7 Steps to Goal Heaven

In my last Blog I talked about the 4 key aspects of Purpose, Vision, Mission and Values. These are all super important and lead nicely into this week’s topic – Goals.

When thinking about organisational goals you need to consider your overall direction linked to the 4 key aspects listed above, no matter how big or small a business you are, there are a few steps and questions you need to ask yourself to formulate the goals

1. Writing out goals is always a great way to really consider them and think about them, it brings your creative brain to the conversation and gets you thinking about those goals straight away.
2. So how many goals should I have? – well that is debatable, but I would always ask that you max these out at around 5 or 6. Anymore and you will probably start to see that you are asking too much of yourself and your team.
3. Should I make all the goals achievable or should there always be some that are unattainable? It is a great debate to have on this subject. I know many people that swear by unattainable goals as ones that can really stretch you and your creative spark. Helping you to achieve more than you ever thought was possible. Then you have the others who believe it is a waste to focus on targets that you will never achieve. The answer for me is simple if your Goals are well defined, will have a positive impact and stretch you, your business, and your people then that is the minimum requirement. If you also want a goal in there that really tests you then go for it.
4. Next, I would ask that you define what success will look like when you achieve your goals. What will it mean to you and the team, how will it make you feel and how will others perceive your success. How will you celebrate success when you do achieve the goals. This visioning technique can be helpful for the team to understand why the goals are important if they don’t already.
5. Define the steps you will need to take to achieve the goals. Again, I would not have too many steps per goal but say 3 as a starting point. So, what 3 crucial actions can you take that will help you meet and exceed the required goal.
6. Communicate the Goals– You need to ensure that your team are really clear on what it is the goals are and what they need to do to achieve the goals, their is a strong link here to behaviours as well as their motivation to succeed.
7. Last but not least, make sure you revisit the Goals and the steps you need to take to achieve them, checking progress all the way and ensuring you support your teams capability and motivation as this will be key is achieving and, hopefully, exceeding the set goals.

Whilst each of these steps may seem complex, they are not really that intense and once you sit down and plan them, potentially with the help of a coach you can make sure they really support you in meeting your Goals and direction as a business.

As ever I am happy to support anyone and discuss areas like this that can help you achieve real progress.  So please do get in touch.