Planning: Goal Setting

June, 2004

Setting & Measuring Business Goals to Improve Performance
by Paul W. Helmick

It is easy to go nowhere. Just do nothing. If you want to achieve significant results and grow your business, you first have to know where you want to go. After you decide where you want to go, you need to make specific plans to get there. This is true in business as well as our personal lives.

As we close in on the end of the first quarter of the year, we near the year’s midpoint. How is your business, your department, your division, or your team doing in relation to the goals and objectives you have set? Take this opportunity to review your goals and give some thought to the question: “Is what I have been doing this past month contributing to achieving the goals and objectives I have set for myself?”

If you are on track, good for you! We can all learn from the success and discipline of others. If not, now is a perfect time to quickly review the major goals you have set for your different areas of responsibility, review your progress toward their accomplishment, and adjust your course accordingly. Following are four valuable reasons to set and measure your business goals. Also included is a link to a free goal-setting worksheet that we developed in consultation with clients who desire to grow their business revenues, profits, and value in service to their customers.

Why Clear Business Goals Should be Set:

1) Goals provide direction. To accomplish a task, you have to set a definite vision—a target to aim for and to guide your efforts. Translate this into specific goals. Many businesses, departments, and/or teams waste countless hours going nowhere. With goals as your guide, you can focus your efforts on only the activities that move you toward your desired outcome.

2) Goals tell you how far you have traveled. Goals provide clear milestones on the road to results. If you must accomplish five goals to reach your vision and you have completed three, you know exactly where you stand and what is still ahead.

3) Goals help to make your overall vision attainable. Generally, you cannot accomplish everything in one big step. It usually takes many small steps to reach a final result. Goals help you achieve your overall vision by allowing you to identify and benchmark small steps that, when accomplished individually, produce big results.

4) Goals give people something to strive for. Everyone is more motivated when challenged by a goal that is beyond their normal level of performance. Yet realistic, achievable goals and the feedback from working towards their accomplishment gives people a sense of purpose. They also relieve the boredom that can come from performing a routine job day after day. Everyone feels more focused when goals, objectives, and measurements are clearly defined.

We believe that for goals to be useful, they need to connect directly to the vision for the business’s mission. Whether you are trying to stay ahead of the competition or simply trying to stay alive, you should have a compelling vision and clear goals. Only then can management and employees work together to accomplish specific goals that help you achieve the success you desire.

Business Goal Setting Worksheet
(Free .pdf file compliments of Premier Strategies)

One Year/One Page: Roles & Goals Outline

This is a valuable resources that you should click-and-save or click-and-print right now. It will equip you for a quick, powerful, and private goal-setting session during which you can improve your plan and perspective for the rest of this year.

We encourage you to share this tool with your key staff, managers, and other professionals who are responsible for results in your business. We have seen great synergies, new understandings, and extraordinary results from the simple exercise of having a management team work through a goal-setting exercise such as this.

If you would like to further discuss your business strategies or need additional help in turning your goals and objectives into accomplished results, we encourage you to call us anytime at 800 300-2725. We will be pleased to speak with you further.