4 Uncommon Tips to Boost Goal Setting

As you know, goal setting is crucial for strategy execution success.

Without it, organizations don’t reach peak performance.

Most leaders know this. Therefor most companies have a goal setting process.

But all too often, the goal setting process has become a paper pushing exercise.

“People don’t need a complex goal setting template to perform, 

they need great goals and regular feedback”

Here are 4 tips to make the goal setting system more rewarding for your organization.

Tip 1: Promote the goal setting benefits, not the mechanics

The goal setting theory is fascinating. It’s one of the cornerstones of modern management and gives great insight into human behavior. It should also be basic knowledge for any manager taking objective setting seriously. Don’t let SMART training be your organisation’s best goal setting effort. Explain why goal setting helps your company realise its strategy. Aim for the bigger picture, promote the overall goal setting benefits and help your managers look way beyond the mechanics.

Tip 2: Keep the goal setting process simple

Make your goal-setting tools and templates user-oriented. Keep them simple and easy to find and you will go a long way. Make it your goal to identify, sell and implement goal setting simplifications in your organisation. 

You will find out that the ‘selling’ part is probably the most difficult bit, especially if you are not the process owner. Although I know many ‘ individual objective setting’ process owners  – often HR-managers – who are unable to switch from complex to simple, only because they get an intellectual kick out of complex HR processes. So the selling might prove the tough part, even if you are the process owner!

Tip 3: Set goals for goal setting

Give clear and challenging goals on goal setting  (like I just did) to everyone – employees, managers, the executive team – as well as those responsible for the individual goal-setting process within the organisation. The initiative will promote goal setting, increase goal setting performance and serve as best-practice.

Tip 4: Develop the necessary skills 

Setting high-quality individual goals for yourself or others is an art. There are so many factors to take into account including the organisational context, the strategy, individual capabilities and a fair amount of psychology.

But the consequence is that the overall goal setting process quality in your organisation largely depends on the individual’s ability to operate within the goal setting process.

Make sure everyone involved knows exactly what’s expected of them and provide adequate development opportunities, a very simple goal setting template if any, exercises and several examples.

Want to learn more about implementing strategy ? Check out our guide: