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GOAL SETTING
Why have goals or
objectives? What about personal goals? What about team goals
within our workplace?
How do you set
yourself a goal?
Personal, work or
team goals are important and should be seen as a valuable part of
your life skills. If you haven’t set yourself any goals, it is time
to do so now. What do you want to achieve over the next three years
in terms of your career, your studies and your personal life?
Personal Goals
Your goal may be as
simple as “to improve your attendance on the job”. An objective for
this goal might be “to arrive at work 5 minutes early every day.
This gives you something to assess (measure) your goal with, to
check if you are attaining that goal.
Alternatively that
goal might be to achieve a career change within say five years. In
this case, you would work out the direction you wish to take, the
skills required to achieve that goal and then set in place the
additional training required. Your goal would be measured by your
achievement of that career change within the stipulated time frame.
Workplace Goals
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For a team to
function effectively they need to be aware of:
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The vision of
the organization and its ultimate corporate goals.
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Exactly what
their individual team goals are.
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How the team's
goals are devised from company goals.
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How their
achievement will contribute to the realization of the overall
company vision and goals.
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Where they fit
in the overall structure of the organization.
How are goals
achieved in your personal and professional life?
This is achieved by
understanding of the following:
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To define and be clear what has to be done to achieve desired
outcomes.
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To compare actual outcomes with what was planned and
predicted. This leads to a clearer understanding of just how
successful you have been and to decisions about early corrective
action and the need for new learning.
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To focus the
whole organization or team in the same direction. Naturally the
more the whole team is involved in setting their objectives the
more they will be committed to achieving them.
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Participate in identifying team goals and determining tasks
necessary to achieve them.
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Participate in
allocation of responsibilities to team members to ensure
designated team goals are met within agreed timelines.
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Complete agreed
tasks to meet team goals and objectives.
There are six clear
aspects of goal setting and they are:
Small
Make goals
manageable, both in terms of time and what you are going to do.
Example:
I will talk to the
person who sits next to me at work.
Not:
I will make friends
with everyone in the office.
Specific
Goals should be
definite and detailed - something you can visualise yourself doing.
Example:
I will ask my son
how his day went when he gets home.
Not:
I will communicate
more effectively with my son.
Reasonable
Each goal should
make sense. You should be able to see value in doing it.
Example:
I will smile when l
walk into the team meeting
Not:
I will stand at the
back of the room away from everyone.
Positive
Decide what you
will rather than what you will not do.
Example:
I will smile when I
greet my partner.
Not:
I will not argue
with my partner.
Repetition
Choose goal
behaviour you will be able to work at often.
Example:
I will contact a
friend for a chat once per week.
Not:
I will take my
friend out on their birthday.
Independent
Try and set goals
which are not dependent on the behaviour of another person.
Example:
I will ask the
person standing next to me in the bus queue when the next bus is
due.
Not:
lf anyone asks
me, I will tell them about my trip on the weekend
If you haven’t set
yourself goals, now is the time to do so. |
