually scalable for most organizations.

Aside from actually working the process towards eventually realizing your goal, the final step is to take some time to evaluate the overall process and your performance at the end. This should be done objectively and embraced as a learning opportunity, one that will help you to improve your performance the next time.

With proper planning, setting realistic goals can only benefit you and your business in the end, particularly if you streamline the goal management process for yourself. If you think of it as an evolving process focused on continual performance improvement, over time you will see a measurable improvement in everything you do!