Setting team goals is an essential part of being a leader, but there’s no exact right way to manage the goal setting process.
For the best results, the goals need to be both challenging and attainable.
Most managers have heard of smart goals, that is, objectives that are specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound.
Keeping those streets in mind can help you set goals that are right for your team.
But you’ve also got to ensure that your goals make sense for the company.
Identify goals that are not only right for your team, but also aligned to the company’s larger vision.
For example, let’s say one of your company’s goals is to grow sales and distribution by 65% in the next fiscal year.
Meanwhile, your team is generally responsible for maintaining distribution partnerships, forming new ones, and gathering feedback from distributors.
As your team fulfills those duties throughout the year, all your work should be framed by the overall mission of 65% growth.
Whatever your specific team goals are, you should be able to connect them to the company’s broader mission.
Linking your team’s goals with organizational priorities is key because it ensures executive buy-in, and allows your people to prove their value as contributors to top-level performance.
More importantly, it’s empowering and motivating for people to see and understand how their own work supports overall goals.
So as part of your goal-setting process, make sure you cascade goals — that is, make the connections clear from company goals down to department, team, and individual goals.
Finally, include your employees in goal-setting. With their input, you can identify goals that are both meaningful and challenging.
But don’t forget to account for your team’s strengths and weaknesses; you don’t want to set objectives they aren’t capable of achieving.
When every goal is aligned to your company’s vision and your team’s abilities, it becomes a more effective guide for their work.
So get your people to commit to each goal: make the outcome something that is meaningful to them — something that will show that they’ve grown and developed their skills.
