Plans & Goal Setting - Kicking winning Goals


Kicking Winning Business Goals

The competition for business is hotting up. The advances in new technology, ease of communication, and increasing expectations from customers have combined to make the marketplace more competitive than ever. In this world it is critical for small and medium businesses to be proactive about creating their future. Without proactivity, things just seem to 'happen' without your control.

A management system that is centred around goals is one tool that the business can use to craft its future. This is a system of deciding what you are going to do everyday based on the goals you are working toward.

It sounds simple enough, but the research clearly shows that most businesses don't set goals ? at all. The goal setting process can seem daunting if it's unfamiliar territory, or if you have so much on your mind that you don't know where to start. This process will help you to sort through your key issues and create forwards momentum by setting goals that are innovative, resolve problems and improve results.

A goal-centred management system has 3 elements:
1. The goal or the objective you want to achieve
2. The activities required to achieve the goals, and
3. The review or evaluation process.

Here are the 5 steps required to put your goal management system in place.

1. Identify your Goals
Start by asking yourself these three questions. If you have employees, often they have a different view about issues in the business. Including them in this process can be really valuable.

  • What are the three things that irritate me the most about my business right now?
  • What have I been putting off, that I know will have a positive impact on my business?
  • What is working pretty well, but could be improved?

    • It might help you to think in terms of some common categories such as:

    Employees: skill levels, right people in right jobs
    Managers: management style, experience
    Customers: strength of customer base, number, loyalty etc
    Financial: cash flow, capital, low debt, profit margins etc
    Reputation: well-known brand, well regarded
    Products/Services: innovative, short time to market, no competition, price
    Environment: flexible work practices, physical working environment, location
    Technology: automated, streamlined, productive
    Production: capacity, product range
    Distribution: low cost, efficient
    Sales/Marketing: promotion strategy, marketing materials etc

    2. Write down what you want to achieve for each identified goal
    With your answers to the questions, actually write down how each thing would look at it's most successful. Goals should be in writing, in measurable terms and have specific timelines.

    For example, if you had chosen technology, your goal might be "to implement an integrated and automated contact management system by April 30th that takes away most of the manual work I do now."

    3. Break goals into measurable steps
    For each goal that you've articulated, break it down into the steps you need to do. You must include timeframes for each step.

    In our example, the steps might be:

    • Researching available contact management systems ? by 31 Jan
    • Analyse each one along cost, technology implications, ease of learning ? by 29 Feb
    • Decide and purchase ? March
    • Implement system ? April 5th
    • Test and undergo training ? by 30 April

    Ensure that all the people who are impacted by a goal fully participate in the crafting of the goal and the action plans.

    4. Allocate people to do the actions
    Be clear about who is responsible for what activity. Make sure everyone understands their responsibilities and signs up to achieving them.

    5. Create a fail-safe tracking method to monitor success
    This is absolutely essential. Without it, the business will simply continue to react rather than choose it's own direction. There are many different ways of monitoring. A simple method is to come together once per week and check where each current activity is at. You also get the opportunity to remove obstacles and plan any additional activity. If you work solo, schedule time in your diary each week to track your progress.

    This process of constant review and resetting action steps based on actual progress is the hallmark of having a goal centred management system. A simple goal setting process leaves out this vital step.

    So make the time and set your business up for success. Invest a few hours each week in careful planning and consideration, and see your business reach it's true potential.

    Megan Tough, Director of Action Plus, is passionate about helping people enjoy their businesses. She works internationally with business owners to systematically remove the stress points from their business, giving them more time and space for - well -whatever they want! Visit her at http://www.megantough.com for more information on taking the stress out of your business.

    In The News:

    pen paper and inkwell


    cat break through


    6 Steps to Effective Communication

    Effective leaders are known for being excellent communicators. Here's what... Read More

    Success in Business Means Managing Negative Emotions

    You may have the MBA but if an internal critic... Read More

    Rethinking Workplace Security: How the Rules Have Changed

    The workplace has traditionally been a dangerous place. Very early... Read More

    How To Delegate for Fun and Profit

    Ah, the wretched pain of delegation. It comes easy to... Read More

    Argue Your Way To Business Success

    "Jack" (not his real name) is a vice president of... Read More

    Organizing The Information

    Putting a piece of paper in a file folder is... Read More

    In Leadership, The Critical Convergence Drives Great Results

    The Leader's Fallacy lives! We subscribe to the Fallacy when... Read More

    Relationship Building - 5 Tips and 5 Questions

    And is isn't hard - it's more about focusing on... Read More

    Getting Your Employees Attention Back to Work

    It is 9:00 am on a Monday morning. Do you... Read More

    IT Expenditure - Why Businesses Spend Huge Amounts on Ineffective IT Investments

    Another IT White Elephant!It seems that almost every day we... Read More

    Performance Evaluations Can Be Beneficial

    THE PERFORMANCE REVIEW MEETING: It's a fact - most supervisors... Read More

    Top Ten Tips for Outstanding Customer Service

    Remember the 80:20 rule? You may not get everything perfectly... Read More

    Do Customers Like the Feel of Your Organization?

    In two recent articles "Some Evidence of How We Are... Read More

    Passion for Profits

    Business owners and managers are busier than ever. As their... Read More

    Selective Job Cuts Often Benefits Firm More Than Broad Layoffs Over Long Term

    It is difficult to pick up a newspaper or listen... Read More

    Motivating Employees - Ten Ways to Start You Off

    Yet there is a place for those external 'raft-build's', 'away... Read More

    Treat Employees Fairly, Car Wash Entrepreneur sets Industry Standards

    I believe that whether corporations expense their stock options is... Read More

    Innovation Management: What Problem Is Being Solved?

    Creativity can be defined as problem identification and idea generation... Read More

    How To Decrease Profits Without Really Trying

    Hurting your sales efforts can be accomplished easily with the... Read More

    Tales from the Corporate Frontlines: Workplace Ethics: Reaching the Highest Standard

    This article relates to the Ethics in the Workplace competency,... Read More

    Tales from the Corporate Frontlines: Finding The Perfect Balance

    This article relates to the Work/Life Balance competency, which investigates... Read More

    Entitlement Programs Kill Productivity

    In articles I've written over the years, I have used... Read More

    Business Innovation ? Status Games

    Creativity can be defined as problem identification and idea generation... Read More

    Quick Tip - Effective Meetings Have SMART Goals

    The first step in planning an agenda is to identify... Read More

    10 Resolutions For The New Year!!

    Each year many people create a list of resolutions designed... Read More

    Morale Boosters: Feed the Troops First

    When economic conditions turn tough or when the heavy work... Read More

    How Your Business Can Pick A Software Developer

    Eventually, your business is going to need to have some... Read More

    Managing Group Meetings

    MANAGING SMALL MEETINGS: Keep the size of the meeting as... Read More

    Year 2010: Permanent Employees No Longer Required

    Jack Welch joined a conference that was held in Duke... Read More

    I Said Pareto Chart? Not Potato Chart!

    Does this sound familiar? You were hired for the new... Read More

    Conflict at 36,000 ft

    This was supposed to be one of those sleepy flights... Read More

    How to Create a Trusting Manager-Employee Relationship

    BUILDING TRUST AS A MANAGER: 1. Be reliable. Follow through... Read More

    Turn Your Speech Into A Leadership Talk

    My experience working with thousands of leaders world wide for... Read More