Including a Plan with Your Goals

What are the goals for your organization this year? Improve customer satisfaction? Increase productivity? Reduce costs? To improve the effectiveness of goal setting, many organizations add a specific measurement and a target date such as “improve customer satisfaction by 20% at the end of year. ”

Although it is clear what needs to be achieved, there is still a piece that many people neglect to add…how to achieve the goal. The how is the plan.

Goals may seem out of reach and unachievable without a plan. Plans provide direction and are the “how we will get there” part of the goal setting process. For example many people set a goal at the beginning of the year to lose weight. Without a specific plan on how you will lose the weight, your behavior will probably stay the same and the goal isn’t achieved.

To increase the chances of achieving your organization’s goals, I recommend the following five component process:

• Goal – What you specifically want to accomplish at the end of the period. Example: Improve customer satisfaction by 20% by December 31st.
• Resources – What you need to achieve the goal such as people, time, money, equipment, space, etc. Example: Customer Service Representatives, updated computer system, money for training.
• Plan – The specific steps on how you will achieve your goal. Example: Add system built-in help screen, provide training, post statistics.
• Milestones – Set interim goals during the period to indicate how you are progressing toward the final goal. Example: System request by March 5th, schedule training class series by May 1st.
• Measurements – By measuring, you answer the question, “was the goal attained?” or “what percentage of the goal was achieved?” Example: Post the ultimate, final goal next to monthly statistical results.

The Management Map series is a great way to get all your supervisors and managers on the right path to effective management. Goal setting is included in Chapter 5 – Setting Your Course and Speed.  To discuss other topics for your training plan, contact us at info@ManagementSkillsInc.com or call 972 881-5282.