The year’s end is a natural time for leaders like you to clear your desk and begin setting goals key to your company’s growth and productivity. By setting a goal, giving it a timeline, and creating a plan, you commit to making it happen. This commitment is the first step to success.
First off, start by taking a look at your company's capabilities and deciding where you want the company to be in terms of size, income, and capacity in the future.
Six Steps to a Successful 20-Seventeen
1.
Get creative
Start by making a list of all the goals you come up with, no matter how outlandish.
2.
SMART
Specific – it’s too vague if you can’t answer “How will you know when you’ve achieved your goal?”
Measurable – without a predetermined outcome, you will either never feel satisfied, or cop out too easily. And your definition of “sufficient” may differ tremendously to that of your team.
Attainable – the best goals are challenging enough to interest and energise you, but not so ambitious or dependant on outside factors that we can’t achieve them.
Relevant – the goals must be applicable to you and your business, not what you feel you ought to be wanting after reading Forbes magazine,
Time-bound – let’s be honest – there is nothing like a deadline to get us going
3.
Roadmap
I won’t bore you with the analogy of driving somewhere… Rather, here are pertinent questions to ask yourself about these potential goals:
Who: will be responsible for undertaking the goal's accomplishment from beginning to end? Does completing the goal require more than one department or individual's work? If so, how will those individuals work together?
Why: does this goal carry weight? How does it contribute to the vision you have of your business and what it represents.
When: do you plan to accomplish each goal? And what is the timeframe for the smaller goals along the way that can or must be accomplished in order to achieve the big goals.
How: to complete the specific tasks and assignments within their deadlines is a great place to gather employee input. Not only does it help maintain focus and assist prioritisation during the year, but you will be blown away by how creative your staff are.
What: exactly is the cost affiliated with the goal. Although the ultimate purpose of a goal may be to earn more profit, most goals include some cost, even if just in the form of manpower required to complete the goal's tasks.
4.
Select
Looking at the big picture you have just created in the steps above, decide which of these goals can realistically be implemented. Put the others on the back-burner.
Once you've chosen the goals you'd like to pursue it's time to determine which to tackle first. Use that as a starting point for creating a 2017 (& beyond) timeline.
5.
Share
Take time to share your vision for the company, how these goals work to making that happen, and spell out what is expected of your team. Display the goals and timeline in a visible place.
6.
Go out and CONQUER!
Let's make 2017 your best year yet
with Sonja Shear Coaching & Consulting
083 256-0378 | This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.