Objective Setting
Setting objectives with your team is key to helping your organization meet its mandate - that’s rather obvious.
Setting objectives with your team that help improve the organization’s position, get the job done and at the same time, engage employees as key players (improving confidence, retention, etc.) – that’s trickier to do.
When setting objectives, be it as a team or as an individual, people often don’t know where to start. The following tips can help.
1. Remember to distinguish between professional growth goals and objectives. Both are important and both should be encouraged each year - but they are distinct. Professional growth includes taking a course, improving a skill or achieving a certification. Objectives (both team and individual) should contribute your organization’s annual plan and strategic goals.
2. Objectives should have an obvious link to your organization’s strategic plan. Ask yourself “Why would I do this?”. Depending on your role, the response might be granular – that’s ok. Ask yourself again “Why?”. If you can link your idea to your organization’s plan for the year, you are on the right track.
3. Objectives should go beyond day-to-day responsibilities; they need to be more than what is already expected of you. An objective should be an improvement, an innovation, a target or a project that helps move the organization forward.
4. The number and type of objective(s) you set should depend on your role – it needs to be realistic and achievable. Some contributors spend their time processing, supporting or fixing, leaving little time to take on elaborate new projects – this should be expected. If you are in this type of role, consider an improvement to a process you regularly do. Small changes can still help move the organization forward.
5. You need to dedicate time to check-in on your objectives throughout the year. Context changes, experiments fail – you need to have space to evaluate your progress, change direction or even replace an objective that isn’t working with something new.
