The importance of setting Goals

 
Having clear, defined and agreed upon goals are very important to every team and every business. Each team should have their own goals that all help to contribute to the firms overarching goal. A recent article I posted on BusinessKnowledgeSource.com poses questions to help break down and set appropriate goals.

1. Are the objectives clear? Make sure your objective is clearly defined and agreed upon by your team. If the goals are not very clear, it will be hard to measure and track achievement. Also, set smaller daily, weekly and quarterly goals to help achieve your annual goals. 
2. Are the smaller goals it will take to reach my objectives specific? It is important to have smaller goals. The product and development team may want to add a new function this week or create a new version this quarter. The sales team may want to start some new lead generation services. The management team may want to engage with some growth venture capital firms to discuss business growth strategies.
3. Are my goals measurable? The ability to measure your progress against your goals is important for the CEOs, as well as individual sales people. For sales teams, using something like salesforce.com is great to give visibility and daily updates of progress.
4. Are my goals realistic? Setting and achieving realistic goals is good for the team and overall company. It helps to boost morale and positivity amongst employees. It also keeps people confident in their abilities. Setting yourself and your team up for failure will only lead to disappointment and frustration, which ultimately leads to lower productivity and high turnover
5. Are my goals relevant? Each goal set should have a purpose and be helping to achieve the main objectives of your company. Setting random goals will make the overall goals seem less important. 
6. Have I written my goals down? Write your goals down, look at them, and know what they are. Don’t let a day go by when you are not trying to reach your goals. At OpenView, every person has a glass pyramid with our goals carved into it that sits on our desks.
7. Have I set a deadline? A sense of urgency is important when setting goals, so set a time or deadline they need to be achieved by. If there is no deadline, people may have the tendency to put them off.
8. Have I shared my goals? Each team should share their goals. This gives visibility to the different functions as well as gives other members of the company a chance to comment. 

Setting and achieving goals is very important for small businesses. They ensure everyone knows what is prioritized, and helps employees structure their day, week, quarter and year. Achieving goals is also very motivating and will help you stay motivated and continue to strive for more!