Goal Check

How are you doing on your annual goals? We've just crossed the halfway mark for the year and hopefully you've taken a good look at your progress to date. Are you ahead? Good job! On target? Congratulations. A bit behind? Not a problem as you still have six months to go. Way behind? Well that does happen - but it shouldn't.

Although most managers have a set of annual goals, the trouble with those goals is their 12 month time horizon. And that often leads to procrastination. After all, we've got 12 months to achieve the goal. So if other priorities cause us to lose focus for the first two months of the year, we've still got ten months to catch up. If shifting customer demands result in no real progress in the next two months, we've still got eight months to go. A special project from our boss and/or a temporary loss of key resources may find us way behind at mid-year. Now we need to double our focus if we are going to accomplish that goal.

Managers who are proficient at meeting annual goals know the key to success is to break the annual goal down into sub-goals. Annual goals are broken into quarterly goals, which in turn can be broken into monthly goals, which can be further broken down into weekly and sometimes daily goals. If you break down your annual goals into the shortest reasonable sub-goals, and if you commit to accomplishing those sub-goals on time, you'll find your annual goals need not become the last minute crisis that often leads to failure. Indeed, if you are already aware of this technique and have been diligent at working your sub-goals this year you are probably reading this post with a great sense of satisfaction and accomplishment. It's mid-year, and your annual goals are at least half done.

About me: Dan Pelley teaches goal setting as part of his "Managing for Results" program, one of five programs leading to a Certificate in Supervisory Management. Other topics include an overview of the management process, creating action plans to organize resources, scheduling, contingency planning, and time management.

Copyright © 2009 Daniel W. Pelley
All rights reserved.

Let Your People Set Their Own Goals

If you're a good leader you should be able to coach and teach your people to set goals for themselves as individuals, and goals for their department as a group or a team. If you can successfully do that you'll gain two very powerful results:

1. Studies have shown that people who are allowed to set their own goals tend to set those goals higher than the boss would have set for them.

2. People who set their own goals tend to achieve them no matter how much extra time and effort is required.

About me: Dan Pelley teaches Setting goals as part of his "Managing for Results" program, one of five programs leading to a Certificate in Supervisory Management. Other topics include an overview of the management process, organizing resources, scheduling, contingency planning, and time management.

Copyright © 2009 Daniel W. Pelley
All rights reserved.

Make Goals Fun

Some work can be routine, repetitious and boring. People who work in these environments often seek ways to help the time go by. There was a time that people would listen to a radio. In some companies a ballgame on the radio combined with a small sum betting pool made life more interesting and the time go by more quickly. Unfortunately, it seems that many companies have banned radios and an even greater number of companies (and some government agencies) frown on any kind of gambling pool.

Some managers have found ways to overcome boredom while increasing performance by making their department goals fun. One way is to set a goal for the entire department with some sort of "prize" or "treat" when the goal is met. Performance against goal is monitored and posted frequently so that checking on the goal becomes similar to checking on the progress of a ballgame. Another way is to create competitions between work groups or teams which can generate a team spirit similar to playing the ballgame at work. And, of course, individual performance can also be measured, tracked and posted to a scoreboard with appropriate rewards for achievements.

The key to all of this of course is to have fun while improving overall performance of the work unit and enjoying a prize or treat along the way.

About Pelleyblog: Pelleyblog focuses on management topics for supervisors and other first-line managers. We are an extension of Dan Pelley Educational Services which conducts management development programs primarily in Connecticut (CT), Massachusetts (MA) and Rhode Island (RI), although we also serve the other New England states. Pelleyblog welcomes and looks forward to new readers from any geographic location.

Copyright © 2009 Daniel W. Pelley
All rights reserved.