Win Big By Creating Goals For Your Staff

What is the secret ingredient to success in the workplace?  What if I told you that creating goals for your team can help motivate your staff and help you in your business? Goals combat complacency and motivate the workforce when applied properly. Motivated employees want to be challenged but also want to know they are meeting expectations.

Identify Goals

When you first look at setting goals for your team, you will want to identify challenging but attainable goals.  For example, if you give your team a quarter to complete a set of goals, you do not want them to be able to complete their goals in the first two weeks.  On the other hand,  while goals need to be challenging, they should also be achievable within the given time frame. Your employees will feel accomplished and at the same time, you have elevated your organizational needs.

Align Goals

When you look at creating goals for your team, first look at overall company objectives; You want to set goals aligned with company goals. For example, if you have a company goal of adding one hundred new accounts for the quarter, assign each team member a specific number of new accounts to add, contributing to the overall objective.

Monitor Progress

It’s important that you monitor your team’s progress.  If this is a company goal that everyone is working towards, keep track on a bulletin board where everyone can see how the plan is progressing.  If these are individual goals, consider biweekly touch bases to see how your team is progressing, address any obstacles they have encountered, or celebrate their successes.  When you approach the goal deadline,  you will want to take time to review how the team performed.

Motivation

One advantage of setting goals is that it will help motivate your employees.  It helps everyone work toward a shared vision and feel invested in the company’s success.  Setting goals also allows you to quantify success.  Who on your team needs more training?  Who are your rock stars?   Some of the most important factors to identify are your team’s strengths and weaknesses. This is a powerful tool when you have projects in the future and begin to assign tasks. Keeping track of your team’s goals helps keep your team accountable to the overall company objectives.

Written by Tracy Neal