SETTING YOUR GOALS
When I first began attending seminars and workshops the message that stayed with me the longest was, "If you want to be successful you need to set goals!" Like everyone else, I had a lot of dreams and expectations for myself but I seemed to lack the organization and structure to achieve them. Until then no one ever taught me how to set goals nor how to make a plan to reach my goals. My attempts were haphazard and my successes were purely coincidental. Many of my disappointments were a result of setting unrealistic goals with unrealistic deadlines.
As a manager you must realize that your department will be as productive and prosperous as your ability is to set effective goals. You need to set clear objectives for your department and staff and to have a strategy for accomplishing these objectives. Since goal setting involves looking into the future, you must plot a course in advance for all the activities that you anticipate will take place to yield the results you are looking for. Of course you won't always know what the outcome will be but you can make a very good prediction by reviewing what has happened in the past and what is happening presently.
Well-written goals will also enable you to check your progress in order to see if you're on the right track. By comparing your actual results to the desired results, you can determine whether or not you need to make improvements in your original plan.
If all of this sounds complicated, let me outline the excuses and hazards for not setting goals versus the benefits for setting goals.
REASONS WHY MANAGERS DON'T SET GOALS:
— Fear of not obtaining goals
— Too busy
— Don't care
— Unmotivated
— Complacent
— No reward
— Forces him to work
— No priorities
— Ignorance
HAZARDS MANAGERS SUFFER FOR NOT SETTING GOALS:
— No direction
— Weak performance
— No way to prioritize
— Poor attitude
— Apathy
— Frustration
— Turnover
— Manager becomes unstimulated
BENEFITS TO A MANAGER FOR HAVING GOALS:
— Motivation
— Gives focus
— Generates confidence
— Re_establishes new goals
— Better work habits
— Increases profit and productivity
— Organization
— Disregards low priorities
— Gains respect
As a new manager your initial visions may exceed your abilities or your department's capabilities. Don't run your department by the seat of your pants and don't become discouraged. Understand that goal setting should be as realistic as the talents of your staff members and the resources within and available to your department. This is not to say that your staff members cannot go beyond their current level of experience to accomplish and execute projects that were never achieved before. However, without a strategy, most goals will fail. Without determining if additional training will be involved or if additional equipment and supplies will be required, you won't be able to predict how quickly your goal can be reached.
TIPS TO KEEP YOURSELF ON COURSE:
— Put all goals into writing.
— Have both long-term and short-term goals.
— Break up long goals into mini-goals, making each mini-goal an achievable and practical step to reach.
— Involve your staff members who are more in tune with the actual "mechanics" of the tasks involved to suggest practical target deadlines.
— Boost employee morale and confidence by informing them of progress.
— Reward employees for successes.
— Evaluate your progress along the way to determine if any changes need to be made.
As you can see, the only way you can become an achiever is to make things happen.
To find out more about Mike Whitty and Salesperson, Inc., visit www.mikewhitty.com and www.slpinc.net.
Reprinted with permission from: Mike Whitty and Salesperson, Inc. (800) 453-2787. |
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